zumarose

I'm a hobbyist photographer. My friends ask me from time to time to shoot for pay. I always decline. Instead I offer to do the shoot for free and if they like the photos they can keep them. That's worked out well so far. Somebody wanted photos for their website. Somebody else wanted photos for their horse. All turned out fine. Takes the pressure off me and I stretch myself.

But wait! A young friend recently asked me to photograph her wedding. When my heart rate went back to normal I gave the best response I could. I was honored and would do it if she didn't have alternatives, but this was not a job for a friend. I went through every reason why. Told her about my specific objections and my limitations and that this was not false modesty but real reasons why I wasn't the right choice.
Fast forward. Well it seems that she doesn't have too many options because I just found out her entire wedding budget today and it won't stretch to a pro photographer.

She's getting married on a hilltop with a view for miles at noon in high summer in California. Reception and food outdoors and cake and dancing inside. About 65 people.

I'm going to do my best to accommodate her and I have a couple of months to prepare myself. I have two camera bodies, neither of which are full frame. I have some basic indoor lightboxes and a couple of deflectors. I've never been fond of zoom lenses and prefer prime. I have a Tamron 90 mm, a Tokina 11-16, a Nikkor 18-200 which for some reason is no longer autofocusing (I'll take it in to have it looked at) so I can only use it in manual mode, and a 35 mm 1.8 and 1.4. Looking over my glass inventory I see that I don't have a solid workhorse lens which can be easily adaptable to any situation. I'm willing to buy or rent such a lens. I adore my 1.4 but I don't need the low light feature outdoors. I think my wide angle could be good for a shot of the actual ceremony with about 40 miles of landscape behind it. But really thinking I need to have a goto lens for all purpose shots.
I'd love input and suggestions from people more experienced than myself.
What should I take or buy or use?
I am good with composition and decent in Lightroom. I'm thinking if I shoot in Aperture mode with a good basic lens I can deliver some good shots.
Please don't tell me to just say no. I tried that. I think if I don't step up to the plate we're relying on someone's Iphone. And I'm willing to work to hone my skills.
I have a personal photo blog at ordinarycapture.tumblr.com which should show what I've done in the past. Don't expect to get bowled over.
This person and her fiance are very dear to me and I'd like to step up for them. Thanks to all.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Learning how to use fill flash outdoors can really help get better images.
A lot of people are afraid of using flash. It’s not that hard these days and makes a big difference if done correctly.
The Nikons I use work really well with TTL flash, especially if that flash is also a Nikon product.
Do you have a speedlight?
When your subject is within the range of the flash, you can set the FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation) to between -2 & -3 and get really nice shadow fill without it looking overdone.

Here is a good, short explanation: https://neilvn.com/tangents/on-camera-ttl-fill-flash/

zumarose

Thanks. I have never used flash ever and have been shooting for about 5 years. My first photography teacher was a purist. I have plenty of time to discover fill flash. I can go on Youtube. Any recommendations, though, for any sites or resources you like?

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Nikon users and wedding photographers in general will need to know which cameras you have.

Look here for tutorials: https://www.google.com/search?q=wedding+photography+tutorials+youtube&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS852US852&oq=wedding+photography+tutori&aqs=chrome.2.0j69i57j0l6.19267j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I have been there a couple of times myself. The last time it was a good friend (my wife and I were married in her beautifully landscaped yard/garden).
Myself and our daughter were asked to do photos, my wife used our videocam to video it and the guests were encouraged to all bring cameras or use their phones. Then everyone put their photos on thumb drives etc and they were all then put on the new husband's computer. He got some editing software and between him and her daughter (school mate of our daughter) and a few of her friends from college here 3 years later they are still finding and doing more photos and videos etc. Between everyone they got 3000+ stills, almost 2000 from myself and our daughter plus about a dozen videos. My daughter did about 1100 of the dinner and dancing that went on for hours and we had a spot we took turns doing posed shots of guests with the bride and groom. And almost all of the nearly 100+ guests wanted to pose with them. The first month they had an album from the shots I and our daughter did. But with so many they just keep finding gems. It has been a bit of an adventure for them.

The wedding(just minutes before sundown with the warm light from the west), meal and dance took place in the same yard my wife and I were married in but it long ago had a pool and concrete deck added. Her home is on a high hill at the south west end with the back yard right at the edge of the very steep south slope so it is lite by the afternoon sun with a mountain range a few miles south across the valley. And when her father died several years ago she found a gardener who maintained the landscaping he had done (gardening was his hobby) way back when she and her first husband bought the house. So trees that had been saplings when my wife and I got married there are now grown but that gardener she found had kept her father's landscaping by replacing the plants when one dies etc. Just that over half of what was grass is now pool and deck. The spot my wife and I were married at is now about the 4-5 foot deep part of the pool.

BebuLamar

If you can access the place before hands. Do test shots checking out the lighting condition.

zumarose

Thanks. I have a 5200 body and my very first body which I believe was a 3200? Your story is lovely. Thank you

zumarose

Indeed. I was there today at roughly the time of the wedding ceremony. I intend to go back a couple of times more up to a week beforehand to check out the weather and other variables. Thank you

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Added a link to my post above.
Purist?.... Hmmm.
While you can do a whole lot with reflectors, sometimes the conditions call for more than what mother nature has provided. Plus, you won't always have an assistant to help with positioning those reflectors.
I'd love to be able to do that all the time, but it isn't always practical.
With weddings and other events, you can't wait for the right conditions.
You have to use the tools available and I make sure a good speedlight is one of those.

Used Nikon speedlights to look for are the SB-800 (interface is a bit tricky to navigate but one of the best they made) or the SB-700. The SB-910 is great but newer and more expensive. The SB-900 had a known overheating issue, but it only happened to me twice that I can remember. The SB-5000 is awesome, but so it the price!
Godox/Flashpoint makes some good ones (I have 5) and have built-in radio transceivers so I can used them off-camera wirelessly. My favorite and the one I used for my last wedding is the Godox V1.


Oh, and just to make it official: don't do it!
There...
Someone had to say it.
I've been a pro for over 40 years.
I used to shoot for a daily newspaper, commercial work and for two universities.
Weddings are the most stressful thing I have ever shot.

zumarose

Right. I have no time in a wedding. I either get the shot or I don't. Tell me more about a speedlight. I won't have much time indoors. But I still need to learn

Silverrails

Silverrails

I do wish you well on this Wedding shoot, If you are looking for a possible all around lens for the Wedding, you might consider a 2.8 24-70mm lens, on a Crop-Sensor camera it will have a F.O.V. or A.O.V.of 36-105mm. Plus a 50mm1.8 Prime.

zumarose

Thank you. I'll look into that. Or maybe this will be the impetus for med to go to full frame. But then are my other lenses useless. I'll look into that

Silverrails

No, your other lens ARE NOT USELESS

zumarose

No. Somebody didn't have to say it. I don't know your culture or environment but sometimes people fall in love and want to marry and they don't have money. I'm happy to make my wedding gift to them to be a few months of study or a new lens and that might eventually mean more to them than a set of steaknives

zumarose

So I looked into the lens you suggested. If I eventually buy a full frame camera can I still use it