Quick wedding photography advice

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Igor

Igor

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Igor
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I've been asked to photograph my friends wedding, and as its my first time I said I'll do it for free!

Could someone give me any pointers?

At the moment I own a canon 60D with a tamron 17-50 f2.8 vc lens. I've also just bough a speedlight (YN560 model).

Could someone recommend me another good lens for weddings? I was thinking the the canon 135mm f2 L lens.

I was also going to start photographing more events and subjects like friends an family's kids etc

Any help and advice would be much appreciated

:)
 
The Tamron you have is a good lens but the 135mm I think it would be too long for a weeding aspecialy on crop body, have a look at the 100mm macro f2.8 IS L it's an extremely sharp lens and it can be picked up for under £700 new from cameraworld and another prime like a sigma 30mm f1.4 hsm or the tamron 90mm f2.8 and maybe anther flash for use with wireless trigger for off camera.
 
I will give my usual advice, make sure you've got two of at least everything you can't survive without - bodies, key focal length lenses, flash.

As for what to add to what you have, I would personally go for a 70-200mm 2.8 as it is more flexible.

Lastly, make sure you know what you are doing, understand the flow of the day and that you can cover off all key poses in a day (assuming they will want some posed/directed shots). I couldn't see any people photography in your past posts so get out and shoot lots of couples, work with the couple who will be getting married to work out what they like and this will also help them relax on the day.
 
Thanks guys. Some great advice there!

I'm on a budget of about £600 for a new lens and I dont mind going second hand.

Are any if the tamron or sigma telephoto lenses any good? Such as 70-200 f2.8?


I really need to start snapping up some people! :P
 
For £600 I would buy a 2nd hand Sigma 70-200 (£350ish), a 20D or similar for a spare body (£125ish), another flash (£50) and a spare short zoom or a 50mm 1.8 (£60 to £75).

Also make sure you have many memory cards, spare batteries for the cameras and flash units and plenty of patience :)
 
Many venues will not let you in to photograph without insurance, so you need to check on this. It's also useful if little Jimmy the child of son of a couple you don't know decide to sue if said Jimmy runs around and trips over your kit.
 
Do you're friends realistically know what to expect or is it a case of wow nice new camera bet it takes some nice photos?

I have only done two weddings, both of which I actually said I would rather not do but one of them was my sister and their wedding was on a stupidly low budget.

I used my 50D & Tamron 17-50 2.8, rented a 70-200mm 2.8 and borrowed a second body and flashes for both. I took my tripod, reflector etc and even drafted my other half to be my assistant, she was getting people out of bars, loos and getting them lined up ready for their pictures.

I read several articles and posts on the Internet, wrote a list of shots that I would like and crossed matched that with shots they would like, visited the venue beforehand to get ideas of where to take group shots etc and checked they allowed flashes etc.

I was prepared in just about everyday I could think of, I like to think I know my way around my camera and prefer shooting manual. But I will tell you come the day it's not only the bride and groom that get nervous, I suddenly felt that I had never used my camera before.

Luckily everything worked out well and in both cases they were happy but my honest advice is try and get out of it, at the end of the day you won't get time to actually enjoy the wedding and if you're doing pre ceremony photos of the bride getting ready etc it is a full day on you're feet with pressure from the moment you arrive to the end of the first dance.

At my sisters wedding we decided on putting disposable cameras on each table at the reception do at least I could relax a little after the first dance but I tell you I have never worked so hard in my life.

It was a great experience and if nothing else it has given me a massive respect for the pro wedding photographers.

I'm not saying don't do it but you and they need to be realistic on the results you are going to get it could be an embarrassing way of loosing a good friend.

Good luck ;)
 
I have a very sharp knife and book on surgery - my friend is needing his gall bladder taken out and he's happy for me to try - so I'll do it for free!

Or perhaps you don't mind loosing your friend?

Wedding photography is not really about photography - its about control and people skills. If you are paying for someone - and paying a lot, you'll do as they ask - but if it's your friend they'll say - "no, I want a drink/to speak to friends/etc" and wander off.

I am not trying to be negative - its just I have seen this happen too often - with people bringing me photos and in tears asking if there's anything I can do to "fix them".

If you have to ask the questions you have, you're not really ready to photograph a wedding and be in sole charge. By all means, photograph friends portraits - as you can always do it again if it doesn't work out - but with the pressures of the day - and the contraint of time....

Don't do it!
 
I don't think there's too much pressure because there's me and one other friend which are photographing the event. I'm more there as a guest of an official photographer but they did ask me to bring my camera and see if I can get some nice pictures, but as they don't have an official photographer I would like to surprise them with some really nice wedding photos. I will be with the groom and the other chap will be with the bride and then we'll all meet in the day. But it's something I want to start doing anyway so I think because there isn't a lot of pressure I think it will be a good place to start to build up my portfolio and get a feel for it.

Oh and they're using disposable cameras on the dining table to, and they did tell me there's no pressure at all :)
 
Igor said:
Oh and they're using disposable cameras on the dining table to, and they did tell me there's no pressure at all :)
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Thats what they all say. The risk of losing a friend here is very high so make sure your up for it if not give them a gift towards there wedding photographer..
 
asphotographymk said:
Thats what they all say. The risk of losing a friend here is very high so make sure your up for it if not give them a gift towards there wedding photographer..
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Well there on a very tight budget so it's either me or no one lol

They were just going to have everyone use there point and shoot cameras





But thanks for the pressure guys lol :P


It's in about 2 months. Shall I upload some of the results when I'm done? Would anyone be interested to see if I failed or succeeded?
 
Don't be diss hatred by negative comments take them with a pinch of salt and smash that wedding! good luck.
My friend is getting married in May and another friend is shooting his wedding as they too r on a tight budget. And he manages fine with just a Canon 60D and a 15-85 is usm and one spare battery, no second body no double of lenses. By the way he did 3 wedding last year too with the exact same equipment, and he charges about £400 and he has had no complaints.
 
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or more usefully take the constructive advice you've been given on board and learn from it - I'm not saying don't do it because everyone has to start somewhere and it sounds like your freinds doesnt have the cash for a pro anyway , but as pointers i'd say the following

read everything you can on wedding toggery - some of the pros on here have some good blogs (andy and yv to name two )

make sure you've got back up kit for anything you can't do without (key focal lengths, flash, and bodies as mentioned but also batteries (and batteries for the flash) and memory

Get a list of shots from your freind , and ideally take someone with you to help rounding up groups etc or at the very least get one of the ushers or someone nominated to help get groups together.

Get insurance including public liability and business costs - that will cost about £25 for a one off by the day policy - but its a lot mbetter than loosing everything if you do get sued.

Get something down in writing with the couple and signed by them which lays out what you are doing and not doing - there are loads of thread on here where people have not bothered because the clients a mate and subsequently wished they had , as well as specifying what you'll be covering this should also cover copyright ( you are keeping it), your right to use the shots for self promotion if you so wish , and what you are providing in terms of prints,albums, and/or rights released CDs etc

and lastly if you've got two months practice - in the likerly case of having no wedding to practice on just get a group of mates together or even hire a model and practice posing and lighting etc, then post the shots on here and learn by the critique
 
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Igor I'm a bit confused about your status at the wedding and who is photographing it

post 1

I've been asked to photograph my friends wedding, and as its my first time I said I'll do it for free!
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Suggests you are the photographer.

post 13

I don't think there's too much pressure because there's me and one other friend which are photographing the event. I'm more there as a guest of an official photographer but they did ask me to bring my camera and see if I can get some nice pictures, but as they don't have an official photographer
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So now there are to of you, plus you are the guest of the previously non existent official photographer, but the paragraph ends "they don't have an official photographer".

post 15

Well there on a very tight budget so it's either me or no one lol
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So back to you on your own again.

Just after some clarification as to your actual status as it will have a bearing on the type of shots you will be looking to get.

e.g. If there is a pro tog he will do the important shots leaving you free to shoot candids and hopefully get a bit of time with your friends for some nice B&G shots.

Re the pressure I have to agree with others that say, just because the bride says none, does not mean she will not become a bridezilla if you cock it up or more correctly she feels you have cocked it up.

I make a point of not shooting things at all for friends.

None of the above is intended to say don't do it just be aware of the pitfalls as well as how enjoyable it may be.

Remember the 6 p's
Proper Planning Prevents **** Poor Performance.
 
PsiFox said:
So now there are to of you, plus you are the guest of the previously non existent official photographer, but the paragraph ends "they don't have an official photographer".

.
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i think that might have been meant to read ' more there as a guest than as an official photographer'

in that case that makes it worse not better because if you are there as a guest not as an official tog no one will take you seriously and posing shots or getting the b&g alone will be impossible.

personaslly i try not to shoot stuff for freinds but if i have to i make it clear that paying or not i'm there as an official tog and i expect to be treated as such
 
Just to clarify

Originally I was invited as a guest to my friend's wedding. And then they asked if it was okay if I bring my camera along and take some photographs for them as they can't afford a photographer. They did say if I can't no worries because we have plenty of disposable cameras everywhere.

I said yes no problem I could do with the practice anyway. They also said our other friend which also has a decent camera could give me a hand and take some photographs with me.

All wanted to do is surprise them and get some really nice looking photographs.

Oh, and they will take me seriously because I know them all and if they don't I will kick ass lol :P
 
Take everything in this thread onboard, plenty of good advice, but can't reiterate enough, get out there and practice shooting people, in ALL kinds of light, and using flash, it will stand you in great stead on the day.



Also, find out if they have already bought the disposables - a far cheaper alternative is to provide guests with blank discs and SAE to put their pictures from their cameras and mobile phones, and get them posted back. Pics will probably be better quality too!

Good luck :thumbs:
 
Oh, and my sister paid £3000 for a set of photos from a pro photographer at her wedding and I could've done a better job on a point-and-shoot camera! The composition was awful, the exposure was off on most photos and the photos weren't very sharp either and completely dull.

So if my sister was happy to pay that sort of money for mediocre work, I don't think my friends will have too much of an issue paying nothing for my work ;)
 
bloke i know bought a bunch of cheap digi compacts off ebay - got a job lot of ten for 200 notes , put one on each table.

after the wedding they collated all the cards onto a hard drive , then sold the cameras on ebay - got £180 for them iirc
 
Igor said:
Oh, and my sister paid £3000 for a set of photos from a pro photographer at her wedding and I could've done a better job on a point-and-shoot camera! The composition was awful, the exposure was off on most photos and the photos weren't very sharp either and completely dull.

So if my sister was happy to pay that sort of money for mediocre work, I don't think my friends will have too much of an issue paying nothing for my work ;)
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3 grand - i hope she sued and got her money back
 
big soft moose said:
bloke i know bought a bunch of cheap digi compacts off ebay - got a job lot of ten for 200 notes , put one on each table.

after the wedding they collated all the cards onto a hard drive , then sold the cameras on ebay - got £180 for them iirc
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excellent idea! :thumbs:
 
lucky_13 said:
My friend is getting married in May and another friend is shooting his wedding as they too r on a tight budget. And he manages fine with just a Canon 60D and a 15-85 is usm and one spare battery, no second body no double of lenses. By the way he did 3 wedding last year too with the exact same equipment, and he charges about £400 and he has had no complaints.
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I suggest he changes his name to Lucky as well then, because imo at some point he will come unstuck, and could cost him more than the price of a spare bit of kit :D There are no negative comments being given out but advising the OP on the worst case scenario. Igor it will also pay to check out the venue beforehand, if the ceremony is in a Church then pop along and check out what available light you have to work with and where you will be positioning yourself in the Church, have a word with the Vicar beforehand to find out what they will and will not allow.
 
I know someone who relied on disposable cameras to "enhance" the photography from their wedding day. They later told me that there was not ONE good photo amongst the lot. So I would advise you (and the couple) to assume the worst from the disposables and aim for the best from the photographer/s.
 
if you can try and get into the venue so you can get some practise and see what settings work in there or areas to bounce flash off ect better to get some info than go in blind and be fiddling around with setting and missing shots good luck let us know how you get on
 
we had disposables at our wedding technically worst photos ever but some of the funniest photos youve seen lol. Ive done a wedding for a friend and it can be a nightmare but you gotta use the best man and ushers to your advantage they know all the close family memebers and can help round them up for you. Dont go mad trying to get all arty on the day just get good composed shots with all eyes on you (being vocal helps).
 
lucky_13 said:
Don't be diss hatred by negative comments take them with a pinch of salt and smash that wedding! good luck.
My friend is getting married in May and another friend is shooting his wedding as they too r on a tight budget. And he manages fine with just a Canon 60D and a 15-85 is usm and one spare battery, no second body no double of lenses. By the way he did 3 wedding last year too with the exact same equipment, and he charges about £400 and he has had no complaints.
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Please dont be offended but i am going to be straight here and say that is the worst advice i have ever read. Anyone who shoots a wedding (especially payed) without backup of everything possible is simply an idiot. The fact that anyone would risk a couples big deal because they are to cheap to have correct equipment is mind blowing. I wonder if when the day comes he breaks something and cant deliver if he even has insurance to cover his back.. Would insurence even cover this being that its your own negligence.

Igor said:
Oh, and my sister paid £3000 for a set of photos from a pro photographer at her wedding and I could've done a better job on a point-and-shoot camera! The composition was awful, the exposure was off on most photos and the photos weren't very sharp either and completely dull.

So if my sister was happy to pay that sort of money for mediocre work, I don't think my friends will have too much of an issue paying nothing for my work ;)
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No body is saying that everyone who charges x amount is going to be good. The key is experience. It does not matter if your charge 50p or £5000 experience is everything and that is something by your own admission you dont have. I understand the whole if they dont have me they wont have anything but photography is a luxury. If you cant afford a car you dont drive. In photography it seems if you cant afford it there will always be someone to do it for nothing.

Now i am not saying dont do it, you may find you have a great day, no problems, all you gear works perfect, the light is perfect, the couple look great and they are blown away by your images. Just ask youself how you will handle things if they do not go 100% to plan. And also if the friend is worth losing if they do turn out to have much higher expectations than you can deliver.

ryanyboy said:
I know someone who relied on disposable cameras to "enhance" the photography from their wedding day. They later told me that there was not ONE good photo amongst the lot. So I would advise you (and the couple) to assume the worst from the disposables and aim for the best from the photographer/s.
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Disposables cameras at wedding get nothing more than shots of kids feet, dark images from people not pressing the flash button and mens privet bits.
 
Personally I would buy a 50mm f/1.4 (on a Canon crop it's almost the equivalent of an 85mm - a classic focal portrait length - and then hire something in the 70-200 f/2.8 from lenses for hire.
 
I'd be terrified if I got asked to do a wedding, but it got me wondering
If you (OP) do this wedding, best of luck, but I'm curious. Will you work in manual, or camera on full auto?
The reason I ask is, my camera seems fine in auto, and pretty much gives decent shots, but I totally shoot manual, often with not the greatest results, but usually learn something from it
In your position, I think it'd be on auto permanently, am I just a coward? :-)
Hope it goes well for you
 
If you shoots a wedding in one of the expouse modes without taking into concideration the whites of the dress or the blacks of the suits the exposures can be all over the place and it will be extremily hard to get consitant looking results.
 
I usually shoot in AV , and just meter carefully to ensure i don't blow the whites (i'm also shooting in raw to give greater adjustability)

Others shoot in P or M or even TV it depends on what your prefference is , but what i would say is that anyone who contemplates shooting in full auto, or who has to ask which mode to use probably isnt ready to be shooting a wedding at all.
 
I was in a situation last year at my sisters wedding where the pro paid 'tog simply didnt show up (turned out they had a serious accident on the way) and I was asked the ominous question... 'will you do it please big brother?, you have the best camera here and the only one with a clue what your doing'. Pressure? bloody right! no recce, military honours wedding at St Marys Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, Easter Monday and teaming with tourists... brown trouser moment was one way of putting it.

I had the non VC version of the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 and my 70-200 f4L with me anyway to take my own shots so wasnt too badly off for kit. Thing is, at that point I had no interest in shooting people in any situation, never mind weddings (still dont really) and it was a very very quick bit of research on my phone for required shots and pretty much wing it from there. All went much better than I expected, got the shots I wanted and what my sister and her new hubby wanted.... then disaster.

I was taking shots of the evening reception, people wishing the happy couple all the best at the bar, people dancing etc. I sat down to get a drink myself and went to look at the images I had just taken. Hit the review button - showing image 1/1. OH MY GOOD S*%T! yep all images gone. Not a clue how it happened, camera wasnt out of my hand at all, only thing I can think of was I lifted the camera up to let a couple of people passed me and somehow I may have hit the menu button and it was on the Format function. I tried and tried since but cant recreate it, but its the only logical explanation I can come up with.

Anyways, I shot up to our hotel room, laptop on and tried to transfer images from the camera via a USB cable as I had no card reader with me. Nothing, just the 1 image the camera showed me. By luck I had read about recovery programmes in a camera mag, I got online and bought one but had to wait until next morning to go out and buy a card reader from the local tesco and hope for the best. So with nothing else to do, trying to look as unsubdued as possible I went back downstairs, explained it quietly to the wife and the both of us killed a bottle of Bushmills whiskey and a bottle of apple sours before going up to bed.

First thing next morning straight to Tesco and got a reader, lucky enough all images came back ok and I got an album put together for them.

Sorry for the 'cool story bro' type content but just wanted to show how easily one silly mistake or fault can cause a major problem. If you feel happy doing it, crack on, everyone has to start somewhere, but as said, do your research well, get your gear sorted well in advance, back up everything, learn how to be a diplomat, comedian and pre school teacher (trust me, when the drinks in the guests, you will see what I mean ;)) and once your sorted, have fun.
 
JonFM said:
I was in a situation last year at my sisters wedding where the pro paid 'tog simply didnt show up (turned out they had a serious accident on the way) and I was asked the ominous question... 'will you do it please big brother?, you have the best camera here and the only one with a clue what your doing'. Pressure? bloody right! no recce, military honours wedding at St Marys Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, Easter Monday and teaming with tourists... brown trouser moment was one way of putting it.

I had the non VC version of the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 and my 70-200 f4L with me anyway to take my own shots so wasnt too badly off for kit. Thing is, at that point I had no interest in shooting people in any situation, never mind weddings (still dont really) and it was a very very quick bit of research on my phone for required shots and pretty much wing it from there. All went much better than I expected, got the shots I wanted and what my sister and her new hubby wanted.... then disaster.

I was taking shots of the evening reception, people wishing the happy couple all the best at the bar, people dancing etc. I sat down to get a drink myself and went to look at the images I had just taken. Hit the review button - showing image 1/1. OH MY GOOD S*%T! yep all images gone. Not a clue how it happened, camera wasnt out of my hand at all, only thing I can think of was I lifted the camera up to let a couple of people passed me and somehow I may have hit the menu button and it was on the Format function. I tried and tried since but cant recreate it, but its the only logical explanation I can come up with.

Anyways, I shot up to our hotel room, laptop on and tried to transfer images from the camera via a USB cable as I had no card reader with me. Nothing, just the 1 image the camera showed me. By luck I had read about recovery programmes in a camera mag, I got online and bought one but had to wait until next morning to go out and buy a card reader from the local tesco and hope for the best. So with nothing else to do, trying to look as unsubdued as possible I went back downstairs, explained it quietly to the wife and the both of us killed a bottle of Bushmills whiskey and a bottle of apple sours before going up to bed.

First thing next morning straight to Tesco and got a reader, lucky enough all images came back ok and I got an album put together for them.

Sorry for the 'cool story bro' type content but just wanted to show how easily one silly mistake or fault can cause a major problem. If you feel happy doing it, crack on, everyone has to start somewhere, but as said, do your research well, get your gear sorted well in advance, back up everything, learn how to be a diplomat, comedian and pre school teacher (trust me, when the drinks in the guests, you will see what I mean ;)) and once your sorted, have fun.
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Well, if you can keep your cool through that, you can keep your cool through anything. Glad everything worked out OK. As far as I'm concerned, it's so much better if a camera has two card slots and can write to both simultaneously.
 
manual / auto / whatever mode is irrelevant. What is relevant is choosing the right setting for the moment. And as weddings change all day long, that means you need to be fluid with your approach and settings
 
Richard King said:
manual / auto / whatever mode is irrelevant. What is relevant is choosing the right setting for the moment. And as weddings change all day long, that means you need to be fluid with your approach and settings
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Thats exactly why I was asking, obviously as an amateur, as I often forget to change light setting, or maybe l
have shutter too slow for movement etc and I know it could come back to bite you
Very easy to get confused when the stress levels are up
So just in this semi hypothetical situation, personally, IF it was me or nothing toggerywise, I'd do it for a mate, but I'd be auto all day and put my trust in old father Nikons ability rather than mine :lol:
 
u8myufo said:
I suggest he changes his name to Lucky as well then, because imo at some point he will come unstuck, and could cost him more than the price of a spare bit of kit :D There are no negative comments being given out but advising the OP on the worst case scenario. Igor it will also pay to check out the venue beforehand, if the ceremony is in a Church then pop along and check out what available light you have to work with and where you will be positioning yourself in the Church, have a word with the Vicar beforehand to find out what they will and will not allow.
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Could not agree more with this. :thumbs:
 
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