I'm going to be the 'unofficial photographer' at a wedding - Help

Prophet

Prophet

Prophet

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I've been asked by a friend to take candid shots throughout the day of his wedding. There will be an official photographer there doing the hard work!

I'll be following the goom during the morning and Official photographer will be with the bride. The kit I'll be using is a 350D with either the 'nifty 50' or a Tamron 17-50 f2.8, I'll also have a flashgun (probably a 430EX)

This will be the first time I've photographed people on this level. I'm usually at racing circuits snapping cars and bikes so its a whole new area for me.

I'm looking for tips and tricks to help me through the day.

The venue's will be.

Home of groom
Chruch
Meal/Reception
Evening Do'

I'll be both inside and out so having to deal with all kinds of lighting!

I'm really looking forward to the challange but need to practice and research a lot first.
 
Advise would be to go to all venues prior to event and look for potential shots. Get a feel for all venues so you feel comfortable with where everything is. Think about what will happen where so you can get great placements.

Take some test shots at the same sort of time as the events, so you can get a feel for the lighting.

Other thought, make sure you shoot in RAW, may be marginally slower, but you will have so much flexibility to adjust exposures afterwards.

Take some spare memory cards and snap as many shots as you can, you will throw half of them away.

Try and get some great angles as well! Look out for comedy moments which would make a great photo. After all, most of the family will be looking at your photos for things that make them smile rather than whether you got the lighting spot on.

Get an idea of any of those 'cheesy' shots that most wedding photographers get, may be worth taking some. ie. shot of rings, bride/grooms hands holding with rings, shot of bride/groom from wingmirror of wedding car, heart shaped ring shot in bible/reading.

Lastly, my recommendation would be to shoot in burst mode. So you can remedy as many 'closed eye' or poor facial expression shots as possible and will help if you need to clone some eyes on. A mate of mine done this at our wedding and it made a big difference when processing them afterwards.

:)

ps. Have fun with the people there! and be nice! If the official photographer is a bit of an old moany bar steward who bosses everyone around and you come over nice to everyone, and by chance your photos come out great, it will be you who will be remembered.

Oh, one last thing, swot up on your B&W post processing skills. In my opinion the BEST photos from any wedding are the ones in black and white. So much more impact!
 
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for candids i would use a longer lens, i used a 50 1.8 at my cousins wedding but it wasnt long enough for those type of shots really

apart from that all you need to do is make sure your shots are well composed, focussed & metered correctly (shoot ,check histogram - reshoot if needed)

try to keep the backgrounds from being too busy or full of other people unless intended, i found some onf my shots had too much going on and was distracting from the subject
 
I took a whole bunch of shots at my sister's wedding last year. I initially got drawn into taking similar shots to the official photographer, before deciding that it was pointless to duplicate his work. Post that I went scouting around for shots where the pro wasn't, thus ensuring that you're producing useful additions to the main shots. I seem to remember mainly using a 70-200 during the day and grabbing a lot of more candid close up shots.
 
Thanks for the advice guys :)

The longest range I'll have is from my Canon 100-300 but I think thats going to be too long?

I'm planning on doing mostly candid shots and not group arangements. The odd couple here and there but mostly candids.

I'm not too worried about the framing and know the official photographer is OK with me being there (he's a family friend) I'm more worried about exposure and lighting.
 
Sounds like you've got it covered :) Just keep checking the histograms, it'll show you how your exposure is. Just read up on some flash techniques and give them a practice before the big day.

Also even though the main photog is a family friend try and keep out of his way. I'm assuming he's still looking to make money out of selling his pictures rather then as a favor/expenses so probably wouldn't be too impressed by you snapping his posed shots etc as well.
 
I'll make sure I'm out of his way. I'm going to have a chat with him prior to the big day so we can go over what he'll be doing and establish a good working relationship :

I may even lean something!
 
JBuk said:
for candids i would use a longer lens, i used a 50 1.8 at my cousins wedding but it wasnt long enough for those type of shots really
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tend to end up shooting with a 70-300 for unofficial wedding candids, that way you can 'reach out and touch' someone without them even knowing you are about.
 
If you're going to be inside most of the time, then investing in a decent diffuser for your flash is a must. Something like a Gary Fong Light Sphere. Direct flash is unflattering in every way and bouncing flash creates odd shadows most of the time - sunken, dark eyes etc if you're bouncing off the ceiling.
 
A.N.Other said:
If you're going to be inside most of the time, then investing in a decent diffuser for your flash is a must. Something like a Gary Fong Light Sphere. Direct flash is unflattering in every way and bouncing flash creates odd shadows most of the time - sunken, dark eyes etc if you're bouncing off the ceiling.
Click to expand...

When using a diffuser do you point the flash at the subject or still angle it to bounce?
 
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