First wedding shoot

[speedracer 36]

So I just got asked to shoot a good friends of mines wedding. I am a little worried, I have not shot a wedding before and have not said yes yet. Does anyone have any advice before I say yes or no?

[maplestreet]

So I just got asked to shoot a good friends of mines wedding. I am a little worried, I have not shot a wedding before and have not said yes yet. Does anyone have any advice before I say yes or no?

Congrats on being asked. There is a certain stigma out there about wedding photography, but I find it really fun and rewarding. Just be sure you are ready. It's a much better idea to do work as a backup photographer (even just once) because then you know all the challenges you will face and have more confidence. If you are confident, then great good luck!

Its just not something to be entered into lightly, as I learned myself. Remember that a wedding is a very important event in these peoples lives (hopefully their 1 and only) so if you screw up, you not only screwed up and made yourself look unprofessional, you also messed up these peoples memories and they will spend the rest of their marriage lamenting how bad their photographer was. Just do some browsing on flickr or smugmug, there are a lot of really bad wedding photographers out there.

Not trying to be a jerk, but it's a lot of pressure. A friend of mine asked me to do one with him a few weeks ago, just as a backup photog, it was my first wedding and I was a nervous wreck the whole time,,,,, and I did not get as many keepers as I would have liked. I was very glad the whole event didn't hinge on me.

[n8]

I was in your boat not too long ago. I've only shot one wedding, and it was certainly nerve racking. I got a book on journalistic wedding photography, and studied just about every wedding pic I came across on facebook (the pro one's anyway) to get an idea of what the hell to do. I was a smaller wedding, and the bride was pretty chill about the whole thing. My father (the 50 year pro) was actually my second shooter. I rented a 24-70 2.8 to put on my d7000, wore my d40 for back up, and used a lot of bounced flash (ceiling + bounce card attached to my speedlight). I made sure to scout the place first to know what kind of light I would be working with too. Come show time, I just did my best to get a little of everything. Got the standard still lifes, the preparations, etc... I did really struggle with the formal portraits, which my dad came in handy with. I think one of the best pieces of advice I can offer is to not be afraid to get in there and do your job. I actually got pinned in with the grooms men during the ceremony, which made for some great opportunities, but I felt like I was a bit more visible than I would have liked to be for that. Otherwise, I think they expect you to be present and social, so have fun with it.

Oh...the essentials.
Batteries! Have back ups of your back ups.
Format your memory cards
shoot raw if you can
bring a lot of film. My 32gb card holds about 1000 raw files
have a back up body if you can (you may even want to consider renting gear)
consider a sling strap

hopefully others chime in

[zerodog]

Practice every new technique you think you will need to use before the wedding. And like N8 said, scope your location if you can so you know what you are getting into.

[Cibafan]

You will need a good flash and a diffuser or in a pinch a clean white hankerchief, wide angle lens for groups or a lot of space. Extra batteries and memory card. Is this a traditional wedding, ie church followed by reception?

[groovehouse]

Its just not something to be entered into lightly, as I learned myself. Remember that a wedding is a very important event in these peoples lives (hopefully their 1 and only) so if you screw up, you not only screwed up and made yourself look unprofessional, you also messed up these peoples memories and they will spend the rest of their marriage lamenting how bad their photographer was.

That right there, keeps me away from weddings.

If this is a big wedding, you may need to bow out gracefully. If you have time, as others have suggested, second shoot a wedding first, then think about tackling a complete wedding.

As others have said, have 2 camera bodies, extra batteries, extra storage cards, a flash, a diffuser, a wide angle lens, a medium zoom and a long zoom. Scout out your locations.

This not something to be taken lightly, unless this is a backyard wedding with a handful of people, then go for it, but if it's a church wedding with reception, dancing, group photos, etc... you are gonna need some experience.

[Grandpaw]

Just to show you how crazy I am, I had a range finder camera and decided to buy a 35 SLR camera on a Tuesday and the same week on Friday I shot my first wedding and the next day on Saturday shot another one. Just so you know they both came out just fine. I will tell you though I was either 17 or 18 years old and was very sure of myself.

Two suggestions that I would give is 1st have a backup for everything and second check all your camera settings the day before. Nothing like finding out when you get home everything was shot at a high ISO or some other setting was different from what it should have been, Jeff

[speedracer 36]

I wish I knew a location, The bride told me that it is in one of three states, MN, MO or OR. There is going to be about 100 people. It will be a traditional wedding with the reception afterwords but I dont know if it will be in a church or where it will be located. I have currently a Nikon D5000 with a Tamron 18-270, a Nikon 50mm and a SB-700.

[mcl]

Most important thing about shooting weddings is to always be prepared and have back-up plans. it's not easy to reshoot a wedding.

[groovehouse]

The other thing to remember is that you are probably not going to want to be popping off that flash throughout the ceremony, especially if you are indoors. A flash going off during the ceremony will be distracting. You may need to consider renting or borrowing some f/2.8 lenses.

[freygr]

The other thing to remember is that you are probably not going to want to be popping off that flash throughout the ceremony, especially if you are indoors. A flash going off during the ceremony will be distracting. You may need to consider renting or borrowing some f/2.8 lenses.

I 100% agree, besides a F2.8 constant aperture zoom a 50mm F1.8 or 1.4 could be helpful and now you can also get fast 85mm or a 35mm DX prime lenses which may also be helpful in low light.

[ksbryan0]

When a wedding shoot goes wrong, taken to an extreme!

NYT: Groom sues photographer for new wedding - US news - The New York Times - msnbc.com

[Naeva]

I absolutly second mcl:s note