Pentax Weddings - who's doin'em?

[Peter Zack]

Originally Posted by bigben91682

+1 on snack bars...

and a couple of bottles of water (the bride will love you when you give her a bottle of water mid-formals).
and a tide pen
and a second shirt if it's a hot day.

You know Ben those are wise items and possibly some of the best. I needed the second shirt today and had one!. Inside one of those white outdoor tents today and 220 people. It must have been 40C in there and not a breath of wind. I went through 4 bottles of water.

[Peter Zack]

Originally Posted by DanLoc78

I'm about to shoot my first in October. I have a K10D, 540FGZ flash with Omnibounce diffuser, and while I have an FA 50 f/1.4 and the kit lenses, i was going to rent the DA* 16-50 and 50-135 to use in place of the kit lenses. I feel the shots will probably look and feel a little more special with the higher quality lenses, and the wider aperture won't hurt either.

Is a flash bracket 100% necessary or a 'nice to have'? I also just got an 8GB memory card so i don't have to be changing on the fly during the wedding. Although...shooting RAW + jpeg for 5 hours....I might need another.

I would assume the battery on full charge will last the entire day? I'm considering buying a replacement and/or the battery grip, but not sure that's necessary.

any suggestions would be great.

Dan, I think someone commented about the 8 Gb card that you might be trusting a lot to one card and I understand that logic. It is a good idea to have backups of everything you can afford to. It's why you see lists like mine and others with 3+ flashes and so many lenses or extra bodies. Generally I'd say most of the wedding shooters don;t use more than 3-4 lenses and one camera gets the bulk of the work. But when something stops working (rare but it happens) it's nice to just grab the backup and keep going without a thought. So I'd have more cards. I carry around 10 2 or 4 GB cards and if one should fail (I had this happen once) you still have lots to work with. On average I will shoot 12-1400 images in RAW. That's a fair chunk of memory.

Also with you in mind, at yesterday's wedding I took a couple of quick shots of the on camera flash setups I use. Both are from the "old days"
*istD with an AF400T and a Quantum 2 battery (good for 750-1000 shots and less than 2 second recycle time - love it).
K10D with a Pentax grip and bracket and here a AF360FGZ. The grip will turn so I don't loose the swivel head (which I can't understand why that's missing from this model)

I have 2 of the *istD setups and they get the bulk of the flash work. It's just a better, faster and easier setup than the P-TTL system.

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by coloseu

I have searched many possibilities and prices towards diferent photgraphers and realised we couldn´t afford none for my baby daughter´s baptism in October. Hell, I couldn´t even afford half a day. Those prices are killers!

So the only solution is to shoot it myself (not professionaly of course) with the help of my brother. I´m really dead! I just don´t know what to do. Is either this or no shots at all. You can see my equipment... just primes. It is going to be hell, especially with my lack of knowlege and skills. I´m so screwed... but I don´t see any alternatives.

You're far from being screwed and it is a long time until October. Take a couple of friends or relatives with you to the church for a few practice sessions. Then consider asking other families with baptisms between now and October if you can photograph their ceremony for practice, offering to give them a CD-R with any good shots you get.

[maxwell1295]

This shotlist may come in handy:

Creehan*Photography Wedding Standard Shot List

There's no way you're going to remember every key shot that needs to be taken. This is great because you can customize it to your needs...

[rmtagg]

Originally Posted by maxwell1295

This shotlist may come in handy:

Creehan*Photography Wedding Standard Shot List

There's no way you're going to remember every key shot that needs to be taken. This is great because you can customize it to your needs...

Good link Alan

[KA5TXL]

Originally Posted by ksignorini

So? Who's shooting weddings with Pentax gear?

What do you use? Kent!

Over the years I have shot a half a dozen family weddings using my ME Super with the SL as backup. One of my cousins is getting married this weekend and altough I'm not the offical photog for this I will be taking my K20D w DA 16-50, DA 50-135, AF 360, BG-2. I may start to do more, if I do I'll go back and add the 540 flash to the collection as well as some back up lenes. I had an instructor of a couple of contiuning ed photo classes tell me I needed to switch to either canon or nikon. (of course his full time job was with a camera store that didn't sell Pentax). I'll be interested to see how it comes out.

[rmtagg]

looks like I will be jumping in the ring. I just got a wedding photographer to agree to give me a shot as an additional shooter

[dopeytree]

One so far have a peak at my site to see photos.

I used a *ist D with both kit lens' and the 540 flash.

I think I'd prefer to shoot with primes maybe the 35mm and the 85mm or the 50-135mm and 16-50mm

I have now upgraded my kit to the k10d+16-45mm I'm hoping to borrow some money soon or something so i can get some better lens to help me produce better stuff and maybe get another body.

[Peter Zack]

Ed nice web site. I would encourage you to not sell the *istD. It's a great camera or this type of work. I find the TTL flash much more satifying, accurate and flexible. If you do sell it (and I'm hopeing you don't) send me an email. I'm looking for a second one in a few months. Don't go spending a ton on lenses. I carry more lighting and other gear than lenses. Most is shot with 2 or 3 fast lenses that will cover just about anything. One of which is the DA16-45, a great lens.

[bigben91682]

I also use the 16-45, even in lower light. If you have your bases covered with auxillary lighting, f/4 has been plenty for me.

[maxwell1295]

Originally Posted by rmtagg

looks like I will be jumping in the ring. I just got a wedding photographer to agree to give me a shot as an additional shooter

That's probably the best route to take. Shoot a few as a 2nd and then jump in head first on your own...

[rmtagg]

Originally Posted by maxwell1295

That's probably the best route to take. Shoot a few as a 2nd and then jump in head first on your own...

I called around to a few wedding photogs and got laughed at, really! Laughed at. well turns out the very first photog I called wants me to come out and shoot with him to see how I like it. He actually likes my work that is posted on my web site, lol. Seems some of these photogs are a bit full of themselves. I know shooting weddings is a different animal but did they really feel it necessary to laugh at me??? thank goodness I have a tough skin!

[ajuett]

I've done a few 'volunteer' weddings to build up my own portfolio. The Pentax system can handle it no problem. I'm just not so sure I want to go the wedding route in this very part-time business I have.

[bigben91682]

Originally Posted by rmtagg

I called around to a few wedding photogs and got laughed at, really! Laughed at. well turns out the very first photog I called wants me to come out and shoot with him to see how I like it. He actually likes my work that is posted on my web site, lol. Seems some of these photogs are a bit full of themselves. I know shooting weddings is a different animal but did they really feel it necessary to laugh at me??? thank goodness I have a tough skin!

If you've ever read the wedding photographers forums at Miranda, "full of themselves" doesn't even begin to describe some of these guys.

A lot of them are friendly and helpful, but a bunch are .......shall we say........well we probably shouldn't say.

[rmtagg]

Originally Posted by bigben91682

If you've ever read the wedding photographers forums at Miranda, "full of themselves" doesn't even begin to describe some of these guys.

A lot of them are friendly and helpful, but a bunch are .......shall we say........well we probably shouldn't say.

Lol, I thought saying no would have been easier but the laughing was a bit over the top.