Alex's (desperate for help) Wedding Photography Thread

I'm sure there will be allot of good advice from the wedding photographers here. I sense Raymond will dispense some wise words of wisdom.
Looking forward to seeing the pictures, as you say they are poor though, I'm sensing prophetic irony in your username choice back in 2006.
 
Actually not much cheese at all.

Walking down the isle. Not much more you could do considering your positioning constraints.

Guys standing. Not my type of shot. I put minimal effort into those when I have to do them. Sometimes they are good though tbh, Raymond does some nice ones of these.

Child. Looks like an ok shot considering the content is what is most important. Don't like the long lens disconnected feel though for a shot like that. Light is terrible.

Confetti. Great shot, nothing much to complain about.

Mother of the bride. Ditch the flash it's hideous. Either that or bounce it. The light will look nice bounced but you erase the natural atmosphere and become a distraction to everyone in the room.

Guy speaking. Much better looking light. OOF head covers too much of speaker. If you could have leant over to the left more it would have been fine.

Cutting of the cake. I hate this kind of setup, it hardly ever looks good. Especially so in this case as the bride clearly isn't happy. I would have just asked the B&G to cut the cake and just shot that. Hopefully the cake would have been difficult to cut, and you get some actual genuine expression. Also I would have got some of the crowd, or shot through the crowd just to add some atmosphere.

Dancing. Looks ok to me. Brides expression takes the shine off a little though. This is when photography can become a numbers game, and it helps to be a little trigger happy. Flash recycle time could be an issue in this case, so up the ISO a little. Ideally 1/8th power should allow you to take plenty of pictures without waiting long for recycle.


Regarding processing. I use one preset for colour. One for black and white. Each image is straitened/cropped individually, as well as WB & exposure adjusted in global and local areas. In certain conditions I may adjust contrast.
 
Last edited:
Already looking good so I wouldn't stress out too much. Keep practicing, and try to be as prepared as possible so you don't get stressed nearer the time.

I'm not a wedding tog but have shot 1 fully, and assisted at several for friends, but I will try to give my 2pence

* Do I need two flashes?
I don't think you need but 2 flashes will give redundancy. It all depends what lenses you have as well. Say you shoot like An Exception with a 35mm on one camera and an 85mm on another then a flash on each makes sense, if you with a 24-70mm on one and the 70-200mm on the other it is unlikely you want one on the 70-200.
It is somewhat similar argument to needing 2 bodies, you don't really but you do need backup and it does make life easier. I only have 1 flash but have a few events booked for the rest of the year so I might buy another flash.

*Do I need to learn off-camera flash work, to take control of bad lighting, say in the pub?
I would say no, unless you want to. If you setup a static light stand and things then it only helps when you pose people and put them in the right place. I prefer reportage/photojournalist style so don't really like to pose people. Also, it is very hard to do well. I see a lot of people with loads of lighting gear and off camera flashes here there and everywhere but the results look very fake. I like natural light and try to maximize that, and find that simple bounced flash can work very well. But I am not a flash person, others will have different opinions.

*What do you guys use to walk round with two heavy cameras all day?
Someone will mention black rapid. The market is now fully of alternative straps and clips with loads of cheap Chinese stuff that is made as good if not better than black rapid for a fraction of the cost. I order 5-6 off amazon to test and kept the best. All were fine TBH.
What combination of lenses 3-4 you suggest I have on each for each part of the day?
What communication do I need to have with the venue? Should I scout out the church first, also the pub?

*How many good quality photos do you expect to hand the couple after your day's work?
Good question. The typically issue I find is you have 4-6 great photos, 10-30 very good, 50-100 good and can end up with hundreds ok acceptable. It all depends how much of the acceptable photos you want to dilute the set down with. Furthermore, many of the acceptable ones just ends up being the stand kind of photos you alway end up needing (photo of ring, wedding shoes/dress, generic makeup shot, kids being cute, church, flower arrangement, group photos, cake cutting, cake knife). These are kind of needed. (Or expected) but don't make fascinating photos IMO. So you will end up with a few hundred anyway.

What do you do about crappy weather? It'll likely be peeing it down and cold, so no outdoor shots, but is there anything to think about there?
* cloudy rainy weather is just God's light tent, perfect conditions for shooting outside. Don't let the rains top you, the best wedding photos I've seen were done in the rain, not the clichéd sunset photos. On my sister's wedding it was pouring down all day, much like Hollywood set -just drenching rain. The photogrpaher was well prepared with big pink Wellies and a large umbrella. Plots of photos in the rain, standing in puddles, getting the dress muddy, standing in Assam with the Wellies on. I don't have these photos so I can't show them but I'm sure google must have lots for inspiration.

Edit:
http://kristenhoneycutt.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Jessica-Jeff-Wedding-0347.jpg
http://www.lwdbridal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rain-on-wedding-day.jpg
http://dpnak.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kyrie-wedding-watermarked-blog24.jpg
http://ellybevents.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/rain-delsol.jpeg
http://isgphotography.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/wedding-in-the-rain.jpg
http://www.styleinspirationanddesig...n-the-rain-Lisa-Sammons-Events-Weddings-1.jpg
http://ppcdn.500px.org/43797738/58059b49483b6d125375474703f2552a2fb18ea3/4.jpg
http://www.bridalguide.com/sites/de...ain-wedding-photo-unplugged-photography-2.jpg
https://beebeyecrew.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/hoffer-rain_large.jpg

Going by the above I would be praying for rain if I was you!
 
Last edited:
You've got more than enough equipment to cover any feasible eventuality of the day so nothing to be concerned about there! To answer your questions though:

> Do I need two flashes?
No but if you want to be more creative with lighting, especially off camera flash then 2 can be very handy. I've been using manual off camera flashes up until today (they've arrived! Will post about them in the gear thread later :p) but E-TTL wireless flashes will be even better because you're not having to concern yourself with having to pre-set the flash power on each Speedlite. This can be very cheap too (Yongnuo) and provide 1st party results.

> Do I need to learn off-camera flash work, to take control of bad lighting, say in the pub?
Knowing where to place and aim the flashes comes from practice and past experience of similar conditions so it would be a yes to that one if you intend on making use of off camera flash but again, you don't need to use off camera flash to successfully shoot a wedding, even a dimly lit one. Your camera more than has the dynamic range to cover low light needs and I've used the D800 in such conditions to know the quality can be excellent too.

> What do you guys use to walk round with two heavy cameras all day?
As in bags/straps? I carry a side bag on my person and the main bag sits in a corner. I essentially put in the kit I know I will use for that walkabout and everything else in the main bag. Means I'm carrying light and once that walkabout is done and i shoot something else I can hotswap the kit with the main bag and off I go again. This is a personal choice, your mileage may be very different :p

Edit* I don't use a strap on the camera I'm holding. I know I bought a strap and have a Nikon strap too but I use those when my hands are busy not doing camera things (Urbexing etc), I prefer not using a strap on walkabouts at weddings as I find better freedom of movement that way.

> What combination of lenses do you suggest I have on each for each part of the day?
Again personal preference. Personally I use the 35mm for ~50% of the day and 85mm for 45% and the wide angle gets to come out at night for the venue shots.

> What communication do I need to have with the venue? Should I scout out the church first, also the pub?
It's not essential to contact the venue beforehand as they know what the process is anyway and see through tens if not hundreds of photographers year round but usually the B&G will make repeat trips to the venue over coming months and you can tag along with them so that you can all have a look around and you can spot photo locations and also just become informal with the couple as once the day comes round they will be more comfortable with your camera being around them.

> How many good quality photos do you expect to hand the couple after your day's work?
This will always be different for each wedding. I know there are photographers out there that quote a set figure and will stick to that. Personally I don't like this way of doing things. It's quota hitting and takes the mind off being creative. I never give a figure to the number of photos they "will" get. Example: I might shoot 1300 but that will likely filter down to say 300-400. If it's a huge wedding with lots of guests at the ceremony/reception then there'll be more of course.

> What do you do about crappy weather? It'll likely be peeing it down and cold, so no outdoor shots, but is there anything to think about there?
If you do a venue visit then that's also an opportunity to ask about space inside should the weather be poor. That way they can keep some space open for group shots in a nice area of the venue. They can of course arrange this in the morning when you first go there anyway (they're pros, they do this all the time) but it's nice to be prepared beforehand although not critically essential.

Guests don't like to stand around and wait in the rain etc but the wedding day is about the B&G and if you have a fun couple they will more than be happy to try out creative things, shots like the ones linked above so take a suitable umbrella along just in case or any other cool props.

Maybe I've missed a few things I don't know, it'll come to me perhaps! It's become second nature now I don't tend to even think about it, things just happen and fall into place :o

Others will no doubt share their input!
 
Last edited:
I live and Norwich and am familar with the Unthank Arms Pub. It's not very roomy inside, and is quite narrow in places so you won't have much room to work.

It's got a decent outdoor area though.
 
Depends on the look and feel you are after. I wouldn't use flash fill tbh, not in a venue like that at least, but it's just a matter of taste and it sounds like MRK's style is kinda what you are going for.
I spot meter 90% of the time, if I'm metering off of something white (dress etc.) or black (suit etc.) then I'll go to matrix for a particular shot (have a custom button setup just for this).
It's a bit different with my D810's but that's what I used to use.
 
With windows if you can get next to them and shoot out you get nude. Astutely light, but in my experience this is hard to do. People will stand nxt tithe window amd you won't have space or would have toask them to move.
I've used fill flash in these situation to good affect.
Power the flash down a bit and raise the ISO.


The latter is a common beginners mistake with flashes. They think since the flash is going they can forget about ISO. But the ISO and aperture will affect th exposure outside the flashes effective range. Owe horrible photos of a front flash where the person spa head is over exposed and the background super dark is easily solved by trying for a better exposure in the background. You obviously can't always get the exposure perfect but you should be apvle to get it close enough such that pushing the shadows in LR leads to a more balanced natural look IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom