So I'm new to photography, I started the project in March, about a month after I bought my camera. Anyway, I've gone from auto, to aperture, to manual so I feel like I'm learning a lot. But I received an email from my cousin and she wants me to photograph her wedding in March. I have no equipment.. I'm going to get a 50mm 1.8 from Santa this Christmas, but other than that that's all I will have. The venue is really small, but indoors and seems a little dark. The only reason I said yes was because I know if I don't do it she will have a family member with absolutely no experience do the pictures, and her engagement photos didn't turn out very good :( Anyway, to my point of the post..
Can you guys help me? I have friends that I may be able to rent equipment from and I have a few months until the wedding. Would you mind critiquing my work? I just want her pictures to be beautiful and I want to improve as much as possible. I feel like w/ my project since I've changed my settings and the way I shoot it may not look like I've improved much. Anyway, it's a tall favor I know I'm sorry! But any help at all would be so amazingly appreciated and I of course will return the favor!
happy to give you my opinion, but that is all that it is.. I mean I am no expert
I know little about f stops etc, but I could maybe comment on composition?
Good luck :)
here's the resource that I used to get ready for my last wedding... I wish I had Cliff Mautner's advice for each of my previous weddings, I finally feel like I know what I'm doing: http://kelbytraining.com/author/cliffmautner/
and yes... rent equipment. get a 24-70mm, that will probably give you what you need to complement your 50mm f/1.8 (I assume).
do a preshoot of the couple, and of the location, as early as possible.
get lightroom 4, and shoot in raw.
practice a LOT before hand. rent the lens ahead of time and get to know it.
get ideas for photos from here, browse by tag wedding: http://365project.org/tags/wedding
that's a lot, hope it helps!
my advice would be to make a shot list ahead of time. Family pictures are important, and different portrait combinations. You might want to ask your cousin what is important to her. My best friend was not in the wedding party (she gave birth 4 days before) she made it to the reception for a little while and I have no pictures of us. If there was a list of must capture people I think she would have made it in there.
I agree on getting a shot list ahead of time, but also, getting a second photographer is a good idea too. Maybe you have another friend who has a DSLR and some experience who would be willing to shoot the wedding for the experience.
Even though they've already had their engagement photos taken, if you have a meeting with them about the shot list, doing a mini-shoot at that time will help you all work together better on the day of the wedding. It will make them more relaxed with you and confidant in your photos.
Also, big camera stores have rental options for cameras, lenses, lighting etc.
My only advice is the 50 1.8 is not good in low light, so have a flash handy…I have the 50 1.8, great lens but has issues focusing in low light… I do have the 24-70 as well. It's not my favorite lens, but that is just my personal preference. I have friends that love their 24-70. I agree watch the kelby training videos…huge help. Happy shooting;)
If you really must do it. Find out what sort of shots that happy couple want. Practice metering as the white dress is a tough target for the camera. Look at every set of wedding photos you can find. Have 2 of everything. Loads of batteries and cards. Shoot in RAW for edits and recovery. Talk to people who have done weddings. Carefully research the venue and talk to ministers, the hotel etc After the shoot backup and backup again.
@godders That's what I'm going to do.. find out the important shots, what she wants etc. My problem is they live 8 hours away!! She sent me photos of the venue and it looks very dark in there so now I'm panicking. I was completely honest with her and advised her to get a pro, because I am very far away from one, but she insisted plus I think the honest to god reason is that she can't afford one. It's a very small wedding and I don't mean this in a rude way but very low budget. Their family doesn't have a ton of money and I think she is paying for it on her own. Anyway thank you for the advice any encouragement and advice is greatly appreciated.
@staci2171 Okay thank you so much Staci. That's what I was afraid of. I think I'm going to have to use the flash, so I suppose I'll be practicing with lots of flash photography lol. Thank you!
@miley89 Yes that's my issue! I just don't think they have the money to hire a pro and they live eight hours away so I don't know anybody there.. not sure if my friends would want to take a road trip or not lol. @swguevin
@sunshinephoto5 Thank you, ya I already asked her for specifics so at least she'll get a few of exactly what she wants! Thank you for the advice, I think it's going to be small so that will be easier in a way.. but it's ALL family so it will be harder because everybody needs to be in photos lol
I did the photos for my nieces wedding a couple of years ago. She knew I liked taking photos, and like your friend, she was on a tight budget. I shot in jpeg ( didn't know about raw), used auto for most of the day....I can hear all the gasps.... And most of all, had FUN.
She had chosen the places where she wanted the after photos taken, and the wedding car driver gave us a couple of other locations to go to. There were lots of candid shots of the wedding party and guests, and she was delighted with the memories she has of her special day.
I have no experience in shooting weddings, so you're getting a lot of great advice here. I will say I've just looked at your project, and you have some really great portraits there. Many are outdoors, and it doesn't sound like that will be an option, so as you've already stated, lighting may be your main issue. I hope you can take candid shots at the reception, also. You've got a great eye, and your portraits are lovely. Since that's one of your strengths, use it to balance out any weaker areas. She will love it! I like your stuff so much I'm going to follow you!
@nanalisarocks You have no idea how much this means to me! Thank you, I was feeling quite discouraged when people we're saying if you have to do it.. and well maybe have somebody else do it LOL I thought oh shoot maybe I have no talent whatsoever! Thank you so much I really appreciate that. I know I can get some really good detail shots, and portraits are definitely my favorite. So hopefully we'll get some good ones! Thanks again I really needed to hear that lol. And thanks for the follow I will definitely return the favor :)
@onie Thank you! I am getting so stressed and I definitely needed to hear have fun lol. I know my pictures will be better than a family member with no experience so I need to take the stress out of it. I know they don't have the means to hire a pro, so at least I'll be better than the alternative for them. Thanks for the advice and comment!
Oh I dont envy you, a friend got asked the same thing and it was a steep learning curve. http://digital-photography-school.com/posing-guide-wedding-photography is a posing guide which you could make a sheet out of in case you get stuck for ideas on the day.
I look forward to hearing how you go. Good luck and have fun!
@monika64 ha ha I know well I guess you have to start somewhere! I really only wanted this as a hobby and wanted better pictures of my kids. I didn't really expect to be asked for sessions, especially a wedding lol. Thank you so much for the guide! I will be studying a lot until March!
@meagang I did read that you didn't take the engagement photos. My limited experience has been that the more relaxed the subjects are with you, the better the photos are. Which is why a mini photo session when you do the shot list will make the wedding day photos better.
@swguevin Oh ya I totally agree. I don't want them to be uptight and uncomfortable I want it to be natural and fun and happy. I knew what you meant, i just wanted to make sure i was clear LOL. Thanks again Sheila.
@agima Thanks Brendan! I spoke with her last night and she doesn't want any outdoor pictures :( So everything indoors- and there are no windows in there. My friend has an external flash she said I could borrow and practice with. I am going to take lots of detail pictures- back of dress, rings, flowers etc. Plus she wants me to take tons of family pictures- obviously. So I think my biggest problem is going to be a. lighting, and figuring out how and where to pose everybody since it will all be indoors. My friend also suggested I get a reflector.. but do you think it would be weird to bring a reflector into the wedding? Maybe just use it for the posed pictures?
The problem you are going to get is that our camera is not very good at higher ISO so you are most likely going to need a flash.
There are 3 ways to handle extra light in this situation:
Fast lens. i.e. F2.8 or faster
higher ISO
Artificial light.
The first two options are the better choice but are the expensive ones so you will have to go with the third option.
Reflectors are great if you only need to light a small static group (i.e. couple of people standing in a pose).
The trick is to use the natural light that is already in the room so stand them near windows if you can. If you back light them fill with flash and if using a fast lens be aware that the DOF will change and may blur people in the foreground/background.
I would use the reflector for the pose pictures you just need to have an assistant.
@agima Okay thank you so much. That's my problem, I figured if there were windows I could work with it, but no windows :( Would an external flash work? I was going to get the 50mm 1.8, do you think that will be sufficient? I'm going to buy that one anyway lol, I want it for portraits of my kids. But I have access to others. I figure I could shut all the shades in my house and just use florescent light in my house to practice how the pictures will be w/ the external flash and new lens. Thank you so much for your help again!
I would get an external flash with an umbrella. You can then bounce it off the walls and/or use the umbrella when you are doing the group shots.
it can be tricky if you only use a manual flash, so I would get a flash that has ETTL it will remove most of the guess work and then all you have to do is small adjustments to the flash.
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I know little about f stops etc, but I could maybe comment on composition?
Good luck :)
and yes... rent equipment. get a 24-70mm, that will probably give you what you need to complement your 50mm f/1.8 (I assume).
do a preshoot of the couple, and of the location, as early as possible.
get lightroom 4, and shoot in raw.
practice a LOT before hand. rent the lens ahead of time and get to know it.
get ideas for photos from here, browse by tag wedding: http://365project.org/tags/wedding
that's a lot, hope it helps!
Even though they've already had their engagement photos taken, if you have a meeting with them about the shot list, doing a mini-shoot at that time will help you all work together better on the day of the wedding. It will make them more relaxed with you and confidant in your photos.
Also, big camera stores have rental options for cameras, lenses, lighting etc.
She had chosen the places where she wanted the after photos taken, and the wedding car driver gave us a couple of other locations to go to. There were lots of candid shots of the wedding party and guests, and she was delighted with the memories she has of her special day.
I look forward to hearing how you go. Good luck and have fun!
Once you find that out you can figure out the other stuff like what equipment.
You can then build on what they say and practice that beforehand to see if it will work.
There are 3 ways to handle extra light in this situation:
Fast lens. i.e. F2.8 or faster
higher ISO
Artificial light.
The first two options are the better choice but are the expensive ones so you will have to go with the third option.
Reflectors are great if you only need to light a small static group (i.e. couple of people standing in a pose).
The trick is to use the natural light that is already in the room so stand them near windows if you can. If you back light them fill with flash and if using a fast lens be aware that the DOF will change and may blur people in the foreground/background.
I would use the reflector for the pose pictures you just need to have an assistant.
it can be tricky if you only use a manual flash, so I would get a flash that has ETTL it will remove most of the guess work and then all you have to do is small adjustments to the flash.