wedding tips / hints / guides

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A close friend of mine has asked me to go and photgraph his wedding in October.

My first response was "run away" I am certainly not good enough to take on that kind of thing yet.

But as we talked, I asked him the question, If I cant do it, who will you use.

The simple answer was nobody, they cant afford a profesional or even a semi profesional photographer.

So the choice is general "snappers" or general "snappers" + me with my nikon.

At the end of the day, if I am awful and get no nice pictures at all, then we wont have lost anything, because I wouldnt be replacing any body it would be I am either there or I arnt.

So, can any body point me in the right direction for any good tips / hints / tutorials or anything that might help

also, can any body tell me somewhere that I can hire out lenses (all i have is my kit lens and a cheap sigma 70-300) so I cna hire out a nice lens for the day

thanks
 
CT's ya man for top tips, Calumet is the best place I can think of for hiring any kit. HTH.
 
Glen said:
CT's ya man for top tips, Calumet is the best place I can think of for hiring any kit. HTH.
Click to expand...

Agreed - Calumet will do you proud. Make sure you book it well in advance though and get your account set up. They normally put the full price of the lens (and then some!) on your Credit Card in case you run off!

Good luck - Perhaps some people on TP might offer to help out if you tell us the location and time. (Watch 100 togs rock up on the day!!!)

All the best BobR
 
Wedding check list

2 camera bodies
charge batteries for all equipment
clean all lenses
put fresh batteries in flashgun (duracel)
minimum 2 cf cards
set both cameras to raw
portable hard drive
cd burner and blank disks as backup
pack spare batteries
do a dry run beforehand to all locations where photographs will be taken to check travel time and possible locations for set photo’s
fill up car with fuel
load all mobile numbers that may be needed, and charge.
laptop (charged) take mains lead as well
business cards
iron shirt
get mrs to do the tie thingy then loosen and leave till needed
change for any parking meters
umbrella?
Remember murphys law (if it can go wrong or break it probably will) and if it doesn’t look at it as a bonus
Make sure that you have discussed beforehand all set shots that are expected and know who doesn’t get on with whom.
Look like you know what your doing (even if you don’t)
After taking the first couple of shots check your shutter speed (so much will be happening at one time that you may overlook this)
Breath deeply calm down and go get em!!!!!
Drink heavily!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
If this is a close friend and you're going as a guest anyway, then it's an ideal situation in which to cut your teeth on a wedding where you'll know most of the people there no doubt, so not as imposing as one where you know nobody. You should be able to keep pretty relaxed and not take it too seriously as it doesn't sound like they're expecting miracles from you. Having said that you'll want to do the best job you can obviously.

You have plenty of time between now and then to recce both the wedding venue and the reception venue. It may be that one or the other is the best environment for the bulk of your photos and you can make that decision well in advance.

I'd keep it pretty simple .... get to the church early on the day and introduce yourself to the holy man presiding. Find out what his attitude is to flash in the church and shots during the service generally. Don't be fobbed off too easily, but be respectful and polite, it's his ball and his game in the end though. The attitude of these guys varies enormously.

Shots.

Groom and Best Man.

They're usually there first so get a few shots of them, shaking hands etc. arms round each other etc, in a manly way of course. ;) Left to their own devices, blokes just line up like stumps.

Be there when the car arrives and get shots of the car, shots of bride and dad in the back. Sometimes you can do this through the open back door, sometimes it's best from the front seat. Use fill flash.

Shots of dad holding the car door open and bride alighting. Chauffer holding the door if it's a bit posher. ;)

Church Door.

It's usual for the vicar to come out to the church doorway to meet the bride and here you can grab a shot of him with the bride and her pater.

During Service

Take what shots you can and don't be afraid to move around the church you're there to do a job so don't be shy.

Vestry

Signing the register shots of the bride and groom. Do a few shots with his family, her family, etc ring the changes. I'd usually include the vicar so they can actually remember who married 'em in 20 years time. :)

Outside the church.

Plenty of shots of the bride on her own, make sure you get one she'll like. same with the bride and groom.

Now you need to decide whether to take the rest of the shots there or at the reception. Whichever it is I'd advise formal groups as being easier to manage and get your quota of shots done. When you've got those by all means try for a few informal grab shots. If you're there as a guest for the evening you have plenty of time to get some of those. Word of warning... photography and beer is a very bad mix, so go gently at the bar till you have your job done. ;)

That's the bare bones really - you'll be fine try to relax and enjoy it.
 
thanks for that

gives me plenty to think about and plan. I think there is a fair old cahnce i will be printing this thread off for revision, if that is ok (dont want to break any copyright rules or anything)

I am quite excited about the prospect and scared poo less at the same time.

I am thinking about maybe sneaking up to hanley (stoke on trent) registra office, on a couple of saturdays, just to see how the photographers there orcastrate people
 
Print it off... no probs. :)

Registrars is quite a bit less formal anyway, but just follow that general outline I gave you - it's not meant to be comprehensive, chuck your own ideas into the mix. Once you've done it you'll be feeling like a wrung out rat, but you'll also be feeling great to have that first job behind you. You'll be fine. ;)
 
quick add on to CT's thing, check with the Vicar that hes happy with flash in the Church, or make sure you have a fast (ie F2.8) lens ! :) other than that i cant add anything as ive never shot a wedding lol
 
just another Q. (im sure there will be many more as i think of them)

what lens do you find yourself using the most on weddings?
 
I covered pretty well all my weddings with a good quality 28-80 zoom and a 24mm prime wide angle for some of the larger groups and bigger interiors. Having the two lenses on separate bodies saves a lot of messing about lens swapping on the day. :)

That was 35mm film btw so around the digital equivalents should be fine.
 
something as wide as 16/17/18mm, then maybe a 24-105/70, should cover all of it. you might want to concider a macro extention tube/macro lens for the ring close up too
 
Theres a feature on wedding photography in this months 'Digital Photographer', I havent read it myself yet as this area holds no particular interest to me.
Theres also the opportunity to win a 3 day wedding course with Annabel Williams in June in the same mag.
 
You might want to check your spelling of 'orchestrate', you could run into trouble there! :eek:
 
Chuckurbarla said:
You might want to check your spelling of 'orchestrate', you could run into trouble there! :eek:
Click to expand...

nah i prefer my spelling, do as your told or be castrated
 
InaGlo said:
Theres a feature on wedding photography in this months 'Digital Photographer', I havent read it myself yet as this area holds no particular interest to me.
Theres also the opportunity to win a 3 day wedding course with Annabel Williams in June in the same mag.
Click to expand...

thats good, because the that is the only photography mag i buy any way, didnt realise it was out yet though, my local shop hasnt got it in yet (or at least didnt on tuesday when i went up there) great timing though :P

EDit:-

No I don't I buy Digital Photo, not Digital Photgrapher grr
 
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