Ugly Hedgehog Newsletter

Hi all, I am retired but have always been an amateur photographer. Took a lot of pictures for my own enjoyment . Now that I am retired, I plan to go back to my country and become a photographer for weddings which is a good business.

Could someone tell me what kind of camera, lenses, flash and battery charger I should buy to do weddings? Iam not talking high end equipment but good enough to take good and sharp pics.Right now I only have point and shoot cameras with no interchangeable lenses.

Any help will be appreciated.

Vijay

Philipschmitten Loc: Texas

I am a retired U.S. Air Force photojournalist and now I take wedding photos for a living. My wife is my partner as we shoot together. The customers love having two photographers as the bride gets her own as she is getting ready.

I don't shoot any video as I have a tiny videocam for when I need vacation pics, etc. So that narrowed the field down considerably. I used Nikon exclusively during my military stint but I was introduced to Cano Rebel when they first came out and have been a Rebel fan ever since.

I use the Rebel XSi and my wife uses the XT and we love them. They are basic with professional features and are super easy to use. I use Program Mode and it allows me all the freedom I need to change settings, etc. but more importantly, it frees me up to really concentrate on the photo itself.

OH well, now you have my two cents worth. One more thing...invest your money on the top of the line Canon Flash. It will serve you well in the long run.

lmolina66

I purchased a Canon Rebel TXi just one and a half years ago. I have only used it for photographing my grandchildren, but I do want to start shooting special occasions (i.e. weddings, quinceñeras, baptisms, etc...) How should I get started in this business as I am not what you would consider a professional. I live in a very small community and people around here have to travel out of town to get studio shots done and others have to pay high prices to bring in a photographer for a wedding, etc. Any advice?

My Granddaughter having fun on a swing!!!


Now is this being silly or what!?!?!

mcdee01

First I would recommend doing a great deal of research in wedding books and magazines to obtain useful and great image creation ideas. Secondly, equipment: at least 2-35mm DSLR camers will be required to prevent from getting yourself into a jam should one of them fail. The lens coverage should include approximately 18-124mm for best coverage but, if you can afford them, stick with primary lenses only (primary lenses are those lenses that are "fast lenses" (lots of glass - i.e., f/stops of 2.8 versus lenses that range 3.5-5.6 or more. The non-primary lenses are not as sharp. Zoom lenses do however, even though not primary lenses, offer tremendous durability and flexability in this type of shooting. Finally, invest in a quality flash system: either a speed light from Canon (if you are using Canon equipemnt) or Nikon or whatever manufacturer's system you invest in. Also, you may wish to consider a QFlash from Quantum Instruments - EXTREMELY GREAT flash system, for any camera system. A bit more pricey but definately well worth the investment - they will last for years. Their Quantum batteries are excellent and their service is outstanding when needed.

Finally, do not sell yourself cheap. The problem with most photographers is they underprice themselves for their services because they think price is what matters most when actually, quality and chemistry (chemistry between you and the clients) is what matters most. Check out a guy by the name of Charles Lewis, photographer. Excellent teacher and he has an on-line blog and info with daily feeds that are very helpful in learning the process. Hope this helps - good luck.

millervito

Wedding photography ts pretty specialized as in equipment a full frame camera as in canon 5dII a good back up camera or two ( You dont want one to go down and not have a backup) and fast glass you will be shooting in some low light situations, and some form of lighting off and on camera. There are several good wedding guide books out there read em all. If you can try to work with a professional at a couple of weddings as a second or third shooter to see if it is something that you really want to do (not as easy as it looks). Keep in mind this is the day most brides have been dreaming about for quit some time and there is a lot of stress on both the families and on the photogs.And as said above dont be cheap figure one day of scouting the location 12- 14 hour shooting day, assistants and or second shooter, proofing sheets and pp work for 10 -20 hours(Im a little slow )gas running around to the different locals all add up. Hope this sheds a little light and good luck in your venture.

dirty dave

I have been shooting weddings for about 10 years now. The camera that I use is a canon 60d and a 50d always have two cameras even a point and shoot will work in a spot. Cameras break. After many years of service my 10d just gave out. As far as brands I have seen great works from Canon, Nikon,Sony and Lumix (When I worked on my Canon 10d I found parts stamped with Sony name on them????) Wacth your lighting and white balance it might not show up on your display screen but it will in your pictures. Invest in a off camera flash and a good flash. Be careful of shadows they will kill a shot. The lenes that I use is a Sigma 10 to 20 zoom, Canon 50mm fixed, canon 50 to 200, and a canon 20 to 35. But to start I would start with a good kit lens and a 75 to 300 lens. Don't invest a lot of money at first then decide. And get ready for the Digi Moms as you do more Weddings you will understand who the digi moms are. Good luck, have fun and enjoy.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Because you have the advantage of starting out from scratch, I'd go with a "system" approach with the same brand of body, lenses, and flashes. Don't cheap out with the lowest dSLR you can find. You should have two for yourself if you're going to do this seriously and a third for your second shooter - if you're going to have one. You can share one of the three cameras as a backup initially.

They will have dedicated rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries. You should buy two or three more batteries for each camera to have fully charged and waiting for when your current battery is getting low. Two more chargers would be a good idea if you have 3 cameras so 3 batteries can charge at the same time while you're shooting with 3 and have 3 more charged ones in your pocket as backups.

Use 16GB Class 10 memory cards in all cameras and have more backup cards - at least 6 cards total.

For holding your initial investment down (although you're still going to spend a bundle to do this right) start with something like Canon t3i, Nikon D5100, or Sony Alpha 55. The better the lenses are the better your output product will be so as you get more jobs, and make more money, replace your name brand glass with higher quality name brand glass from your camera's manufacturer. Don't rely on third party lens manufacturers that typically have reported reliability and consistency problems. You're always going to be under pressure at a wedding and you can't have lenses falling apart internally or locking up on you while the wedding party is waiting and you are humiliated. High resolution bodies like the ones I listed above will record awesome quality if the lenses are excellent so spend your future investment money on better and better lenses.

I personally chose the 16.2MP Sony Alpha 55 recently because it is compatible with all Minolta auto-focus lenses and there are a lot used Minolta lenses available for reasonable prices. For example, the week after getting the camera I bought a brand new, old-stock, Minolta 28-100mm auto focus macro zoom in mint condition for $85. Try that with a Nikon or Canon! It can't be done.

Sony bought Minolta in 2006 so the Alpha 55 is Minolta technology at heart with Sony money pushing research and development to new highs. Minolta made renowned fine quality lenses for themselves, for Sony, and for other manufacturers and that continues today under the Sony name. The Sony has image stabilization in the camera body so you don't have to buy lenses with image stabilizers in them - which makes top notch Sony lenses cost less than Canon or Nikon. Sony also has their own powerful and exceptional TTL "speed light". That lets you continue the "system" approach of having Sony everything.

I felt the Sony Alpha 55 represented the best overall long term value for me. Other users would probably differ with that opinion but I'm extremely happy with mine for portrait and outdoor work. I'm not doing weddings currently because I think the wedding market has gone insane with customers demanding 1500 software-edited shots per wedding. I will be getting into tabletop macro product shooting and real estate photography soon. I'm sure my Sony can handle those with ease as well.

That's my 2 cents...

A friend of mine that I shot yesterday

gwilliams6

With all due respect to DSLR users and lovers here in UHH (I used the best DSLRs from both Canon and Nikon for decades), today a better choice is going with a mirrorless system. As one who has shot countless weddings over four decades, the advantages of a mirrorless system with an EVF are real vs a DSLR system for any wedding shooter. As you will save overall size and weight in your total camera/lens kit going mirrorless over DSLR.

There are excellent and affordable mirrorless cameras and lenses from Sony, Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Olympus that will suit your wedding needs well.

And there are OEM flashes as well as excellent flashes from Godox/Flashpoint, Westcott and others that will work well in manual, TTL and HSS modes .

Give us an idea of your total budget and we can make some recommendations.

Cheers and best to you.

(Download)

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

12 years late ...

If you don't understand how to navigate the Main Discussion section, make sure you hit <Next>, not <Last> that will have you wasting time in the 2011 dust of the site.

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

I personally have found that a Nikon with an 8-16 and the 18-300 will handle just about anything - add the SB 5000 - and, of course a tripod (all you have to photograph is your interaction - and interacting with a camera shoved up in your face is impossible)

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

My oldest daughter used my D3S for years and finally switched to the Z6ii which she loves. Outstanding low noise and much lighter weight. She pairs it with multiple Z lenses.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

11 year old thread. They have moved on!!

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

I've noticed that everyone is recommending a DSLR or mirrorless camera system. I recommend that you talk to some professional wedding photographers and do a lot of research before making a final decision as to what system you will be using. No one has suggested a medium format camera system which is what I have often seen as the equipment used by many professionals.

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

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If you want to do weddings professionally you will need at least two cameras, two off-camera flashes, wireless trigger and wireless receivers for the flashes, few decent quality lenses and a sturdy tripod. This is about the minimum equipment you would need.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

I shot a lot of weddings with a Nikon D810 , the newer d850 is a great camera....