NEWBIE NEEDING HELP

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Permalink Reply by Matt Jerram on January 14, 2009 at 2:07pm

An incident light meter would be good - better measure of light than the in camera meter and can help in any high contrast situations. Mounted flash and if possible, a radio sync to use the flash off camera (gives you loads more flexibility to create interesting shots). A reflector shield is also handy to have to bounce some natural light back if in a difficult situation. Re lenses, a 50mm is a great portraiture one and a medium telephoto is handy (i.e. Canon's 24-105mm L).

A battery grip helps (as it contains additional batteries which will enable you to shoot for hours with no break). If a tripod is too much to carry around, consider a monopod, but either one would be a handy thing to have.

Oh, and flash cards... lots of flash cards!! Also, shoot in RAW - more flexibility to fix in post processing.

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Permalink Reply by Nicholas on January 15, 2009 at 10:57am

hey thanks matt, lots of help there

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Permalink Reply by Mike Hiler on February 10, 2009 at 6:42pm

A couple of things I like to remember:

1- Ask the wedding couple (read..Bride) if there are any particular photos she wants you to be sure to take. The Bride and Groom really only get one chance on their wedding day. It'd be a shame to not get the shot the they really wished they had.

2- When using a flash, LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND!! You really don't want to take that perfect photo and then find out there was a glass door, mirror, or even polished brass door pushes in the background reflecting all the light from the flash back into the lens.

3- In addition to only shooting RAW, make sure you have plenty of flash cards--ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SHOOT RAW. When I used to shoot film, I'd have close to 30 rolls of film on my person and a few more near by.

4- Take more photos than you think you need. This goes hand-in-hand with #3. With digital photography, there really isn't any reason for not taking enough photos. With film, you had to worry about development, and wet printing, etc. With electrons, you just copy, process, print. If you have a lot of shots that aren't that good, so what. You haven't lost anything.

5- Have extra batteries. Not only for your camera, but don't forget about the flash(es) too. Fresh flash batteries allow you to take shots quicker since the recycle time is generally shorter.

6- I'm assuming you are being paid for the 5- 6 hours of work you're putting in. Get payment, in full, before you start working. If these are good friends and you don't want to make anyone feel uneasy, I can understand that, but in today's economic environment, paying the photographer may just be last on the newlywed's priority list. If you can't get full payment up front, get at least half, and be sure they know, they won't get any photos from you until you get the full payment.

7- (and last for now) Surf the web. Since this is your first wedding, go to as many photographers' web sites as you can and look at their wedding photos. This will give you some ideas about types of photos to set up (and suggest to the Bride and Groom).

Have fun!!

Mike :)

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Permalink Reply by Nicholas on March 10, 2009 at 9:18am

yea RAW is the best I've found, tons of cards is always a must, and I have a few telephoto lenses and a 50 so I guess I'm good to go. Do either of you (Matt or Mike) have suggestions for non portraiture shots like at the reception or during the wedding that would be helpful? Flash at the wedding? depending on light?

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Permalink Reply by Marcia C on March 10, 2009 at 9:41am

Some more suggestions. Go to the church a few times before the wedding. Different weather situations also can change how you take the shots and where you will take some of them after the wedding. You need to have a backup plan.

Look at the set up of the church, where strong or weak light is. Take a few shots and try out what WB or ISO and also lenses work best. Make sure you go at the time of day the wedding will take place.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Jerram on March 10, 2009 at 10:10am

Hi Nicholas,

It's not an easy task. Best advice is to go through wedding and fashion magazines to get some ideas on poses, etc. I find that a reflector shield is invaluable, as is a very good low light lens (f2.8 and below) which has the added benefit of nice bokeh. Spare batteries and or packs are essential, and you will need lots of flash cards as all shooting should be done in raw to ensure maximum quality.

Talk to the couple to find out what they want, scope out the venue and possible shooting locations after the ceremony to get ideas and note the lighting conditions (which means going there at the time you would be there on the wedding day). Explore options for change of perspective (I.e shooting from up in a tree or on a roof), consider creative and fun as well as sultry and romantic/traditional. Check out album designers (these are often more involved than you think and take time to set up), work out how you will present the finished product to them and be sure to plan the day accurately - you need a couple of hours with the groom getting ready in the am and a couple with the bride in the pm and you need transport between the locations. Be sure that you communicate this clearly so the bride isn't completely ready before you get there.

That should be a good start. All the best.

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Permalink Reply by Lori on March 12, 2009 at 6:05am

Great tips so far. My husband and I specialized in high-end weddings back in the 90's. They are so much fun, but A LOT of work too.

Make sure you get a schedule from the bride and groom. If they don't have a coordinator, you as the photographer usually end up helping to move things along. Weddings are very stressful because of timelines. The more organized you can be going into it, the better you'll feel during the event itself.

If at all possible, try and take the formals outside. With natural light, you have less to worry about. Head over to the church/reception site and pick out a good location ahead of time. Then sell it to your bride before the wedding. You can usually get through the formals a lot quicker without having to worry about light readings, etc.

Also think about what you're selling. As high-end wedding photographers, we rarely sold anything above a 10x10. Our clients invested in albums, and we created 4 to 6 volume sets. They loved the albums, but didn't want a huge photograph of themselves on the wall - just not a high-end clients style. So we photographed for small sizes, and thought from that standpoint.

I have a ton of ideas as well on my blog - you may want to check out my wedding articles. http://virtualphotographystudio.com/photographyblog/category/weddin...

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Kat on March 12, 2009 at 6:30am

Wow that is going to be a tough one...I have a friend that is a wedding Photographer and I have assisted her so if I had to do one by myself I might know what to do.First of all....don't let them see you sweat! Don't tell people you have never done a wedding before and just act like you know what you're doing.
I know my friend takes LOTS of pictures so she has extra memory cards and batteries. She brings lights and stuff to do the cake tasteing and garter throw, but the rest of the time she is just doing candid shots so she just walks around taking pictures.
She asks the bride and groom ahead of time what they want as far as group photos and then goes with that.
Also you have to find out what is allowed in the church as far as flash photography.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Kat

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Permalink Reply by Matt Jerram on March 12, 2009 at 9:36am

Also, budget to get about 300 or so photos that are presentable at the end of the day (leaves a decent range to create an album from). That will mean a good few full days of editing before you can present them. You also need to know what you are presenting and this comes down to personal choice. I like to give them the full digital copies first up. Access to professional wedding album designers is usually not open to the public and confined to pro photographers. You can then sell the album as an add on, which may appeal to customers more. If your pics and service are good enough, they will usually want to do the album through you as well, unless they are too cost sensitive, in which case this structure will appeal to them anyway.

Each to their own though...

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Permalink Reply by Nicholas on March 12, 2009 at 12:14pm

Hey thanks all, this is really good advice and I will take it and use it, thanks again!

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