First wedding, advice?

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Not sure if this is the right section..

I've been asked to shoot a neighbours wedding, they're doing it on a budget, and it's something I'd like to get into and there's no real way to get any portfolio material other than doing one, so I have agreed. I've obviously explained that I've never shot a wedding before and I have no experience in directing people for the group shots.

It's at the start of October, in a local hotel, which if I remember correctly, is quite well lit.

In my kit bag I have:
D7000
Sigma 17-50mm F2.8
Nikon 35mm F1.8
Nikon 50mm F1.8
Tamron 90mm F2.8 Macro
Yungnuo 568EX II Flash

I'll need spare batteries, which is a given, but am I missing anything else that is a *must* have for weddings? any advice anyone is willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Andy
 
Possibly a longer lens so your not in the way all the time and maybe a tripod ?

Maybe the question should be "what is the minimum amount of photographic equipment I need for my first wedding shoot?"
Just trying to be helpful
 
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I'm going to ask my father in law to borrow his Canon 7D with the 70-300 L lens as a telephoto and backup. Although obviously if the worst happens I'll lose the versatility of the other lenses.

And yep, got a tripod, forgot to list it, sorry.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
...I'll need spare batteries, which is a given, but am I missing anything else that is a *must* have for weddings? any advice anyone is willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Andy
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Spare body, longer lens and spare flashgun.
Think redundancy, forget loaning a Canon with a telezoom, they'll be no use to you if your camera dies. You'd just be left with a telezoom to shoot with, so if you carry on with that, you'll also need another spare Nikon body. Redundancy is about could you carry on shooting the whole thing if one piece of kit died*.
The only thing you're short of is the telezoom, the macro would 2nd for it, the 35 and 50 will second for the std zoom, but you have no 2nd flash or body.

*and if you're shooting professionally, how you'd cope with further failures.
 
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Kit aside I'd highly recommend to visit the venues ... with your camera. If possible around the time the service is supposed to be. Our eyes are amazing at fooling us into thinking it's bright - you should know up front if ISO 2000+ is going to be needed to avoid flash. Also visiting the venues will allow you to have in your mind a few locations to shoot the group stuff - inside and out, sunny and shade ... the more you have in your back pocket the more you can be thinking ahead on the day ... I'd also get into my head those major environmental change moments that seem to happen in heartbeat ... the bride arrives (you shoot her and her dad outside with those settings) .. before you know it you are inside and getting the bride walking up and that "first look" ... totally different settings .. then you are thinking the transition from inside to outside again after the service ... trust me these moments get upon you in an instant and you need to be thinking ahead .... All the best man ... remember when something crops up that you did not expect or it seems like things are getting a bit much .. just take a step back .. take a few breaths .. compose yourself and get back to it ... Your first can be nerve wrecking for sure but with some preparation it can go smoother than you think ... By the way having now used one a few times I love having my Fuji EX2 slung around my neck as a third body ... heck if I was confinement I wouldn't need the 70-200 range I'd probably have it as my 2nd body ....
 
A couple of days before, write down everything you need to take with you - theres nothing worse than "thinking" you are prepared, only to forget to take something on the day (I get quite excited to be honest, its a special day and you've been assigned a really important job) :)

If you're shooting outside (if its nice like this, you most likely will) for some pose shots, a bit of fill light might be required. Enjoy it. :) (not too much)
 
I'm not familiar with the kit you've listed, but I can't for the life of me see why you'd need a tripod. It's just more to cart around, more to faff about with and more to slow you down.

Spare camera battery (fully charged)? Something to get the fingerprint off your front element when the toddler pokes it when you're not looking?

Ref your lack of experience of herding cats directing group shots, you've explained this to your clients but I'd go one step further and tell them it's very much in their interest to help you out with that. They need to appoint two sensible people who between them know most of the folks who will be in the groups, and they both need to have (identical!) lists of names for each one. Make that the clients' responsibility now and you'll have much less to worry about on the day.

BTW, just remember that if it all goes pear-shaped at times, worst case is that they don't get a few snaps for which they haven't hired an experienced pro. The sun will still rise in the East the next day. Honest.
 
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If you have the room a white reflector is a valuable addition, you can always engage the help of a willing volunteer if your on your own.
 
If (as I suspect) your neighbour is asking this as a favour without payment, then don't hire stuff. Assuming you're doing it for portfolio only then offer them the opportunity of hiring bits on your behalf or taking the risk of having your body fail. You're doing them a big favour. It shouldn't cost you to do it. I'd think very carefully about borrowing a camera of a different brand. Do you want to have to deal with working out a separate set of controls, even down to the zoom rings turning in opposite directions?
 
Ref the advice to take a reflector, I wouldn't bother. Keep the whole thing as simple as you can - you'll spend less time poncing about and have more time to think about what's happening where and when ;)
 
As Nigel said, go to the venue before the day, if a church take some interior shots as you may not be able to on the day. Check the sun and lighting at the time of the service, where is best place for the pictures, is there a bench etc.
The kit is important and on the day the brain takes a holiday; so you will forget how to set something (as I did yesterday - new flash, could I put it into master / Slave, could I eck) but generally thats an easy work around and its what photoshop is for. You cannot work around a missed shot, like forgetting the bride and father, in-laws, out-laws and friends.
While I appreciate all peoples ideas of wedding photos vary, bride on a trapeze or bungey jumping, there are a lot of standard pictures which are required, so download a wedding photographers shot list and make sure you cover all the photo's and avoid traps like bringing couples together who hate each other and then saying "smile", the bride should be able to assist in identifying whos who. If you have a running list you are halfway there, and less likely to fluff and panic.
 
Mike54 said:
As Nigel said, go to the venue before the day, if a church take some interior shots as you may not be able to on the day. Check the sun and lighting at the time of the service, where is best place for the pictures, is there a bench etc.
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Thats a lot of work for a favour
 
Phil V said:
Spare body, longer lens and spare flashgun.
Think redundancy, forget loaning a Canon with a telezoom, they'll be no use to you if your camera dies. You'd just be left with a telezoom to shoot with, so if you carry on with that, you'll also need another spare Nikon body. Redundancy is about could you carry on shooting the whole thing if one piece of kit died*.
The only thing you're short of is the telezoom, the macro would 2nd for it, the 35 and 50 will second for the std zoom, but you have no 2nd flash or body.

*and if you're shooting professionally, how you'd cope with further failures.
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boyfalldown said:
If (as I suspect) your neighbour is asking this as a favour without payment, then don't hire stuff. Assuming you're doing it for portfolio only then offer them the opportunity of hiring bits on your behalf or taking the risk of having your body fail. You're doing them a big favour. It shouldn't cost you to do it. I'd think very carefully about borrowing a camera of a different brand. Do you want to have to deal with working out a separate set of controls, even down to the zoom rings turning in opposite directions?
Click to expand...

Good points re the different brand, and although you're correct, in that I'm not asking for payment. I think I will look at renting a backup if needed, even at my own expense, as I'd still feel bad if my body did die and they didn't get any shots. I think though tbh, they'd probably be happy to cover my expenses for that anyway, they did offer to pay me in the first instance, but as I know them and I've never shot one before, I wouldn't feel right taking money from someone when I can't guarantee any quality.

Some good advice on here, and I do have 5 months to get ready for it :) Thanks all
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Good points re the different brand, and although you're correct, in that I'm not asking for payment. I think I will look at renting a backup if needed, even at my own expense, as I'd still feel bad if my body did die and they didn't get any shots. I think though tbh, they'd probably be happy to cover my expenses for that anyway, they did offer to pay me in the first instance, but as I know them and I've never shot one before, I wouldn't feel right taking money from someone when I can't guarantee any quality.

Some good advice on here, and I do have 5 months to get ready for it :) Thanks all
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It's a simple thing to work out:

Lay out all the kit you think is what you need, then remove each piece one at a time and see if you could carry on without a severe loss of ability.
Which leaves you with a list of:
Long lens
Camera body
Flashgun

As the young folks say: 'Simples'
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Good points re the different brand, and although you're correct, in that I'm not asking for payment. I think I will look at renting a backup if needed, even at my own expense, as I'd still feel bad if my body did die and they didn't get any shots.
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I'd ask them in the first instance, and although I don't think folks should be out of pocket doing favours. But its important you're comfortable. Just remember no one will die if your camera packs up
 
boyfalldown said:
I'd ask them in the first instance, and although I don't think folks should be out of pocket doing favours. But its important you're comfortable. Just remember no one will die if your camera packs up
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Yeah, I think I will ask them if I need to hire one. But I might be able to borrow one, or maybe acquire a permanent backup by then anyway, so will see how it pans out.

At least I'm not missing a *huge* amount of kit, so it's not as bad as I worried it might have been, haha :)
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
Ref the advice to take a reflector, I wouldn't bother. Keep the whole thing as simple as you can - you'll spend less time poncing about and have more time to think about what's happening where and when ;)
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A time and place for one obviously,probably not the best bit of advice for a first wedding. I have a round calumet one that pops up its small and easy to stow. It doubles, up as a large defuser. It's a useful bit of kit to have in your armoury and very useful for the bride and groom. 'Pouncing about' - you have some imagination ! ;)
 
To each their own, Nick. I never once used a reflector in 400-odd weddings, and the only time I ever used a tripod at one was as a last resort for night-time venue shots if I couldn't get away with hand-holding.

I really do think that the simpler Andy can keep things at his first wedding, the better.
 
Shoot like machine gun and buy good memory cards just for case if your card make surprise with errors.
 
No ...
What can do it Guy on his first wedding?
It's a lot stuff to do ...
I think practice on first few weddings start build experience and from experience come his style.
Ok more tips and details
1) you must shoot in camera raw (specially with Nikon to keep colours right in post processing)
2) on group shoots keep all people with eye direction to the same point. Everybody should have open eyes and look it 10-30cm above your lens.
3) try bounce the flash to white wall , celling etc ( careful with colour walls they change your colours on photographs)
4) try show the love between bride and groom (hogs kisses etc )
5) church ceremony - from wide to close ups... Try be quiet I think is not to much time to change the lenses...In begin ceremony you can take few with wide angle lens
Church is very important you can't back to the past... Here you should be like smart silent "machine gun" you must watch and take photographs .
6) group shoots try find place with good light to avoid flash ( outdoor) if this is not possible try find place where you can bounce flash to celling or white wall. Don't forget 3x5 m wall is like 3x5 m softbox. Light from bounce is very soft.
And more more more :)
 
From bits I have learnt along the way (although not as a pro). I would say swap your memory cards out at strategic points, that way you don't risk hitting the "card full" at the wrong moment. Also what tip I heard was to photograph kisses just before they happened, so as the lips are about to touch, rather than full on.

As to reflectors, I would rather take and not use rather than not have and need. I recently did a christening and left it at home. At the end I had to run home (fortunately only 100 yards) to get it as the light was very harsh with no where to shade. I used it as a diffuser :)
 
D7000 (beg, borrow or steal another body from somewhere)
Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 (outdoors drinks reception, establishing shots of venues)
Nikon 35mm F1.8 (everything else)
Yungnuo 568EX II Flash (if you know how to use flash properly)

My advice is to keep it as simple as possible. You'll have enough to think about just covering the major events without having to worry if X lens might be better. I hope it all goes well.
 
If you're worried about the group shots speak to them and get one of the Ushers with the loudest voice to help. Either take the biggest group shot first and get it out of the way or build the group up adding more people into shots for instance start with B&G with immediate family... then add grandparents (if still with us).... then adding uncle bob and his wife in and their kids etc.

I looked at your website and you seem to have enough creativity to do a good job. Find out times as October the light falls away quickly as does the temperature and you may find yourself having to take shots indoors if it's late in the day.

I always take a fold up reflector one side silver one side white in a back pocket of my bag. I use it at most weddings I've shot. I often ask the Bestman to hold it when I do just the bride and groom shots but as it's your first wedding it might be better to keep things simple. I think you'll find the short zoom the most useful and a prime in poor light. The Tamron macro for table detail.

Spare body/flash/cards/ (Batteries as you've mentioned) are really essential things both short & long term if this is the route you want to go down photographically.

I'd get them to drive you to the venue for a pre check at their cost BTW!
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
To each their own, Nick. I never once used a reflector in 400-odd weddings, and the only time I ever used a tripod at one was as a last resort for night-time venue shots if I couldn't get away with hand-holding.

I really do think that the simpler Andy can keep things at his first wedding, the better.
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Yeah I agree... I never use tripods, and never use reflectors.
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
To each their own, Nick. I never once used a reflector in 400-odd weddings, and the only time I ever used a tripod at one was as a last resort for night-time venue shots if I couldn't get away with hand-holding.

I really do think that the simpler Andy can keep things at his first wedding, the better.
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I agree - i've used a reflector about 3 times , and i don't think ive ever used a tripod (although I have occasionally used a monopod if using the 70-200 in a dark church)

I'd also say that although something is probably being lost in translation yooch's advice doesnt hit the spot for me .. 'shooting like a machine gun' is a terrible idea - all you will wind up with is a card full of crap shots - take your time and get the shots you really need ... that said I do usually shoot a burst of three on group shots to guard aganist people blinking etc.

I'm also not sure about getting people to look 30cm above your lens - I usually just get them to look at me

on the changing lenses - two bodies , 1 with short lens , 1 with long lens , no lens changing during ceremony etc required
 
Shooting like a machine gun is obviously not a good idea but it's always worth firing off a fair few shots of each group to maximise the chances of getting one with noone blinking.

I'm sure I remember reading that, as soon as you have twelve people in a group shot, statistically someone will be blinking at any given moment :)
 
I've always told every one I'm going to take 3 shots. After the second one I say 'somebody blinked. I then say right, everybody close their eyes and on the count of 3 open them ! You usually get a big smile and a few laughs it makes a nice natural group image and is often a good seller. Do any more and people will get bored and start loosing interest and the lack of concentration also shows in their face. Conversely, get the groups early before people have had a few drinks. !

On the previous subject of tripods not great for reportage style, granted. For formal and family group shots it makes a great rallying point if you set your camera and up against a pleasant background ( or the best you can do). Normally invoke the assistance of an assistant or the best man to round up a few groups of which has been discussed earlier with the B&G.

Not great for every wedding, and dependant on the style but just another tool to keep in the boot of your car. Sometimes I use one
sometimes I don't..

I wouldn't recommend for your first wedding. Most important thing is is to try and engage with the subjects and build up a good rapport.ftom the start.
 
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Serendipitous Sid said:
Ref the advice to take a reflector, I wouldn't bother. Keep the whole thing as simple as you can - you'll spend less time poncing about and have more time to think about what's happening where and when ;)
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This definitely. If you can spent a little time before hand to check the settings you'll require for each location (i.e. flash or no flash, short or long lens) then I would focus more on capturing the rights moments rather than trying to get the photos technically perfect. The happy couple will be more interested in what's in the photo than anything else.

If possible I'd try to avoid flash, it's easy to lose the natural tones and colours and end up with harsh looking shots.
 
2nd body, put the sigma/nikon 35mm on one, nikon 50mm/tamron 90mm on the other, you're good to go. Use both cameras interchengeably and shoot RAW. 2nd flash could be useful if you aren't confident working with ambient light but realistically you do have rather bright lenses already so depending on how dim the church/venue is you might get away with not using it at all. I only have one flash and most of the time only use it for the first dance. Scout the venue, church etc. to decide whether you will need a longer lens - borrow if yes.
 
A telephoto lens is a must for me. I'd say 80% of all my shots are using my 70-200 2.8. And as has been said, a backup camera that can take all your current lenses.
 
twhite87 said:
A telephoto lens is a must for me. I'd say 80% of all my shots are using my 70-200 2.8. And as has been said, a backup camera that can take all your current lenses.
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Thats interesting. Its not the norm I would think. I take it shooting like this just suits your style better?
 
I do prefer to shoot from a distance. Not being noticed and grabbing all the special moments without putting people off. Having said that, I know someone who shoots all their weddings using mostly a 35mm prime. She much prefers to get in close to people, so its each to their own I guess.
 
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