Wedding Photography

[timwaters77]

I am trying to break into Wedding Photography....a pretty competitive market around here.

Was wondering if anyone had any advice as to MUST HAVE equipment that I should have on hand.

Right now I am shooting with a Canon 50d, the 70-200 f2.8 lens, and the Canon 430ex Flash.

Any other particular lenses I should have? Additional flashes? anything else?

Thanks!

[drg]

I am trying to break into Wedding Photography....a pretty competitive market around here.

Was wondering if anyone had any advice as to MUST HAVE equipment that I should have on hand.

Right now I am shooting with a Canon 50d, the 70-200 f2.8 lens, and the Canon 430ex Flash.

Any other particular lenses I should have? Additional flashes? anything else?

Thanks!

An ample supply of patience and perseverance, the ability to absorb abuse, and endurance are all necessities.

Think of good wedding photography as running in a track meet and photographing the crowd . . . in a tuxedo.

Oh, you need comfortable shoes. You need a lot of different gear other than the DSLR body you have which is OK for one of two bodies or as a backup.

Best wishes.

[jorgemonkey]

Gear & lenses are mostly picked to match your shooting style. I'll give a longer post on that later tonight.

Now as a "must have" gear, backups of everything. What are you going to do if you 50d falls & breaks? What are you going to grab if your 70-200 rolls off the table after setting it down for a second?

[Axle]

I would at least have a second body handy. Plus a couple of fast primes. 50 1.8 or 1.4, and maybe a telephoto 85 or 105 I've found comes in handy for portrait stuff. Probably would invest in something like a 24-70 also for smaller spaces.

Also: Patience, and thick skin.

[mjs1973]

If you ever read or listened to anything Scott Borne says about getting into the photography business, one of the first pieces of advice that always gives is "get a client before you get the gear". Basically what he means is that it doesn't make any sense to drop a ton of money on expensive gear if you don't have any jobs lined up.

He also suggests renting gear to start out with instead of dumping a bunch of money and starting out in the hole. You could easily rent a second body and a lens or two for a fraction of the cost of purchasing. Just out of curiosity I went to www.lensrentals.com and it would cost about $322 to rent a 5D Mk II and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for a week. It would cost you over 10x's that to purchase them. The income from your first wedding could easily cover the rental cost and leave you with a nice profit on your first gig.

Good luck!

[timwaters77]

Thanks all.

I am getting fairly consistent business on my portraiture work so I don't think I will have a huge problem getting wedding business.

I am going to NY in May to shoot my sisters wedding. Will definitely be renting some equipment for the week to go along with what I presently have.

I got some models modeling bridal portraits for me in January so hoping that goes well.