[springtide]

Calling all wedding photographers.....

OK, been asked to do a wedding by a friend of the family ....
It's my first, so it's all a little new to me! A friend has offered to help, so between us we should get it sorted.

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Extract from: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-page1.html
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So you are an amateur photographer who has been shooting for a while, and everyone in the family has seen you running around with your DSLR for some time now, and have generally acknowledged that you are the family photographer. You took the pictures of Uncle Charlie’s 50th birthday, and he was pleased with the results, and your sister has asked you to take photos of her kids which turned out good.

Word gets around and your cousin decides that it would save her a lot of money if you would take the photos of her wedding. She says that she has seen your shots and thinks that you would be a great photographer for her big day. You would like to do it, because after all, you just love taking photos, and you feel that while you haven’t shot a wedding before, it can’t be that different or hard. You are very tempted to take her up on her offer and shoot the wedding.
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OK so not exactly as above, but pretty similar

Most of the photos they want are candid shots, with a few group shots which I have asked them to confirm. I've got about 3 months to prepare so I'm in research mode at the moment. Obviously found the above website.

I'm also little bit limited on the fast lens front (see my sig), especially fast long lenses - the longest and fastest being my 105 Macro. Will need to check out the church and reception to get an idea of the local length required, just more curious than anything else.

Just out of interest, what lenses do people generally use throughout the day?

We'll have a couple of cameras between us (friend has a 5D), and will probably borrow a 400D as a backup. Also planned to take a Laptop for backing up the photos off the cards as we go along. Between us we have about 40GB of flash, so have no issues there.

Would anyone recommend any other websites for ideas? Or maybe a book?

[salubrious_k]

There's been some excellent advice on these forums in the past (a lot of it from Radiohead aka. Guy).

Here's a few I found after doing a search:
Wedding Photography
Wedding photography? A must read...!
Wedding Photographer
couple of weddings ( what kit)
My First Wedding Photo Shoot Advice

[salubrious_k]

Here are my three favourite posts:

Wedding Photography
My First Wedding Photo Shoot Advice
couple of weddings ( what kit)

I love this bit:

Originally Posted by Radiohead

Weddings are full of all the emotions - joy, happiness, tears, family feuds, all sorts of emotions bubble up. Capture them mercilessly and above all, shoot with context. For all the talk of technical ability remember one thing, there's no such thing as the perfect image, only the perfect moment.

Very well put, and quite a stirring speech. I can imagine Guy saying this to his assistant photographer in the morning before the wedding in a very Henry V moment LOL

I need to brush up on this stuff myself, got another friend's wedding coming up in May... I'm looking forward to it this time though as I'm beginning to feel that I know what to look out for.

[springtide]

Thanks for the reply. Very useful.

And thanks to Guy/Radiohead for the posts! I have some reading to do!

[sinizterguy]

Have a second camera body at hand - just in case. Even if you have to rent it out.

If you are good with in camera exposure (aperture priority modeis recommended I think) then shooting in the highest quality JPG is sufficient, and there is no need to mess with the RAW files. You may still want to to shoot the odd photo in RAW to give you more latitude during processing.

[salubrious_k]

I'd disagree with that, shooting in RAW allows you to fix shots, and nobody is going to take a perfectly exposed shot everytime when under pressure and at time sensitive moments.

The only thing is that RAW takes more time afterwards, I guess what it boils down to is how much you like this friend of the family, and how much effort you want to put in. If you like them a lot and want to make sure your photos are as good as possible then shoot RAW.

[springtide]

It's my wife's cousin and my reputation at stake!

I’m more than happy to do post processing after the event, since the photos will need sorting etc which I find is the most time consuming, with the conversion from RAW to Jpeg very fast and painless. Lightroom obviously helps!

We'll have my A700, a 5D (the friend who is helping) and a backup 400D which I'll need to have a play with before the event.

I did like the advice about using "manual exposure" when taking a set of shots where you don't want the exposure changing because of the white and dark contrasts of the bride and groom as you reposition the shot. Can see a combination of "AP" and "AEL toggle" being pretty useful for doing this.

[Radiohead]

There's not I can add here other than say thank-you to Jon for his posts and wish the OP luck.

You do seem aware of what you need to have and do, and I hope the other posts are helpful. I personally shoot RAW if for no other reason than white-balance changes after the event.

[Brammers]

Hey Springtide - you're a brave man!

I have no idea at all about shooting weddings, nor do I wish to get involved, but from shooting festivals and having a breeze through your kit it strikes me that you don't have anything long and fast - I'm deliberately ignoring the Sigma macro here, which I can imagine hunting back and forth all night.

I don't know if you want to buy any of these, but you've got a fair few options, which I'll quickly list for you - some of them can be rented too:

85 1.4 original - £300ish
85 1.4 RS G - £400ish
85 1.4 RS(D) G - £400ish - Rentable
85 1.4 Zeiss - £600
135 2.8 - £150ish
135 1.8 Zeiss - £600
200 2.8 G - £500 - Rentable

80-200 2.8 - £no idea!
80-200 2.8 G - £no idea!
80-200 2.8 G HS £no idea!
70-200 2.8 G SSM £1100 - Rentable
70-200 2.8 Sigma -£450ish

I can't imagine you wanting to go beyond 200mm on a crop body.

Anyway, the plan is that 200mm gives you a really nice working distance for anything from a head and shoulders to a full body portrait depending on a couple of paces and leaning forwards or backwards - you can keep your distance and let the background go with the aperture, as well as using the natural light. 85mm is a focal length I've been lusting after for a while, same as 135 but working slightly closer. You said that they wanted candid shots - well to me candid means a 135 prime.

Please make sure you take this for what it's worth, I've never shot a wedding, nor do I wish to! If you want details on where to rent that glass then shout, buy it from the normal places if you want to, but again, give me a shout if you need help tracking something down. A 'want to buy' post at Dyxum should get you everything you need.

And finally, if you want to borrow my Zeiss 135, I'm sure I could let it go for a weekend :E Good luck!

[springtide]

Originally Posted by Brammers

Hey Springtide - you're a brave man!

I have no idea at all about shooting weddings, nor do I wish to get involved, but from shooting festivals and having a breeze through your kit it strikes me that you don't have anything long and fast - I'm deliberately ignoring the Sigma macro here, which I can imagine hunting back and forth all night.

And finally, if you want to borrow my Zeiss 135, I'm sure I could let it go for a weekend :E Good luck!

Thanks Brammers for the reply. And thanks for the offer of borrowing your pride and joy!

Had a play with the Sig 105 on the A700 tonight for the first time, and it's usable in low light, unlike when it was attached to my 7D! A little sluggish focusing, but it's still under a second to get a lock. In fact is doesn't hunt at all in pretty poor lighting conditions (unless you get too close)

Originally Posted by Brammers

Anyway, the plan is that 200mm gives you a really nice working distance for anything from a head and shoulders to a full body portrait depending on a couple of paces and leaning forwards or backwards

Just to confirm, 200mm is in 35mm terms? (Sounds right ballpark). It's just that if the 105mm is usable in the venus conditions, this would be pretty close at about 158mm 35mm equiv.

Yes, long and fast lenses are not my thing really. I'd be happy to invest in a Sig 50-150mm, since I could see myself using this again in preference to my 24-135, (and it's pretty cheap for fast glass), but there is no A-Mount version.

I have explained to my wifes extended family that it's their big day and I'm no wedding photographer, they would still like me to do it! The groom is a Flickr addict, and did something similar for one of their friends wedding - which I now have a copy to give me some pointers of what they'd like (very informal candid and a few groups photos). So, I have taken up the challenge and will do the job to the best of my ability.

Plan to visit the chapel and reception with a friend in the next month or so, so will try and work out what focal lengths will be useful. Hopefully the 105 will be up to the job! Worst case I'll see if I can rent a 70-200 from Calumet for my camera, and/or look to see if any of my friends Canon kit will do the job. We'll also have a 5D (my "Wingman") and a 400D as a spare on the day. Think my friend with the 5D has a Canon 100-400 IS L for the 5D - which might come in handy for particular shots.

Also need to start playing with my 50mm f1.7 which I haven't actually used yet (bought it about 8 months ago!). The 50mm is now attached to the camera and will say there for a few weeks, until I learn the art of Bokeh!

Anyway, thanks again Brammers. And thanks to everybody who replied.

I might have more questions later, but for now I have some reading, learning and research to do!