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a winter wedding ??
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I need advice about equipment etc. for shooting a winter wedding ( early January ), ceremony should be finished about 2pm, Bride was hoping for some out door shots … any ideas would be appreciated. . . .
I don’t mean to sound harsh – but this is your first wedding?? You’re the official photographer and you don’t know what gear you should have?? Are you fully insured? Have you checked the locations (light, backgrounds, etc)?
A first point would be to say what gear you have already – Canon/Nikon/Sony/Olympus/Pentax, etc, what lenses, flash, reflectors, etc
Sorry, but forums are new to me, this shoot is a favour for a good friend, and hopefully that will continue after the wedding… at the moment I have the following gear canon 5D, 20D, sigma 17-35mm, 70-200mm, canon 24-70mm, 100-400, 580ex flash, two 4gb, 2gb and two 1gb cards, the wedding venues are about 2 hours driving away from me, but I intend travelling to the the venues and scenic areas near the church over the next week or so to discuss option with B+G, I have sent them out a photo list which I hope to get back before I travel up. What I was looking for was advice or tips about taking photos at that time of year.
Check out the venue well, church and hotel. Bring a friend to help if you can. Look for some large windows in case its too cold to take the wedding party outside. You can make beautiful portraits using light streaming in a window, a portable reflector will be very useful in this situation. Plan all your shots in advance, write down your ideas, try doing the photos in a logical sequence, be organised. Make every shot count. Look at wedding magazines and check out other wedding photographers work for ideas, UK and USA as well as Irish. Consider a reportage style shoot if the bride and groom agree.
You don’t say its your first wedding and insurance is important but I am guessing this may be for a friend so it would be too expensive to purchase at this stage for one job. Keep the gear simple, no tripod or lights, too risky, two camera bodies and short lenses, a good flash. At this stage longer lenses may cause you problems when you are organising your groups, they might hit off your subjects.
Doing a wedding is a real buzz and if you enjoy it you will be hooked. Work hard at it and if you do a good job and keep your prices fair you will get lots more jobs. Best of luck, enjoy the experience.
thanks Eddie for your words of wisdom and encouragement, much appreciated..
I don’t know where the wedding is being held, but it’s a good idea to have a look around the area beforehand for scenic locations close to the church / hotel. Hopefully the weather will be ok on the day. If not there’s always indoors. Bring plenty of spares if you can ie batteries, memory cards etc as you don’t want your flash etc to leave you down at the wrong moment. Shoot more than you need to, as it will give you a better chance of getting the shots you want. It takes a lot of concentration to shoot a wedding, so the more organised you are beforehand, the easier it will be, and you will enjoy the day. It’s very good advice from Eddie, to look at other peoples work, as it can give you ideas for shooting. Best of luck with it.
I’d say use the 5D with the 24-70mm and the 20D with the 17-35mm. That should do for your kit.
Flash could be very important.
But, more than anything else, check the location, a number of times. Plan where you will do the couple shots and the group shots (indoor and outdoor).
Make sure you have lots of memory, batteries and patience.
I’d still say that you should get proper professional insurance, just in case. Better safe than sorry.
Thanks a lot lads, I will check around for an insurance quote, and let ye know how the ‘big’ day went, thanks again.
Came across this when planning my own wedding – it might help you a bit!
http://www.frugalbride.com/photochecklist.html
Best of luck:)
Hi rsom,
checked that site out , very helpful, I have signed up for the wedding course on http://www.iop.ie/courses/wedding_beginners.htm hopefully I will get plenty of pointers there, cheersGet to know the best man if you don’t already. Explain to him when and where you intend doing your group shots. Its him you will be relying on to get the people together as he will probably know most of them if not all. Believe me, he can be your best friend at these events.
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