New To Wedding Photography / Questions...

[timhaut]

Hi, I'm 21 years old and I really enjoy photography. So far I've mostly done it for fun and a

little freelance here and there. I luckily have 4-5 weddings that I will be shooting in the

next few months and am a little worried about getting the best quality pictures for my

clients (my friends). Thankfully they have asked me to shoot their weddings so I can build

a portfolio throughout this year. My real worry is, do I have the right equipment to get

great shots?

 

I have a Canon 20D with 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS, 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS, 28-135 f/3.5-5.6.

I also have 3 BP511 batteries. 1 GB Sandisk normal speed CF card. Bogen Tripod. I'm

pretty positive I will need a flash but I really don't have experience with flash photography

and need to know which kind to get, which flash brackets to get...Should I invest in any

prime lenses (ex. super wide for portraits)? Should I invest in any other lenses? Any other

equipment I might need?

 

I am on a budget but if I have to spend money to get me started out then I can pull it off.

If you have any tips on what I should not forget while shooting these weddings or what

kind of equipment I will need please let me know. Your response is much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Tim

[wingedrabbit]

Tip #1. Back up equiptment. Murphy's law will always happen (that's why it's a law). Back up your camera body, lens, and flash.<br>

<br>

Tip #2. Get more memory. One gig isn't going to cut it when shooting RAW.<br>

<br>

Tip #3. Shoot in RAW. Lighting mistakes are easier corrected in RAW rather than JPEG.<br>

<br>

Tip #4. <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a?topic_id=2021&category=First+Timer+and+Newcomers+to+Wedding+Photog%2e">First Timer and Newcomers to Wedding Photog</a> Check it out.<br>

[kevin cook - stratford upo]

The usual response is to type in first time etc in the search engine and you will get a lot of responses to that.

You will also get some concern especially around your lack of experience on photographing what is an unreatable event.

Also you need a lot more equipment, certainly a second body, 550/80 flash, meter, 4-5GB cards. The lenses will be OK.

I would really suggest your friends get a pro and shoot alongside so you can get some learning maybe for the first two?

I assume they are not paying you as you will need insurance if they are. As I say it's a one off event.

Best of luck.

[juan monino]

Actually you need a back up camera. What happens if your camera malfunctions in the middle of the wedding? The groom and bride and their families will hate you for ever (and maybe bring you to court)

 

You need a flash, you need at leats 5 GB memmory (if you shoot jpeg 30-50 gb if you soot raw)and tons of batteries (for the flash and for the cameras).

 

That's the very minimum!

 

If you can not afford a second camera, ask borrow one just in case.

 

Good luck and persist!

[timhaut]

Tom, Kevin and Juan,

 

Thanks so much for your very quick responses! Could I pull off having a Canon Rebel 300D

as my backup camera or should I go with another 20D or rather 30D now when it's available?

Will the 550/80 EX flash just on the camera's hot shoe suffice or should I get a bracket? If so

is there a certain bracket that you like? I know I still get red eye when I do that and I don't

want to have to do much retouching for red eye. Thanks again for your help.

[kevin cook - stratford upo]

Red eye isn't something I've ever had too much of with my 20D or the 5D. The Rebel as a backup is just that a back-up so you can do something if the 20D goes down. I carry my two digitals,Canon AV1 film and a Sony point and shoot! Backup flash, nice but you can always move people around.

I use a bracket (Stroboframe) with the remote trigger taped to the side. No shadows easy to use.

 

Murphy's Law - the 20D locked up -battery grip problem, I used a 300D until I could reset the power -right on 'kiss' time!

I knocked the drive on my 5D to timer when changing the ISO in a dark part of the church - set the B&G up press and beep beep beep (and they are soooo loud!). Whipped up the 20D instant start job done. It happens!

[colleendonovan]

I don't use a flash bracket, but I bounce it and use a diffuser. Also, you are going to need faster lenses. Get some good glass. Also, you should shoot RAW especially since you are just starting out with weddings which means you need a lot more memory. Oh, and I use the 580ex flash. Some people say it's unpredictable, but I've never had any problems with it.

[timhaut]

Thanks again Kevin. Is there a particular Stroboframe bracket that you like? I'm looking at

B&H and I see there are many different kinds.

 

Colleen: Thanks for your help. Is there a good middle class fast lens that you would

reccommend for wedding photography?

[conraderb]

Tim - what Tom said. How many frames will you take at the wedding? Probably at least 250, and maybe much more. I usually shoot 1000 frames at a wedding w/ digital.

 

Two bodies, raw files and much more memory is what I would recommend. Your one body just might conk out on you, shooting raw gives you some latitute that JPG does not (IMHO) and one gig does NOT cut it.

 

B&H has great deals on the 2 GB ULtra II cards - something crazy like $90 each. I remember when flash memory was 2x that (ie. just a few months ago).

 

For the flash question - go on eBay and get a Sunpak 333 flash for $20. Better yet, get two of them - it will cost you $40 total. Crazy cheap, and reasonably powerful, good reliable flashes with ZOOM AND TILT AND SWIVEL and manual power settings as well. You can't go wrong w/ these flashes. If you are new to flash, they will give you much consistency than TTL flashes.

 

since you are shooting for friends, you are in my good book :-) That's how I started. If you were to book a complete strangers wedding and then, I would be pretty ticked off at you!

 

If you have a good time at the wedding, please consider working a few months or a year w/ a local pro.

 

Finally - your pictures of you and Audrey at Disney are nice, but some of the shots are WAY too close. Very distorted. Make it a rule that you are never closer than five feet with a wideangle if anyone's face is going to be near the corner of the frame. Promise?

[conraderb]

also - consider buying the 50mm 1.8. fast and sharp, and cheap (but not good build quality). only $80.

 

by the way - don't use superwides for any portraits unless you at least 10 feet from the subject, and want to show the subjects surroundings.

[timhaut]

Conrad: Thanks so much for your help. The Sundpak flash that you are talking about: Is

it a completely manual flash? For 20 bucks is it going to be anywhere near as good as

something like the 550 or 580 EX flash?

 

Yeah, I saw the 2GB Ultra II cards on B&H. I will probably pick up 3 or 4 of those. I figure

it would be better to have 3 or 4 smaller cards rather than one big card. For instance if I

were to misplace a card it wouldn't be as though EVERYTHING is lost.

 

That's funny you looked at those pics of my girlfriend and I. Those were shot with my

friend's 2 megapixel Nikon Coolpix. Wasn't tryiing to hard to make good pictures with

that, just memories. But thanks for your tips anyway as everything helps. Maybe I should

update my website with some of my actual work....hmmmm what a concept haha.

 

I've looked at that 50mm lens as well and figured it wasn't built well but what the heck it's

only 80 bucks for a fast standard lens. You would suggest that one for portraits maybe?

 

Again thanks for all your help!

[steve_levine]

Tim, with all due respects. You don't mention your experience? If you haven't any assisting time with a mentor, and you haven't paid dues via trial & error, how are you going to know how to shoot 4-5 weddings?

 

If you don't know what to when things go right, how will you know what to do when things go wrong? Your admission of having "no" flash experience, and "no" back up gear, is even scarier.

 

 

What if 4 or 5 of your friends asked you to cut their hair? Or to cater their receptions? I'm sure you have some pots, pans and scissors around?

[KenPapai]

And also Tim, on composition, don't try to center your subject all of the time. Great tips are on the Beginners Section of this forum and a couple books in your library on wedding photography will go a long way. Of course you cannot beat experience as you you can see in the post just above mine. All words of the wise.

[conraderb]

Tim - the Sunpak 333 is good enough that I would not hesitate to use it on any of my 13 weddings this past year. Is it fancyschmancy with full TLL control? Heck no. You tell it what ISO you are one, and it gives you three f-stop options. You set one of them and are good to go.

 

If you can handle that, you will be able to use the flash just fine. With the 580EX flash, you are paying BIG $$ to have a lot of electronic brains substitute for your brains.

 

And, your 50mm lens on a 1.6x body like the 20D make for a nice portrait lens. give it a try wide open - around the 1.8-2.5 range.

 

Tim - I'm assuming that your friends don't have the $$ to pay for a pro, and also that you aren't promising them spectacular results. Right?

[mark_jacoby___raleigh__nc]

I agree with Colleen, you need to get a faster lens. Maybe in the 28-70 range.

 

Also, either a flash bracket or something like Gary Fong's lightshpere to help reduce shadows.

 

Good luck & let's see some samples!

[wedding-photography-denver]

In short, you could manage with your lenses. However, you need backup/second bodies, batteries, Cf cards and flash to metion a few.

 

If your friends are the kind yo uwold like to keep, you should try to find a photog. who will let you bring your cam for a few candids and whom you could assist (carry and fetch stuff). That would at least give you some foundation to work from. It can go wrong, it does go wrong. The question is, will you be ready.

 

Good luck. D.

[timcorridan]

brackets are tough to give advice on. 90% of photographers don't end up with the first one they used. its kinda like camera bags. there are "camera flip" brackets, where you pivot the camera in its bracket, leaving the flash unmoved above the camera. and there are "flash flip" brackets, where you turn the whole enchilada, and the flash swings to the top. i like my camera flip. although its a heavy beast, i don't notice the weight till the eve is over due to excitment. by the way, on-camera flash know-how, is everything for a wedding photographer.

[bwcombs]

I wonder who gave advice to that very first wedding

photographer?

 

Tim, if you have the drive, the passion to learn and a creative

instinct, you can shoot a wedding. Bone up on tips from every

source you can find. Practice shooting available light, fill flash,

full flash.

 

Lots of good advice here in this forum. Lots of naysayers as well.

The one thing I will say that applies across the project

board...have at least one back up camera. As one above said, it

is a law. And it will happen to you.

 

Good luck. Have fun.

[jaimie blue]

Tim, yeah it is important and a one time only event, but just remember, We Are Not Saving Lives! Its okay to shoot your first wedding, we all have done it.

[discpad]

Tim, there are a lot of good tips above; plus the fact that you're shooting with good glass with image stabilization is also A Good Thing.

 

 

I would strongly recommend a second body; but for a different reason than redundancy cited above: Unlike film cameras, dSLR's don't like to have their lenses changed in the field; and if you get dust bunnies on the CCD, you're hosed when it comes to editing when you clone them out in Photoshop. Most likely you'll be using your 17-85 on your D20 most of the time; while a dReb will work for your 70-300 and act as your "hot spare."

 

 

Lastly, I would pick up an under-$100 film body on eBay and screw the 28-135 onto it, and keep a few rolls of Fuji Pro-800Z for indoors & Kodak E100GX for outdoors handy as your "last resort" spare when all else fails. [As he ducks the the others throwing CF cards for suggesting -- HERESY! -- chrome film for anything wedding!]

[timhaut]

Thanks to all for your input. I am not too worried about getting good shots. They may

not

be the best but they will definitely be good. Like Jamie Blue said "It's ok to shoot your first

wedding". I know they won't be the shots of someone who has done 100 weddings or

even 10 weddings but how else do I get to wedding number 2 if I don't start with wedding

number 1? I feel I've got to start somewhere and to just jump right into it would be the

best thing for me. I've videotaped weddings before and I just jumped into that and it all

went fine so I'm confident this will work as well, albeit a different aspect of capturing a

wedding but it will work.

 

Any more input is much appreciated. Thank you to those who have offered

encouragement as well as those who have played devil's advocate and made me think

more about how big of a deal capturing a day like a wedding really is.

[jennifer valencia]

hi Tim,

Your camera & lenses are fine. I think you should also get:

 

-Offboard flash

 

-Cable to connect flash to camera

 

-Stroboframe (or other flip frame)

 

-Diffuser for the flash, perhaps Gary Fong's Lightsphere or similar

 

-A few more gigs of memory

 

-a large bag to secure all your things at the ceremonies, and a way to lock it down.

 

During the ceremony, bring at least one other camera body as a backup in case the first one dies on you. A flash backup too. You can rent them for the day if needed from a local camera shop. Try to have the same quality body for your backup.

 

Before the weddings, I'd recommend practicing diligently with your flash. Go to dark rooms or churches and practice taking shots of people walking towards you. Practice bouncing the flash. Figure out the angle of bounce that gets you the best shots. Learn how to drag the shutter, and practice it.

 

I think if you can do that, you'll have a good chance of getting lots of "keeper" shots in weirdly lit, dim places. And you'll have more confidence using flash, too.

 

good luck! :)

Jennifer