First wedding ... kit advice :)

dakid

dakid

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Heya,

I have a first wedding coming up in a couple of weeks, and I'm after some advice regarding where I start with my lens/body choice. Presumably I'll find my feet and start working out what works best for my style given some experience, but until I get that experience, then I'd very much appreciate people's comments on where I should be starting. My equipment list is ...

40D + Grip, 5D2 + Grip, 24-105mm f/4, 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, 50mm f/1.8, 35mm f/1.4, 580EXII

I also have the dual harness from Op-tech, so I should be able to keep two cameras on me permanently, and hopefully relatively comfortably. I'd been intending to use the 5D2 as the main camera, and with the cameras fitted out as below...

Outside groups + candids:
5D2 + 24-105 + 580EXII, 40D + 70-200
The ranges meet almost perfectly, taking into account the sensor sizes, and I have wide-angle available from using the 24mm on the FF sensor.

Outside groom and groom (civil ceremony!):
5D2 + 70-200 + 580EXII, 40D + 35
I hear the 70-200 on FF is a wonderful portrait lens, and the 40D + 35 gives an approximately 50mm FF equivalent with a lovely DoF.

Inside groom and groom (if bad weather):
5D2 + 24-105 + 580EXII, 40D + 35
The flash will give me my counter to the max aperture of f/4 and the range should be perfect inside, and the 40D will give me a bit of extra short-DoF ability.

Inside candids:
5D2 + 35 + 580EXII, 40D + 50
Wide and telephoto abilities, with 21mp worth of cropping-ability if I need a "normal" focal length equivalent. Lots of light.

Inside speeches:
5D2 + 70-200 + 580EXII, 40D + 35
Counter the 40D's poorer high-ISO ability and make use of the 5D2's greater ability in low-light by sharing the lenses appropriately.

I'm working a bit theoretically with all of this. I've been reading more wedding photography books than I ever thought existed, but most of my photographic experience so far has been with sports/wildlife photography (whack the 70-200 on and go for it), and with pure candid photography amongst friends and at relatives' weddings (not dissimilar). Any and all advice will therefore be very gratefully received!

Thanks in advance,

Martin

P.S. I should add that the 5D2 and 35 f/1.4 are both very new to me, and so I don't have a lot of experience with them yet.
 
Hi Martin, well you should be Ok with kit with that little lot :) Some cracking choices in there. The 35mm is one of my personal favourites and if it's a decent venue, don't forget to pop it on that 5DII and get some good wide(ish) atmospheric goodness.

My advice right now would be to get as much time in with your new kit as possible.
If you are shooting the guys getting ready then go and get a pair of shoes and start looking that things like shots of shoes and suits. You can do this in the comfort of your own home but it really IS good practice. Practice shooting them getting out the back of a car........honestly it's all the same setup as a wedding minus the clothing. Get some flowers from your local florist and practice shooting them. The more of these shots you can practice the easier it will make the day because you will have less to worry about.

Don't forget to shoot a little loose. By that I mean don't frame as tightly as you would especially with you being a wildlife shooter. Most togs new to weddings shoot too right anyway and you are going to be doubly tempted ;) Shoot a little looser and include some context in your shots, after all the couple pay for the venue so try to include some of it! lol

Get as much time in with that 5DII as you can. If it's going to be your main camera you need to be as good with it as possible in the time you have. You will be shooting a fair bit indoors so practice, practice practice. It does not matter what you are taking pics of. Get the exposures as good as you can as quickly as you can. A few hours spent shooting rubbish in similar lighting conditions will help a lot.

From your homework you should be fairly familiar with the running order of the day, as you finish each phase of the day I would recommend changing memory card. It makes it easier in PP as you can have a folder for each phase and there is less risk that keeping shooting on one. And to minimise that risk even more I always shoot a few on the second camera too at each part of the day, it provides instant backup.

Hope it all goes well for you. :)
 
Thanks for that .... some good advice. Practising is a bit tricky, time-wise, but I'll certainly try. Not shooting too tight is probably a useful one. Will see how I do with that!

Any suggestions/comments on the body/lens pairings?
 
if you were in a buying mood I'd be tempted to pick up a 430, just thinking through what to do if any component fails and thats the only unbodgable bit :D

Deffo get used to the 5dIIs nuances (mine was a bit of learning from my 50d but not loads- mostly DoF surprised me).

buy more memory the 5dII eats it
 
Whatever feels right :)

It very much depends on what positions you can shoot from and the size of the venue. I sometimes feel that my 70-200 is a little short on FF if I end up well off to the side in a larger venue so if you feel that you would benefit from a little more reach use the 40D :)

It makes your kit very versatile, I'd simply try to use the 5DII where maximum quality is required and whatever lens that you use out of your bag will be fine.

For shooting in the venue itself, the 50mm and the 70-200 2.8IS would be my first choices. The 50mm is a great little lens in low light and has got me out of a few nasty lighting situations. 35mm a definate for recording the venue on the 5DII. The 70-200 is a belter in any lighting situation.

You will find yourself doing some lens swapping but that's fine. Just go with what is working for you.

Personally I've shot a wedding on two lenses, the 24-105mm and the 70-200 f2.8IS if I've had good light and at others I've used 5 different lenses. It very much depends on the scale of the venue and the light available :)
 
I'd also agree with a backup flashgun... I learnt the hard way when mine went bang at a charity event I was covering. I now have two 580 EXII's wherever I go... Otherwise good luck - and a Civil Partnership is a great place to start...
 
Thanks, guys. After the 5D2 and 35mm I think I'm a while away from new purchases, especially as I need to get insurance setup too, but I'll put another flashgun on the list!

Will try and get some practice in with the 5D2's DoF especially.

Fun is certainly something I'm hoping to get from it all. A little bit of pocket money, if I get good enough to start charging for weddings, would also be nice ;)
 
If you cant afford another flash yet why not borrow one from a mate...

Plenty of batteries for flashguns...

Take plenty of detail shots (shoes,dress,car etc) as well as all the traditional pose shots...

Dont forget some fuel for yourself (water,sandwiches etc) its a long day...

:thumbs:
 
markw08 said:
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Take plenty of detail shots (shoes,dress,car etc)

:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Borrowing a flash gun might be an option - just in case - that's a good idea, and a great recommendation, can be a smaller unit, and doesn't need to be a 580 mk2 (not sure there'll be many 'dress' and 'shoe' shots at this one though....)
 
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