Another thread and questions on: advice for wedding

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madmadam

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Hi,

I was hoping for a little bit of advice I have been asked by my Step sister to photograph her wedding (yes, yes I hear everyones gasps!) I want to get this right for her, when I got married I could not afford a Photographer so I just have a few snaps of the day my mother in law took (which is huge regret and most defiantly would rather of had amateur photos than what I have)

My Step sister has no budget at all for a photographer. She has seen the photographs I take and likes them - and she knows what my day job is and that I am not a professional photographer. I have read the advice on the forums about weddings and it is all very good so thank you everyone.

I am reasonably confident (I intend to practice and research lots) that I can get good shots of the bride and groom. What I am most worried about is the group shots as when I have done a few for work and a recent family reunion they are never quiet right - any advise on this would be helpful -

I also have some very very noob questions so at the risk of being laughed at here goes:

For the group photos should I use a higher apature like f16 as opposed to f5 so everyone is in focus? or is this just light dependent?

Should I literally physically go and place everyone in there places (or is this just a bit to rude?) How pushy am I going to need to be?

I have a Nikon D90 with the Kit Lens (17 - 105), a 50mm (F1.8) 70 - 200mm lens and an SB600 Flash - would you recomend I hire any other gear? Should I invest in a diffuser for my flash?

In advance thanks so much - I will put some of the photos on the thread, its a few months off so I will be getting myself very preprepared.
 
You'd probably get more response in the wedding forums - maybe a nice mod person can move it for you

but very breifly (and i'm not a wedding pro either tho i've shot about ten over the years)
Group shots - the dof is going to depend on how many people are in the group - if you are shooting a group of ten in two lines you wont need anywhere near F16, shooting a massive group might need more dof, tho some pro's try and get above the large group so that they are looking upwards and thus the faces are all on a similar plane.

ideally you need to scope out the locations ahead of time and try to find some nice non complicated backgrounds - if you have to shoot against a complicated background use a wide apperture so that the background is blurred.

I'd set the camera to AV so you have control over the apperture. Also shoot raw (thats .nef in nikon land I think) so that you can tweak exposures, WB etc, and check your camera settings before you start to make sure you have everything set up corectly and havent accidentally set it to iso1600 or whatever.

If you are shooting more than one card (which i'd recomend - all the shots on one huge card is asking for card failure) make sure you put the full cards in a different pocket to the empties - you dont want to mix them up and accidentally reformat a card and loose a load of shots (Likewise when you download the cards dont reformat them til you have backed up and back up the raws imediately onto a dvd or memory stick - you dont want to loose the lot if your computer dies)

definitely diffuse your flash - either with a proper difuser like a stofen, or with a bodge up like the bottom of a plastic milk bottle, or by bouncing it off a bit of white card - and if you are using it for fill not main remember to reduce the power

on the group shots i wouldnt actually man handle the guests but you can certainly wave them into place and give direction - also sit down with the B&G before hand and make a list of all the shots so you dont start a family feud by missing out the grooms great aunt mavis or whoever - also as this is your step sister presumably you'll be in some of the groups, so think about who is going to take them ? If you ask nicely you might get someone on here volunteer to assist, but failing that is there someone else, preferably in the grooms family who could take some snaps of the groups you are in.

and lastly (tho this is a contentious point recently) if you can possibly lay hands on a second body do - either way makesure you have plenty of spasre batteries (camera and flash) and memory cards - basically if it can realistically go wrong, make sure you can cope if it does.

ps ASphotographymk has a blog here dedicated to giving advice to beginner photographers - well worth a look imo
 
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Thank you big soft moose. My writing may not be the best but the info is there :)

All good points above.

I tend to shoot group shots at about f8 but this does vary.

A second body as said is a must have. You need to think what you will do if your camera fails or breaks. Even if you just borrow one for the day.
 
you are both stars thanks so much, a lot there I would not have thought of - so thanks so much - I will ask closer to the time of the wedding to see if there are any volunteers who would like to lend a hand :)
 
madmadam said:
I will ask closer to the time of the wedding to see if there are any volunteers who would like to lend a hand :)
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I've sent you a pm - there's a possibility I might be able to help you out depending on where and when it is.
 
How far away is the date?

You'll need batteries and memory, lots of both.

Do you know anyone else getting married/communion/birthday party? If so go along and and get some practice in.

Visit the location at the time of the wedding to see what the light is like, and have a good recce for backgrounds etc.

You will only need a flash diffuser if you are shooting inside. If you buy a Carex soap pump that has an opaque bottle, you can empty out the soap, cut the top off and use that, should cost you £1. You may need a little double sided velcro to make it stay on.

With the composition of the groups, I would have a look at other peoples shots and see how they do, and then try and copy the ones that you think work.

Do the same with the set shots - shoes, dress rings etc.

Get a helper for the groups - best man, usher etc. so they can help you organise people.

Get a list of the shots the B+G want so you can make sure you get those in the bag first.

Oh, and there is a rumour around that you will need some back up kit, so it is worth making sure that if your kit* fails you can still take the shots!




*by kit I mean anything you use for the wedding, camera gear, car, etc....
 
lawrie29 said:
*by kit I mean anything you use for the wedding, camera gear, car, etc....
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without going into all that again, we do have to keep a sense of proportion - back up batteries, cards, lenses bodies etc are something of a no brainer - with regard to things like cars, no one is seriously suggesting that you buy/hire a second car for the day , but you do need a contingency plan if your transport arrangements go ommelete shaped - this could be as simple as making sure you have a local taxi company stored in your mobile.
 
big soft moose said:
without going into all that again, we do have to keep a sense of proportion - back up batteries, cards, lenses bodies etc are something of a no brainer - with regard to things like cars, no one is seriously suggesting that you buy/hire a second car for the day , but you do need a contingency plan if your transport arrangements go ommelete shaped - this could be as simple as making sure you have a local taxi company stored in your mobile.
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My tongue was firmly in my cheek when writing that ;)

Although in all seriousness, no one had mentioned any back up kit, and I would hate for some kit failure to mean someone didn't have some great wedding shots.
 
lawrie29 said:
Although in all seriousness, no one had mentioned any back up kit, and I would hate for some kit failure to mean someone didn't have some great wedding shots.
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well I did say...

big soft moose said:
and lastly (tho this is a contentious point recently) if you can possibly lay hands on a second body do - either way makesure you have plenty of spasre batteries (camera and flash) and memory cards - basically if it can realistically go wrong, make sure you can cope if it does.
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but its a point worth repeating :D
 
asphotographymk said:
I almost never use flash without a diffuser of some kind - Either a brolly or softbox outside.
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But I wouldn't expect the OP to start using OCF for this, so was just making a point that a diffuser will make little difference (depending ont the type) outside.
 
Hi Madmadam,

Your pictures are nice but obviously, every picture has to be nice throught the day. Everybody has to start somewhere so I'm happy to advise a little and hope that I can help.

HOWEVER, you have a few months to go and I would go back to the person who asked you to shoot their wedding and ask them to look at the websites of photographers in your area and perhaps further a field to compare their images with yours so that she knows what she's getting into. Offer her the suggestion that perhaps she looks for someone more experienced and better equipped than you, perhaps a second shooter who has shot quite a few weddings and is willing to shoot for a second shooter wage, if she can afford it. Explain to her your anxieties about shooting their wedding and inform them of the level of skill that you are at, and the consequences of letting you do it. Explain to them that you are asking on forums very very basic technical questions that you should know already on forums like this, and that your equipment under some circumstances is not up to the job, and let them know that if your equipment fails the photography stops - do this with as much honesty as you can muster, and if she still wants you, do this:

- keep it simple, very simple. agree to shoot reportage appart from the formal portraits and groups (no shot lists other than these).

- Practice. Go to locations that you will be at throughout the day at the same time of day and use your equipment. Take a couple of people to act as bride and groom. In some instances make sure you control what they are doing and at other times, let them do their thing.

Ask yourself the following questions?
How many shots did you take and how many came out good? What went wrong with the ones that didn't turn out and what do you need to do better? What are your limitations - what can you never do in the locations or with your equipment? Go back and do it again!

- Practice. Go to any event you can and shoot it. As yourself the same questions as above.

- Practice. Take your friend, your family or any group of people on a day out, and shoot from start to finish. I mean a day out. Make sure you don't run out of batteries or cards. Then ask yourself the same questions as above.

-Practice. In this instance take your stepsister and her fella to the locations that you will use on the day and do an extended pre-wedding shoot, then show them the pictures. Then, ask yourself the same questions as above. Then speak to your sister in law and let her see the pictures to see if she still likes them. This is really important.

Also, don't postopone any of the above if it rains etc. Just do it twice.

I'm not going to teach you how to take pictures or to change your style of photography. If you need to know camera settings read about shutter, aperture and ISO. Read about it and experiment with it, every day, every weather condition and consider not shooting the wedding if you really don't know. If you need to know about what settings to use for group photography then set up a group and take pictures of that group using different settings. If it didn't work, go and do it again. and again. If it did work, consider the different conditions you may have to take the group shot in (e.g. indoors if it rains).

I use on camera flash, off camera flash and available light at almost every shoot, because I can and because each circumstances call for different technique. However, some people only shoot in available light, so practice this first and foremost.

For a simple solution to flash, garry fong for bounce and direct flash for fill. Make sure you are in TTL, BL, FP for both. Why? Read about it and experiment. Restrict your lower shutter speed to a 60th and override your upper - with that you will at least muddle through if you practice and limit your iso. AND read about it, AND practice.

Any questions, PM me.

I wish you all the best. I really hope it goes well for you and the happy couple.

Cheers
 
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An interesting thread!

I have found myself in a similar situation this weekend, albeit for a friend. Despite my protests, I don't want to let them down, he still wants me to take pictures.

I have done my best to get myself organised.

I have:

Nikon D50
Nikon D3000
Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED
Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR
Nikon SB-600

20 SD Cards
Spare batteries for each camera
Spare batteries for the flash

I have been to the venue before luckily and have took pictures for another friends 25th wedding anniversary and their sons 21st and 18th birthdays.

Fingers crossed!
 
Thank you Darren for taking so much time and effort to answer the post for me. My photography has slowly been improving and I will take your advice.. We are shortly going on an all day walk for work - I may take the opportunity and take all my gear and see how it holds up battery wise and card wise and everything else wise.

My Step Sister has seen my photography progress as my poor family are always used to progress and family photos imposed on them in the hundreds ;) she is happy for me to do them as she has no money at all for a photographer, I know what it is like to be in this situation - Family and friends are helping with the wedding and the wedding itself will be held on a family members farm and catered for by friends. I have a year as it will be the end of August Next year. I had been thinking of taking them to do an engagment shoot - reading your reply I think this would be a good starting point then I can see what may go wrong on the day and they can decide if they really do trust me.

I have been toying with the idea of also hiring some more gear for the day. I may also visit ebay for a second body I have also been eyeing Gary Fong diffuser for a while I think I will treat myself.

As for the sets of photos I have been hunting for simple but nice photographs I am confident I will be able to replicate. My daughter recently had a beauty birthday party and I was very impressed how these shots turned out - so I am confident I can at least get the getting ready beauty shots :) But as you say its easy getting one or two right I have to get them all right!

I am fine with setting my camera up, I spend oodles of time with Nikon D90 for Dummies - its just the practice I need and I wont know until I get out there and do it - your advice is great on the way to go and practice and analyse it all. You are right about the group photo I am mainly nervous about them because when I have done some for work they have never turned out the way I want them so the work trip out will be a good practice for me as there is a huge group of 36 of us!

I did not know I could restrict my shutter speed so will be looking at that asap.

Thanks again that you took out the time to offer some fabulousness advice that I will take - I may post up my practice shots so you can see if your advice has been absorbed :D

I can assure you all I wont be coming along to steal any wedding photographers gigs (y) this will be a one off for me - Photography for me is a really enjoyable hobby and about enjoying my camera and capturing moments of my and my families life - I just did not expect to take such important ones as a wedding - I am doing every thing I can to make sure I dont make a mess of it all!
 
Good Luck David :) post some of your photos for us to see


DavidBloor said:
An interesting thread!

I have found myself in a similar situation this weekend, albeit for a friend. Despite my protests, I don't want to let them down, he still wants me to take pictures.

I have done my best to get myself organised.

I have:

Nikon D50
Nikon D3000
Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED
Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR
Nikon SB-600

20 SD Cards
Spare batteries for each camera
Spare batteries for the flash

I have been to the venue before luckily and have took pictures for another friends 25th wedding anniversary and their sons 21st and 18th birthdays.

Fingers crossed!
Click to expand...
 
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