Just thought I'd pull together a few threads and tips to one location for those people who have been asked to photograph a friend / family member / random person's wedding / etc. and who are looking for some tips. So, here are some questions I've seen a lot of, and some info I thought was really helpful:
Help, I've been asked to shoot a wedding, should I do it?
Answers to this question range from you've got to start somewhere to vehement "No"s. So, it's kind of up to how comfortable you are doing it. As mdwsta4 said on a thread called
Shooting Wedding as a favor for a relative:
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Make sure they are okay with no wedding photographer because there are no guarantees you'll come out with a single good picture. or you could come out with a couple dozen
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Technically, this can be true even for a professional photographer, since there's always a chance things can go wrong, but it's doubly true for someone who doesn't have all the extra equipment, etc that a pro may have in the case of equipment failure, etc.
Ok, I understand things can go wrong, but I'm going to do it anyways because I think I can / want the experience / etc, how do I know what pictures to take?
There are sites out there for checklists, in fact there's one listed at the bottom of this. Google wedding photo checklists and you should be able to find some more information as well. But the best way to make sure you're getting the right shots was said by nacre in the
Wedding Photography tips thread:
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The first thing I do when preparing to shoot a wedding is to get together with the couple and ask them what kind of photos they like. I then have them prepare a list of the shots, ie. the kiss, the signing of the registry, throwing of rose petals etc. that they would like to have. I then make sure I get those shots and I do whatever I can to catch the essence of the day by doing some candid shots of their friends and family.
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If you don't get the shots that the couple and their family want, they almost definitely won't be happy with the end result, especially if you manage to forget one of the major moments.
So, I know what photos to take, but is my equipment ok?
Leight asked in
Wow! Asked to do a Wedding Shoot if his point and shoot camera would be ok. There was a pretty good consensus that if you have a good flash (especially an external flash) and can shoot raw, you will probably be ok as long as you're ok with doing post-processing.
And acheick got lots of recommendations in the
Hello - I'm a newbie that needs major help thread to get a 50mm f/1.8 for low light situations where you can't use a flash because that's a nice little piece of glass.
A speedlight or external flash can also be really helpful with a diffuser, but make sure that you ask the celebrant if it's ok to use the flash during the ceremony. If you can't, respect that, but you'll need to have a fast lens if you want the pictures to be bright enough.
Ok, I've got a camera and a list of photos, and the wedding is today, what else could I possibly need?- A fully charged battery or 3
- Lots of memory cards (better to carry 8 1GB cards and have a problem with 1 card than carry 2 4GB cards and lose half your pictures.
- A tripod for group pictures (and a remote is really handy too)
- Water (in a separate bag, cause really... cameras and water don't mix)
- Comfy shoes that look nice since you'll probably be running around
- Some sort of easy to eat (and clean) snack (see the tip just above this one for why)
- A smile and a good attitude and the knowledge that you're the photographer, and that means that you kinda get to boss some of the people around so that you get the right shot
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- Probably lots of other things I'm forgetting
Some other helpful links:
Ok, so there's a bit of info about wedding photography just from all the tips we've gotten and given here in the forum.
Feel free to add your own advice / questions / etc. (I just like to organize things
and was doing a bit of procrastinating this morning)