jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

Greetings everyone,

I am needing any advice I can get on my first opportunity at wedding photography. I have been given the opportunity to photograph a wedding, and I have no idea of wedding packages, how many images to include, or the most appropriate lens. I primarily focus a landscape, macro, and wildlife photography… this is new territory for me.

I will be shooting with a D800, and D600. My lenses that I would think appropriate for wedding photography might be Nikon 24-70, Sigma 85mm. I also have Nikon 70-200, Nikon 60mm, and Nikon 28-300… I am normally outside with these lenses.

This is a $500 budget shoot… but I want to do a good job. I took in on just to get the experience, and to begin a wedding portfolio. I would appreciate any advice I can get.

Thanks in advance

Joe

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

This will help. http://www.knotforlife.com/planning/checklists/photography-poses.shtml

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

Amazon, Barnes and noble have many books on wedding photography. Enter into google "how to take wedding photographs" or "wedding photography" and enjoy the reading. Most major photography magazines devote an issue to wedding photography or have articles on the subject. Did you ever think about assisting a wedding photographer to gain the experience and knowledge needed? Good luck on this adventure. My only advice is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

ROCKY JA Loc: Living in Burnsville, Minnesota

Dear Joe

When I started my photography business, I started with doing weddings. Let me just say, that weddings has to be the hardest job a photographer can do. I did over 1,500 wedding before I finally got out of it, and into commercial photography.

Number one: if at all possible, never use a 35mm camera for weddings. No matter how good it is. I used my 35mm only as a backup, if needed. Your strobe is your best friend. Get the best one made for weddings… Norman Strobes are used by most professional wedding photographers.

A 2¼ format camera was design for weddings, and the flash I used was a Norman with battery pack. Recycled to full power instantly! It was a little heavy, but well worth the trouble. Never had to worry that it would reach my subjects.

Custom Photo labs have the best prices for wedding photographers, and they are set up for it too. Your local print shop can’t match the prices nor the quality.

Custom labs cut and package each frame and number the frame so you don’t have to sit on the floor of you home all weekend sorting all the negatives for your customer. Time is your enemy, it cuts into your profit.

The customer:
the family just paid for the expensive gown, catering, the church, the hall, and finally the they are now looking for a cheap photographer. You are the last on their budget.

What they don’t understand is that, all they will have left after the wedding IS the photos! They will pay 100 buck to fold and package the wedding dress, and it will be put away in the closet forever!

My minimum package: the proof prints - $500.00 with album.
Addition prints, if paid for with the package:
4x5 or smaller $12.00 5x7 ……$20.00 8x10’s ………$25.00

That may seem high to you, but it’s not. When a couple looks for a photographer, their budget governs their thoughts. After the wedding, their emotions govern their purchases. I never got less then 800 profit for additional prints. Why? Because the whole family will be purchasing prints of all sizes.

Wedding photography is very profitable, only if you have the right customers. When I started, all my wedding were under $600.00, and the customers always wanted some type of discount, or the always complained about the work.

I was finally fed up with my low profit margin. I was doing 2 weddings a week and still never made what I felt was worth my time.
I changes my price list, and my minimum package was $1000.00. I’d get calls from a better clientele. They loved my work and didn’t mind paying for it. My business went from 8 weddings a month to 4 weddings a month, and my profet was much better.

Your best experience, is working with people that do weddings. Their are ways to my the wedding run smoothly. Doing your first wedding alone is quite an experience. Hopefully, you’ll get through it well.

I’ll look forward to hearing about your first wedding. Anything I can do to help, just ask.

Rocky

jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

Thanks Charles for the for the advice. I have had the opportunity to assist as a second shooter on two occasions, as medium sized weddings. On those occasion I did not deal directly with the client, and I wasn't responsible of the entire shoot. Actually… I wasn't looking for this job… it sorta found me. I will do all the research I can.

Thanks for the council.

Bruce with a Canon Loc: Islip

google wedding photographers, look at their work and try to emulate the results.

Go buy books on HOW TO PHOTOGRAPHY WEDDINGGS, make damn sure you have appropriate gear to shoot the wedding.
YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE to make lifetime memories for this couple.
Back up is not a luxury it is a necessity.
If you do nit have back up gear brung a back up shooter.

Wedding Photography is one of the toughest gigs you will ever do. Not only must your photography skills demonstrate professional quality under pressure, your people skills, organizational skills, editing skills must be TOP NOTCH irrespective of the situation. Dealing with point an shoot photographers, drunks, divas, drama queens, parents, and with all that maintain a professional bearing and focus.

Takes a special breed to shoot weddings and do it in an exemplary manner satisfying the clients.

If you have what it takes, Wedding photography can be a well paying venture, And deeply satisfying.

Good Luck!@

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

Here is a good over view.

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-38544-1.html

Nikon_Bill Loc: South Florida

I've been shooting weddings for over 40 yrs. now. One thing that will make all the difference in the world is having good light.
The last wedding I shot was indoors. I used an Alien Bees 1600 near the bride and aimed it at the ceiling to bounce the light. I used wireless Yongnuo radio flash triggers on the camera and flash. I shot from 30 to 40 feet away with my 70 to 300 mm lens at f8 and here is a sample of the results. A strong strobe is great. I also use a sb800 on the camera when only a little fill in is needed.
The shadows in the first photo are very soft in the first photo. The second on shows the distance that was being covered. I stood at the far end and to the right of the wood dance floor to shoot and be out of the view of the audience. I can't say enough about having a strong light and good radio triggers so no cords are being used.

jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

I really appreciate everyones feedback… and the quick responses. it seems I have a good reason to be nervous. I must really give this some thought.

Thanks to all

Dsja Loc: Fairfax, VA

You got plenty of good advice here. I shot weddings for 17 years, and charged $6000 per wedding. That was in the late nineties and early 2000. I would charge more now I did them. They are exhausting, high anxiety weeks of your life. It will take at least 40 hours or more from beginning to end, counting editing etc..., which is why i say week.

Wedding coverage is a historical document for a family, as well as an Art. It is best left to a pro, unless your friends dont care all that much, and understand fully that this is your first. You must have backup equipment in case something breaks.

You should get another photographer to shoot with you, preferably one who has more experience. Perhaps between the two of you, there will be enough.

murm Loc: Adelaide, Australia

When people talk about shooting weddings for a certain price is that just the wedding or wedding & reception that goes into the night & ends up many hours of work. And then is it just give them a copy of the files as is off the camera or you go through them all in PP first then give them to the couple ?
One more thing, how many shots is an acceptable amount of shots ?

cthahn

If you do not have any experience shooting a wedding by yourself, and expect to get answers here as to how to do it the first time, you are unable to think and are fooling yourself. Playing with a bunch of zoom lenses, changing lenses, no flash, the wedding will be over before you know what has happened. Just because you have some expensive cameras means nothing. A wedding is a one time affair, extremely important for two people, and can not be done over again. Screw it up and you might as well go somewhere and hide forever.

kmaggs Loc: South Florida

Try this series on YouTube, he's got 7 video's on there that really look helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZHWUa11DAg

1066 Loc: England

Hi Joe, I thought these youtube videos, made by a Pro Wedding Photographer here in the UK called Dave Nunn might give you some inspiration/ideas. There are three videos, here are the links and I hope they help:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yBzbZ_a9GE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52L9BFrwIMk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSgds1ARvLg

XKaliber

CThahn gave some good, down-to-earth advice.

I shot several weddings while putting myself through the last couple of years of college. If I had it all to do over I would have gotten a part time job digging ditches or some other mundane labor intensive activity.

Wedding photography can be stressful, frustrating and downright infuriating. $500. is no where near enough for even a bare-bones event. If you screw it up you will be hard pressed to ever live it down and forgiveness is never forthcoming.

The best suggestion I could give you at this point comes from a movie, Forrest Gump. "Run Forrest, Runnn!!"