grassroots

Lensrentals.com is the way to go, excellent service, great variety of lenses,; good advice when asked and good prices both nikon and canon or others. ships on time and they handle everything very quickly

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

You did not list the lenses and cameras you will be using. I shoot weddings with two cameras. One is a wide aperture prime, usually a 50mm F1.2. The other is a standard zoom, 24-70mm F2.8. The prime needs much less light, but poses framing problems. The standard zoom is very versatile for framing yet still works well with low light.

I set the cameras to shoot at 1/125 sec. or 1/160 sec. so that random movements would not be blurred. I use the lowest ISO that allows me to compose a recognizable picture. If it is still dark I increase the exposure value.

One last observation: The lighting in the church, and later at the reception varies, even within different parts of the same facility. Be ready to make adjustments to keep your images properly exposed.

If you do not have the right equipment you can rent it at a fairly reasonable rate, I am told, by some of my photographer friends.

Peter The

dasloaf

bravo to Lucian!

lmmoguel

Best idea. I always go to the venue around the same time , prior to the wedding. It helps look for vantage points, where the lighting falls and good places to do the group photos.

Do you shoot in full manual mode yet? If not, i suggest reading up on what your camera can do and testing the settings that day you go check out the shoot location.

Good luck!

dasloaf

Done 12's without complainants , reminds me of a story that happen on a cold and rainy night homecoming this year. A mother was charging a very high rate to the parents of the Homecoming Court for pictures using her rebel and a kit lens. It was you get what I take for 250 bucks. Sight unseen. No one complained and they paid her price. One of my Basketball Players was up fro Junior Queen and she gave me the look and I was there for her. My pictures were so much better then the others. She sold copies of my pictures to the same parents who bought from the Mom! I made a lot of money since she knew the market and my pictures were so superior. No one complained to the other person, but they have recommended me on a regular basis for everything from Senior pics to Prom Pics to Sport pics. So maybe they never complained but have they called back for more work?

Billie34 Loc: Ohio

Yes actually I have gotten calls back. The one wedding I took she called me a few months ago for some senior pics of her daughter. I got paid too, believe it or not.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

If you would like C&C on these images, please feel free to post them either in the General Gallery or in the People Photography forum.

We would love for you to become a regular posting member of our community.

skylocke Loc: Toledo, Washington

Cute gal........even tho you haven't asked for any comments, I feel compelled to offer one....CROP, CROP, CROP.

Still a really cute gal.

DaveTheWave Loc: Hawaii

Those are excellent senior picture photos you have posted of the girl. I would leave them just the way they are. Very well done. Great Job!

Best,
Dave

Billie34 Loc: Ohio

Thank you!

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

#1 is nice. #s 2 and 3 need some work. Post them in the Critique/Analysis section for help.

Rhonda

I would suggest renting a faster lens also. I just rented one for $40 dollars for the weekend, so you can get them very reasonable. If the lens doesnt have an image stablizer, you will need your tripod or monopod for sure .If possible it would be good to visit the church ahead of time, but you need to keep in mind that as the seasons change, so will the lighting in the church throughout the times of day, if there are a lot of windows, so plan for that. Do you know any photographers that have shot there before that could help you? Your ISO will need to be bumped up considerably too, as the nice gentleman stated earlier. Shame on the people above that were not very positive and condescending when coresponding with you. "THE one and only?" ....."I was wondering the same thing."..... "just sayin...." (I teach high school and "just sayin" is one of the kids favorite things to say when they are trying to point out someones mistakes or flaws. Needless to say, I am not a fan of that phrase....Just keep calm and carry on and remember that honey catches more flies than vinegar. :)My husband and I married over twenty years ago,at the time we had no money and had a very small wedding. So, we hired a photographer that was not experienced in weddings......the pictures are not that great....but they were ok and it hasn't ruined my marriage, we are still very much in love. I do however wish that the pictures were a little better.... Let your sister look at your past work,I assume she already has, and knows that you only have 12 weddings under your belt. Explain to her that you need to rent a lens or two, and do all your homework before the big day. If she is on a tight budget, renting your equipment will save her a lot of money compared to hiring a photographer, and the person shooting for her will be someone who loves her and wants to do the best job possible. As long as you are totally honest with her about your ability and equipment I "THINK" you will do a great job. Having faith in youself and "thinking" you can accomplish anything as long as you put your mind to it is half the battle! Good luck and feel free to message me in private if you like and I will help you all I can.

Billie34 Loc: Ohio

So totally agree! Thank you.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

Rhonda, I don't think anyone was condescending when they were asking the questions that were asked. They were merely trying to establish all the criteria needed to offer useful opinions.

If anyone should have been ashamed, it would be the OP for the way she treated people trying to help.

Judging by the tone of the conversations at present, I suspect some PMing has taken place between any of the parties to whom this would pertain.

P.S. Those are some very nice shots.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

I know I haven't pm'd or received a pm from the OP and honestly I don't think the OP wants to hear my feed back on her pictures, which is fine. I also don't think the OP is going to post these or any pictures,from the dozen weddings she has under her belt for C&C.