First wedding in june

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KerryG

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Hi everyone
I'm going to be shooting my first wedding in june and I'm very excited be also very nervous. I'm hoping you peep's could give me any advice on shooting a first time wedding.
It's a small affair with approx 40 people. I will be shooting with my canon 5d mk3 with canon 70-200 2.8 IS II & canon 24-105 f4 l IS, i also have a 50 1.8 if needed. Any advice
would be greatly received. I'm wondering if it's worth hiring a wide angle for the ceremony etc or will my 24-105 suffice. Also does anyone have any images from there 1st wedding
they would like to share :)

Many Thanks

Kerry
 
I shot a wedding last year with a 24-105 on a 5d3 and needed quite high iso to get the indoor shots, it was October though. It was at a venue with a reasonable amount of light as well, not a dark church :)

I now have a 35mm f2 IS for the ceremony and I find it much better.

You might get away with the 50mm depending on how much room you have, although I found the one I had quite noisy and slow to focus in low light.

After the ceremony the 24-105 (group shots outside) or the 70-200 (candids, couple, portraits) should be fine.

No doubt someone with more experience will be along shortly with more advice :)
 
Kerry

Plan your shoot and have a list of shots you plan to get and stick to it. Visit the venues a couple of weeks ahead and talk to those in charge. Go at the same time of day as the service to get an idea about light and sun angles.

Dont go hiring/buying new kit just beforehand. You need to 'know it inside out with a blindfold on and your hands tied behind your back', type of acquaintance with your kit. New stuff is unlikely to be that familiar and you don't want to be changing lenses all the time. A second body would avoid that.

How large and how dark are the venues, should be your cue for lens choice.

Wider than 24mm might be required in a small venue but you need to beware of distortions.

What lighting do you have available?

It can still be dark in June if the thunder clouds close in, or the venues are small and dark or conversely if you need to fill in on a bright day.

.....and you can never have enough spare charged up batteries or spare memory cards.


Good luck.:) Oh and don't be nervous. You know what you are doing.........
 
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Kerry
The information in your post doesn't help us.
Is this a wedding for a mate or your first 'big job', are you expected to produce 'a few snaps' or pro quality from prep till the end of the night? How much experience do you have shooting people? Shooting in crap conditions? Are you an available light genius or a studio lighting magician? You haven't mentioned flash at all.

All those make a difference to the advice you need.
 
I'll be watching this thread as I'm also shooting my first wedding in May...
 
Phil V said:
The information in your post doesn't help us ...
Click to expand...

As my learned friend from Doncaster says.

I'm guessing this is a civil ceremony, so how about you tell us if it's register office + reception venue or all at the same place? What are the couple expecting from you? Are they paying you?

The answers to those and to Phil's questions matter far more than what kit you have.
 
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One thing I would say is visit the venues and have a backup plan for bad weather. Have a list of shots you want to take but remember it's there day so what do they want. Talk to them. If you only have one body then think of lens changing it takes time. What if you have a problem with your body. Last good luck
 
Not the same but I just shot my second big event a couple of days ago. These are the things I learned which may be useful things for you to think about.

1. Scoping the venue is well worth your time. Do it at the same time so you can see what kind of light you've got to work with and look for interesting angles/places to shoot from.

2. Draft a shot list. I can't tell you how helpful this was! I was expected to get one specific shot for a press release and about 50 or so for internal/social media. Once I had a shot list of about 25, I knew I only had to get another 25 candids, or things that unravelled nearer the time. Takes a huge weight off your shoulders knowing what you're doing without trying to "find" shots under pressure.

3. Know your gear and know how to do everything. Lighting was a bloody nightmare and there were a few times where my metering was way off. I'd forgot how to change metering mode and it was pure luck that I remembered at the right time.... :confused:

4. Take a back up body. Non-negotiable for me.

5, Lastly, and I'm sure you've done this; manage expectations. I was lucky as it was my employer and the hired tog had pulled out, so their expectations were quite low. They were happy with the shots and want to book me for future events - this was the only reason I agreed to it as I was originally supposed to be a guest getting pi**ed and being inappropriate :runaway:

Hope that was helpful :)
 
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grotty said:
I'll be watching this thread as I'm also shooting my first wedding in May...
Click to expand...
It won't help you, Kerry has no intention of returning to the thread and giving us the information she needs to get some decent advice. It's sad but some people are like that.
I'd suggest starting your own thread and giving us the information requested in my post above and you might get some solid gold help. We're no use though if you just want lots of people to wish you luck and give you ace examples of our first weddings and telling you everything in the garden is rosy.
 
Phil V said:
It won't help you, Kerry has no intention of returning to the thread and giving us the information she needs to get some decent advice. It's sad but some people are like that.
I'd suggest starting your own thread and giving us the information requested in my post above and you might get some solid gold help. We're no use though if you just want lots of people to wish you luck and give you ace examples of our first weddings and telling you everything in the garden is rosy.
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Looks that way Phil. I'll start my own thread.
 
Phil V said:
It won't help you, Kerry has no intention of returning to the thread and giving us the information she needs to get some decent advice. It's sad but some people are like that.
I'd suggest starting your own thread and giving us the information requested in my post above and you might get some solid gold help. We're no use though if you just want lots of people to wish you luck and give you ace examples of our first weddings and telling you everything in the garden is rosy.
Click to expand...
A shame if this is the case.... Took me bloody ages to type out all of that!
 
UaeExile said:
A shame if this is the case.... Took me bloody ages to type out all of that!
Click to expand...

There's history...
I'm not saying she hasn't read it, but there'll be no acknowledgement or thanks.
 
Phil V said:
There's history...
I'm not saying she hasn't read it, but there'll be no acknowledgement or thanks.
Click to expand...

There is acknowledgement and a lot of thanks, but we carnt all be on here all of the time.
Regarding all the questions you've asked I will try and answer them to my best abilty.
Ive been offered a small amout of cash which I didn't want for doing this but they insist I have it.
The venue is registry office and the lighting is average, not the brightest or darkest. Lighting available will be a canon 580ex II with stofen.
ive only been asked to shoot the ceremony, family formals/groups & b&g posed portraits at a local outdoor beauty spot. No reception or evening photography.
if ive missed something please ask.

Kerry
 
KerryG said:
There is acknowledgement and a lot of thanks, but we carnt all be on here all of the time.
Regarding all the questions you've asked I will try and answer them to my best abilty.
Ive been offered a small amout of cash which I didn't want for doing this but they insist I have it.
The venue is registry office and the lighting is average, not the brightest or darkest. Lighting available will be a canon 580ex II with stofen.
ive only been asked to shoot the ceremony, family formals/groups & b&g posed portraits at a local outdoor beauty spot. No reception or evening photography.
if ive missed something please ask.

Kerry
Click to expand...
Welcome back :)
The important bit you missed was the experience (particularly at people photography, but also whether you're up to 'crowd control'), flash during ceremonies is frowned upon, so you probably won't need the flash (you might need a kiss of fill if it's really sunny.
I shoot ceremonies on medium tele lenses, if you're close enough for shooting a ceremony on a wide angle, you'll be in the registrar's way.
Other than that, I'll reiterate that a backup body is crucial. So if you want to hire something a spare body and 24-70 2.8 would be my advice.
 
Phil V said:
Welcome back :)
The important bit you missed was the experience (particularly at people photography, but also whether you're up to 'crowd control'), flash during ceremonies is frowned upon, so you probably won't need the flash (you might need a kiss of fill if it's really sunny.
I shoot ceremonies on medium tele lenses, if you're close enough for shooting a ceremony on a wide angle, you'll be in the registrar's way.
Other than that, I'll reiterate that a backup body is crucial. So if you want to hire something a spare body and 24-70 2.8 would be my advice.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice phil
People photography im ok with, crowd control will be something new to me. I do alot of newborn/children portraiture at present. I dont really want to be hiring gear if im honest. I have a backup body. Any advice regarding crowd control? Also have a list of must get shots from couple . I actually have a pre wedding shoot with the couple this weekend.

Thanks
 
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Have the bride nominate a helper to get the groups together and aim for less than 10 groups. They take longer than you think.
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
Sometimes much longer.

Much, much longer ...
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Nearly ruined my last wedding...
Despite all my advice and protestations the bride produced a list of 18 shots, which became 20, and a bridesmaid who had instructions to stick to the order (which didn't flow and meant more organisation for us) , that ended up taking all the time between the ceremony and reception. So we missed capturing all the natural fun stuff that was happening.
Which is obviously the reason she'd booked us.
 
Make friends with an usher (with a loud voice) or someone who knows the family / friends early on - invaluable when you start doing group shots. Have a clear list of shots / groups agreed in advance so you can rattle through them as quickly as possible. Although every wedding has to have them, in my experience no-one really wants to hang around for them when they could be at the bar.

It's also crucial to get everyone looking at *you* and not the 20 other people who will be standing behind you taking happy snaps - nothing worse in a group shop than having one or two people looking at someone else behind you... I always used to just loudly ask everyone to look at me and then once I'd got what I needed step out the way for a few secs to let all the aunties & uncles get their shots.

If it's a church wedding it's good form to have a chat with the vicar or whatever on what you can can't do in the church; when it is / isn't ok to take photos. Some are pretty relaxed and will let you be wherever you need to be / take shots whenever, while others will be quite strict (to be fair if it was my wedding I wouldn't want someone running round on motor-drive distracting proceedings anyway). Sometimes they'll also give you tips on best locations or give you access to balconies etc which can be useful. Also get them to run through what the order is, entrance / exit points etc - this gives you time to get in the right place at the right time before the crowd starts moving - although with only 40 people you shouldn't be too bad.

I used to find the speeches tricky to shoot - normally lowish light and especially if the person is reading from paper it's hard to catch them looking up. The best shots are always the reaction shots from crowd / head table etc of amusing anecdote or embarrassing story so keep half an ear out for impending punchlines and concentrate on that.

Only having a single body will be a pain in the arse to swap between zoom & 24-70 lens - if possible i'd try and beg / borrow / steal a second body.

Hope that helps!
 
Graham W said:
Would it make sense to start with the large group and then gradually "Release" them to the safety of the bar, rather than try and drag them from the bar to join the group?
(Just a thought.)
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That's my usual method.
 
Hainesy said:
It's also crucial to get everyone looking at *you* and not the 20 other people who will be standing behind you taking happy snaps
Click to expand...

If you allow people behind you when you're taking the groups, IMO you have only yourself to blame if they're looking all over the place.
 
KerryG said:
Hi everyone
I'm going to be shooting my first wedding in june and I'm very excited be also very nervous. I'm hoping you peep's could give me any advice on shooting a first time wedding.
It's a small affair with approx 40 people. I will be shooting with my canon 5d mk3 with canon 70-200 2.8 IS II & canon 24-105 f4 l IS, i also have a 50 1.8 if needed. Any advice
would be greatly received. I'm wondering if it's worth hiring a wide angle for the ceremony etc or will my 24-105 suffice. Also does anyone have any images from there 1st wedding
they would like to share :)

Many Thanks

Kerry
Click to expand...

Firstly congrats and you will have a ball for sure :)

I wouldn't delegate the 50 1.8 to just "if needed" status, personally I find the primes give the most intimate portraits, especially important for weddings where expressions and emotions run strong and a fast prime just makes those details pop out.

The 24-105 will be plenty wide for the ceremony so no need to worry there, though a wider lens will add perspective, just be sure to keep B&G closer to the centre area of the frame instead of the lower edges to avoid stretching them vertically from the wide angle distortion effect.

I don't know what your clients are like but I've found 99% of clients prefer natural candid photography as opposed to photos where people know you're there and inherently look at the camera. Obviously formal group shots are standard going for any wedding, so once those are out of the way I tend to keep everything else free form and simply filter around like a ghost snapping shots of whatever people are up to, laughing mid conversation, playing wedding games, kids playing etc.

I've been shooting weddings (among other things) since 2008 and my style has certainly changed since that time. I started with a Canon 40D and 50mm 1.8 and kit lens along with the 70-200 f4 IS. I now shoot weddings exclusively with 2 primes, the 35mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4. The UWA only gets used for church shots for wangle perspectives in the aisle etc.

Example from 2008:

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Versus now:







Continued on next post due to 8pic limit!
 
... Continued
















How far you take it is all down to you. one thing is that your clients will no doubt like whatever you output and give them. It's up to you to be your own self critique and use each wedding as a lesson in how to improve the next one. You never stop learning and the best way to do that is in a real environment out on the field.

It's a great experience and becomes second nature. There are wedding photographer who treat it like a 9-5 job, go in, take photos, get paid. I wouldn't go about it this way at all as then you get into the habit of treating the output like that as well. Go in expecting a challenge, different venue, different people, different techniques to be employed and you'll find yourself enjoying it way more and producing some unique shots.

I try to take away at least 1 money shot, the shot that just makes the whole day worth it, the shot that saves the whole set if only just that one shot is the best of them all. That's my process anyway, you will undoubtedly mould your own way as time goes on and you have a few more weddings under your belt, so enjoy it and go with the flow :)
 
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