Wedding Kit

No back up and no insurance is very very unprofessional. That is not an attack the is a statement from several very experienced people. If you choose not to take the advice of experienced professionals that is up to you but if you dont want an honest opinion your in the wrong place.

With no backup lens or camera you are putting the wedding at risk and when the day comes that something fails (it happens to everyone at some point) you are then putting yourself at risk of a serious claim being made against you, this is why you have more need for insurance than most of us. Not only that but the couple who are expecting the memory of there special day to be captured will be left with nothing.

I am not saying you need the best gear for a wedding, i am totally in agreement for people to use basic slr kits if they know how to use it the results can be great but backups are a basic must for any wedding. By not having it your showing negligence that could get very expensive.

What do you do if your break a lens or your camera fails?
 
SussexBlue said:
Don't do weddings and have no desire to ever do them but my niece is a wedding photographer and of all her photos the ones that get most comments are the fisheye shots she takes, candids and groups shots from the stepladder.
Interesting to see that no one above is using one
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I use a step ladder. Essential kit.
 
lensflair said:
Like I said I don't think there's anything wrong with using a single body and lens, but I'm really interested to know what happens when your primary camera or lens fails? Is that part of your agreement with your clients? Do you have a clause that says if either fail you call it quits?

I'm frankly surprised that anyone who's wedding photography is important enough to them to hire a pro would be willing to accept that risk. I've never met a professional wedding photographer who wouldn't have a backup, even if they didn't own it they would hire one for the job.

So you really shoot without any kind if backup at all?
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always did - had no money to buy extra kit. did the same when shooting cars. don't get me wrong had I had the cash I would have bought a nother camera I suppose but its not anyones place here to tell me what to do. Thats what is getting my goat.


also who said anything about me being a pro :lol:
 
POAH said:
always did - had no money to buy extra kit. did the same when shooting cars. don't get me wrong had I had the cash I would have bought a nother camera I suppose but its not anyones place here to tell me what to do. Thats what is getting my goat.


also who said anything about me being a pro :lol:
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its good advise about the backups and insurance. I was on a wedding shoot as a 2nd shooter and the pro was moving around trying to get an angle on a shot, did not notice a step down, tripped, fell and destroyed the lens. This happened less than an hour into the 6-7 hour day....

I love the idea of being able to do an entire wedding with 1 camera and 1 lens (D3 and 50mm 1.4) but I would still run my D300 as a backup, just in case ;)

Good luck :D
 
Each to their own...

I wouldn't have the bottle to do it without a backup. I'm sure there is enough worry on the day leaving kit out of it.
 
POAH said:
always did - had no money to buy extra kit. did the same when shooting cars. don't get me wrong had I had the cash I would have bought a nother camera I suppose but its not anyones place here to tell me what to do. Thats what is getting my goat.
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People are giving you advice not telling you what to do. These people are all experinced and know what there talking about so if you dont want to take it but the only person who will lose out is you.

POAH said:
also who said anything about me being a pro :lol:
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Well if you are not a professional then your answer is not even valid is it. The OP was asking about kit for a professional wedding. Yes if your just snapping at a mates wedding then having no back up is fine but that is not what this thread is about. If you are hired to shoot a wedding then you are a professional (even if only for that day) for this reason you need to deliver no matter what. If your equipment is damaged in the first 5 mins of the wedding and you fail to deliver anything you will very easily be shown as being negligent and you client will very easily claim damages against you no matter what your contract says. And then to top it off you are not insured so these damages will come out of your own pocket. This could work out much more expensive than the back up.
 
As someone who got married a couple of years ago, I would never hire anyone to do my wedding who wouldn't have backup bodies and lenses with him. Wedding photography can be quite expensive, and if I'm paying a lot of money for it (as I did), then I fully expect the tog to be able to cover virtually any eventuality.
 
Davey_Pitch said:
As someone who got married a couple of years ago, I would never hire anyone to do my wedding who wouldn't have backup bodies and lenses with him. Wedding photography can be quite expensive, and if I'm paying a lot of money for it (as I did), then I fully expect the tog to be able to cover virtually any eventuality.
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And i find most of my customers ask if i carry backup equipment. Most people do lots of research and like you would not hire a photographer without all basis covered.
 
I would add in Duck Tape and a marker pen, cos they can come in really handy, and you never know.
 
Purely out of interest. Do the wedding togs on here tend to use the backup body during the day with a zoom on one body and something like a 50mm on the other or is it simply packed away as a backup?

The thought of doing weddings scares me but i've always wondered if the 2nd body actually gets used or rotated week on week at different weddings?
 
I really don't see the need for backup kit.

See here


Canon 5Dii x 2 (plus two backup bodies - e.g. 400Ds)
24-700 2.8 (only have one right now - need another)
70-200 2.8 x 2
580 EXII x 2 (plus YN-XXX jobbies as backup)
Batteries galore!
CF cards galore!
Ladder
Light stands, Cactus V5s, brollies and a beauty dish
Couple of studio heads (just in case weather stinks and inside shots needed)
Laptop, CF card reader


Cheers.

Dav
 
FlyTVR said:
I really don't see the need for backup kit.

See here


Canon 5Dii x 2 (plus two backup bodies - e.g. 400Ds)
24-700 2.8 (only have one right now - need another)
70-200 2.8 x 2
580 EXII x 2 (plus YN-XXX jobbies as backup)
Batteries galore!
CF cards galore!
Ladder
Light stands, Cactus V5s, brollies and a beauty dish
Couple of studio heads (just in case weather stinks and inside shots needed)
Laptop, CF card reader


Cheers.

Dav
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I wish Nikon made one of these 24 - 700 lenses, then I could sell my 70 - 200 :lol::lol:
 
5DmkII
5D
1DmkIII
7D
24-105mm f4
70-200mm f2.8
Sigma 50mm f1.4
Canon 85mm f1.8
Sigma 24-70mm f2.8
Sigma 10-20mm
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8
580EXII, 580EX, 430EX

I work with the 2 full frames and 24-105/70-200 lenses and the 7D is ready in the wings with the 17-50mm just in case during the service and I can't change anything. I also keep the 1DmkIII around to give extra options if something has gone down.

If you are the photographer, paid or not covering a wedding then you must have the ability to keep shooting, I didn't charge for my first 2 weddings but I still had 2 bodies and lens options so I didn't let them down if it went wrong. Even having a 400D and some kit lens is going to let you keep on shooting, sure not many creative options and limitations in low light but you can work around it better than shooting with thin air.
 
Julie1979 said:
Purely out of interest. Do the wedding togs on here tend to use the backup body during the day with a zoom on one body and something like a 50mm on the other or is it simply packed away as a backup?

The thought of doing weddings scares me but i've always wondered if the 2nd body actually gets used or rotated week on week at different weddings?
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This is a second body a backup stays safely tucked away where it cant be damaged. I sometimes use a second body also which means i carry 3 bodys.
 
Julie1979 said:
Purely out of interest. Do the wedding togs on here tend to use the backup body during the day with a zoom on one body and something like a 50mm on the other or is it simply packed away as a backup?

The thought of doing weddings scares me but i've always wondered if the 2nd body actually gets used or rotated week on week at different weddings?
Click to expand...

I use 2 bodies during a wedding with a 3rd (backup with spare 24-70mm) in my case.
 
SussexBlue said:
Don't do weddings and have no desire to ever do them but my niece is a wedding photographer and of all her photos the ones that get most comments are the fisheye shots she takes, candids and groups shots from the stepladder.
Interesting to see that no one above is using one
Click to expand...
A they are a pain to carry around and B your not supposed to work from them now (HSE) they are only supposed to be used to reach things, and then only on a level firm surface. Besides you can usually find a high vantage point to shoot down from without using a step ladder, a lot of venues wouldn't let you use one for fear of claims I suspect.
 
POAH said:
always did - had no money to buy extra kit. did the same when shooting cars. don't get me wrong had I had the cash I would have bought a nother camera I suppose but its not anyones place here to tell me what to do. Thats what is getting my goat.


also who said anything about me being a pro :lol:
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So which is it? Either you're taking money for weddings and not turning up with the kit to make sure you can do the job which you've been paid, in which case it's unprofessional. Or, you're not doing it for money in which case your situation is that of an amateur and therefore irrelevant to this discussion.

Either way, you're giving the impression you shoot weddings for money.

So which is it?
 
Definition

Main criteria for professional include the following:

A professional is a person that is paid for what they do. Qualifications have little to do with being a professional as the world's "oldest profession" is strictly a monetary gain career. An amateur maybe more qualified than a professional but they are not paid, thus they are an amateur.
Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally.[6]
Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.[7]
High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing or other work endeavors.
A high standard of professional ethics, behavior and work activities while carrying out one's profession (as an employee, self-employed person, career, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc.). The professional owes a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to pay or remunerate the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interest of the client ahead of his own interests.
Reasonable work morale and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism.
Participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return


Sets out pretty clear what a "pro" is
 
I've been doing a fair bit of purchasing recently with a view to changing my hobby to a career. When you say about backup kit, would it initially be okay to go in with low-end gear for backup? I have a D700, 24-70 2.8, 50 1.8, a 70-200 2.8 coming next week, but in terms of backup all I could muster at the moment is my old D60 with 18-70 3.5 lens.
 
I would say your backup has to be good enough to be able to allow you to continue to shoot and provide the quality that you've advertised to your clients. Now obviously it will depend on your style and shooting situations, for example if you are doing natural light in a church that is really not well lit then probably the D60 and kit lens won't let you shoot it well. You could always look at renting gear for specific jobs if you can't afford it outright, obviously after a few jobs it is cheaper to own everything.
 
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