jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

I recently did a friend's wedding with my 60D, using my 17-55mm/f2.8 lens for nearly all images. It is a great lens but will cost more than $300. It is such a good lens that you may still find it well worth the money as a great "walk around" lens.

jimberton Loc: Michigan's Upper Peninsula

this is the absolute best piece of advice and a prime example of why this forum is so great. on may 28 of this year, my daughter was married...and her best friend volunteered to shoot the wedding. i had dad duties like walking her down the aisle, etc..so me shooting the wedding was out of the question. the wedding pictures turned out awful....blurry, over exposed, under exposed, etc...the only photos that came out decent were a few of them that i took at the reception. her friend had inexpensive equipment...and what was worse, is that she had no idea how to pose the bride and groom...how to use available light with her
equipment, etc....what my daughter received were snaphots and photos the guests took were as good or better than what she took. needless to say........they are still friends, but the level of their friendship has diminished greatly.

there is a reason why there are wedding photographers.....25% is their equipment and 75% is their knowledge and expertise.

i have great equipment and i am no wedding photographer, but am working on it. most what i take are family shots, senior pictures, casual events, and mostly product shots. weddings are a complete different animal. i have shot 3 weddings and they came out ok...not fabulous. they were satisfied. i was a nervous wreck.

but here's the rule of thumb that i live buy...........since quality equipment is available at reasonable prices...everyone has a quality camera and everyone is a photographer of some sorts. when i do senior shots or family photos, product shots.......i have to be able to deliver a product that outshines anyone out there in the audience...and that will differ me between the masses.

look at some of the websites of the pros that are on this forum...best one i've seen is cliffs. www.CliffLawsonPhotography.com

it's never my intention to belittle anyone or any project that someone is ready to jump in to....heck, all photographers have to start somewhere. and also remember, if you are taking a family shot or senior shot or product shot and the photos don't come out great...you can always reshedule a session................weddings you cannot. so you have to rely on your experience, knowledge and talent along with your equipment to get it right the first time.

i have a couple of weddings to shoot this spring and summer....and i am nervous as heck about it. like i said, i have the equipment, but not the experience. for equipment, i take a 5d, 7d, 24-70mm 2.8L, and a 70-200mm 2.8L IS, 2 580 ex2 flashes, some light stands, 2 umbrellas, a wescott apollo 28" softbox and some wireless triggers.

i wish you good luck...and if you are going to do this...i recommend shooting hundreds of photos a day so you can know and control your camera and get a clear, sharp photo every time before the big event comes up.

oh, one more thing..make sure you plan a meeting with your bride and groom and discuss what photos to take and also go out and check out their wedding and reception location and maybe take a few shots to see what you are up against before you get there. arriving at a wedding shoot with a plan is critical.

good luck!!!!
jim

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

While I have never shot a wedding (nor taken on a paying client for that matter) I firmly believe that if you are interested in shooting weddings you should first start out as a second shooter for a experienced wedding photographer and second shot for more than a dozen or so weddings. That way you get to shot a wedding, get to see how a pro does it and the pressure is lower for you.

kimberliswenson Loc: Ridgefield, WA

I absolutely agree with this!! I would just add that you can rent the lenses and test them out....or even rent them for the event without having to invest in glass for just one occasion. Your money would be better spent on glass for your "regular" photography needs.

Reginald

I agree with our forefathers who posted the suggestion of the 50mm lens. It takes wonderful pictures. I would also recommend taking a good point and shoot if at all possible? I went to a wedding many years ago and took my Fuji S602 and some of the shots I took from a distance were incredibly sharp with no visible aberrations when blown up to 8x10. Good luck on your quest!

swabubin

thanks for all the advice. This person has hired me for $500. It is my sisters best friend 5 hours away. She really wanted me to do it (my sister, because she's in the wedding and can't). I agreed but should have passed. One because it's five hours away, tow because I don't want to screw it up, and three it's not so cost effective since I have to split it with my daughter and probably pay for a hotel!! SHOOT ME!!
I like her though. She's very religious and it means the world to her so I agreed. I'll chalk it up to experience and if I get some good shots, I'll post it on my website!! I don't want to make it a habit of shooting wedding though. People are too stressed in that situation! Including me!

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

OK - if you are committed - get two of everything. If you have to rent a second body, do it. Maybe you can borrow one from a friend, but these fancy cameras of ours can fail spectacularly. Both Canon and Nikon have had some well-known issues. My $5000.00 D3 should have gone way more than the 143,000 shots before the shutter died - but it did. Canon had a model a while back that had the mirror fall off. What would you do if that happened to you?

As jimberton pointed out, there is no re-do.

Oh, and thanks to jimberton for the nice compliment.

swabubin

my daughter has a canon also so that will be my backup. She's helping take the photos and my camera is new (from July). I don't count on them failing and I don't have the money now for an extra body.
I understand what you mean though. My daughter and I have enough batteries, memory cards, and lenses between the two of us! Or at least i hope!
Thanks!

jjestar Loc: Savannah GA

You are not going to buy a good enough lens for $300, you need fast lenses 2.8 0r faster if inside. You could rent a 2.8 24-70 which would be a good start and the 50 can be used for the traditional family portraits.

avendano27 Loc: Pleasanton, California

QUOTE ("Quite honestly I recently got a Canon 24-105 f4 L... yes it was expensive-- BUT except for sports I think it is FANTASTIC! ") END QUOTE


I have used this lens (Canon 24-104 f4 L IS on Canon 5D Mk II) on a friend's wedding. I agree, it is FANTASTIC. It has image stabilization (IS) to prevent blurry pictures. All the pictures came out perfect, exposure, focus, etc.

However, your 18-135 lens should be OK as long as you use shutter speed no less than 60 when hand holding the camera, preferably 90 or 125. And use Speedlight flash indoor preferably with modifier like the Sto-Fen Omni Bounce. Before the wedding, be sure to practice till you drop! And be VERY familiar with your camera and Speedlight settings.

In my film days, I have taken a lot of wedding pictures with a medium format film camera with only a standard lens (equivalent to 50mm on 35mm camera). It was all in manual focus and manual exposure settings. 99% of the pictures were perfectly exposed and focused. The 1%, I forgot to turn on the bracket mounted flash.

Bevbled Loc: Wilmington NC

Thanks For the encouragement...And yes sometimes things do go bad but more times than not it works out great..When you know someone you know more about what they like and what will mean more to them..When I do a wedding I always look for things a lot of people miss or don't see I am no pro but I love doing It and have never had anyone unhappy with their photos.And yes sometimes renting a lens is a good idea

swabubin

can anyone suggest a place to rent lenses?

Bevbled Loc: Wilmington NC

Try your local camera shop if they don't rent them they will know where you can in your area.

swabubin

thanks, I'm not sure we have one in my area. I will search though. I think the closest is an hour away.

avendano27 Loc: Pleasanton, California

One more thing, and this is very important. You should have a back up camera in case your main camera malfunction. You don't need to buy another camera. You can rent or you can ask someone who is also attending the wedding if you can use his/her DSLR in case of emergency. Nowadays, a few people bring their DSLR to the wedding.