Wedding Set-up

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AdamGP86

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Adam
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Hi,

I have just agreed to do the Photography for a family wedding on october. I usually end up bringing my kit to family functions etc and the bride & groom would rather have me do it than hire a pro.

Although I am relatively comfortable with the technical aspects photography and have plenty of time to practice I havent done anything as important as this or many portraits before so want to make sure everything is spot on.

My current Kit is:

EOS 1000D
EF-S 18-55
EF-S 55-250
EF-50 f1.8
Nissin Di622 Flash
Tripod

Is this going to be good enough to get quality shots? they are not expecting professional work but I like to take pride in what I do and dont want to hand over blurry wedding photos I was thinking the 50mm f1.8 is going to be the most useful since its nice & sharp and doesn't require such good light although I doubt it will be wide enough for indoors.

Does anyone have any advice for this I'm hoping since I have nearly 4 months to prepare I should be able to get this right :)

I'm planning to bring/buy plenty of memory cards and take a huge ammount of shots to reduce the chances of missing anyhting then just discard the bad ones.
I would consider buying/borrowing/renting a better lens however I am on a tight budget atm.

Thanks in advance,

A.
 
okay, there's lots of pressure with this and mixed advice I think.
the first thing is, do you have a back up camera you can borrow from a mate? just in case the worst happens!?
also you have most of what you need, a lot of people get long range low light portraits, 70-200mm f2.8 style photos
but for some small group shots the wide angle and flash might work
I would put in loads of practise if you can.
the f1.8 is fine for indoors, awesome really
but there isn't always light in a church in October.
learn how to get the best out of your flash too maybe use a bounce card (for short range portraits) as the flash is quite basic. and good luck

p.s i've been roped into this a couple of times and one family thing next year
 
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DizMatt said:
okay, there's lots of pressure with this and mixed advice I think.
the first thing is, do you have a back up camera you can borrow from a mate? just in case the worst happens!?
also you have most of what you need, a lot of people get long range low light portraits, 70-200mm f2.8 style photos
but for some small group shots the wide angle and flash might work
I would put in loads of practise if you can.
the f1.8 is fine for indoors, awesome really
but there isn't always light in a church in October.
learn how to get the best out of your flash too maybe use a bounce card (for short range portraits) as the flash is quite basic. and good luck

p.s i've been roped into this a couple of times and one family thing next year
Click to expand...

Hi Adam, Matts advice is bang on...practice and back up. You don't want to be in front of a group shot when a battery goes or the wedding God decides he hates you.
 
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To add to what Matt said:

If you're not planning on hiring fast lenses, don't bother trying to shoot low light stuff without flash. You'll just frustrate yourself, only shoot what you know you will nail.

That's why you shouldn't spray and pray. You're better off delivering 30 perfect shots you planned for than 300 best of the bunch.

It's only photography, it's about light, composition and timing. If you can keep calm and prioritise those then you're onto a winner.
 
Having shot my first weddings this year (first of which was a family wedding) my thoughts would be;

- Make sure you have more than enough memory cards, formatted and ready to go
- Swap cards after each 'stage' of the day, this way if a card goes down you don't loose the whole day
- Even though it's a family event, borrow a second body and make sure it is one you are familiar with, and if possible some faster glass
- Make sure you have enough batteries and that they are fully charged
- Don't be afraid to crank the ISO up - in the church i use a 50mm f1.4 prime and I'm usually around 2000 iso to get a shutter speed i can hand hold.
- Forget the tripod
- Don't be afraid to use Aperture priority. Im usually a manual shooter but found 'A' mode a saviour on the day!
- Spend as much time as possible practicing and looking online at wedding photography to get a feel for poses, lighting etc.
- Check with any venues you will be shooting at about any restrictions (i.e. no flash allowed) and as to whether they will need to see proof of PL insurance.
- Visit venues before hand at the time of day you will be there and try to get a feel for the lighting / back grounds etc.

IMO The advantage you will have being a family wedding is that you should be able to easily identify all the key people i.e. B&G parents, siblings, grandparents etc. However, generally is is harder to usher family around so make sure the Best Man and Ushers are on hand to help out.

Good Luck
 
Are you local to hampshire? If you are i have a few lenses you can borrow for the day.....? You would ideally need a lens with a wide aperture 2.8
 
Thanks for the advice guys, you confirmed a lot of what I was thinking already and make some good points.

Sounds like I should manage with what I've got if it ends up that way however higing/borrowing some faster glass would make everything much easier.

I think its going to be at a registry office so I imagine the lighting will be much easier to work with than in a church. I'll try & arrange a visit to the venue before hand or failin that get the b&g to send me some snaps of the area so I can scope it out.

The backup camera is a good point. I'll ask around nearer the time for a body to borrow failing that there will be my p&s and some of the family have dslrs which they wil most likely bring. I plan to take lots of batteries & memory cards just in case.
 
49Clicks said:
Are you local to hampshire? If you are i have a few lenses you can borrow for the day.....? You would ideally need a lens with a wide aperture 2.8
Click to expand...

Thankyou for the offer however I'm based near derby & the wedding is near grimsby so a bit far to pop round.

Thanks anyway
 
AdamGP86 said:
Thankyou for the offer however I'm based near derby & the wedding is near grimsby so a bit far to pop round.

Thanks anyway
Click to expand...

No problemo.
 
one more suggestion
if you can find someone localish, who wants experience as a wedding photographer (normally pimping themselves out to pros) then get in touch with them and see if you can get a 2nd who wants the experience.
not sure how viable that is, but just a thought
good luck
 
Phil V said:
To add to what Matt said:

If you're not planning on hiring fast lenses, don't bother trying to shoot low light stuff without flash. You'll just frustrate yourself, only shoot what you know you will nail.

That's why you shouldn't spray and pray. You're better off delivering 30 perfect shots you planned for than 300 best of the bunch.

It's only photography, it's about light, composition and timing. If you can keep calm and prioritise those then you're onto a winner.
Click to expand...

Some good advice there, those lenses you have listed (apart from the 50) are not great in low light. Some places don't allow flash also so you might find yourself really stuck!
 
DizMatt said:
one more suggestion
if you can find someone localish, who wants experience as a wedding photographer (normally pimping themselves out to pros) then get in touch with them and see if you can get a 2nd who wants the experience.
not sure how viable that is, but just a thought
good luck
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure there was a guy here asking from that area, I'll see if I can find him
 
AdamGP86 said:
I think its going to be at a registry office so I imagine the lighting will be much easier to work with than in a church. I'll try & arrange a visit to the venue before hand or failin that get the b&g to send me some snaps of the area so I can scope it out.
Click to expand...

Thats often not the case. There are plenty of dark registry offices where I'll be shooting at iso3200. Or you'll be shooting into windows in which case you've got to compensate big time to avoid silhouetting the couple because you can't use flash. You may get lucky & get a registrar who allows no photography through the ceremony in which case you can use flash on the processional, mock up of the signing of the register & recessional & not worry about the rest :)
 
AdamGP86 said:
Hi,

I have just agreed to do the Photography for a family wedding on october.
A.
Click to expand...

Since this is your first time, I would say get the B & G to hire a pro photographer, and you become a second shooter for the wedding.

This would be the best way to gain experience.

There is hell of a lot involved shooting a wedding and not to mention how much post processing is involved afterwards too.

To give you an idea, I was a 2nd shooter at a wedding and I shot 1500 photos. You will need need capture every shot more than once, especially with group shoots, because you will have someone in the photo distracted and looking the other way, another blinking etc...

A 2nd body with a 70-200mm F2.8 would be great. It will give you a nice blur on the background.

I would also say get a 2nd flash as a backup too and spare of batteries for both camera and flash.

Know you camera and kit really well, if you need to change ISO, exposure compensation , really quickly etc.. How to bounce flash, use a diffuser etc...

Its going to be mayhem on day... - be well prepared for it.

:)
 
All the advice about spare body swapping cards regularly is spot on but one thing I would add on from experience of doing a family wedding is to make sure that the couple and all the guests who know you are aware that you are wearing 2 hats.
Whilst doing the shots treat it as if you are any other wedding photographer and ensure that the B&G interact with you and nobody else get the relevant guests (parents etc) come in and out of the shots when you call them and use the Best Man and Ushers as gophers to grab people as and when needed.
Once the official bit is over you and the couple can chill out and you can look to have fun and get some great reportage grab shots
 
Thanks for the advice, hiring a pro to come along too is not going to be an option if budget allowed this would already be booked.

From what I've read here & elsewhere my plan is going to be to double up everything I can, get practice in similar lighting conditions between now and the wedding and to beg/borrow/hire/buy some faster glass for the event. Most likely an f2.8 17-55
 
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kman gave me a good quote when I was asking about a wedding photography booking

where abouts in the country are you? I can't recall.

also remember, that max aperture isn't always the best shot.
you can freeze the action but the picture can be less sharp. not a problem really for portraits in a church but I took some shots recently and from the angle I had, the groom was in DOF and the bride wasn't.
example
IMG_4309_800.jpg
 
I have the opportunity to get a Tamron 17-55 f2.8 from a colleague at a reasonable price, its the top end of what i'm willing to budget but it looks like it should be a good step up from my kit lens.

Does this sound like a decent upgrade to take along to the wedding? I imagine the F2.8 is going to be pretty useful, and it seems to give better contrast than my 18-55 although I think the stabiliser on my 18-55 helps quite a bit and the 17-50 is the non stabalised version
 
im based in Grimsby im guessing your going to the Cleethorpes registry office im no wedding photography but have done a couple of friends weddings just as you are now, im going to scout out the place soon as i have another one to do in september in that very place ill let you know what the light is like in there whats the date and time of this wedding if im not working i can most probably 2nd shoot for you if needed.
 
Its going to be in october, Its going to be a pretty small event with family only so I would have to discuss with the B&G before I looked at taking a 2nd shooter I dont think they would be keen but thanks for the offer.
 
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