I need a crash course on shooting a wedding..

[WeenerBoy]

I'm an airplane guy, not a people guy

Good friend can't afford a photographer, he's not even worried about quality much and I can't offer him much, but I'd really like to give it my best shot.

I only have a D3200 with the kit 18-55mm & a 50mm 1.8 lens.. Should I rent a certain lens?

I'm wondering what I should look for, angles, you get the idea..

It will be in a backyard & in the afternoon, waay out in the country of Central Oregon.. At least I'll have light to work with


I wouldn't have done this personally, but he's really pushing me to do so. I know there's nothing worse than having a "point n shoot" wedding

[SlamdSLC]

Take a poop before the big game.

[SlamdSLC]

But seriously you could always rent an 85 for some nice soft portraits. Since you are doing this spur of the moment, I would recommend checking out some good angles for portraits if you don't have any in mind already. You want to have some kind of a game plan.

Also I always do all of the family photos and group shots immediately after the ceremony. Depending on what time the wedding is you don't want to put those shots off til later. Also another tip for group shots; make sure you tell everyone to look at your camera. Yell it if you have to so you can get their attention. Why? Because 10 people will be standing behind you with all of their cameras.

[jnm2.0t]

Have them rent you at least a 24-70 and a quality speedlight and possibly a 70-200.

Backyard afternoon... you say at least you will have light but you could well have a very difficult situation on your hands between shadows, harsh lighting, clouds rolling in and out, sun setting, etc.

For a crash course just make sure you get the shots and expose them properly. Also don't think of it as a freebie one, pretend they are paying you a lot of money. Carry enough cards and upload everything immediately, take a laptop with you. Shoot raw and do a thorough job editing after. If you want one piece of advice for shooting I would say pay attention to the background, look for objects and things that will look like crap in the final pictures.

[azul]

How many people as guests?

Ask if they have a budget for rental equipment. If it is a smaller wedding (say 50 guests) I would ask for a budget of 200.00 bucks for rental and another 100.00 for CF/SD cards. I would rent another one of your camera bodies, the 14-24 2.8 or 24 1.4 and two speedlights. A longer lens would be nice, but not necessary unless you are in a church wedding, or if there are a lot of guests. Since you haven't shot a wedding before, I would keep the gear simple. Two bodies and two lenses. Your 50mm is a little longer than a normal lens for their portraits and you'll want a nice wide angle for groups and reception shots. I personally would go with the 24mm for the low light speed, but that is me and I really don't use zooms too often.

After that, buy more memory cards for yourself.

[Kid Hobo]

Take a poop before the big game.

Solid advice. On second thought, solid might not be the right word, or is it?

For what it's worth, don't spend too much time shooting kids. It's easy and you'll easily get carried away and miss other things. Don't forget to catch the father walking out with the bride, everyone seems to forget it.

[EricTheRad]

Definitely get a speedlight with a quick recycle time. I shot a reception as a favor (they had a pro for the ceremony) and my slow SB25 caused me to miss some shots. The Sb700 is supposed to be pretty nice and comes with a diffuser that will help with using direct flash outdoors. Make sure you have plenty of spare batteries (camera and flash) and extra memory cards. If you can, get some practice shooting an event before hand. For me, just taking some shots at the rehearsal dinner gave me some ideas on what worked/didn't work.

Good luck.

[Brickx3]

If the location is near to you, I would suggest heading out there with camera in hand to see what its going to be like and take some shots at a similar time of day. This could also help you figure out if there is something you need to rent.

Also play with your auto focusing, AF-C vs AF-S and lay on the shutter! You will like having 5-10 pictures of the same thing to take away the best facial expressions / focus of people.

[jnm2.0t]

Also play with your auto focusing, AF-C vs AF-S and lay on the shutter! You will like having 5-10 pictures of the same thing to take away the best facial expressions / focus of people.

I don't think his speedlight will AF-IL on AF-C, probably has to be AF-S. On that topic he is likely to have some focal point restrictions for AF-IL too. Make sure AF-IL is on the speedlight and toggle between TTL and TTL-BL depending on lighting.

I would shoot in aperture priority at f/4 on a good lens and dial in +1/3 ev for the ceremony. On the f/4 lots of people use 2.8, I don't think it offers substantially enough better separation to warrant the degradation in sharpness, but its a preference thing.

Take a few sample meters and see what the shutter comes back as, if it is slower than say 1/250 bump up the iso a bit. That camera would be too difficult to use M and make adjustments on the fly, plus as a first wedding its one less thing to worry about. Just be sure you use the right metering. Spot is dangerous (esp with a dark suit and white dress), center usually works well if you are mindful. If it is all lit the same (i.e. outdoors consistent lighting) you can use matrix, but if there is a dark background it will throw it off. Also make sure you are setup for selecting individual focal points and turn wrap around on.

When it comes to the reception and it is dark you can switch over to M and dial in a setting around 1/160 (to be sure it syncs properly), f/4, and iso 400. I say 400 because a properly lit shot will be unnoticable between that and lower like 100 or 200 but it helps save batteries, improves recycle time, and doesn't blast the guests with as much light.

[Dirtistasty2]

Focus on the details. Try to capture small details that the bride and groom may not have time to notice. Make them feel like they got what they paid for: settings, flowers, food...

[WeenerBoy]

i dont have much time at the moment, but thanks for all the help. so far seems to be way over my head..

i just talked with them a lil bit more, they really dont care for "pro quality" shots, but it just bothers the hell out of me, as i want them to have some good photos to look back on, i dont wanna be "that guy"...

im going to pick up a flash unit & a wider lens. what ya'll suggest for sharing the photos? Cd's, website links? never done that before either..

Thanks again

[jnm2.0t]

i dont have much time at the moment, but thanks for all the help. so far seems to be way over my head..

i just talked with them a lil bit more, they really dont care for "pro quality" shots, but it just bothers the hell out of me, as i want them to have some good photos to look back on, i dont wanna be "that guy"...

im going to pick up a flash unit & a wider lens. what ya'll suggest for sharing the photos? Cd's, website links? never done that before either..

Thanks again

Don't go too wide, unless you are able to get really close you will end up with a whole lot of background and a little bride and groom. Even if you can get in close enough the amount of the background will be more vis-a-vis the same framing of the subject with a longer lens. If the backyard is a beautiful garden you may want that, but if it is just average or pretty blah you may well need to limit what comes into the frame.

I really think the 24-70 (or 28-70 if that is what they have) is going to be your best bet. You can bring a wide lens but I wouldn't rely on it being the only one in the bag.

This is what I mean, it is about compression but it shows the same effect. http://www.learnmyshot.com/Telephoto...+Angle+of+View

I post pictures on my site, full size so they and guests can print but only permit viewing of 800px wide images. That is plenty for viewing on a computer and if thats all a guest wants and they copy it fine. If they want a print they either need to coordinate with the bride/groom or buy it from me. As for delivering to the b/g I have started using a USB drive. A DVD doesn't have enough capacity for the D800 now. If you can fit it onto a DVD go for it but the D3200 is a decent sized file, if you give them enough pictures they won't fit.

I include all full res shots in a 'for print' folder by segment (i.e. ceremony, reception) as well as a second 'for web' folder with the same breakout. The for web are all reduced size (generally 800px long edge) and have my logo on them. If they want to spend the time uploading the full res ~9MB/files without the logo fine, I don't really care.

[Brickx3]

In this situation I would just burn them a disc and be done with it, since you will most likely be giving them everything you shoot. I only ever host online when the customer is paying per photo and needs to be able to sort through and pick what they want.

[WeenerBoy]

well, i tried as a sample to put some photos on a disk and yea, with this D3200.. it filled up too quickly..

and now it looks to be raining on wedding day, so if it's moved in doors, i'll be screwed with out a flash.. hoping i can work things before, but it's looking grim

[EricTheRad]

well, i tried as a sample to put some photos on a disk and yea, with this D3200.. it filled up too quickly..

and now it looks to be raining on wedding day, so if it's moved in doors, i'll be screwed with out a flash.. hoping i can work things before, but it's looking grim

DVD?

[peoples_car]

http://www.lensrentals.com/

D700, Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, SB700, 4 CF Flash Cards.

Do this right, rent the right gear, and be prepared.

[WeenerBoy]

http://www.lensrentals.com/

D700, Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8, SB700, 4 CF Flash Cards.

Do this right, rent the right gear, and be prepared.

As much as I want to do that... Not only do I have to drive 3 hours, but I have to pay for a hotel as well. I'm not getting paid a single penny for the whole weekend.. just starting to feel like a waste of time..

[Basscase]

As much as I want to do that... Not only do I have to drive 3 hours, but I have to pay for a hotel as well. I'm not getting paid a single penny for the whole weekend.. just starting to feel like a waste of time..

If they want decent photos, and aren't paying for them, either a) they get what they get or b) they rent you (their photographer) the proper gear.

You're capable, I've seen your shots. the least they can do is pay $100 to rent a few lenses and a flash. Ask'em.

Rent from here, local PDX. Book it for a Friday, get it until Monday morning! Around $30 each lens and $15-20 for flash.

i just talked with them a lil bit more, they really dont care for "pro quality" shots

[azul]

If you are being asked to be their photographer, then you are not a guest. Even if they are good friends, you may find that you are working and not enjoying yourself. If you feel this way, you should express that to them and say that you don't want to be the sole responsible person in charge of their pics. They may not get it, but when they need a picture of something, they'll be looking for you to take charge (which means work).

If they really can't afford a photographer, then they really should ask a few people to take pics casually so that the responsibility doesn't fall on one person's shoulders.

[sonicGLI]

Here's your crash course: Don't do it. The end.

[EricTheRad]

Here's your crash course: Don't do it. The end.

Sound advice.

[The Mailman]

If you are being asked to be their photographer, then you are not a guest. Even if they are good friends, you may find that you are working and not enjoying yourself.

If they really can't afford a photographer, then they really should ask a few people to take pics casually so that the responsibility doesn't fall on one person's shoulders.

So true. I did a wedding for a cousin - it is WORK!! It is stressful and I look back at pics and am not happy, but it is more than they would've had, so it makes me feel better about that. I would second a 24-70. A flash is a MUST. Scouting the area would be HIGHLY beneficial and if you can't ahead of time, then at least get the several hours early so that you can familiarize yourself w it. Finally, if you have a gf or spouse that doesn't mind, throw her a P&S and have her shoot w you. She may just grab one or two shots that will be that "wow" moment that you wouldn't have had otherwise - ie - you're shooting bride during "I do" and she snaps a pic of the bride's tearful mom or dad. Good luck. I found it hectic and stressful, but also a blast