First time photographing a wedding

[steve1840]

I thought I would post this on here to ask you guys your opinions since I know a few of you photograph weddings from time to time.

I was asked by a good friend of mine to photograph her wedding in May. I haven't really dabbled in portrait/wedding photography all that much and was just wondering if you guys could offer me some tips or things to practice over the next few months leading up to the wedding.

From what I understand its not going to be a very big wedding or a very fancy one, as she doesn't have alot of money to spend. I haven't gotten many details yet, but I am assuming that the ceremony is going to be held outdoors.

I am open for any tips/tricks you guys have. Also, what is a good lens to use? Is it better to use a zoom, or prime lense? The other thing is I was kinda looking for some guidance on what to charge....My friend doesn't have a whole lot of money and this will be my first time doing this (learning experience). She was also wanting to do the editing afterwards herself. So, I was thinking if all I have to do is show up and take the pictures that I would only charge her like $200.

I appreciate any info you guys could give me on this.

Thanks

[megatop412]

Well even if it's outside you'll still need a flash to eliminate shadows. I would reccommend picking up an inexpensive fast prime like a 50 1.4/1.8 for some DoF control for the formal portraits, if you don't already own one.

Remember to move around, a lot. Never sit down. Utilize different angles, including some wide crowd shots.

You main goal is to convey the bride's beauty and happiness- so look through your viewfinder and hit the shutter every time you see her looking radiant- make her the focus of all shots she is in.

I personally didn't charge anything for my first wedding, but then again I wasn't asked to take pictures, it just sort of happened that the person who was supposed to didn't show up and I was there with my D40 and 35mm 1.8 and an SB-400 flash, along with a zoom. But $200 seems reasonable to me since you were asked, and that's way lower than what a pro would charge.

[steve1840]

Thanks megatop. I have been looking for an excuse to purchase a 50mm prime, and I think this finally does give me that excuse. I have been looking at the Canon 50mm F/1.8 USM. B&H has it for $379.

[Derf]

Thanks megatop. I have been looking for an excuse to purchase a 50mm prime, and I think this finally does give me that excuse. I have been looking at the Canon 50mm F/1.8 USM. B&H has it for $379.

I would look more at the $100 dollar nifty 50 1.8 and get a good TTL/2 flash if your tight on cash... the $200 is nothing in terms of taking the pictures....It had better be your best friend for that price.

[steve1840]

I would look more at the $100 dollar nifty 50 1.8 and get a good TTL/2 flash if your tight on cash... the $200 is nothing in terms of taking the pictures....It had better be your best friend for that price.

Is the 50mm F 1.8 II a decent lens? As far as a flash I am still using the "Vivitar DF 283 Series 1 Digital TTL" that I had bought for my Rebel XTi back at the beginning of the summer on my 5D MKII. Would you recommend a different one?

And as far as the price, she is a good friend of mine who admires my work, but I don't want to charge too much as I have never photographed a wedding before. I haven't talked with her about a price yet, which is why I was asking you're guys opinion on the whole price topic.

[Derf]

I would say about 400 without editing MINIMUM and the build quality on the $90 nifty fifty is crap. Stop it down and use it ad F-2.2 and get a good flash...YOUR GOING TO NEED A GOOD FLASH. Bounce the flash and have a Second Body. This is a must. If your camera dies you can not say "SORRY, CAMERA DIED" and go to the bar and drink. That would suck

I have done a few and will have LOTS of info for you but I am at work right now. Will post more tonight....LOTS MORE! It is not easy like it sounds. PREP is a must. You have lots to do

[steve1840]

I look forward to reading what you post later Fred. Is the Canon 430EX Speedlite TTL II decent? I dont' really have the cash to throw at a lens and a 500 dollar 580EX Speedlite. I figure if the $90 nifty fifty will suffice, I could take the rest of the cash I was going to invest in the different 50mm and use it for the 430EX flash. I also just saw the Sigma EF-530 DG. How does that compare to the Canon Speedlites?

As far as a second body, I will have to either rent or borrow one from a friend. I will hopefully find out more details later on about the wedding such as where, when, what the reception is going to consist of, how long it will be, what she has in mind as far as photo requests. She did say that she wants to do the post processing. The more I thought about it this morning, the more I was thinking 400-500 for my services. Again, that will depend on what my day will consist of. If I'm going to be driving all over the place taking all sorts of shots, and have my WHOLE day (from morning to dark) consumed byt this, I may go higher.

[Derf]

Your entire day will be this.... It does not matter what she says, this will be a high stress filled day for you and you are going to have to prepare for this. No matter how hard you work you are not going to feel prepared enough as you are doing it. I will help you but the first is not going to be easy. Photographer and Wedding Photographer are two completely different things. Your going to get a crash course and it will be info overload. I can help


Few years ago

[steve1840]

I appreciate any info and knowledge you can pass along Fred.

[Derf]

STUDY THIS! Pint a very small copy and laminate and keep in you camera bag. before each section...do a quick review. You will shoot many images but these are always expected reguardless of what the bride and groom say.



When is the Wedding? How much time to we have?

[Derf]

Light
What you see....


What your Camera see's

Lighting never looks "THAT BAD" until you start trying to stop down the lens to F-5 indoors to get a good depth of field...Then all hell breaks loose with insane iso's of 128,000,000,000,000 and then you
strobe the subject and the background is dark.

You need to practice for the worst case scenario over and over. You need to get this down and you will not have a heart attack on the wedding day. Practice this more than anything else!
AT NIGHT with NO LIGHTS but only a TV on in the side of the room somewhere, Using only your flash take a picture of any subject at 15 feet away (minimum) using a flash....then bounce the flash off the celing and then bounce the flash off the side of your wall and NAIL all three with only using 3 shots.... You need to do this MANY MANY NIGHTS! You need to do this over and over and over. You are not going to be able to rely on other light and a direct flash will give you that horrible red eye. The bounce flash will vary with the height of your ceiling, NOT a good test being that the ceiling will be allot higher in the hall and almost impossible to bounce in most churches but this is what you have to practice.
If you are in a place with a high ceiling....You need to practice bounce off the ceiling.... If you have available light this will still help you but practice worst case... YOU WILL RELY ON THIS.

2. Playing with Available light
SUNSET backdrop with flash - Balancing light


Practice with the sun in the background and continue shooting until completely dark. Do not just do one sunset....Practice many sunsets

How I took this shot....
The flash is only going to work when shooting slower than 250th of a second.
Step 1 TV Mode and set to 250th of a second and take a picture of the backround sunset. Once it looks good remember the settings....
2.8 1600 iso at 250th of a second
(I needed it 1 stop darker for the dark backround so I changed 1600ISO to 800 ISO)

Step 2 Turn dial to Manual and enter in the info shown here so it is locked and does not change

Step 3 turn on TTL flash and take the picture