Oh, that's a nice big professional camera, you can shoot our wedding!

Danbo!

Another one roped into a wedding without a clue.

Was asked by my sister to shoot her wedding because I own a camera that wont fit in a shirt pocket. I respectfully declined, explaining that there is no way I'd take on a wedding or even feel comfortable shadowing a pro. The only thing I ever take pictures of is architecture and aviation, never a fan of even portrait work.

However, because she is planning a very small wedding, church-then-restaurant-then-hotel-bar type of thing with about 30-40 guests total, she said she wouldnt be bothering with a photographer at all and would just ask the few guests to mail on their snaps from the day.

So I agreed, and made sure that I was going to be considered 'just another relative' with a camera, and went through the reasons I had originally declined with her and her fiance.

Now I'm not promising anything decent for them, but want to put in as much effort as possible to get them some decent shots. I will have my own D5100 as a backup, using a borrowed D90 as the main camera, sigma 10-20 for the group shot, 50mm 1.8 for most of the day I'd say, other lenses available are the D90 kit (18-105 vr I think it is) and sigma 70-300, which I may not bother lugging around, plenty of SD Cards, tripod and a borrowed ext flash, though its a bit of cheap one by the looks of it.

Just wondering if anyone has any decent resources/guides/tips/words of wisdom to help me out. I'll be visiting the church a few weeks before hand to check it out, I already know that the priest has issues with photographers moving around during the ceremony too. I've been to the restaurant before and its dark with high ceilings, so would a diffuser be an idea? As I said with buildings and planes I rarely use the flash so am a little clueless.

Oh and I should also mention that they need a chauffeur for the day so i'll be driving the rental too, which makes it more awkward with getting to the church before the bride, etc...sure theres not much work involved in taking photos so plenty of time for me to multitask :rolleyes:

bullpost

I'd rope in an assistant if I were you.

Danbo! wrote: »

Another one roped into a wedding without a clue.

Was asked by my sister to shoot her wedding because I own a camera that wont fit in a shirt pocket. I respectfully declined, explaining that there is no way I'd take on a wedding or even feel comfortable shadowing a pro. The only thing I ever take pictures of is architecture and aviation, never a fan of even portrait work.

However, because she is planning a very small wedding, church-then-restaurant-then-hotel-bar type of thing with about 30-40 guests total, she said she wouldnt be bothering with a photographer at all and would just ask the few guests to mail on their snaps from the day.

So I agreed, and made sure that I was going to be considered 'just another relative' with a camera, and went through the reasons I had originally declined with her and her fiance.

Now I'm not promising anything decent for them, but want to put in as much effort as possible to get them some decent shots. I will have my own D5100 as a backup, using a borrowed D90 as the main camera, sigma 10-20 for the group shot, 50mm 1.8 for most of the day I'd say, other lenses available are the D90 kit (18-105 vr I think it is) and sigma 70-300, which I may not bother lugging around, plenty of SD Cards, tripod and a borrowed ext flash, though its a bit of cheap one by the looks of it.

Just wondering if anyone has any decent resources/guides/tips/words of wisdom to help me out. I'll be visiting the church a few weeks before hand to check it out, I already know that the priest has issues with photographers moving around during the ceremony too. I've been to the restaurant before and its dark with high ceilings, so would a diffuser be an idea? As I said with buildings and planes I rarely use the flash so am a little clueless.

Oh and I should also mention that they need a chauffeur for the day so i'll be driving the rental too, which makes it more awkward with getting to the church before the bride, etc...sure theres not much work involved in taking photos so plenty of time for me to multitask :rolleyes:

bren2002

If you know the D5100 use that as the primary and the D90 as the backup. You'll be more familiar with your camera so will be less likely to have an additional stress on top of the work you'll be doing.

Writing this on phone, but if I get a chance later I'll post a better message.

Paparazzo

Have to say, I thought doing a wedding was easy a few years ago. But I start to think about it, and a wedding photographer on here posted up what's involved, it's far from easy!
Good luck, and if panic sets in, just take loads of shots and you'll defintely get good ones.
It might be hard to get people together for group shots, so get an assistant with a loud voice!

Danbo!

Paparazzo wrote: »

Have to say, I thought doing a wedding was easy a few years ago. But I start to think about it, and a wedding photographer on here posted up what's involved, it's far from easy!
Good luck, and if panic sets in, just take loads of shots and you'll defintely get good ones.
It might be hard to get people together for group shots, so get an assistant with a loud voice!

Its not too big a crowd and half of em are my family so hopefully it wont be too hard grouping everyone. There is a small gallery in the church so camera on a tripod up there and an IR remote as I need to be in the group shot too! Awkward isnt the word.Must go test the range on the remote.

Cionn

As informal as it is, ask the bride what specific photo's she wants. For example one with the mother, one with the mother and father, etc etc. when I got married we were in the same boat as your sister, we were annoyed with ourselves for not asking for those shots. I would point out it wasn't the fault
Of the person we asked to take the photos. The responsibility was ours. What it did highlight was even with all the right equipment if you don't take the right photo in the first place, your goose'd

Cionn

PopeBuckfastXVI

Your 10-20 might be too wide for your group shots, better off using a more 'normal' focal length and backing up a bit.

Definitely use the 5100 as your main camera, it has a better sensor than the d90 for high iso, and given what you've described you'll need that.

You can make a diffuser, or purchase a cheap one, I have used this one recently and was very, very happy with it...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004273RZC

make sure you can carry both cameras without them getting tangled and in your way, if you go down that route.

You may find the 50 very restrictive in terms of angle of view if it's all you have available (outside the 10-20) on the day, bring your 18-105, you may find you need to be at 30-35mm for some group shots if you don't have enough room to back up and use the 50 (backing up may affect the amount of light you're throwing out).

I'm not an expert by any means, that's just a couple of observations I made myself from doing a wedding for a friend recently (similar thing, it was me or no photographer).

One last thought, don't be afraid to bring the couple away to a nice location for a half hour and do a couple of portraits of just the two of them, would be good experience for yourself, and I'm sure they would be delighted to get 'the wedding picture' to hang on their wall.

Danbo!

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Your 10-20 might be too wide for your group shots, better off using a more 'normal' focal length and backing up a bit.

Definitely use the 5100 as your main camera, it has a better sensor than the d90 for high iso, and given what you've described you'll need that.

You can make a diffuser, or purchase a cheap one, I have used this one recently and was very, very happy with it...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004273RZC

make sure you can carry both cameras without them getting tangled and in your way, if you go down that route.

You may find the 50 very restrictive in terms of angle of view if it's all you have available (outside the 10-20) on the day, bring your 18-105, you may find you need to be at 30-35mm for some group shots if you don't have enough room to back up and use the 50 (backing up may affect the amount of light you're throwing out).

I'm not an expert by any means, that's just a couple of observations I made myself from doing a wedding for a friend recently (similar thing, it was me or no photographer).

One last thought, don't be afraid to bring the couple away to a nice location for a half hour and do a couple of portraits of just the two of them, would be good experience for yourself, and I'm sure they would be delighted to get 'the wedding picture' to hang on their wall.

Never even thought of using the d5100 as primary. I dont actually own it yet, I own a D40, so the plan was d40 backup and d90 primary, but am actually going to the states before the wedding so decided to upgrade to a d5100 while there as I've been considering it for a while, so yeah, d5100 primary as i'll know it better than the D90 by then.

As for the portraits of the couple, I'll be driving them and their baby daughter from the church to the restaurant. On the way, we will be dropping her off at the childminders, and the sister has already chosen a nearby spot for the photos while the rest of the guests make their way to the restaurant.

BrensBenz

Good advice above:
· Discuss shots with couple before the event. Make a list and stick to it;
· Take candid / informal shots also. They are usually of much more sentimental value in years to come. My own favourites are at the signing of the register – all the stress of the ceremony is gone and the couple will be relaxed and in great form – and a tight close up of the couples faces, preferably cheek-to-cheek;
· Know your cameras. Check settings (ISO, white balance, etc.) are correct for the conditions;
· Bring spare batteries. Ask “what if….?”;
· Pre-visit the location, if possible, and plan angles, etc.;
· If a priest or cleric is involved, introduce yourself early and ask if he has objections to, say, flash at solemn moments or any off-limit parts of the church;
· An assistant who knows the plan would be very useful;
· Treat it like work. Keep busy, planning next shot. Do not get distracted by someone in a silly hat who asks you to find the “On” button on her Instamatic;
· You can socialize after the work is done.
And something I read years ago and found useful: Litchfield used to gather the entire party first and peel people off rather than starting with the couple and adding more and more. It helps to prevent the bride and groom getting bored, cold or annoyed waiting for those strange old f@rt$ who refuse to hear and obey calls to join the group.
Have a great day - you’ll be grand.

Borderfox

Do any group shots before anybody goes near the drink If you concentrate on the Bride then they day will be a smooth one