First Rehearsal - ???

[ChowChi-Ching]

I have my first rehearsal Saturday, it is not a dinner and is only an hour, but they want pics, but what do I take pics of? I mean, what am I going to get that I will not get on the wedding? We didn't have one at our wedding, and I have not been to one, and none of the weddings I have done before had one(or I wasn't invited)....so I am kind of at a lost for what shots to get...

[gracie_r]

If I was the bride I'd want:

- Lots of candids - people will probably be in a good mood and goofing off. So I'd keep my eye out for good candids.
- The bride and groom in regular clothes going through the ceremony.
- The bridesmaids lined up in regular clothes and the groomsmen lined up in regular clothes (both during the ceremony).
- Flowergirl and ring bearer in their regular clothes (probably posed).
- Any "props". I had a bouquet of bows from my bridal shower that I used as my bouquet for the rehersal, and my bridesmaids made me up some dinky veil to wear. So anything like that they have.

I wouldn't try to pose anything, they'll be plenty of that on the wedding day. I'd ask the bride/groom to be sure they didn't have certain pictures in mind though. Maybe they'd want something posed.

ETA: You said what will you get that you won't get at the wedding, and I guess what I was getting at was that it WILL be a lot of the same ceremony pictures, but they'll be in street clothes so they'll be different to the bride. I was one of THOSE brides. I wanted pictures of everything. :thumbsup:

[ChowChi-Ching]

Thanks... that helps. I was just a little lost. But, they are a great couple and the mother of the bride is VERY helpful, so I think they will tell me alot of what they want. I just want to make sure I go and at least LOOK like I know what I am doing! ;)

[drg]

Rehearsal is for you too!

First check with the Celebrant (pastor priest rabbi etc) what you can and cannot do during the ceremony itself. Flash/no Flash shoot from the altar/behind the ceremony to include the crowd/congregation or just from the side.

Depending upon the facility this is the best time to get your locations chosen to shoot procession/recessional, the arrival of guests, and how to get back and forth quickly from one place to another. i.e. are there 'secret doors' or an outside hallway paralleling the main area that could help?

Finally, and this is the biggie, what is the light going to be like???

Shoot test shots of everything to see how much light you have and what you can get by with and without flash. Do you need to use a custom white balance because of bad or mixed lighting?

The simplest rule of thumb is to get two or three photos at minimum of everyone in the wedding party. Not all at once, but combos/candids sitting in chairs/pews watching or waiting to participate. Get different angles than some you may take during the wedding to liven things up a bit.

Good luck and best wishes!

[ChowChi-Ching]

Thanks...... unfortunately this is an all outdoor wedding.... at 3pm this Sunday..... it should be about 95 degrees! eek!

Thanks for all the tips! I hope that these turn out good.....

[another view]

I've shot one - maybe two, they were brothers who got married a few months apart. I shot a few rolls of Kodak T-Max 3200 at ISO1600 so they were really grainy (kinda "artsy") b&w shots. They liked the look but I wouldn't try that without showing someone a sample first.

Rehersals are generally very casual so that's how I shot - no posing, plenty of that stuff the next day. I enjoyed it, plus I learned a few things that could have caused problems for me on the big day. I had a couple of minutes to introduce myself to the priest (same guy for both) so I knew his rules. Although it was a few hours of work, it was relaxed and I think it helped.

[gracie_r]

How did it go?