I have "never" shot a wedding before. I am a little unnerved by this thought. First let me say, this is "not" a paying job. BUT, it is a family member, who has a lot of confidence in me and happens to like my photos. She is not hiring a photographer, due to the expense. She just wants a few good photographs of the occasion, besides cell phone photos. (although, I am making sure, I have people taking plenty of those as well.) I often take family photos when we are all together, and send them to everyone. Also I post a few of my images on my FB account. My niece seems to think that I can do this, even though I have told her, I am not a professional photographer, and I still have a lot to learn. As this is not her first marriage, nor is it her fiancé's first wedding. They are not having a formal ceremony. They are getting married at their home, off the coast of Maryland. It will be outdoors, at one o'clock in the afternoon. (worst time of day for pictures lol) Hope their yard is shaded well. The dress is casual. A low country boil reception, and boating and jet skiing activities for all the guests (which is family and close friends only). Still, I want to be able to capture those special moments for her. She is more like a little sister to me than a niece. I will be ok, doing posed shots, but not so sure about the rest of it. I have the right camera for the job but not sure about the best lens to use. My best lens is my 70-200 F2.8L IS USM II for my Canon 5D Mark IV camera. Is this the best lens or is there a better one I should use. Like maybe the 24-105 F4L? also, I have a speed lite, but not any studio lighting. Even if I had it, wow, traveling with all that gear would be hard for me. So, my camera, speed light, tripod, and a couple of lenses is all I really want to take. Maybe a couple of reflectors. But that would be the most I'd travel with. So, any tips, advice, and a little compassion when giving it, haha, would be appreciated. I want feel too bad if they are not great, due to the fact that I am doing this as a favor to her. But, I am taking this as a challenge, and want to do my best.

I have shot several "informal" weddings. I've found the Canon 24-105L f/4 to be a great lens for these occasions, particularly if you're shooting both inside where the wider end is of value and outside where the long end is good for unobtrusive shots. If inside, consider a bounce flash to even up the lighting. Also consider using a flash for the outside shots to reduce your sunshine contrast.

Talk to the bride and groom and know what they want. Some like private shots away from the crowd at, maybe, some spot they really like, i.e.: a beach location, a particular old building, etc. Some prefer lots of people in shots. Communication is your best way of covering thoughts and desires.

Have fun!

bwa

I have "never" shot a wedding before. I am a little unnerved by this thought. First let me say, this is "not" a paying job. BUT, it is a family member, who has a lot of confidence in me and happens to like my photos. She is not hiring a photographer, due to the expense. She just wants a few good photographs of the occasion, besides cell phone photos. (although, I am making sure, I have people taking plenty of those as well.) I often take family photos when we are all together, and send them to everyone. Also I post a few of my images on my FB account. My niece seems to think that I can do this, even though I have told her, I am not a professional photographer, and I still have a lot to learn. As this is not her first marriage, nor is it her fiancé's first wedding. They are not having a formal ceremony. They are getting married at their home, off the coast of Maryland. It will be outdoors, at one o'clock in the afternoon. (worst time of day for pictures lol) Hope their yard is shaded well. The dress is casual. A low country boil reception, and boating and jet skiing activities for all the guests (which is family and close friends only). Still, I want to be able to capture those special moments for her. She is more like a little sister to me than a niece. I will be ok, doing posed shots, but not so sure about the rest of it. I have the right camera for the job but not sure about the best lens to use. My best lens is my 70-200 F2.8L IS USM II for my Canon 5D Mark IV camera. Is this the best lens or is there a better one I should use. Like maybe the 24-105 F4L? also, I have a speed lite, but not any studio lighting. Even if I had it, wow, traveling with all that gear would be hard for me. So, my camera, speed light, tripod, and a couple of lenses is all I really want to take. Maybe a couple of reflectors. But that would be the most I'd travel with. So, any tips, advice, and a little compassion when giving it, haha, would be appreciated. I want feel too bad if they are not great, due to the fact that I am doing this as a favor to her. But, I am taking this as a challenge, and want to do my best.

I do events and I carry a bag with 2 cameras with different lenses (and sometimes even 3). It's definitely a load and can be bulky to maneuver around in a crowd. Probably 25 lb with all the junk I seem to carry in the bag.

The weddings I've done (as a guest) I generally carry one with me and have another out in the car, but accessible if necessary. For the ceremony I generally go with the 70-200 and everything else gets the 24-70. The 70-200 allows you to get some reach so you don't have to get right up front and intrude on the ceremony. The reception is generally crowded and you can't see through the crowd so the wider angle is useful there. For group shots 24mm is generally sufficient unless it's a really small venue.

The only problem with the 70-200 during the ceremony is trying to get just the right spot to shoot from. You have to scope it out ahead of time so you're not moving around out front too much. For something like that a second shooter could be really useful so you could get two angles.

Your only taking pictures I take it , no computer work , I would get the camera cards 16 to 30 gb San disk get enough ,you don't want to
Run out . Take lots of pictures , when finished , you just past the camera cards to the happy couple ,or give to her or his parents, and now the rest is up to them , they will have 200 to 500 images on those cards maybe more , I take it you will be reimbursed for the Sandisk
Cards , I have done several weddings for co-workers, with a pentax 645 and and they payed for them when I give the rolls of film to them,
They got them developed , and contact sheets made , then picked out what they wanted to print , it worked out good ,