Wedding shot tips

[Vera Lim]

I'll be doing my first wedding shot in 2 weeks time... now that it's closer to the date, I'm getting nervous lol.. Anyone got good tips?
I have rebel XT and a tripod, that's all I'm going to use. Do you think it's sufficient? It's spring and daylight saving here, so the sun doesn't go down until 9 pm..

TIA! :)

[Kim_Weiss]

Do you have or can your rent and external flash? Even in daylight, there could be times you'll need fill flash. Or an extra person to manuever a large reflector.

What lenses do you have?

I just shot my first (and last... LOL) wedding a few weeks ago... so many different factors and things that went wrong or not as planned.

I did not use a tripod, but did use an external flash with the Lightsphere II diffuser and was very pleased.

Honestly, with all the surprises and not-as-planned things, the only thing that really irritated me were the other people trying to get their photos. Made for major confusion for those being photographed on where to look and countless times of going to take one, only to see yet another person in my frame. I'm definitely not aggressive and bold enough to tell people to back off.

[Hom74]

That's were the Wedding Planner steps in. If the Photographer doesn't want to announce it, he/she should tell the Wedding Planner to announce it. Like after the wedding when they are getting group/family shots, I've seen the Wedding Planner/Photographer announce in a voice loud enough to be heard...that the photographer will take his/her pix first...then they can have their go at it.



Honestly, with all the surprises and not-as-planned things, the only thing that really irritated me were the other people trying to get their photos. Made for major confusion for those being photographed on where to look and countless times of going to take one, only to see yet another person in my frame. I'm definitely not aggressive and bold enough to tell people to back off.

[ronee]

Oh, I might need these tips in a couple weeks as well. Thanks Karen! Keep 'em comin' ladies!

[Deanna]

i did one this summer with my xt and a 50 mm lens, reflector and tripod..it was all outdoors so I didnt need my flash.. shoot RAW...really watch your histogram so you dont blow the white dress..., take lots of memory..., bring a helper if you can, someone to help check for straight necklaces, cell phones, and other stuff you dont see while your busy composing the shot...

[karah]

I did one this summer - camera/lens only (canon 10D). I hate using flash unless I have to. The wedding was in the afternoon and the lighting was ok. A reflector would have been helpful at times, but really, I think they're too cumbersome when it's just ME and no assistant.

When it gets too late or for indoor shots, I do use my external flash with my lightsphere II but for anything outdoors, I just avoid the flash (I know it's just me LOL).

At this wedding I just did, it was SOOOOOOO relaxed (too relaxed - seriously, they didn't even have a rehearsal) so I pretty much had to direct everything as well. We lost a lot of light because of people goofing around and not listening and not coming/going when I was trying to tell them to. There wasn't much I could do.

I would suggest looking online through some photographers' websites to get ideas for poses and such - The first wedding I did was super traditional - and boring, to be honest. The last one I did was a lot more fun. I posted a couple of the pics on my blog (http://blueflombingo.com/blog).

Try to be relaxed and have fun - joke around with the couple/the wedding party. The more relaxed THEY are, the better your pics will be. :)

[karah]

the only thing that really irritated me were the other people trying to get their photos. Made for major confusion for those being photographed on where to look and countless times of going to take one, only to see yet another person in my frame.

O M G does this drive me NUTS! I was aquaintances with the bride and knew a few of the people at the wedding. I took the bride & groom away from everyone to do their private pictures and this one lady I know had the BALLS (if girls can HAVE them) to follow me with her camera. She was literally standing one foot away from me snapping pictures as I was. I finally just said, "do you mind if I have some time alone with the bride and groom?" Grrr. Oh, and this same lady earlier had critiqued the spot I was taking pictures "well, why don't you go over THERE?" "because the sun will be behind them and there will be harsh shadows on their faces." "Well why don't you have one of those disk-thingies?" "Because I didn't bring it with me." "ohhh." And I had probably 5 people come up to me while I was doing family photos to say "why are you doing pictures there? The trash cans are going to be in the pictures!" um, no, they're not. DRIVES ME INSANE!

Phew, thanks for letting me vent. LOL. I was very professional and calm with everyone but inside I was boiling.

[ronee]

The last one I did was a lot more fun. I posted a couple of the pics on my blog (http://blueflombingo.com/blog).

Try to be relaxed and have fun - joke around with the couple/the wedding party. The more relaxed THEY are, the better your pics will be. :)


Those pics are amazing! Really gorgeous. :)

[Kim2002]

I did weddings professionally for years and I always used a flash outside because it helps to knock out the harsh shadows. That is my one big tip for ya. If you have specific questions, let me know.

[EdelineMarta]

yapp I did also wedding pic for our bestfriend and need flash too.. but my mistake was took a pic infront a sunlight.. the pic wasn't good..

[danger girl]

Get to know who the important people are -parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. One wedding I went to, the photographer didn't get a picture of the bride dancing with her father. It wasn't your traditional father-daughter dance as they had been somewhat estranged due to divorce, but still that's the kind of picture you don't want to miss.

Bring tons of batteries and even an extra camera if you can.

[Vera Lim]

Thanks ladies, you all have been really helpful..
Can I use the camera's flash, instead of external one? I really want to hire another lens, but I'm not sure whether we can hire any here in Wellington
This is going to be a small wedding, only 50 people or so.... and they want lots of candid photos.. what is the best way to shoot candid photos? using telephoto lens? or just the normal lens that comes with the camera is ok?

Thanks again!! :)

PS: Karah, I would be really stressed if that happens... I am quite a shy person and wouldn't know how to deal with that situation :(

[Kim2002]

I doubt that the on-camera flash will do much for group shots since most of those are too small and only have a range of about 10 feet and quickly drop off from side to side. I would really recommend you get an external flash. The set-up you choose is really up to you. I prefer a stroboframe because it places the flash over the top of the camera, set it to 1.5 stops hotter than the aperature setting, bounce the flash at about 45 degrees and you're good to go. Another option, which is a lot less bulky but you will get shadows, is to get a mount that holds the camera and the flash together, side-by-side. You can still set the flash to 1.5 stops hotter than your aperature with a bounce of about 45 degrees, but be prepared for shadows.

[Kim_Weiss]

Karah, your shots are AMAZING!! I think I'd even consider doing another wedding if I had such a gorgeous setting... LOL
And I had the same sort of person hovering around me... only he was an intimidating male. One of the first things he did was pull out his huge 600mm lens... like, uh, WHAT are you going to shoot with that in a small park setting??

Also, Vera, one thing that seriously helped me (especially because the park wedding was rained out and we ended up running to the park to get some shots and had THIRTY minutes... eeek!!) was having a list of all the shots the bride wanting.. the various groups... so I just went down my list.
I printed off this:
http://home.ivillage.com/entertaining/weddings/0,,q5hb,00.html
and had her highlight the shots she wanted also.

[Hom74]

Besides my minute-to-minute direction of how my wedding should go that I gave to my Wedding Coordinator :eek :lol I also had a list of group pixs that I wanted. I even broke it down between "must have" shots and "would like to have" shots. If we were tight on time, the "would like to have" shots would've been skipped...but thanks to the planning lol, we got everything :) I also gave this list (which not only included what shots I wanted, but also the order to be taken ahaha) to my Wedding Coordinator. She would round up the next group of people so there wasn't much wasted time between shots.


Also, Vera, one thing that seriously helped me (especially because the park wedding was rained out and we ended up running to the park to get some shots and had THIRTY minutes... eeek!!) was having a list of all the shots the bride wanting.. the various groups... so I just went down my list.
I printed off this:
http://home.ivillage.com/entertaining/weddings/0,,q5hb,00.html
and had her highlight the shots she wanted also.

[Deanna]

yup karen..i totally agree with you..the more you know what the clients want..the easier it is to please them!

[Vera Lim]

Thanks girls, you all have been really helpful... I am trying to get an external flash and telephoto lens... hopefully I can get these before this weekend... :)

[Lucrecer B]

You should try and get a back up camera, extra memory cards, an external flash unit, reflector and a list of important shots from the bride. So you don't miss anything important to the family.