Wedding Photography Tools

[flosseR]

On a negative side for professionals:
while I would never dare to shoot a wedding as a primary shooter simply because I like my friends without having to complicate things, our wedding photographer was a professional. I mean a professional wedding photographer, 2 decades of experience, and a huge client list. I even made reference calls and they all recommended her.

Now the shots were well done, and it went really smoothly when the pictures were taken.. but anything after that went down the drain. First we got a list of the shots she took so we could select the ones we wanted. We took it to our honeymoon (2 weeks) and when we came back made our order. nothing huge really. Well the pictures arrived ONE at a time... in the mail. She never picked up her phone after we wanted to complain about her sending the wrong shots and we are still waiting to complete our order which we paid for....

for the record: our wedding was over 7 years ago

We got the most important shots printed and I just scanned the prints in with a professional scanner and used it to re-print what we needed.

But even from professionals there are real screw ups.
So to the OP: if you do this, make sure you show them later the list of photos and let them choose which they want, then burn a CD or send them to print or whatever... but don't forget the things AFTER the shooting...

 

[Sir SpemzR]

I appreciate how everyone is trying to warn me not to do it because the pit
im digging myself into but if i werent around they wouldnt have an official
wedding photographer, so they asked me and i couldnt say no.

But now that i cleared that i cant say no id appreciate more positive help

I plan on attending the practices so i can set up where im going to shoot from
and so on, and when i take those practice shots ill post them here so u guys
can help me. (geeze what would i do without MR lol)

so i should rent a flash? dunno if i need a lens because i will be able to get pretty
close since the place isnt big at all and i know my family wont mind me
walking around using a flash.....

 

[toxic]

yes, get a flash. I think we've been saying this over and over...

 

[compuwar]

I appreciate how everyone is trying to warn me not to do it because the pit
im digging myself into but if i werent around they wouldnt have an official
wedding photographer, so they asked me and i couldnt say no.

But now that i cleared that i cant say no id appreciate more positive help

I plan on attending the practices so i can set up where im going to shoot from
and so on, and when i take those practice shots ill post them here so u guys
can help me. (geeze what would i do without MR lol)

so i should rent a flash? dunno if i need a lens because i will be able to get pretty
close since the place isnt big at all and i know my family wont mind me
walking around using a flash.....

I've advised a book, and what to practice and finding out if the officiant will actually allow flash, as well as some of what to Google and to work on a shot list, I don't know how much more positive help I can offer if given the tight deadline you haven't already gotten the book, talked to the officiant and started practicing. At this point, it seems to me like you've gotten lots of advice in this thread, if you're still asking for more and haven't acted on what you've gotten, it doesn't bode well for success. Isn't more than ten percent of your time gone? Shouldn't you be actually investigating or implementing what advice you've been given already?

 

[giffut]

Let ...

... me tell you my experience, with my personal wedding (the legal one, church is still imminent): At that time I had a bad digicam, a good nikon analog with a 50mm 1,8 prime, my wife the same analog setup with a 50mm 1,4 prime, and a friend with a good DSLR. We handed out the cameras and told them to shoot.

This was the best worst decision we could make: We had no control whatsoever about what got shot how, the handling of the digicam was disastrous, we had a mechanical failure on of the analog bodies ... but: We got so many "mood" shots, which grabbed the spirit of this event right where it hapened. Bad ISO, blures, insufficient light, who cares. Granted, we don´t have perfect settings, posed setups and the like, but always we look at them, we instantaniously jump right into the mood of it, remember the conversation that took place, who what why ...

So the tale is: Some like it this, some won´t those, you get the problem.

I personally don´t like high fancy, magazine type staged settings too much. They mostly blow up memories in an artificial way, which doesn´t fit the event itself. They are also a commodity, as almost any wedding photographer will keep somewhat the same professional schedule. As a matter of fact, very often the celebration of the event itself gets buried under those fancy shots. But wedding is about witnessing and partying the partnership of two people, and their friends and relatives taking part etc. When it´s scheduled, most of the anarchiy is gone. But with a good party, the certain spice of anarchy cooks the diner.

Back to you. As you describe the event, it´s very initimate, personal, mostly tursted and known people around. For this, don´t make yourself uneasy with too much training in advance. Train what you can, prepare some experiments on the scene, but "let it flow", so to speak. You should take those pictures, because you have fun, not because you chase settings and poses in perfection. And it is your pictures, your style - makes it as individual as no wedding photographer ever can get. Your failures may be perect for the scene, so to speak.

Very personal opinion, I know, but maybe it helps.

 

[coldsweat]

A few bits of advice of how to act on the day.....

1) go in there with confidence that you can pull it off!

2) organizing wedding guests can be like herding cats - and it's even harder when you know them, so don't be afraid to shout loudly!

3) remember the words 'look at THIS camera please'

4) as long as the shots are in focus, the B&G are smiling & there aren't any building sites in the background - the bride will more than likely love the photo's, as it's her day & every picture will bring back a different happy memory (rose tinted specs syndrome)!


There are many brides & grooms who don't have pro photographers at their weddings for a variety of reasons & have family members take the pictures, so don't beat yourself up over it, don't spend a fortune on kit (although a flash, spare battery & spare cards are essential) & above all enjoy the day!

 

[ftaok]

Also another nugget. Steve Jobs went to a wedding of one of his friends and was the official photographer for it. Not sure of Jobs' techniques, but I didn't hear any fallout.

I think it was the wedding of the guy who owns Oracle. Forget his name at the moment.

ft

 

[Mousse]

A few bits of advice of how to act on the day.....

1) go in there with confidence that you can pull it off!

2) organizing wedding guests can be like herding cats - and it's even harder when you know them, so don't be afraid to shout loudly!

3) remember the words 'look at THIS camera please'

Yep, #1 is the best advice. If you go in expecting to fail, you will...miserably. An addendum to #2 is to work with big groups first, then thin them out. Most beginners invariably shoot the parents with the B/G first (hey, that's the money shot) then try to get the family photo. There will always be a cousin Willie who's already downed half a bottle of Champagne once the ceremony ends. Herding cats. (I like that). As for #3, my usually have a tripod set up, once the shot is framed, I'd raise my hand and wave. That usually draws everyone attention to me and the camera.

 

[Sir SpemzR]

k just ordered the speedlite from lensrentals and tonight im invited to a
dinner they are having and ill be sure to sit with them and go over a few
things