Booked to do a wedding - HELP

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 651465
  • Start date Start date

Deleted member 651465

D

Deleted member 651465

Hey all,

After shooting some pictures for a friend's wedding (reception), as a gift, her friend has asked if I'd like to do her wedding *gulp*.

Been to a few weddings, but always traditional churches. This is a civil ceremony at a spa, so will only really involve getting ready and the day itself.

Question: what can I do to make the pictures seem special, given they'll be walking in a room full of chairs and signing a book on the front table.

Wedding is in September, so no guarantee of good weather, which may limit options further.

Advice welcome.
 
tip number 1.

dont post this question on talk photography or the canon POTN forums, you will be hounded within an inch of your life. You will be told you are not worthy, dont have the kit, dont have the back up, and are generally and awful person. The weddingwolves will attack in packs and you will stand no chance, no chance at all :p

tip number 2.

GET PRACTICING!!! take you camera to similar venues now and start taking pics. low light stuff is the essential. Going to the pub? - take the camera and have a play.

tip number 3

Relating to 1, go on POTN or talk photography and read posts similar to yours, there are some good tips in there amongst the savagery. you will need low light capable kit. A backup body is a good idea......

and finally, go in with confidence, the girl obviously liked your images so your style must be her preference - this is a cracking start
 
Last edited:
^^^
@ Tip number 1, LMAO because it's soo true!

@ Tip number 2, Completely agree

@ Tip number 3, Maybe he won't have to push his ISO 'that' high if the spa in question is light and airy, maybe ISO 1600 @ 2.8 1/50?
 
re 3, that would be my guess (I still call that relatively high... my old 500d gets a bit snowy @ 1600) .

Best thing would be go and visit the spa, i am sure they would let him look around and have a quick play.
 
Everybody has to start somewhere, but backups are essential, if you have 2 crop cameras then i would incline to shoot them in totem, save swapping lenses.

As for the venue "problem", pay attention to emotions and reactions more than the room decor. Pick details for the wedding instead of the old furnishings.

You got months and months to go so i suggest you start practicing and plan your budget to either buy or rent some appropriate gear.

Back ups ARE essential, I've been there, my 24-70L died at 11:30am at one wedding, right when the bride was getting dressed....i did the next 13 hours with 16-35/2.8, 50/1.4, 85/1.8 & 135/2.0. At the time it was like...oh crap, but then you have to think on your feet, luckily I had enough lenes to cover the focal range that I need. With 2 bodies it means the 16-35 pretty much stayed on one 5D and the other 5D had a prime on.
 
Last edited:
Just remember this....

Apart from maybe the birth of their child....THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THEIR LIVES.

No pressure.
 
EVH said:
Hey all,

This is a civil ceremony at a spa, so will only really involve getting ready and the day itself.

Question: what can I do to make the pictures seem special, given they'll be walking in a room full of chairs and signing a book on the front table.


Advice welcome.
Click to expand...

WRONG! It should involve you visiting the venue at least once before the day itself (preferably with the B&G when they go for a run-through/visit) and testing the lighting/views/layout to try and figure out where your best shots are going to be from. Being as you need to take shots of the bride getting ready you will not have time to scope it out on the day - trust me, for some reason women take aaaages to get ready :D

Other things you should find out before the day: What sort of shots do they want? Formal? What groups/poses/style do they want? Is the registrar happy for you to be taking photos during the actual ceremony or will they want them "posed" afterwards? (different registrars have different rules).



And for god's sake, if you haven't got an off camera flash rig, get one. Pronto.
 
Goliath said:
WRONG! It should involve you visiting the venue at least once before the day itself (preferably with the B&G when they go for a run-through/visit) and testing the lighting/views/layout to try and figure out where your best shots are going to be from. Being as you need to take shots of the bride getting ready you will not have time to scope it out on the day - trust me, for some reason women take aaaages to get ready :D

Other things you should find out before the day: What sort of shots do they want? Formal? What groups/poses/style do they want? Is the registrar happy for you to be taking photos during the actual ceremony or will they want them "posed" afterwards? (different registrars have different rules).



And for god's sake, if you haven't got an off camera flash rig, get one. Pronto.
Click to expand...
You've misread, my post. Their day will only involve getting ready & venue. I know I need to scope the venue out a few times before hand and get in touch with them regarding what they do/don't mind in terms of photography during ceremony etc.

They want story book type shots. Informal, basically. They liked some of the shots I did of people laughing at her friends wedding and said "Oooo nice".

Kit includes
Canon EOS 1D Mk IIn
Speedlite Flash
18-55mm
70-200mm
wide angle lense

Can you recommend a decent off-camera flash?

My backup is a decidely "low" tech Nikon D3100. I know, not ideal due to lack of lense compatibility, but it was a present and I can gain access to some decent lenses from a friend.

Probably going to get hounded :(, but this is my first break in to this (first paid), so I'm asking now as I don't mind spending the extra upfront and want to make sure I go in prepared.

Here are some pictures. They are from Facebook (hence the poor compression) as I'm at work and can't get access to the full resolution ones. Only had my wide angle lense for this, stupid mistake.

http://db.tt/NssowWz
http://db.tt/DeDxs90
http://db.tt/9SeBWho
http://db.tt/W92hZbQ
http://db.tt/Ur9ZIqM
http://db.tt/HgGW9cw
http://db.tt/AkpVNCb
http://db.tt/IjqTePB
http://db.tt/rncfSuF
http://db.tt/OIMgZ3I
http://db.tt/DPkZPn4
http://db.tt/rU2rERd
http://db.tt/K1QR4gd
http://db.tt/ikPZmgs
 
Last edited by a moderator:
^^^
Some arn't bad at all, some though could do with cropping and overall better composition, and there is a couple of focus issues in a couple.
The backgrounds are also a little noisy, so in some a shallow depth of field could work allot better, a cheap Canon 50mm 1.8 should do the trick for about £80-90.
Also a 2.8 zoom would be ideal to replace what looks to be a kit lens in your setup? Something like a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 should work very well.

What speed light are you using?
 
Although I am not doing any weddings, but wanted to learn anyway, I bought Mark Cleghorn's Wedding Photography book. It was recommended by several people on TP. I have to say it is a very good book from what I have read so far.
 
My tip and bearing in mind ive been at photography for a year now as a rookie. The best shots I got is when I get down low to my shot.

For example this shot: http://db.tt/HgGW9cw. Imagine if you crouched down just a tad.

5486606204_c2ef73eab5.jpg


Im no expert but I hope this little tip helps you.
 
DB_SamX said:
Although I am not doing any weddings, but wanted to learn anyway, I bought Mark Cleghorn's Wedding Photography book. It was recommended by several people on TP. I have to say it is a very good book from what I have read so far.
Click to expand...

I've got it. Read it cover to cover about 10 times :)

Thanks for the comments Ejizz. That shot of the girls in the booth was taken over someone's shoulder, so no option to crouch.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ejizz said:
^^^
Some arn't bad at all, some though could do with cropping and overall better composition, and there is a couple of focus issues in a couple.
The backgrounds are also a little noisy, so in some a shallow depth of field could work allot better, a cheap Canon 50mm 1.8 should do the trick for about £80-90.
Also a 2.8 zoom would be ideal to replace what looks to be a kit lens in your setup? Something like a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 should work very well.

What speed light are you using?
Click to expand...

i agree entirely, i'm certainly no professional but i would say some of the shots seem a little under exposed.

Also as I said, just amateur here but If those photos were of my event I would be looking for more focus on the actual subject whilst using lower f-stop to take out background detail. eg. their is a shot where you have two people dancing on dance floor and then behind i can clearly see two people behind standing up. it would be nice to take some detail out of this distraction.

There is a similar photo of a man and child at the bar which seems to be primary focus of my eyes but then there is a third person which i am not sure but feel he shouldnt be part of the photo and distracts my eyes also.

As above, I agree with the comment regarding the nifty 50 lens as its quite often called. I have one, I love it! excellent quality shots and can be had for quite a bit less than £100. One of the best lens I own. Some people dont like the bokeh effect on it from posts I've read in the past but, I think its superb and a bargain which would help on the kind of issues I've mentioned.

You do have some nice and effective shots there though, well done.
 
All I would say is fair play to you. I love the sound of Wedding photography and being able to finance my hobby and the potential to even make a career out of it. I love people photography as well. When it comes to the crunch though I'm just not good enough to do anyone's special day justice, and would be mortified if I missed the special shot or messed it up. I know that I wouldn't enjoy the day for worry! I'm far more comfortable shooting sports but unfortunately that hasn't been easy to break into as a paying role. So good luck to you and well done for having the balls to give it a go :)

I would trawl through Wedding photographer websites for ideas etc. Have a look at the sort of shots that work well. Processing also comes into it in a major way so have a think about what you might want to achieve in that area.
 
There's nothing particularly special about taking wedding photos - just practice and think about composition throughout the day, and make sure you're good at taking the photos before you turn up. I would visdit the venue before hand so you can settlte any particular concerns about the place well ahead of time, and as others have said, rent any gear you might need (and do so before the day too so you know results to expect from that gear) to make sure you get it right on the day.
 
EVH said:
Kit includes
Canon EOS 1D Mk IIn
Speedlite Flash
18-55mm
70-200mm
wide angle lense

Can you recommend a decent off-camera flash?

My backup is a decidely "low" tech Nikon D3100. I know, not ideal due to lack of lense compatibility, but it was a present and I can gain access to some decent lenses from a friend.
Click to expand...

Buy a Canon 20D as your back-up hack. I know I'd not want to take 2 cameras of different brands and potentially have to duplicate all the lenses in case one of them died. Thisk of all the gear you'd have to lug about. A Tamron 17-50 is also a good bet for a cheapish low range fast zoom lens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom