The last time that happened to me I took the lens out to the car in Midsummer and turn on the ignition and cranked up the heat and put the lens in Front of the vent. That warmed it up and I was able to continue shooting

Thanks guys all the suggestions are very helpful I'm going to try both ways and see which one I like best. I may have to get used to the back button focus thing. Happy shooting.

Very helpful thanks. I'm old school. I just can't see myself fiddling with AF points while I'm shooting. My old Canon was complicated but nothing like the 5D mark III.

I'm saving for a Mark IV. Much of that junk on the cameras never gets used. Just give me a focus ring an aperture shutter and ISO and turn me loose.

It is not necessarily the best idea to be shooting for friends for the first time. But people do it regardless of advice to the contrary. So if you're going to do it brush up on your YouTube tips and go for it! Baptism by fire. LOL. And with that guy said about shooting RAW. Definitely shoot RAW.

Sorry I keep adding to my reply. There were two other shooters at this wedding who were learning the camera and wedding photography at the same time and building a portfolio. So there was another photographer on the brooms side photographing from his perspective and another shooter in the back behind the guests. It was a learning experience for us all. I've done many weddings but it's been 10 years. I'm very rusty and the newer cameras are more complicated than the first digital cameras. I have a 1D Mark II. So I rented the other camera and gave myself a crash course on it and also went through it with the other photographers. I have six more weddings booked like this.

By the way, I'm rebuilding my portfolio after a long sabbatical. So I was not charging for the wedding. It was a low stress small backyard wedding and thank you to whoever is on here who recommended the black rapid double strap. I had my other camera on my other hip with that strap so the switch was very seamless

I practiced with the camera before hand. The first time it worked the way I wanted it to. I also went through the manual twice. It was a rental so I couldn't practice with it as thoroughly as I wanted to beforehand. I had both cameras on me at the time so I just immediately switched to the old camera. I very carefully went through the Settings one by one but I missed something. The camera is very complicated.

Thanks everyone the back button focus is a possibility thank you and thank you for pointing out what page in the manual I needed to go to. I thought I had the one shot set so. The first time I use the camera everything was fine the second time I used it I had messed with the settings and then I messed up the auto Focus

It might be helpful to rent a second camera body and flash just in case the main camera body fails. From advice here this forum I bought a Blackrapid double sling strap. One camera on each side around the side of your waist. It worked really well for me last time. If you're outside, you're F4 will be fine maybe put the F4 on one camera and the 2.8 70-200 on the other and have them both handy with the blackrapid double strap. Plus it just looks cool. I suggest rather than looking at books it's much quicker to look at Tips on YouTube for first time wedding shooters there are several really good ones. All the advice you need is on YouTube.

I don't want to use autofocus points! I just want to focus on the center and recompose. I was shooting a wedding a week ago and I was using the Mark III for the second time. I focused on the bride during the ceremony with the groom slightly out of focus in the distance and every time I try to recompose the camera would refocus on the center autofocus point.

I had to switch to my old camera because I couldn't deal with the Settings during the ceremony. What are the proper settings for auto focus that will allow me to focus just on the centerpoint and recompose and shoot. I can't find any straight answers online anywhere and no luck in the search function here. I even bought a book on the instructions and there is only talk about using the different focusing points

I did infants for several years in my studio. I found that the newborns cry much more. I stopped photographing newborns and would only start photographing at three months. I don't care for the newborn pictures where the baby is asleep in weird positions like propped up on his elbows. It's way overdone.

I ask all my mommies to bring the baby in the morning because I find that they are fresher and happier in the morning. There are several things that will make a baby cry every time. One is if the baby is tired. Two is the baby is hungry. Three is if the diaper on a young baby is the slightest bit wet even if she just change the baby 15 minutes ago, the baby will cry.

So in my studio I did one baby at a time. There were no other people in the room and I allowed an hour to an hour and a half per shoot. If the baby is tired I have the mother rock the baby to sleep and feed if necessary. If the baby is hungry, I have her feed him. Usually the baby will fall asleep. If the baby is rested and has just been fed, it may have tummy bubbles and needs to be burped. The other thing that will make a baby cry is if they have tummy bubbles that won't pop and put pressure on the babies tummy. You will be able to tell this because the baby will be very fussy and seem to be in pain. They sell baby gasx medicine at the pharmacy. The biggest challenge is getting the mother to except the fact that the baby needs the Gas-X. Only use the small Gas-X dropper on one baby
and give the medicine to the mother to keep.

I had a changing table in the camera room with free diapers and wipes and supplies.

So I shoot 50 to 100 shots in four different poses for each session. I start out with a mommy and me session at three months. Followed quickly by three months, six months, nine months, 12 month session. Then I make A panel of the three, six, nine, 12 month shots of her choice.

I also shoot the face the hands the bottom the feet and make a nine square panel baby parts compilation. I do this during the mommy and me session.

Something that helps with the crying is if you find in the Disney store in the mall there are these little pushbutton like spinning things that you hold in your hand. When the baby fusses press the button and spin the light around in the Globe and he will immediately stop crying. Hurry then and snap a few quick shots. After a while the baby will get used to the device and no longer cooperate. So use it sparingly.

Sorry so long hope this helps. Anymore questions let me know and I will try to help. Everyone photographs babies differently so hopefully you can get a variety of advice.