Wedding photo question

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Al
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I was wondering, what is generally the amount of photos taken at a wedding?
I know but in general what are the amounts because I was told by my photographer that they took about 1,300 pics at our wedding but they only had about 900 for me to choose from.

I was wondering to try to measure how much battery & sd car space I will need. I just got an additional card but in total between my 2GB & my 4GB cards, it seems like not enough.
 
I'm a second Shooter at weddings not the main tog, and I have 14GB of cards. Tbh - I think the most I've taken at a wedding was about 650 [all day] not all of them I passed onto the main tog, but I suppose you take as many as you need to/can do. Some weddings you have more time than others. I personally dont think 6GB is enough. What happens if you run out? And dont have enough time to chimp? And miss out on something important? :shrug: My advice would be to buy more memory, especially, you said SD cards, they're cheap enough these days.
I shoot on a CF card, and luckily they're coming down in price also :)
 
I generally have about 40gb with me but never use it all. Generally 16gb is more than enough but cards are cheap and it's nice to have spares should one fail on you :thumbs:
 
I take 18GB of storage with me. 4x4Gb and 1x2GB

Mainly because I back them up often, during those natural little breaks. It means that if I have a problem with a card I'm not in an eggs in one basket situation. I've not had one fail yet, but better to make sure.

I shoot on two cameras so I always have alternative shots for any of the situations. A good example is the bridal preparations. I shoot both cameras with a wide angle and a telephoto on so I have bankers on two separate cards.
 
We shoot a lot of weddings, I'd say anywhere between about 500-2500, I'd guess on average about 700-ish. Take plenty of cards, they can go wrong and are pretty cheap now. Wayne
 
Thanks for the replies, this let's me know I need to get more and how much, maybe two 8GB cards or a 16.
 
I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket! Break it down to 4GBs or something, that way you can change even if they're not full at different points....1 card for pre-ceremony, 1 for ceremony and groups shots etc, 1 for reception :)
 
I take around 50GB with me and on an eight hour wedding usually fill 30 or so, around 2-2500 shots. I would suggest a max size of 4GB cards for your camera.
 
Last one I did me and my partner took around 1,000 between us. About 200 were given to the client.

Was a favor for a friend and only a short wedding (half day shoot) so obviously longer weddings we would shoot more.
 
I started with a 4, I had a coupon for a free 2G so I got that, now I am in need for more, I do like having smaller ones to seperate things. I just shopped around, they are pretty cheap so I am gonna grab two 4's tomorrow. I'll get a few more after Chrismas.
 
WeddingHack said:
I take around 50GB with me and on an eight hour wedding usually fill 30 or so, around 2-2500 shots. I would suggest a max size of 4GB cards for your camera.
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Crikey! Isn't that an average of about a shot every 12 seconds? Is there ever a point where togs become more of an annoyance with all that constant clicking and flashing away? When you're shooting a wedding do you ever stand back and stop shooting or are your plugging away throughout?

I just wondered whether anyone has ever felt like they're getting in the way. Or is that the paranoia of a non-professional?

Andy.
 
Crikey! Isn't that an average of about a shot every 12 seconds?
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Yeah, I'm pretty lazy, I could probably get it down to 7 or 8 seconds if I really tried ...

I don't set a lot of stuff up, so I'm looking to get the best out of real life. For me, that means taking a lot of shots. For example I might see some people enjoying a conversation, I take a shot, then one starts laughing, I keep shooting them, then they're all laughing, I keep shooting and don't stop until I think I have the peak of the moment. I could easily rattle off 15 shots in a few seconds - I'm only going to keep one, but shooting one and walking away isn't going to get me the results I want.

Is there ever a point where togs become more of an annoyance with all that constant clicking and flashing away? When you're shooting a wedding do you ever stand back and stop shooting or are your plugging away throughout?

I just wondered whether anyone has ever felt like they're getting in the way. Or is that the paranoia of a non-professional?
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Using the example above, it's likely that the people I just took 15 shots of didn't even realise they were being photographed. I don't use flash until it's dark and often receive thank you cards from people saying that they forgot I was there for a lot of the day. I only want to impact on a wedding in a positive way, it's all about how you handle yourself.
 
WeddingHack said:
Yeah, I'm pretty lazy, I could probably get it down to 7 or 8 seconds if I really tried ...
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LOL!

Very interesting. I guess I haven't quite mastered the knack of being so sneaky yet. I manage it fairly often but even with my 70-200 people still tend to notice me talking the first photo and then of course the entire scene changes.

I'd be interested to know how much you tend to interact with the wedding party. Do you chat to people as you're photographing them or stand well back and blend into the background? Perhaps the mistake I've made in the past is almost wanting permission to photograph a group of people. So I've ended up making conversation to get them comfortable with me being there before shooting.

Andy.
 
Andyman said:
LOL!

Very interesting. I guess I haven't quite mastered the knack of being so sneaky yet. I manage it fairly often but even with my 70-200 people still tend to notice me talking the first photo and then of course the entire scene changes.
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One trick I use is the blend in with another group of people so I don't stand out and get noticed and anyone that does see me will think I'm shooting the group I'm stood with ;)
 
It's not about being sneaky, it's about attitude. It's pretty much impossible to work at a wedding and not be noticed, but if you're noticed and that makes you feel uncomfortable, then that person will also feel uncomfortable - reflected behaviour. Wait a couple of seconds without flinching and they'll go back to what they were doing.

Sometimes I'm working with a long lens, sometimes I'll walk into a group and shoot at 16mm. Act like you have a right to be there and people will accept it. And smile. A lot.
 
WeddingHack said:
It's not about being sneaky, it's about attitude. It's pretty much impossible to work at a wedding and not be noticed, but if you're noticed and that makes you feel uncomfortable, then that person will also feel uncomfortable - reflected behaviour. Wait a couple of seconds without flinching and they'll go back to what they were doing.

Sometimes I'm working with a long lens, sometimes I'll walk into a group and shoot at 16mm. Act like you have a right to be there and people will accept it. And smile. A lot.
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WeddingHack photographed my sisters wedding in 2007 and I am amazed how many photos he does take. I say this because a lot of the time you didn't even know he was there, he got involved when he needed to and caught some great shots. I remember one where all the girls are toasting with a glass of champagne, and his arm in is the shot raising a glass with them - I think it is a great shot, but on the other hand we have a photo in our bedroom from the wedding, we had no idea we were having our photo taken, (neither of us are keen at having our picture taken) but we love it because it is so natural - I swear he must have been hiding in a bush somewhere. At the end of the night a couple of my sisters friends were dancing, bit drunkenly and the bloke decided to do a strictly come dancing moment and lower his girlfriend back down towards the floor and Duncan caught that moment the split second it happened. When you see a really excellent pro tog at work, it makes you realise that not everyone can shoot weddings to a high standard.

I have had friends at weddings who've said the photographers run the day, almost as though they are the most important people there to the point of just becoming a pain for the happy couple, family and the guests.

I think most couples want raportage shots these days and you hear of some togs wanting to minimise the amount of formal shots they do because the natural shots are so much nicer. This is the way forward for me IMO
 
900 to choose from? God, how do you get that selection down to an album?

I take 600-800 and will usually give between 250-300. I'll do no more than 10 formals as they're hiring me for PJ and not groups. I can't do both, and I've yet to have a couple complain.
 
I shoot around 1000 for a long wedding with prep and speeches.

I recently changed from a 30D to a 50D (8mp to 15mp) holy crap - I need a lot more storage now I used to take 8gb now I need closer to 20gb!
 
Yeah, that's a fair point. I do know two wedding togs who shoot jpegs so they use less space than I do shooting RAW on a 5D and 1Ds. Those 1Ds files are a bit big but they offer me a lot more in terms of album design. I like to try to get the shots I want in camera with no cropping but sometimes there is a better shot in there somewhere with a crop. The larger files allow me the luxury of the occasional bit of re composition without much loss of quality.

At this stage I'm nowhere near confident enough to run with jpegs. Way too scary!
 
interesting topic... hmmm so what would you guys say is the average no. of pics you present to the client? I know some togs base their pricing on number of images they have to choose from, wheres others dont put a limit on and pricing is just based on time. rather difficult to know which is best for pricing?! as i'd have thought saying an unlimited number is taken is best...but then you still have the issue of where do you draw the line in how many you present to them... i mean surely for instance, half will be better than the other half, and half of that half will be 'best'....get my drift???? lol and when you present them with a huge batch.... are they like large thumbnails (not fully edited) or are they? lol
 
It'll vary from wedding to wedding, but I generally settle on 250-300. I charge for time.
 
hmmmm and do you present them with fully edited shots, or just a little bit of editing for presentation purposes, then once they choose they get fully edited?
 
we regularly take upwards of 1000 on a long wedding day. all day n night jobby.
depends if your shooting in jpeg or raw too.
but we usualy have 5 gig each to play with.
and we back up onto a portable hard drive/viewer too.
our proofsd often run pretty big too. 400-500 isnt unheard of.
but it helps reprint sales too.
and a lot of our clients upgrade their packages cos they cant get down to 40/50/75 pics or whatever is in the original package.
oh and we shoot jpeg
 
englandshottest2 said:
interesting topic... hmmm so what would you guys say is the average no. of pics you present to the client? I know some togs base their pricing on number of images they have to choose from, wheres others dont put a limit on and pricing is just based on time. rather difficult to know which is best for pricing?! as i'd have thought saying an unlimited number is taken is best...but then you still have the issue of where do you draw the line in how many you present to them... i mean surely for instance, half will be better than the other half, and half of that half will be 'best'....get my drift???? lol and when you present them with a huge batch.... are they like large thumbnails (not fully edited) or are they? lol
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I present 3-400, fully edited. My packages are based on time, not no. of images shot / shown.
 
In film days I could run off up to 12 x36 frames with a very big on the costs for a full dayer. It's a lot easier to run off twice that with a DSLR.
And regarding the quieter moments, yes, you get your shots off and saviour the most poignant moments with everybody else, a) so as not to spoil that moment with a clanking old Nikon (sound desk for a live Radio4 broadcast once had to ask me to refrain during broadcast....it was a packed panel of interesting types of Dimbleby's and Will Self types in case anyone is wondering why a radio broadcast might be photographed :)) and b) to saviour that moment in the day.
So long as the quality of images are outstanding, that is what matters ultimately, the quantity I've always felt is my own security blanket to achieving full coverage and, suprise suprise, I love photographing people and weddings provide chances in abundance.
 
we price based on album packages mainly.and the amount of coverage they want.
if they want pre wedding and afternoon and evening reception coverage, we charge em more.
types of album, be it postbound handbound etc.
traditional or photobook etc.
then the real expensive italian handmade stuff.
we give em a price for a certain album , and specify how many prints go in that package.
but they can upgrade to more prints post wedding if they want to.
have i confused you yet?
 
I may just be more picky about what I shoot or less trigger happy than others but average no. lies around 600-700, and even for a whole day's cover not more than (or really near) 1000
as for cards, 4gb cd and a 2gb sd in the cam with a couple of 2gb cf's on standby have done fine thus far, includes second body too.
 
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