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matty198111

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mat
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Was talking to a member of family today and they know two couples who are getting married soon

unfortunatly they cant afford a pro togger so are not having any pictures done, maybe just from family's point and shoot ect

i was telling her how in a few years i would like to shoot a few weddings when im confident and we got thinking, would it be worth me going along to the wedding and just shooting them, obviously for free as i may get alot of unusable pics, but surly the experiance will be worth the couple hours work.

at tghe moment she knows of two couple's but her line of work she gets to meet lots of couple's that get married on a budget, so i could have alot of practice.

maybe if i get 15 or 20 good shots and they like them i could charge a minimal fee to cover cost and give them a disc to do as they please


what do youu guys think

p.s i know shooting a wedding is alot of responsibility as its there big day, but bearing in mind they are not having anyone shoot it so surely its a win win
 
if they are under no illusions about your experience and aren't paying for the service then having you take pictures will at least give them some pictures of the day. someone who is there with the sole purpose of taking shots of the ceremony etc should hopefully get better ones than the opertunistic ones the guests will be taking. read up on what shots you should be aiming to get as a minimum and maybe have an informal chat with the bride to ask if there's anything in particular she'd like. even though it's just practice to you you should try to treat it like the professional that you aspire to be.
 
lexie said:
if they are under no illusions about your experience and aren't paying for the service then having you take pictures will at least give them some pictures of the day. someone who is there with the sole purpose of taking shots of the ceremony etc should hopefully get better ones than the opertunistic ones the guests will be taking. read up on what shots you should be aiming to get as a minimum and maybe have an informal chat with the bride to ask if there's anything in particular she'd like. even though it's just practice to you you should try to treat it like the professional that you aspire to be.
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oh of course i will make sure they understand that i am only learning and explain that they may not get any photo's but there is a chance (slightly better than opertunistic ) of getting a few half decent shots.
 
also what should i be looking at taking

i was thinking of

on camera flash
spare battery
nifty fifty
memory
is there anything else

i also have a 18-55 and a 70-300 would it be worth taken them
 
matty198111 said:
also what should i be looking at taking

i was thinking of

on camera flash
spare battery
nifty fifty
memory
is there anything else

i also have a 18-55 and a 70-300 would it be worth taken them
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Whoops just spotted Matt`s thread :gag:
Just go along and enjoy the show, take as many pics as you can and dont rush to get them to the bride and groom.
 
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Rokkin said:
If it were me, I'd offer my services for free, rather than 'if they turn out ok i'll send you a bill' approach.

Hire some quality lenses for the day.
Research
Plan
Prepare
Learn
Have fun

:)
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i think that i worded it wrong in my original post

i meant add a little on to any prints that they want just so im not out of pocket.

my aunt said she could get lots of weddings where i can take pics as she is often getting asked, a few a week if i want

so i doubt i will hire quality lenses yet as it wll make me out of pocket
 
Surely gaining experience is worth the small expense of hiring some good glass.?
 
TCR4x4 said:
Surely gaining experience is worth the small expense of hiring some good glass.?
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yes mate i agree

but at the moment i dont have money to spare.
but surely i can still get good experience with my lenses, i mean like get a feel for it, get used to being in the right place , knowing what angles to take pics from and communication with people

im not saying i will never hire a lens if it will cost me, of course i will but jnuary is a bad month anyway plus i have been out of work do to an injury , once i get back to the norm then i will have a few pound spare so could hire a lens ect
 
matty198111 said:
also what should i be looking at taking

i was thinking of

on camera flash
spare battery
nifty fifty
memory
is there anything else

i also have a 18-55 and a 70-300 would it be worth taken them
Click to expand...

If the lens you have is the 17-55 f2.8, I would suggest that you use this as your main lens, not the 50mm. The longer lens may be of use once you get outside unless there is plenty of light in the church. Make sure you get a list of shots that the B&G want, and make sure you take the group shots first, giving you time to spend with the happy couple.

Make sure you have a good understanding of flash, and get in lots of practice before the day.

Oh, and have fun !

Steve

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums
 
I would charge them digital files if they like them but only charge cheap due to most of it being for experience, remember it's not just photography you'd be learning you need to learn the entire day, plan, organise, there's lots of mini skills in weddings apart from photography itself :)
 
Jelster said:
If the lens you have is the 17-55 f2.8, I would suggest that you use this as your main lens, not the 50mm. The longer lens may be of use once you get outside unless there is plenty of light in the church. Make sure you get a list of shots that the B&G want, and make sure you take the group shots first, giving you time to spend with the happy couple.

Make sure you have a good understanding of flash, and get in lots of practice before the day.

Oh, and have fun !

Steve

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums
Click to expand...

unfortunatly its not that lens, the lens i have is the 18 55 3.5-5.6
 
If you're doing it for free thats one thing and a great way to get experience. However, if money is going to change hands at any point then it's a different matter. You really need at least two of everything and insurance.
 
there's no damage done if they are not getting a tog but what you will find is that they still have expectations. It's a great way to learn going to a wedding and following the pro around but if youre the only one, that it very TOUGH! Especially so with lenses that can't cut the mustard when the going is tough and you have to shoot everything indoors.

I'm not saying don't do it but see if they would pay for the hire of the lenses - Get a 24-70 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 and a decent prime. That way you know you will have the gear that is able to take the shots in most circumstances and can then concentrate on making the shots :)

If they pay for the hire of the kit and cost price (plus expenses) for the images you could get some valuable experience.
 
EOS_JD said:
there's no damage done if they are not getting a tog but what you will find is that they still have expectations. It's a great way to learn going to a wedding and following the pro around but if youre the only one, that it very TOUGH! Especially so with lenses that can't cut the mustard when the going is tough and you have to shoot everything indoors.

I'm not saying don't do it but see if they would pay for the hire of the lenses - Get a 24-70 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 and a decent prime. That way you know you will have the gear that is able to take the shots in most circumstances and can then concentrate on making the shots :)

If they pay for the hire of the kit and cost price (plus expenses) for the images you could get some valuable experience.
Click to expand...

good idea

gotta see my aunt soon to see how its gonna be worked out but she says i may be able to see the bride and groom before the day but if not she will ask them about the hire cost, but if they dont want to then its upto them if they want me to try with the lenses i got.

but i am going to make it 100% clear that i am no pro and they may not get any pictures they like, but if they get one then its a bonus

if i only got a few i will print them of and let them have them as a thank you for letting me go on there big day
 
so is it possible to get a suitable lens for 150 -£200

i have that much for a printer but think it would be best if poss to get a lens first as they will be paying for the prints anyway, so i could do with out a printer for a while

mat
 
EOS_JD said:
there's no damage done if they are not getting a tog but what you will find is that they still have expectations. It's a great way to learn going to a wedding and following the pro around but if youre the only one, that it very TOUGH! Especially so with lenses that can't cut the mustard when the going is tough and you have to shoot everything indoors.

I'm not saying don't do it but see if they would pay for the hire of the lenses - Get a 24-70 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 and a decent prime. That way you know you will have the gear that is able to take the shots in most circumstances and can then concentrate on making the shots :)

If they pay for the hire of the kit and cost price (plus expenses) for the images you could get some valuable experience.
Click to expand...

looking at those lenses yousuggested the ones i saw are 700 quid + is there a cheaper alternative that will do for now until i have the money to get a decent one, obviously if they pay for hire of lenses there gonna want some pics so would rather not charge until i know i can do a good shoot for them
 
matty198111 said:
so is it possible to get a suitable lens for 150 -£200

i have that much for a printer but think it would be best if poss to get a lens first as they will be paying for the prints anyway, so i could do with out a printer for a while

mat
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At the expensive end of that budget I bet you could find a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 which is a highly rated lens amongst every photographer I know who owns one. It will be versatile and have a wide aperture for the weddings you shoot.
 
mastertrinity said:
At the expensive end of that budget I bet you could find a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 which is a highly rated lens amongst every photographer I know who owns one. It will be versatile and have a wide aperture for the weddings you shoot.
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thanks mate

that looks like a good lens, slightly over budget but should be able to get the rest soon enough


mat
 
You'll need high ISO inside the church, make sure your camera can cope without producing noisy images, i helped do a wedding and i struggled to get 1/60 @ 150mm with no VR or OS 0n ISO1000 !
 
Graham00 said:
You'll need high ISO inside the church, make sure your camera can cope without producing noisy images, i helped do a wedding and i struggled to get 1/60 @ 150mm with no VR or OS 0n ISO1000 !
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Not just the church, basically anything indoors.

This is 35mm, F/1.8, 1/30th and 1600 ISO, 2 weeks ago.

The room was huge, windows both sides and yet some how at that moment, the light dropped so much through the windows I was pushing 1600 ISO.

IMG_0198.jpg


Can you imagine shooting this at 2.8, thus pushing over 3200 ISO? This was in the middle of the day, and it wasn't even raining outside, just cloudy.
 
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Graham00 said:
You'll need high ISO inside the church, make sure your camera can cope without producing noisy images, i helped do a wedding and i struggled to get 1/60 @ 150mm with no VR or OS 0n ISO1000 !
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If its in winter you can quite easily be at that level outside in the shade, in a church you can be way beyond that right up to the point where you have nowhere else to go.

ISO 12,800 for 1/50 sec at f2.8 shooting at 200mm makes you wish you had a bag full of 1.4 primes, but then you have the issue of less DOF than you like anyway.

If your shooting weddings you will want a camera with decent ISO performance, if your shooting weddings in winter you will be wanting the best ISO performance available.
 
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