Beginner What do i need?

jycaptions

jycaptions

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Name
Janet
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Yes
I will be doing a wedding in August and I am a beginner. Just needing some pointers on what I should need extra.. i know extra battery is one. But what other equipment should i need or accessories.

Anything is helpful and any suggestions or tips are welcome!

Also I have a question.. is there a specific lens hood good for the outside or just any that fits my canon t5.

Thanks in advance big time!
 
No its practice.. i am doing it for my step sister. Why whats the issue?
 
Okay, you need two quality full frame DSLR bodies, two fast 70-200 f2.8 zoom, two 24-70 f2.8 zooms or something wide and fast (24 f.2.8 and/or 35 f1.8 or f1.4). A few quality speedlights, light stands, lots of high speed CF or SD cards and, most importantly, public liability and indemnity insurance.

Couple this with strong photographic skills, people skills, organisation, and lots of practice including visiting the venue beforehand at the same time of day as the wedding and you'll have a chance.

My first wedding I had a camera and lens break down and my second lost his shots to a card failure.
 
jycaptions said:
I will be doing a wedding in August and I am a beginner. Just needing some pointers on what I should need extra.. i know extra battery is one. But what other equipment should i need or accessories.

Anything is helpful and any suggestions or tips are welcome!

Also I have a question.. is there a specific lens hood good for the outside or just any that fits my canon t5.

Thanks in advance big time!
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To do it with any conviction you'll need:

At least x2 capable bodies (ideally both gripped)
Fast lenses that cover the focal length of at least 35-135mm
At least x2 flashes
A load of batteries
A load of memory cards

That's really the bare minimun to cover a wedding properly. If you're a guest then it's a different story.
 
jycaptions said:
No its practice.. i am doing it for my step sister. Why whats the issue?
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Not a problem as such, it is just easier to clarify from the off so people can tailor the advice to suit. In fact have a read of THIS thread to give you an idea of why it helps to explain more what you are doing.

Certainly spare batteries [for cameras and flash] are worth having, spare memory cards will also be useful, but after that it will very much depend on your existing kit, which you haven't mentioned in any detail, as to what else you might need. Forgive me, as a mainly UK site, AND a Nikon user, the Canon t5 is? 70D?
 
jycaptions said:
I have the canon T5

EOS Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens
Click to expand...

Don't take this the wrong way as its mean to be constructive - but neither the lens or body you have will cut it at weddings.

The body won't handle low light well at all and the lens, while it's a handy focal length to have on a crop sensor, isn't anywhere near fast enough.

Not sure where you are but might be an idea to search out a company in your area where you can rent some equipment to shoot the wedding, especially seeing as you're just dipping your toe in the water.
 
You said you're doing this ad practice. Does that mean with a view to charging in future? How much of a beginner are you?
 
Okay appericate the honesty i respect that. Its nice to hear someone give u good advice and not treat you like a idoit like the other person making stupid comments above you. We all started somewhere and as beginners in photography at one point .. noone was born as a professional . Again appreciate it alot!
 
I shadow a professional at this time and i am just doing this wedding for a favor because step sister is on a budget. But ill be getting the rest equipment that i need just wanted advice. But eventually yes will be charging but not anytime soon. I mostly do portraits for familes and sceneries and city life.
 
First up I'd be looking at a couple of cheap fast primes for this wedding then. A 50mm f1.8 and a 35mm f2 (although the Canon one is a bit meh) or Sigma 30 f1.4. You need some fast glass and practice with it. As long as your step sister has no expectations you'll do fine. It would help to see some of your work to help out with pointers.
 
Anything with people will give us an idea where you are, Janet. :)
 
I couldn't find alot on my phone most are on my computer but here is a few..
 
As to equipment, I think most of it has been covered either here or in the hundreds of other threads asking similar questions. If you go o the search box and type wedding , you should get plenty of hints. So I am going to comment mainly on the pictures you've linked. The main thing I noted was that the composition was off in all 3. In more detail:

1. Girl with hand out.
Because of the central position of the tree, this appears to be the main focal point and serves to split the image in 2. To the left there is a lot of dead space which adds nothing to the picture. To the right, because she is so close to the edge she looks squashed between the tree and edge. Moving the tree further left would have worked better as it would have given her more space, alternately having the tree on the left edge and shooting in vertical again would work better. I hope you don't mind but as you have clicked that its ok yo edit I've had a quick play with the first one. Unfortunately as you can see you need more on the right to fill the frame. You also ideally have enough so as to not have to crop her legs
View attachment 29619


2. Girl
Simply you've cut off the top of her head. It can wrk on a very tight crop, but there is too much else for this in the image for this to work

3.Girl against tree.
Same issues as no. 1, also keep an eye on your backgrounds, personally I would have cropped out the tree at the extreme right. She also appears to ave a leg growing out of her shoulder
 
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Janet if you're family have no expectations of you I'm sure you will be fine. You're right of course, we all start somewhere.

You just need to be mindful that even though you THINK they have no expectations of you, they might actually expect professional--quality images at the end. That's where you might find yourself in trouble because the body you have and lens just aren't up to the job. You should also spend as much time as possible between now and then reviewing other photographers work for inspiration and ideas. Turning up with your camera but unprepared would be disastrous.

You might also want to make a shot list to remind you what you want to capture. Time moves fast over a wedding and you will be kicking yourself if you miss important shots.
 
Janet, I think that you need to learn about composition. I suggest reading through the many threads on weddings in the people and portraits section. You'll see the work of all levels of wedding photographer and the critique from some great photographers. So much you could learn there.
 
Thank you all.. those pictures are not.the originals. It just woudlnt.in.the phone.the size.that they were originally sorry guys.my good onea are on my computer and its out of.service but thanks for the input.
 
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