Weddings

[John Patto]

Hi All, It has been a while but work has prohibited me from the joys of photography. Although I have a question(s). My sister in-law has asked me to photograph her wedding in 12 months time.
Big step from a beginner. I have a canon 60D with twin lens kit plus a 50mm. I would appreciate any information on how to approach this challenge, which gear I should look at buying. It will be a June Beach Wedding in Queensland. Thanks

[Cyza]

I dare say a flash will be essential.

[Kym]

:gday: & Welcome Back
- lets see some photos in the main CC forums (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?5) maybe try a competition or 2 and have fun!

Staying active is easy and fun, just post an image for CC once a fortnight and
post 2 or 3 CC comments to other images in the same fortnight.

For that wedding - lots of practice, get a 2nd shooter, and planning!

[Wayne63]

Welcome back

[John Patto]

Thanks, I'm just after which accessories would benefit me eg. lens type/filters,flash.
Which brands are preferable.

[ricktas]

another camera body (in case yours dies), extra memory cards, insurance (even a family wedding photographer could be sued if a guest falls over your camera bag and breaks an arm/leg etc).

[I @ M]

Big step from a beginner. I have a canon 60D with twin lens kit plus a 50mm. I would appreciate any information on how to approach this challenge,

If your sister in law ( presumably FUTURE sis in law :confused013) wants professional results, back out now and advise her to hire someone that has a ton of gear and more importantly, experience.
If she doesn't aspire to out of this world shots then take the job on, devote 23 hours a day until then researching the best way to do it and get a fatter credit card. :)

[John Patto]

They are aware i've never done it before, so its not going to be treated as professional quality shots. I won't be treating it like a professional photo shoot. I'm not expecting money for it and I don't believe there will be posing shots. Although I may push for some.
Any ideas on which quality lens(s) I should look at getting?

[Bennymiata]

How much are you willing to spend?

Got a lazy $10K laying around to buy lenses, flashes, reflectors etc etc?

[John Patto]

Not yet but I can work on it over 6 months, just need to know where to start. Don't want to buy anything thats not neccessary.
Got the memory cards and spare batteries, whats next?

[Cyza]

specify what your budget is, hard to help when we don't know what your price range is.
professional wedding photographers gear exceeds tens of thousands of dollars, so no point in simply suggesting the best.

A quality zoom lens would most likely be useful to you, something like the canon 15-55 F 2.8 IS, or since it's on the beach so there will be an abundance of light and little tight enclosed spaces a 24-105 F4L

[patrickv]

How about assisting another photographer at one or several weddings before? Weddings are one of the most demanding types of photography, I'm not sure anyone can get it right on the first attempt.

[John Patto]

Thats a great idea, i'll look into that possibility.
Budget allows around $2000 - $3000 for lenses right now, but could increase over the next 2-3 months.
Thanks

[ricktas]

10-22
24-70 f2.8
70-200 f2.8
speedlight and diffuser
extra camera body
insurance

and between now and wedding, as much portraiture practice as you can get. Also not knowing your post processing abililty, as much learning on processing techniques as you can.

[John Patto]

Awesome, thank you, Hopefully I'll get some photos up soon for critique

[John Patto]

What is a good brand of tripod?

[mcmahong]

Manfrotto is a decent tripod. But there's the tripod and there's the head (separate purchases unless they are bundled together). However it depends on your need. If it's ONLY for the wedding and not much use thereafter, you probably don't have to fork out for the expensive tripod. There are other brands of course. You should get down to a camera shop and experience them all first hand to see what suits you. PS. Don't buy the tripod until you have the lenses, as you want to know how much weight your tripod is going to have to carry!

- - - Updated - - -

John, I can appreciate you wanting to know what the best gear to buy is, and as a once off, you probably want to keep it fairly minimal. Rick's lens suggestions above are probably what you should think about. If you get a lens like the 24-70 or 24-105mm f/4L with IS, you'll probably use it for 90% of shots. Apart from that, you may want a wider angle lens (say 10-22mm) and/or a zoom (70-200 or even more if you can afford it). You most certainly need a quality flash as well (and at least 3 sets of new batteries). Anything after that are a bonus. I include a 50mm f1.8 because it is cheap, lightweight, and can come in handy when it the light gets low or I really want some short DOF.

The thing with weddings is that too many lenses can make it very cumbersome for you, especially as a beginner. You don't want to be halfway between the vows and the kiss and trying to change lenses (better option is having 2 bodies so that you can switch between the two quickly). So obviously there is a lot more to think about then the equipment, such as where you want to position yourself at each and every point during the day, what you actually want to photograph, and whether you want to capture everything that is going on around you (one of the parents will shed a tear during the day which can make for a gorgeous photo). Shooting the couple is obvious, but you may also want photos of the family and crowd, the rings, the marriage certificates, the flower girl sitting in the corner picking flowers off her bouquet, the church, etc etc. It can be frantic and a bit daunting. So think long and hard about a detailed plan, check out heaps of other photographer websites for inspiration and try to get some experience if you can - especially using your camera settings and knowing how to adjust for different conditions. Aperture, fill-flash, composition, are just some things to always keep in mind. Visit the location the day before at the same time of day so that you can take some practice shots and get a feel for the lighting conditions. If you can, maybe get someone to be your assistant to carry your extra gear and just help out with organising people and yourself. It really helps to have someone with good people skills doing the thinking for you while you concentrate on the camera.

The equipment won't give you better photographs if you are unprepared for using them. Keep it simple and learn to use what you have. And have lots of spare batteries, memory cards (I'd say minimum 4 x 8Gb if shooting in RAW), and a spare body if you can. Buy, borrow or hire.

As for insurance, since you are not being paid, think about if you are the "official" photographer or just another member of the crowd who is taking photos (a lot more photos, and standing in the way a lot).

Even the couple are relaxed about expectations, they will still be hopeful for some fantastic shots, so the more you can do beforehand to be prepared, the better.

Hope that wasn't too long-winded.

[John Patto]

No, Thats awesome input, i'll have to read it a few times to absorb it. The tripod info was very helpful as I was probably gonna get it next, now i'll wait.

Hopefully if the rain holds off this weekend I have my sons soccer game and a friends 40th B'day. Fingers crossed will get some good photos.

Thanks again

[ricktas]

A tripod is not something to use at a wedding, in my opinion. You need to be able to move around freely, change from crouching to standing on chairs to get angles etc. A good tripod weighs a bit too, you will have enough to cart around. A tripod is also a great thing for guests to trip over ( you are getting public liability insurance?). If you want something to stabilise you while shooting at this wedding, consider a monopod, not a tripod. But my recommendation for weddings is to hand-hold.

[Ms Monny]

Don't know if you want my 2 cents worth, but I was reading an old Australian Photography mag (Jan 2012) this morning over breaky and in the APS Focus part, a photographer was talking about the Program setting on the camera.

"Some wedding photographers use this setting regularly as often they have little time to keep checking the settings to make sure things are going according to their carefully thought-out plan".

I thought that was interesting and it made sense, esp for a beginner who is probably so caught up with what is happening around them, the settings on the camera get forgotten about .... or vice versa, and you miss important stages and quick catches of memorable things happening. One thing she did say was to watch the angle of the camera and keep it level. Get down on a knee or get up high for low or high shots BUT KEEP IT LEVEL. Angling the camera throws the cameras capacity to judge distance into chaos and you will get distortion.

Just a thought.

[John Patto]

Thanks, Any input is greatly appreciated, it may even help someone else reading this thread.

[mcmahong]

Actually Rick is right. There's little use for a tripod at a wedding. Only if you have time on your side and you are shooting in very low light conditions and don't want to use flash. The only time I've used a tripod is when I've set up a pseudo photobooth. The rest of the time it is handheld.

In relation to camera settings. The P function is definitely the easiest way out, except you have no control over DOF which is most important for portraits. Usually the P setting will pick a fast enough shutter speed and you can use it for general shots. If you want to take it to the next step for portraits, I'd suggest using AV mode but keeping ISO on auto, and dialling the aperture up or down as you see fit. But only do that if you know what you're doing. Keep an eye on the auto ISO though. If it starts getting high (above 800) you'll know to expect grainier shots. If you don't want that, you'll need to inject some artificial light into the scene.

Given it is a beach wedding, your biggest enemy could be if it is a bright sunny day and you have dark shadows casting over faces. Depending on how the wedding is set up, you may at times have no choice but to shoot towards the sun and get significant shadows in your picture. In P setting, your camera is likely to expose for the bright sunlight and the shadows will be very dark. This is where that fill-flash will come in handy otherwise you will be forces to over-expose your shots and risk having the background washed out. If it is a lightly overcast but still bright day, that will be best for you.

There are so many more bits of advice we could probably give you. Hopefully this isn't overload.

[WhoDo]

Beach wedding? Invest in a decent reflector (5-in-1) and use that instead of fill flash. Not too many flashes have the power to overcome the effects of the sun on a bright day. Better also get a reliable assistant to hold the reflector, too! You'll already have your hands well and truly full. ;)