So, I've gotten roped into shooting a wedding. Yikes! Any advice greatly appreciated (Page 2): Whatever happens you cannot afford to loose a single shot. Use the equipment you are...

peterjoseph

Whatever happens you cannot afford to loose a single shot. Use the equipment you are comfortable with. Candid shots are preferred. All the best.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

peterjoseph wrote:

Whatever happens you cannot afford to loose a single shot. Use the equipment you are comfortable with. Candid shots are preferred. All the best.

Thanks!

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

Get a loud voice or a megaphone. Make a shoulder sling from two straps so you can carry two cameras and lift them to your eye without disconnecting from the sling. I use a FF Nikon with 14mm and another with 28-300.
Set camera to 2fps and take two of each to avoid blinkers and tongue twitchers.
Build up a group and then finish with it and do another dont run people back and forth. Dress like a professional DJ bow tie and be commanding. You say when they throw confetti.
I carry a list of the main peoples names ..start with the brides lot and call out the names to build the group. Then the groom,then friends then take them away for the arty stuff. Always keep the bride on the grooms left arm that way the rings are visible.
Nikon goes auto to 4x iso when flash comes on ..I set to 200 which becomes 800 with the flash and balances the ambient and flash. Set camera to f8 auto iso etc and tape up the dials so they dont get knocked.
Dont let anybody fack you about you are the boss.

leftj Loc: Texas

Fredrick wrote:

OK, against my better judgement, I have agreed to shoot a wedding for my cousin’s son’s wedding. Please don’t tell me it’s a really bad idea and that I should offer to pay for a professional photographer. I know you all mean well. I’ve already done that. As a bit of background:
I recently took a series of photos at another wedding (as a guest … they also had a professional photographer) and sent them out to a number of relatives. This groom to be (this August), his fiancée, and his parents looked at the photos and called me and begged me to shoot their wedding. I said no, no, no and downplayed any expectations, but to no avail. They loved the photos that I did as a guest at another wedding, so I just don’t see a way out of this without jeopardizing our relationship. No, I’ve not shot a wedding before. I’m mostly a landscape and street photographer.
So, I’m going to go ahead with this, and here is where I would appreciate any help and insight you could provide:
I currently own a Fuji X100V (fixed 35mm FF equiv, 26mp camera) and a Fuji X-T2 (24mm MILC camera) with plenty of zoom and prime lenses. The X100V has a leaf shutter, enabling me to fill flash up to 1/4,000 of a second. I have just a little experience using flash outdoors or indoors.
The wedding will be at my cousin's house (with a huge backyard). The ceremony will take place in the afternoon in the backyard, and reception will be in the backyard and also inside the house. Probably around 40-50 people. Lots of young adults and laid back relatives.
What I’m trying to figure out is, which camera do I use? Do I use both? What focal lengths? All the photos that I took at the other wedding as a guest was with my X100V, using fill flash with the built-in camera flash. Do I use one camera for outside and one camera for inside the house? The X100V has a built in digital teleconverter for 50mm and 70mm (in addition to the 35mm) which I can easily change. Which flash unit (if any) should I buy? I’m looking at Nissin and Godox TTL flashes (and my head is spinning). I realize if I use a flash I will have to practice quite a bit for it to become second nature to me (I have 4 months before the wedding). I plan on shooting in RAW + Jpeg, and use PSE and Luminar for post processing.
As you can see, I have some decisions to make before I start practicing. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

OK, against my better judgement, I have agreed to ... (show quote)

Don’t. You will be criticized and will forever be known as the person who ruined the wedding. Don’t let them make you the fall guy because they’re to cheap to hire a professional.

DAN Phillips Loc: Graysville, GA

Cut the rope!

BebuLamar

Study the venue ahead of time.

ghbowser Loc: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

Biggest help is have someone who is wiling and able to "herd the cats". Luckily my wife is an expert at that. Most of the weddings I have done were as a gift to the couple. Back in the film days, I would give them the exposed film and let them take it from there. Digital, I give them a thumb drive with some editing, etc. and let them get what prints, books, etc. done themselves.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Fredrick wrote:

OK, against my better judgement, I have agreed to shoot a wedding for my cousin’s son’s wedding. Please don’t tell me it’s a really bad idea and that I should offer to pay for a professional photographer. I know you all mean well. I’ve already done that. As a bit of background:
I recently took a series of photos at another wedding (as a guest … they also had a professional photographer) and sent them out to a number of relatives. This groom to be (this August), his fiancée, and his parents looked at the photos and called me and begged me to shoot their wedding. I said no, no, no and downplayed any expectations, but to no avail. They loved the photos that I did as a guest at another wedding, so I just don’t see a way out of this without jeopardizing our relationship. No, I’ve not shot a wedding before. I’m mostly a landscape and street photographer.
So, I’m going to go ahead with this, and here is where I would appreciate any help and insight you could provide:
I currently own a Fuji X100V (fixed 35mm FF equiv, 26mp camera) and a Fuji X-T2 (24mm MILC camera) with plenty of zoom and prime lenses. The X100V has a leaf shutter, enabling me to fill flash up to 1/4,000 of a second. I have just a little experience using flash outdoors or indoors.
The wedding will be at my cousin's house (with a huge backyard). The ceremony will take place in the afternoon in the backyard, and reception will be in the backyard and also inside the house. Probably around 40-50 people. Lots of young adults and laid back relatives.
What I’m trying to figure out is, which camera do I use? Do I use both? What focal lengths? All the photos that I took at the other wedding as a guest was with my X100V, using fill flash with the built-in camera flash. Do I use one camera for outside and one camera for inside the house? The X100V has a built in digital teleconverter for 50mm and 70mm (in addition to the 35mm) which I can easily change. Which flash unit (if any) should I buy? I’m looking at Nissin and Godox TTL flashes (and my head is spinning). I realize if I use a flash I will have to practice quite a bit for it to become second nature to me (I have 4 months before the wedding). I plan on shooting in RAW + Jpeg, and use PSE and Luminar for post processing.
As you can see, I have some decisions to make before I start practicing. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

OK, against my better judgement, I have agreed to ... (show quote)

Get sick, break a leg. No one will be happy. Equipment means nothing experence rules.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

My assumption is the wedding will be smallish since it is an at home wedding. That should help some.

Be sure to sit down with bride and groom to see what they want as far as pictures go. Be sure to get those shots. The rest are bonus.

Last summer I shot my nieces reception at her fathers house as a guest. They were the only reception shots they had. It was both their second marriages. She had hired a pro for her ceremony at a beautiful park. The pro did a good job but was only hired to give her digital photos. I used both her and my photos to make a wedding album on Shutterfly for her. It was a small wedding and mostly family a a very few close friends.

Chuck

BebuLamar

Fredrick wrote:

Thomas, I will definitely give your suggestions serious consideration, and will look at Wedding Wire. Thank you!

If the pictures from Thomas are what you want to take you can start doing it now. You don't have to wait until the wedding day and if you mess up you can do it again.

genocolo Loc: Vail and Gasparilla Island

Take at least some video of ceremony, first dance etc, even if it is with iPhone. Believe me, the video will be more meaningful to them in the long run. Put the stills and video together in a simple iMovie with music. They will love it.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

When I was coming up as a wedding photographer I would bring a “cheat sheet’’ with a few poses to look at shortly before starting a series. With your experience as a landscape and street photographer, technical proficiency is probably less important than posing. Gather some images from Instagram or Facebook and bring them along. It may help you be more fluent as you setup shots.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Fredrick wrote:

OK, against my better judgement, I have agreed to shoot a wedding for my cousin’s son’s wedding. Please don’t tell me it’s a really bad idea and that I should offer to pay for a professional photographer. I know you all mean well. I’ve already done that. As a bit of background:
I recently took a series of photos at another wedding (as a guest … they also had a professional photographer) and sent them out to a number of relatives. This groom to be (this August), his fiancée, and his parents looked at the photos and called me and begged me to shoot their wedding. I said no, no, no and downplayed any expectations, but to no avail. They loved the photos that I did as a guest at another wedding, so I just don’t see a way out of this without jeopardizing our relationship. No, I’ve not shot a wedding before. I’m mostly a landscape and street photographer.
So, I’m going to go ahead with this, and here is where I would appreciate any help and insight you could provide:
I currently own a Fuji X100V (fixed 35mm FF equiv, 26mp camera) and a Fuji X-T2 (24mm MILC camera) with plenty of zoom and prime lenses. The X100V has a leaf shutter, enabling me to fill flash up to 1/4,000 of a second. I have just a little experience using flash outdoors or indoors.
The wedding will be at my cousin's house (with a huge backyard). The ceremony will take place in the afternoon in the backyard, and reception will be in the backyard and also inside the house. Probably around 40-50 people. Lots of young adults and laid back relatives.
What I’m trying to figure out is, which camera do I use? Do I use both? What focal lengths? All the photos that I took at the other wedding as a guest was with my X100V, using fill flash with the built-in camera flash. Do I use one camera for outside and one camera for inside the house? The X100V has a built in digital teleconverter for 50mm and 70mm (in addition to the 35mm) which I can easily change. Which flash unit (if any) should I buy? I’m looking at Nissin and Godox TTL flashes (and my head is spinning). I realize if I use a flash I will have to practice quite a bit for it to become second nature to me (I have 4 months before the wedding). I plan on shooting in RAW + Jpeg, and use PSE and Luminar for post processing.
As you can see, I have some decisions to make before I start practicing. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

OK, against my better judgement, I have agreed to ... (show quote)

https://biggeekdad.com/2014/10/best-wedding-photographer/

ELNikkor

Discuss and make a list of "must haves" with the bride and groom. You are probably a natural at spontaneous candids, so these will augment all those set-up shots they want. One "must do" that I always did that helped immensely was that I made it a point to go to the rehearsal, observe, made mental notes, and mentioned places I might be positioning for the best shot of each stage of the ceremony, so there'd be no confusion/concerns on the day.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've done a couple for friends, and it was no big deal. From what I've heard lately, though, most Hollywood filmmakers would shy away from wedding photography.

Some links -
This link not allowed. : (
http://www.slrlounge.com/school/6-must-have-lenses-for-wedding-photography/
https://fstoppers.com/education/bare-bones-minimum-gear-needed-photograph-wedding-96180
https://fstoppers.com/education/how-i-have-my-camera-set-shoot-weddings-73441