Amateur wedding photographer!!

CMACSAFF

Have been asked to take the photos at a wedding and while they know I'm very far from a professional I'd still like to do a decent job.

I have a Canon 450D with the kit lense and will have a flash but after that I'm on my own. I've a fair idea of the must have shots - outside church, bride going up the isle, altar, signing register, first dance etc but am still pretty nervous.

Has anybody any tips for this?

Paulw

Make sure your insurance is up to date, especially your PL, just in case someone gets hurt on your gear.

Make sure you get everything clarified in contract (written) of what you will provide to the client, and how much it will cost.

Get a shot list from the couple, of what specific shots they want.

Other than that, two camera bodies, multiple lenses (wide angle, zoom) are useful.

kmick

Its an onerous task for an amateur. If it were me I would politely decline - what I would say is if you are doing it take 5 or more of every shot you want to get. at least you should get one good one from 5.

Indoor photography also needs a very good flash make sure you hire/borrow one for the day. Bring planty of CF cards and batteries and a backup camera just in case.

I dont envy you.

pete4130

So many of these topics/threads started since the country went bust.....

Dades

OP, can you even borrow a faster lens?

Thecageyone

pete4130 wrote: »

So many of these topics/threads started since the country went bust.....

It's where the money is at. I wouldn't go rushing to advertise myself for weddings though. I can just imagine how tough it is. Anyone going into it totally blind, with no experience and the wrong gear is likely to get crushed. Brides are so demanding these days. And one bad wedding, forget about building a good rep.

kippy

pete4130 wrote: »

So many of these topics/threads started since the country went bust.....

For a fairly obvious reason one would think.

pete4130

kippy wrote: »

For a fairly obvious reason one would think.

Yeah, people not appreciating what it takes to be a competent wedding photographer and getting a friend with a camera to give it a go to save some money.

No offence to the OP but to shoot a wedding with a kit lens is like bringing a 3 legged blind donkey to Cheltenham, putting all your money on it and expecting it to win.

I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just being honest to you and let you know whats expected. There are wedding photographers here who will tell you that you'll need 2 bodies (Canon 5D/5D2 or Nikon D700/D3 minimum), 2 flashes, battery packs, 24-70mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 70-200m 2.8 and they are right. Ireland isnlt known for its good weather or bright light so a 450D with kit lens will struggle.


Again I'll quote this video for reference....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGe23qm8aTk

kippy

pete4130 wrote: »

Yeah, people not appreciating what it takes to be a competent wedding photographer and getting a friend with a camera to give it a go to save some money.

No offence to the OP but to shoot a wedding with a kit lens is like bringing a 3 legged blind donkey to Cheltenham, putting all your money on it and expecting it to win.

I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just being honest to you and let you know whats expected. There are wedding photographers here who will tell you that you'll need 2 bodies (Canon 5D/5D2 or Nikon D700/D3 minimum), 2 flashes, battery packs, 24-70mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 70-200m 2.8 and they are right. Ireland isnlt known for its good weather or bright light so a 450D with kit lens will struggle.


Again I'll quote this video for reference....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGe23qm8aTk

People not having the money to pay the professional rate was what I was hinting at - which is a direct result of the recession.

CMACSAFF

I should have clarified its a member of my family getting married and there is no money involved.

I (and I think she) appreciates that the photographs will not be professional standard and she is happy with that.

That said I still want to try and give it a good go - I know from using the kit lense that its fairly limited I'm in the process of seeing can I get a better one on loan.

pullandbang

CMACSAFF wrote: »

I (and I think she) appreciates that the photographs will not be professional standard and she is happy with that.

:eek: I wouldn't count on that.......

PopeBuckfastXVI

Practice. Get your wife/husband/dog/granny to walk at you like a bride walks down the aisle. Get your best friends to put rings on each other, in a dark room. Corral your family into some outdoor posing.

The more practised you are the less you will panic. And you will panic.

mdebets

pullandbang wrote: »

:eek: I wouldn't count on that.......

Not only that.
If you mess up the pictures of a client's wedding, the worst they can do is sue you and destroy your repuation.
If you mess up the picutres of the wedding of a family member, you'll have to deal with them for the rest of your live.

FoxT

CMACSAFF wrote: »

Have been asked to take the photos at a wedding and while they know I'm very far from a professional I'd still like to do a decent job.

I have a Canon 450D with the kit lense and will have a flash but after that I'm on my own. I've a fair idea of the must have shots - outside church, bride going up the isle, altar, signing register, first dance etc but am still pretty nervous.

Has anybody any tips for this?

I am not a pro photographer - so my only tip is this:
Because you have just one body & the kit lens the couple need to understand that there is a risk that they may not have any photos at all. Batteries fail, gear fails, things get dropped/broken, CF cards get lost/formatted/etc - all the time.

If they are happy with that scenario, then I think the next thing you can do is see if you can get a buddy to come along with another camera - and between the 2 of you, you stand a good chance of getting a set of photos to record the event.


Good luck,

FoxT

Prenderb

Some camera shops rent equipment at reasonable enough rates...might be worth a think?

Trigger76

Its sounds like you have little experience, your gear is pretty much entry level and even if you do borrow or rent you wont have the practice with the lenses and lighting required for decent wedding shoot. Honestly I'd advise against taking this project on.

You're really not prepared to do this as a "photographer" and I think you should make it abundantly clear that is the case to the couple before proceeding.

Whilst things are on a fairly casual and simple basis now you really dont want to be in a position were the happy couple are disappointed with your results or worse still you bomb big time and make a total balls of it.

Id recommend having a good bit experience, expertise and familiarity with a range of equipment under your belt before taking a wedding on. Also there is a skill involved in marshaling people and actually getting them to cooperate so if this is something that doesnt come naturally it will add pressure on you so its worth considering

Anyway best of luck ,

T

showit

CMACSAFF wrote: »

I have a Canon 450D with the kit lense and will have a flash

You will need more gear - The Kit Lens will be useless, and you will end up with a load of blurred shots.

Hire/borrow at least one fast lens...thats a must

p.s The Pro Wedding Photography business is dead at the moment

Paulw

showit wrote: »

p.s The Pro Wedding Photography business is dead at the moment

Not according to two wedding photographers I know, who are almost turning away booking now, they're just too busy.

It's all about how you market yourself, and then how good you are.

But, consistent quality is key.

Fionn

it's doable with your setup!
however
as has been mentioned what happens in the event of a failure of any part of your system?

your left high and dry!! and might have to resort to your mobile phone :eek:

for weddings you need backups of everything (think of murphys law)
you'll need fast glass if possible - a kit lens will struggle

if you can manage it this is the minimum you'll want:
second body
something like a EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS
lots of SD Cards (fast ones) you'll be taking around 1000 shots or more
spare batteries for cameras and flash
tripod
camera bag
interview/meet the couple, more than once!
scout out the venue (try and take test shots)

of course you'd be nervous - this is a big undertaking, if you think you cant achieve acceptable results you really should consider declining, remember the bride and groom wont want to listen to any excuses if the results are poor!! if, on the other hand you think your competent enough to do it, go for it.
good luck!

emrys

to the OP - Wedding photography is one of the toughest gigs out there.

Read Fionn's post above carefully - try and cover as many of the points on the checklist as you can and good luck - I wouldn't do it even though i have most of the necessary gear!

A.Partridge

CMACSAFF wrote: »

I should have clarified its a member of my family getting married and there is no money involved.

I (and I think she) appreciates that the photographs will not be professional standard and she is happy with that.

That said I still want to try and give it a good go - I know from using the kit lense that its fairly limited I'm in the process of seeing can I get a better one on loan.

Hi there OP,

There are a lot of very well meaning people here on the forum who have given you honest and in many cases sensible advice.

However, I think that if you listen too hard (to the don't do it brigade) you will only set out with trepidation and fear and that won't help you to take the standard of images which your bride and groom will appreciate.

So, here's what I would suggest:

1. When you are asked to photograph a wedding...always accept the challenge. You should consider it a priviledge to be asked to record their big day. I shot two family weddings recently (on film using a Hasselblad with 35mm backup) and had the results scanned as hi-Res and made into photobooks and both couples were thrilled with the results. Like you I was related and to be honest if I had refused to shoot the weddings I would have faced lifelong criticism for being a chicken-**** and deservedly so.


2. Be positive and believe in yourself and your ability a lot more. I think I detect from your post above that you do have a self belief that things will go well, and so they will.

3. Your equipment will be fine for the job. The key is to be familiar with your equipment. Know how to operate it instinctively. The fastest glass in the world will however be of no use if you haven't got confidence in yourself to be able to operate your equipment. What you need most of all however is a spare camera for back-up. A good flash is also a must.

4. I would also recommend doing a pre-shoot with the couple - engagement pics - so that you will have an extra element already covered before the big day itself. Choose a nice location for some nice relaxed shots of the couple. That way you will have something in the can and they will also be more used to your style of direction and will be more confident in you on the wedding day.

5. Go on to blurb.com and click on the wedding book part and you will get tons and tons of ideas from seeing how others work.
Here's a link to it :

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/category/Wedding

6. As someone says you need to check with the b&g the style of coverage they want. Are they big into formals or reportage style?

7. You will and should definitely check out the church/registry office in advance and also nearby locations for bride / groom pictures. Preferably visit these at the same time as the proposed wedding or reception so you know where the light is coming from and take notes of exposure required etc.

8. As the bride is family you will know her and more importantly she knows you and you will find that to be a great advantage as regards getting her to relax.

9. Don't get too hung up on shooting to a formula because otherwise your pictures will appear to stiff, stilted and lacking any kind of spontaneity.

10. Have a think about how you want their photos to appear. That is are you going to present them in a traditional album, or a blurb book, a cd or whatever.

11. If you haven't already got it I would recommend you buy Photoshop Elements for PC or Mac as you will almost certainly need to be able to do a light bit of post processing to cope with minor defects or shadows that may crop up in your raw pictures.


12. Perhaps most important of all you need to have a strategy of what, where and how you are going to photograph this wedding. Plan it out thoroughly and aim to get as many aspects covered as possible so that you have plenty to choose from. I did put in very long days at them so be prepared to put in a lot of preparation as well as covering as much as you can of the day itself. Luckily, between the pre-shoot, wedding prep, church, after-shoot, wedding reception, dancing etc there are lots of opportunities for good images.


Above all, enjoy yourself and if you prepare well you will not be disappointed and nor will the bride and groom.

Best of luck.

Rustyred

I would advise you to take some randon photo's of guests at the wedding - you can add those to the family or whatever list the bride gives you. Having seen my sister's album recently we were thrilled with the family shots but a bit disappointed that there was none of any of the guests. If it were possible to line up friends of the bride & friends of the groom it would be good also.

Arciphel

Sorry I thought I had just clicked back in time there.

Scanning the images in "high res", shooting on a Hassleblad with a 35mm film body as back-up, buy Photoshop Elements?

"Believe that things will go well, and they will"?

Go to the venue and take notes so you know what exposure to use on the day?

With all due respect to the poster, the OP is going to get eaten alive if he listens to this...

But then I saw the username and realised this was a wind-up

A.Partridge

Arciphel wrote: »

Sorry I thought I had just clicked back in time there.

Scanning the images in "high res", shooting on a Hassleblad with a 35mm film body as back-up, buy Photoshop Elements?

"Believe that things will go well, and they will"?

Go to the venue and take notes so you know what exposure to use on the day?

With all due respect to the poster, the OP is going to get eaten alive if he listens to this...

But then I saw the username and realised this was a wind-up

Excuse me but who are you to question the advice I have given the OP?

In fact, what advice have you provided to help the OP other than have a sideways 'smarmy bastard' swipe at me?

I have shot close on 70 weddings over the last two decades or more with various different cameras and using various techniques ...and all my clients have been more than satisfied. I never got 'eaten alive' because I know what I am doing and I have the skill and self confidence to deliver. My opinion is as valid as the next person's particularly given my experience and I don't appreciate it when someone who has no advice of their own to offer the OP comes on to slate and provide the patronising 'winky' smiley as if I'm some sort of idiot.

Yes, I believe in taking light readings and notes in advance so then I know what I am dealing with on the day. What's wrong with that?

I don't know if the OP even has any editing software to make some basic enhancements to their images...some people don't, but I have gently suggested he could look at that..what's the problem there?

Yes, I've used film equipment pretty recently (never thought I would see the day when a Hasselblad would be sneered at) and they provide results so different to 99% of what passes for wedding photography nowadays that a lot of couples are looking for results that are refreshingly different. Check out some of Edward Olive's work in this regard.

My point about equipment is that it doesn't hugely matter whether your camera is basic or retro or the latest full frame DSLR and glass. What matters is preparation, planning, familiarity with your equipment and most of all the confidence to accept the job that you have been asked to do.

One of the most important pre-requisites to a successful shoot is that the photographer must have self belief that things will go well. Some people have replied here that they wouldn't touch the wedding job with a barge pole which is their point of view and fair enough...except that if people keep warning beginners off the subject of trying wedding photography with horror stories of what could go wrong then no one will ever drum up the courage to try it. That would be a pity in my view.

Look, wedding photography is not rocket science. I wish people would stop building it up to be the poisoned chalice job that nobody except only the most gifted would want. People have to start somewhere, and the wedding of a relative is an ideal opportunity to begin with.

The OP in this instance has been asked by a relative and is keen to do the job. Just provide him or her with a few tips and advice as to what they could do and quit the sideways swipes at other posters.

Arciphel

A.Partridge wrote: »

I have shot close on 70 weddings over the last two decades or more with various different cameras and using various techniques ...and all my clients have been more than satisfied. I never got 'eaten alive' because I know what I am doing and I have the skill and self confidence to deliver.

That's exactly the point, you have the experience and the OP doesn't. 20 years of experience with fee paying clients, you can probably think about four steps ahead which the OP won't have a hope of doing. How did your first wedding go, can you remember? Did you dive in at the deep end with that one?

A.Partridge wrote: »

Yes, I believe in taking light readings and notes in advance so then I know what I am dealing with on the day. What's wrong with that?

Nothing! I doubt the OP has a light meter though. I'd say 80% of people with a digital camera don't understand metering and exposure.

A.Partridge wrote: »

I don't know if the OP even has any editing software to make some basic enhancements to their images...some people don't, but I have gently suggested he could look at that..what's the problem there?

I am going to play devil's advocate here and say - if the OP doesn't have any knowledge of how to use a package such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro or whatever, and they are taking on a wedding, then they really are on a hiding to nothing. Just my opinion.

A.Partridge wrote: »

Yes, I've used film equipment pretty recently (never thought I would see the day when a Hasselblad would be sneered at) and they provide results so different to 99% of what passes for wedding photography nowadays that a lot of couples are looking for results that are refreshingly different. Check out some of Edward Olive's work in this regard.

This isn't a debate about film vs digital, 35mm vs medium format, crop sensor vs. full frame etc. That's a red herring. It's about whether the OP has the skills needed to do a good job of covering a wedding. Nobody is sneering at your Hasselblad. I shoot film and digital - but I wouldn't be shooting film at a wedding. Your comment that a lot of couples are looking for something different, you mean to honestly tell me you have had couples come to you and say they want a wedding album shot in medium format film? Most wedding couples idea of "something different" usually involved black and white shots with a bit of selective colouring. Feel free to prove me wrong here.

A.Partridge wrote: »

My point about equipment is that it doesn't hugely matter whether your camera is basic or retro or the latest full frame DSLR and glass. What matters is preparation, planning, familiarity with your equipment and most of all the confidence to accept the job that you have been asked to do.

I agree. But the OP has so far done no prep, has no familiarity and doesn't seem to have much confidence either. I 100% agree that equipment doesn't matter - as long as you have the basics of a good flash, fast prime for low light and a back-up plan if things go wrong.

A.Partridge wrote: »

One of the most important pre-requisites to a successful shoot is that the photographer must have self belief that things will go well. Some people have replied here that they wouldn't touch the wedding job with a barge pole which is their point of view and fair enough...except that if people keep warning beginners off the subject of trying wedding photography with horror stories of what could go wrong then no one will ever drum up the courage to try it. That would be a pity in my view.

I agree to an extent, but look, would it not be better for everyone (the OP's self confidence and the couple getting married) if they were to get an experienced pro (such as yourself) to do the wedding and let him/her cover it as a second shooter?

A.Partridge wrote: »

Look, wedding photography is not rocket science. I wish people would stop building it up to be the poisoned chalice job that nobody except only the most gifted would want. People have to start somewhere, and the wedding of a relative is an ideal opportunity to begin with.

It isn't a poisoned chalice but I disagree, I think doing a wedding shoot and fluffing it is bad, but doing it when there is a relative involved is 100 times worse.

A.Partridge wrote: »

The OP in this instance has been asked by a relative and is keen to do the job. Just provide him or her with a few tips and advice as to what they could do and quit the sideways swipes at other posters.

I'd advise him/her that sometimes discretion is the better part of valour, let them get a professional in and he/she can be the second photographer on the day. Obviously my feeble attempt at humour in my previous post hasn't translated well on the internet, so sorry about that. I wasn't having a dig at you, I just think there's a lot that can go wrong and murphy's law on the day some of it will go wrong. I don't want to see the OP burned, especially with their relations.

eas

the OP had been asked to shoot a family members wedding, who apparently knows the risk she's taking but trusts that whatever she gets will be good enough.

My advice is get a 50 1.8 along with your kit lens and enjoy the day, be creative and concentrate.

mawk

as eas said, get a 50mm 1.8 youll need the speed indoors

also, shoot in raw. raw rescues a lot of balls ups on your part.
if you dont normally shoop things, ask here for help later

melekalikimaka

theirs a high chance with that kit at the moment you will disappoint,are you prepared for that, if so, go for it and do the best you can, it could all work out. but if it doesn't and from my own experience and others here,theres a high chance, perhaps rethink doing it, or at the very least sort out for proper gear and get onto some sort of course asap in wedding tog

Borderfox

Shooting a wedding on a kit lens would be really tough especially as you would need to use a lot of flash, last two weddings I did, the priest was a not so nice guy and told me before the ceremony not to use any flash (no problems with lenses that go to f1.2), game over with a kit lens. Its a tough call and within the reception I would say they could cover it ok but church and late evening reception the op might struggle. It is good to have a strong self belief but sometimes it can be construed as foolhardy with a lack of experience