Want a help to get better wedding shoots

[TheMightyFederer]

I have a Wedding party(my brother’s) I volunteered to be the photographer. I’m still a beginner and doesn’t have alot of experience.
I have a Nikon D90 with a lens (zoom 20-200 if i'm not mistaken)
But what I’m asking for is that what do I need to have good shoots?
I was thinking of tripod and filters… are they enough(helpful)? If they are plz tell me which filter do you suggest me to have?
And if there is another things you suggest me to have, plz tell me about it

I hope that I’m not posting the thread in a wrong place… and hope to have your respond asap
Thx in advance,

[Bruce A]

I don't have wedding experince but I think you'll need to add more information like the time of day, the venue, how much inside/outside work, do you have a speedlight, reflectors, etc. What I'm saying is: if you try to bite off more than you can chew, the B&G and families might not be too happy - I say this because of your inexperience and the fact that you are asking what you need to shoot a wedding which is a huge responsibility. I'm sorta glad I'm not you right now. But good luck to you

[TheMightyFederer]

i don't have an external speedlight but i have the one which is built in the camera. i don't have any other equipments(unfortunately). but i hope to have some like filters and tripod(for the moment), then i'm gonna have speedlight but not now.
about the time nd the location, it's gonna be at night inside a hall some few will be outside.
talking about the families that they might not be happy, i'd tell u that it's ok cuz in my area they don't care about such things. but i idd volunteered cuz i wonna get some experience nd cuz i really like to get some pics for rememberable moments

so, what now any suggestions???

[Tzetsin]

Absolutely the most important thing you need in your kit is EDUCATION.

it doesnt matter what equipment you buy, if you dont even know how to use what you have, its all useless.

Your not even sure what focal length your lens is. If you dont know your focal lengths, I can only assume you dont know what the visual difference is between the focal lengths are. if you dont know the difference, then we cant tell you about the creative USE of the focal lengths.

Its like a child looking up in the sky and saying...

"mommy whats that?"

"its the moon dear"

"whats a moon?"

"its a celestial body"

"whats a celestial body?"

"its whats in the sky"

"whats a sky?"

"its whats above us"

"the tree is above us, is that a celestial body?"

"no, the tree comes from the ground"

"how does something in the sky come from the ground? mommy, you make no sense..."

See how that could make something as large a topic as photography really had to explain to someone with no education on the subject? It takes ALOT more than a camera to be a photographer. So my advice to you is to EDUCATE yourself before the wedding... equipment is useless if you dont know HOW or WHEN to use it.

If your half ways serious about the subject then go to lynda.com subscribe (its 25 bucks a month) and watch, and rewatch untill you understand, the "foundations of photography" series. It will give you the BARE MINIMUM of knowledge that you need to know. This knowledge will help you far far more than more equipment will and costs a FRACTION of anything you plan on buying.

[3bayjunkie]

I haven't done any weddings yet, but I have been reading a lot of photography books. One good tip for doing weddings is to keep it simple. You are going to have to do a lot of moving around and if you keep your lighting simple and know what lenses you need you will have better luck. I wouldn't suggest bringing a tripod. it could just get in the way. but thats all up to you. live and leran!

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by TheMightyFederer

i don't have an external speedlight but i have the one which is built in the camera. i don't have any other equipments(unfortunately). talking about the families that they might not be happy, i'd tell u that it's ok cuz in my area they don't care about such things.

[3bayjunkie]

also i forgot to add, i see a lot of wedding photographers not get tight enough closeups. make it all about the bride (she is the one who is going to be buying the prints). when you do your close up shots. get real close.

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by john9

I did it, I'm so happy now.

did what? I am so confused!!!

[TheMightyFederer]

Tzetsin
i'd tell u that i'm trying my best to understand everything in my camera but u know it needs time nd i'm doing my best(i'm getting improved by the time). "AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II" is my lens which i've just received it a couple of days ago. i'm reading lots of articles nd it really helping me.

3bayjunkie
thx 4 ur suggestions. about the tripod, i was thinking about it cuz i'm planing to get some group shoots at the END of the wedding. so, this will b the only use 4 it that i'm planing 4 but 4 the rest of the wedding, i'm gonna carry it all the way

thx all, but would really love 2 know what u "john9" did!!!

[nickbedford]

I personally wouldn't have taken a wedding; two peoples' most important day of their lives and put it in my hands with the kind of knowledge of photography you're throwing around. That being said, I'm basing that purely off how you're selling yourself in this thread. But if they "don't care that much", then good luck with the shoot.

I shot my first wedding on the weekend and it was great, the photos are turning out fantastic, but that's because I've spent a year photographing and learning as much as I can. Basically, the only thing that was uncertain before the day started was me getting all the shots needed. The using-the-camera-and-lighting-gear part was second nature to me. And no, a filter is not needed for wedding photography, especially at night. Maybe during the day, but it's not essential. Even a tripod isn't that necessary. I didn't use one.

As an idea of what is really involved (given my first experience):

• You need spare batteries, spare memory cards. Lots of space to keep capturing.
• Shoot raw, know raw, be able to process raw photos. Weddings are fast paced and shooting raw takes some variables out of the equation such as white balancing.
• Popup flash is the worst kind for a high end shoot like a wedding. You need to have and know how to use at least a single hotshoe mounted speedlite, preferably with some sort of light modifier or using bounce flash to improve the lighting.
• Framing, composition, a quick eye for candid and required shots is essential. You need to be on your toes and ready to capture the moments when they happen. If you're spending your time figuring out why your shots aren't working, you've missed them and you can't go back and capture them again.
• There's many shots you must make sure you are taking, especially during the ceremony.

Good luck, but they're a lot of work, even for professionals (not me).