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OK, Hi everyone. I'm new to this site, so here goes:

Having assisted at about half a dozen weddings before, I'm soon doing one as Principal Photograper for the 1st time. I will have an assistant but must confess to being a bit (understatement) nervous about it. Past weddings have been fine, shots well received by the photographers I've assisted, but being an assistant is a bit (understatement again!) different from being the Principal yourself (aaagh)...

So - my question is:... does anyone have any good / bad/ horror stories / advice that might help me with this? I always prepare to the max beforehand but if anyone has had any experiences that you think could be helpful, I'd be mighty interested to hear them!

Thanks!

Welcome!
What are you shooting with?
There are a couple of pro wedding photogs here and I'm sure they will have plenty of advice!

Yeah, that was bright, wasn't it? Having a bad day!!

I am shooting with my own D70, Nikon 18 - 70 lens, Tamron 80 - 300 lens, SB800 flash. Plus the guy who has booked me to do the wedding for him says he will lend me a Nikon F100 and D2H (BTW, any comments on this?)

I am also looking at getting in the very near future another lens - either the Nikon AF 1.8 or the AF 1.4, for the D70 of course. Any thoughts on either of these two lenses from anyone?

Hey, MHD, thanks for the quick response too! Appreciated!

Welcome to the forums....

Here's a photos-to-get checklist which I was given for my first 'real' wedding.... hope it helps and enjoy the humour...

---snip---

Prior to Church or at Church Preceding Entry

Girls getting dressed, doing hair and makeup (PJ) KNOCK FIRST!
Bride alone in mirror, singing "mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all" ?
Mirror cracking.
Mother helping Bride adjusting dress and fighting back the daughters tears.
Bride not happy about those two pounds.
Shoe Shots (PJ) Bow Shots, Bra shots, T-back shots, Special Hair Shots when hairspray ignites.
Mother adjusting bride's veil.
Bride pinning boutonniere on father's lapel.
Bride giving bouquets to bridesmaids.
Collective shot of Bridesmaids, use super wide lens if all of them are size 18 or better.
Bride pinning corsage on mother, holding back the tears
Limo to the Church, hurry, they only rented it for one hour and that was three hours ago.


Arrival at the Church

Limo to the Church, bridal party gets out.
Get bridal party member tripping on dress, falling flat on face (after all it's PJ)
Shots of limo at wrong door, send limo to right door.
Now get the right shots of limo arriving.
Get shots of driver wanting check for four hours OT because the girls were late.
Front Steps to the Church with all the folks arriving who didn't read the note to use the side door.
People Arriving (PJ) Just shoot them all.
Back room with everybody nervous and waiting. good time for some more of those PJ terrific based shots of Jockey shorts and Shoe laces of really stupid looking cheap vinyl patent leather rental shoes.
Last minute adjustments
Head Count, all there, get shot of processional order
Check the Grooms room for last minute shots (PJ)
Have a "couple shots with the boys", you know they smuggled something in.
Relax, they'll get the groom sober before he goes out there.

In the CHURCH after the Ceremony

Exterior view of the ceremony site
First kiss as husband and wife
Bride and father, bride and mother
Groom and father, groom and mother
Bride and groomsmen
Groom and bridesmaids
Bride and maid/matron of honor
Groom and best man hugging (Hmmmm)
Grandparents and other important relatives being ignored as usual.
Bride and groom lighting unity candle and she reminding him how much fun the hot wax thingy was...
Candid of clergy congratulating bride and groom looking for the check.
Ceremony portraits with no flash because it's a Catholic Church and they are too close to the alter.
Step parents - very hot subject.
Step Children, adopted children, missing children.
Any pets at ceremony (becoming popular) and a few embarrassing situations.
Former Step Parents (third time around ?)

The After Shots (Reception and Party)

Bride tossing bouquet
Someone catching the bouquet
Groom tossing lunch from too much booze
Groom tossing garter
Someone catching the garter
Newlywed's first dance
Father's last dance with daughter
Flower girl dancing with ring bearer
Topless dancer from Bachelor party dancing on table
Guests dancing getting really nasty
Bride's father with pockets turned inside out
Close-ups of hands, rings, fake Rolexes
Hostesses that are cute
Band or deejays, for the lawsuit because they played too much of Eminem.
DJ trying to cop a little from the cute bridesmaid
Guests throwing rice, bubbles, balloons, condoms, firecrackers, grenades (popular in some countries)
Releasing Doves, Butterflies, Bats, flatulence and really dumb toasts and high fives, etc.

Cake Cutting

Bride with cake alone,
Groom with cheap Grooms cake alone
Cake table, Cutting the cake
Groom smearing cake on Bride
Bride clobbering groom.
Groom with idiot look on face
Groom admitting his friends said "she'd, change but didn't think this soon".
Best man toasting bride and groom
Groom slugging best man for comments about her hooters.
Bride and groom silhouetted against stained glass window of Church.
Bride and groom silhouetted against stained glass window of Church as rock comes flying through from ex-wife.

Additional Shots

Best man and Groomsmen decorating the car
Best man and Groomsmen attaching the rear axle to a fireplug with a chain.
Best man and Groomsmen being told it was the wrong car.
Couple kissing good-bye
Newlyweds getting into car, limo or carriage
Car, limo, carriage driving away
Rear axle ripping out of the car as the fireplug goes off
Angry Priest wanting to know who did this to his car.
Newlyweds waving goodbye
Newlyweds leaving on honeymoon
Post-reception party Bride sneaking off changing into going away clothes, mostly by Victoria's Secrets
Exterior of wedding location with fireplug sending showers of water in the air.
Guests waving goodbye, birdies and bored expressions.

---snip---

This was written by al jacobs... he has a lot of other useful info .. take a look

http://www.aljacobs.com/index2.htm

cheers

Love it, love it!

Trouble is... now I'm going to be thinking of this while I'm taking the shots so am likely to crack up during the session - thanks for that!! Thank God I have the camera to hide behind!

Will check out the al jacobs site. Thanks again.

Mark - classic

Yes welcome to our world Nikkofan,

Wow ! where do I start, I just shot one last Friday and I am still recovering.

But all in all for my 1st I am happy, so far, The Bride & Groom haven't seen them yet.

But here are some usefull points I would consider.

Have a fully charged camera battery & a back up
Have fully charged 5 rechargable batteries with back up
Have only 1 Lens or 2 ( Not too many ) ( it's a pain changing back and forth )
Try and build a picture with a story in it
Watch your backgrounds in the shots
Think before you push the button
Watch for Shadows from flash in background
allow enough time to shoot the Bride, Groom & Wedding Party
Watch camera settings : Your DOF Depth of Field
Shoot at middle apertures to keep nice and sharp F5.6 / F8
Bounce Flash alot
Get Photo Shop CS. if you have already, your in.

Prepare for things not going to plan as you thought might have.
Eat well before hand
Drink water as you go through otherwise you will get a headache
but not too much or else you will be going to the loo when you need to get that perfect shot

May the force be with you

Mic.

Even after all the work, you do get a certain satisfaction out of it.

Good Luck.

Nikkofan wrote:Yeah, that was bright, wasn't it? Having a bad day!!

I am shooting with my own D70, Nikon 18 - 70 lens, Tamron 80 - 300 lens, SB800 flash. Plus the guy who has booked me to do the wedding for him says he will lend me a Nikon F100 and D2H (BTW, any comments on this?)

I am also looking at getting in the very near future another lens - either the Nikon AF 1.8 or the AF 1.4, for the D70 of course. Any thoughts on either of these two lenses from anyone?

Hey, MHD, thanks for the quick response too! Appreciated!

quick question. Have you used either of the cameras offered for lend before? If not get your hands on one (my choice would be the D2h) and learn how to use it so that you are confident with your backup camera. Will he lend you any lenses? Something in the order of whay you were mentioning above ... a fast lens f2.8 or lower.

I will be off-line (holidays in the Whitsundays for a week - woohooo!!) so I can't follow up on your answers .... some of the others probably will.

When is the wedding?

JordanP wrote:I will be off-line (holidays in the Whitsundays for a week - woohooo!!)

take care mate... enjoy yourself and don't get too close to the cyclone...

Yes, Yes, sorry I forgot.

Nikkofan, If you are going to do more Weddings you need a back up camera, I went in BareBack and was lucky, but boy oh boy what would you do if you were taking the perfect Pic then you looked down to see the dreaded ERR message on your Camera

It's murphy's law, if you have a back up this will probably never happen
and it probably never will without one.
BUT !

What would you do if it did ?

Mic.

1) Wedding is in a few weeks, so I have a few more weeks to sweat it out and wait!

2) No, haven't used F100 or D2H extensively before, but will have a session beforehand with the owner

3) Am not a pessimist, but a realist and believe in Murphy's Law! If I didn't have a backup and had a failure - what would I do? Shoot myself or pretend to have a coronary! Seriously, I know a backup camera is essential, hence the loan of which was the stipulation for agreeing to do this wedding.

4) After acquiring a good fast lens, a 2nd camera body is next on the list, as I am lucky enough to be able to borrow backups until then.

As mentioned before - does anyone have any thoughts on or experiences with the faster lenses, ie: the Nikon AF 1.4 or 1.8?

Thanks for your responses.

Nikkofan wrote:As mentioned before - does anyone have any thoughts on or experiences with the faster lenses, ie: the Nikon AF 1.4 or 1.8?

Thanks for your responses.

I use and highly recommend the nikon 50mm 1.8 .

cheers

17-55mm Juuuuusst Beautifull

Even Pretty crisp @ 2.8

Talk to Birddog if you have just under 2 Gorilla's to burn

Mic.

Hi Nikkofan,

These are my tips

1. Always check your camera settings.
2. Get a fast lens such as a 50mm F1.8. Great for indoor shots
3. Avoid using flash if possible. If you have to use flash bounce it.
4. Concentrate on the main images. if there is time, try some creative angles and lighting, digital is great for this because you can chimp.
5 Finaly BACKUP equipment.

Good luck

yes 17-55mm is top notch, love it.

I can shot about 80% of a wedding using the 50mm and the other 20% with tele and wide.

Some of these images are taken with the 50mm without flash.

Hello, i've shot a few weddings and plan to do more, i agree they are nerve racking events to do,if i can add my two bobs worth of advice,
Don't use any camera body you are not used to, take it as a backup
i.e the D2h but use what you know, make sure you do a recon trip of where you are to take the pics to get to know the area, and if it is in the open, as most are, source some alternative locations in case the weather turns bad,also make sure you have some umbrella's handy even if it is not looking like rain, always ,always, use the bride as the key person you ask as to what pics to take both before and during the event,if you have an assistant have them keep a lookout for opportunities for great pics you may miss , i.e. something or someone doing something interesting nearby,
some of these reportage shots can win a lot of hearts,
get a good nights sleep, a few nerves are neccesary to give you the edge, if you don't have any on the day , beware !!, and yes a 50mm 1.8 is fine ,it is cheap and will deliver great shots , but you have good gear now, so only add to this when you can, then practice like mad with it before using it on a shoot, oh, and another thing take heaps and heaps of pics, this is the great thing about digital,take a lot because you don;t want a great shot ruined by a key person looking the wrong way or with their eyes shut at the moment you depress the shutter !, and it happens,
lastly have faith in yourself , if you have taken some great wedding shots in the past you CAN take millions more, good luck to you hope this assists

Hi,

While I am fairly new here too but I feel this area is one of my strong points so I thought I should add my say too!!!

I am photographing a wedding every weekend at the moment (high wedding season) and some on Friday’s and even Sunday’s. It’s just crazy but I really love doing it so I’m not complaining.

First bit of advice is …………………..PLAN, PLAN, PLAN and PLAN. Never take anything to chance.

Do you know the couple very well? Either way, you should make a time about a week before the wedding to sit down and reconfirm everything that you will be doing. Check times, addresses, phone numbers, locations etc. At this point I ALWAYS ask them to delegate someone to help out with family shots at the church. You may find that this but can be the most stressful – people rushing around, catching up etc. Don’t let the b/g do anything. Keep them in one spot with you want photos done and let everyone come to them. If it is outside a church or civil ceremony go for shaded areas if you can – better lighting (not always but mostly better).

What size bridal party do you have??? If it’s a bigger group make sure you have adequate time for location shots. And if you aren’t shooting the groom at home before the ceremony, DON’T FORGET HIM!!!! Make sure you also get a single portrait of him later in the day (sometimes they get left out).

• Check out other wedding photographers websites for idea (not to copy) but just for inspiration. http://www.kellytunney.com.au (if u like)
• Ask the b/g what style of photography they like (traditional/natural/candid/contempo)
• Don’t forget the little details that make up the day – flowers, cake, shoes, details of the dress, rings (they make for interesting different shots)
• Check and recheck your gear, over and over again. Backup everything…………….
• I would only use your D70 as the primary camera – something you are familiar with. Giving yourself a day to learn a D100 or a D2h isn’t enough to be confident in shooting a wedding. You should know your gear INSIDE OUT!!!
• Give your assistant a camera too (if you can) get them to capture some more candid moments that you may miss

Okay, enough advice now. Just go well and be confident that you are doing the best you can possibly do.
Good luck and please tell us all how you go.

Kellogs

Thank you all so much for your helpful tips & hints - much appreciated! Have now been told I'll have a week to play around with the backup equipt (whew), so should be OK.

Thanks also for the encouragement - have checked out quite a few Wedding websites and have seen that some of my own work (not all, unfortunately, but some) is not too bad (if I may say so)! So, am feeling pretty OK about it all now, despite the ever-present nerves!! I'm assisting with another one this weekend, so that should help the confidence level a bit - the more experience the better! But I am not taking anything for granted, so your "Plan, Plan" comment is taken seriously, Kellog!

I really appreciate your responses - can't say thanks enough (but is 3 times OK?)

Awesome Kelly!

I've thought about getting into wedding photography but dont know if I would have the time...

Are you a full time photog? Or do you just to weddings on weekends?

Thanks,
Scott

ps: Neat site!

Thanks so much for saying so.

Yeah, this is pretty much a full-time gig for me. Don't really have much time for other types of photography. Which is a bit of a shame but I still love photograhing weddings - even though I still get nervous with every single one of them!!!!

Kellogs

hehe... I did back up photog at my sisters wedding and that was nerve racking enough...
but I got some nice results...
http://potofgrass.ath.cx/gallery/krw

I noticed on your site you talked about negs, do you still shoot mainly film at the weddings...

When I was shooting kelly's wedding I was very gratefull I was shooting digital, as, when the lights were low, I lost a lot of shots from experimentation and was very glad I didnt have to pay for them...

Do your clients snob digital ("Oh no... we want our wedding shot in film")

Would you believe it's a real mix.

Depends on the couple and how persuasive I can be when it comes to digital. Some are still very scared - they think film is the only way to go.

You don’t have to worry about your first Principal Photographer. If you’re past weddings are fine, so it will also, your best work that shows your ideas and professionalism.