First Wedding

kthung · 05-01-2009, 11:47 AM

Without going into details about how to actually shoot the wedding, I think the most important thing is to make sure you have a FIRM UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR EQUIPMENT. That means if you are just buying a flash for the first time. The night before the wedding is not the time to be learning how to use it. Flash adds just one more aspect to the already complicated process that is photography. Weddings are fast paced and you have no time to figure out what is wrong with your exposure if you don't nail it at first. I would say definitely a fast wide to normal zoom and a flash are a solid investment for a wedding. Once you get them, just go out and shoot shoot shoot with your flash.

PS. DONT FORGET BATTERIES

kenyee · 05-01-2009, 05:34 PM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

recommending bounce to a noob can be a very dangerous thing to do. You get into a church with a 24 foot ceiling height and see how effective your bounce flash is...

lol...good point. Been there and ended up using yucko direct flash because the ceilings were 20+ feet and dark wood

axl · 05-02-2009, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

I'm going to disagree with this.
Here's why.
1) Bounce kills flash power in a real hurry and increases recycle times tremendously. You don't want to be waiting for your flash.
2) Bounce flash is all over the place for light quality, and it can be pretty jarring to the viewer of the pictures if they are all over the map regarding light.

On camera direct flash is ugly, but it works.
One thing you will notice with direct flash (and is something I forgot about when I made my original post) is that with the camera vertical, shadows off the side of the subject are inevitable. By rights, you want the flash directly over top of the lens to push the shadows behind the subjects and out of sight.
This means either an off camera flash (Metz hammerhead style, though there are others), or a flash bracket and cabling.
Since this is a one off job on a budget, if you can rent that sort of thing, do so, but make sure you know how to use it, or stay with horizontal camera position.
To do this you will be needing a wider angle lent though since you will want to crop a lot of your shots down to vertical.

I'm not sure I understand this as you mean it. Any pics of the setup and/or elaborating on this?

PS: how about primes for wedding?

TIA

mattdm · 05-02-2009, 06:11 AM

Originally posted by axl

PS: how about primes for wedding?

That's what one of the guys at my wedding used, but mostly because he didn't have anything else. But non-traditional is what we were looking for.

Ratmagiclady · 05-02-2009, 07:42 AM

Well, I think weddings are a good time for a good zoom, especially if you aren't already a prime shooter who knows their kit and has a sense of what you'll be needing at any given moment, (I might just try it, if I were to be a primary shooter any time soon, depending on the wedding, though I'd be using two bodies at least for such, and would probably go ahead and get that Tammie zoom I've been eyeing for events anyway. )

I used to do weddings with a 6x7, and of course primes on that, with 35mm for backup and quicker-moving stuff. It can certainly be *done,* though a nice zoom is handy.

The last wedding I attended ended up kind of quadruple-teamed: the bride and a number of the guests were photo people: and there was a hangup with the primary shooter's gear, on her first time out, (Equipment trouble: take heed of that notion of bringing a backup: in this case it wasn't bad enough she accepted the offer of using my F-1, so a few of us just covered. ) ...Anyway, I had traveled pretty light, just the film body, two or three primes, bridge camera, and a small flash unit: the upshot of all this is what I ended up doing was just doing a couple rolls of black and white and, sort of keeping an eye on what everyone else was doing:

A few folks had some pretty nice digital rigs: to my observations, the fast zooms and full-service flashes (And already knowing most of the guests, perhaps) really helped make up for a relative lack of particular experience, though they did know their kit and there was some good talent there. Some shots were staged, and those came out pretty well indeed.

TYOsborn · 05-02-2009, 07:59 AM

Wow! Thanks so much for all of the input. I don't have a 2nd camera body, but will check into renting one as well as a flash. I'm meeting with the bride Monday to talk about what she wants. The wedding is outside so at least I don't have to worry about the ceiling.

I have two 4 gig cards. My plan is to just fill them up if the opportunity is there. Should get some good shots out of that.

The wedding is this Saturday so I'm going to have to scoot to the camera shop. I was planning on ordering one, but won't have enough time for it to get here and for me to learn how to use it. I wish I had known I was going to be shooting the wedding a few months ago.

There have been two flashes suggested... Should I rent the AF540FGZ or the Metz 58 AF-1? Also, what settings do you think are best since this is an outside wedding. I'm thinking the only inside shots will be of the bride getting ready.

Thanks again! You guys are great!

kenyee · 05-02-2009, 09:35 AM

I wouldn't run primes at a wedding as the primary...too much fiddling w/ lenses and running around :-)
For outside weddings, the primary issue is harsh shadows and lighting. I didn't do that much of mine outside and the photos that I did luckily didn't have blown highlights/shadows so maybe wheatfield will have more insight.
Run RAW if no one has mentioned this. If you only have two 4GB cards, it sounds like you're still running JPEG...
p.s., I'd be surprised if you can find Pentax rental gear locally, unless you buy and abuse the return policy. Even in Boston, I'd have to mail order it :-P

TYOsborn · 05-02-2009, 11:16 AM

Originally posted by kenyee

I wouldn't run primes at a wedding as the primary...too much fiddling w/ lenses and running around :-)
For outside weddings, the primary issue is harsh shadows and lighting. I didn't do that much of mine outside and the photos that I did luckily didn't have blown highlights/shadows so maybe wheatfield will have more insight.
Run RAW if no one has mentioned this. If you only have two 4GB cards, it sounds like you're still running JPEG...
p.s., I'd be surprised if you can find Pentax rental gear locally, unless you buy and abuse the return policy. Even in Boston, I'd have to mail order it :-P

You were right. There are only two local camera shops. One never has carried Pentax and the other just quit. No luck renting for me. I have been shooting RAW, but recently switched to jpeg because I was finding my HD filling up with pics I hadn't converted so thought I'd try jpeg to see if it made that big of a difference. I was actually pondering whether or not to shoot raw or jpeg.

I guess I'm going to have to check out next day shipping with Amazon or the likes.

Ratmagiclady · 05-02-2009, 01:11 PM

Well, if you're confident with film, that'll do for backup. (Sounds like we're dealing with a case of 'Sure *looks* simple, doesn't it? Let's ask the world

' on behalf of both client and shooter.

Better keep the attitude light: you're still just a friend doing a favor, and about to get some experience... of one kind or another.

Whatever you bring to the field is what you have. Let's just have you as prepared as you can be. Relax, pay attention and *focus* once you're there, in about that order. Get your gear and you using it sorted, the rest is about the people.

As flashes to rent are concerned, be better-advised by anyone who knows these models better, but, snap decision? I'd say I'd rather own the Metz, but rent the Pentax, right now: you'll get more help here how to run it, and quicker, I think. The automation may just run smoother, (and maybe more like how your camera itself runs) and you may need that, too.

axl · 05-02-2009, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by mattdm

That's what one of the guys at my wedding used, but mostly because he didn't have anything else. But non-traditional is what we were looking for.

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

Well, I think weddings are a good time for a good zoom, especially if you aren't already a prime shooter who knows their kit and has a sense of what you'll be needing at any given moment, (I might just try it, if I were to be a primary shooter any time soon, depending on the wedding, though I'd be using two bodies at least for such, and would probably go ahead and get that Tammie zoom I've been eyeing for events anyway. )

I used to do weddings with a 6x7, and of course primes on that, with 35mm for backup and quicker-moving stuff. It can certainly be *done,* though a nice zoom is handy.

The last wedding I attended ended up kind of quadruple-teamed: the bride and a number of the guests were photo people: and there was a hangup with the primary shooter's gear, on her first time out, (Equipment trouble: take heed of that notion of bringing a backup: in this case it wasn't bad enough she accepted the offer of using my F-1, so a few of us just covered. ) ...Anyway, I had traveled pretty light, just the film body, two or three primes, bridge camera, and a small flash unit: the upshot of all this is what I ended up doing was just doing a couple rolls of black and white and, sort of keeping an eye on what everyone else was doing:

A few folks had some pretty nice digital rigs: to my observations, the fast zooms and full-service flashes (And already knowing most of the guests, perhaps) really helped make up for a relative lack of particular experience, though they did know their kit and there was some good talent there. Some shots were staged, and those came out pretty well indeed.

thank you guys,
I'm just asking becouse my sister will have wedding in July, and though she has main photog + second photog (Nikon brothers) I'm brinking my Pentax and my wife is bringing hers too. But it's our first wedding, so let's see...

BR

Ratmagiclady · 05-02-2009, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by axl

thank you guys,
I'm just asking becouse my sister will have wedding in July, and though she has main photog + second photog (Nikon brothers) I'm brinking my Pentax and my wife is bringing hers too. But it's our first wedding, so let's see...

BR

Hey, it's a great way to learn about the process, Axl. Also, you can get shots that way that you *can't* always, when you're the primary. When you're the primary, you're kind of obligated to be a lot of places and pointing certain ways, often just when everyone else around is experiencing the moment. You can get the reaction shots at a lot of 'peak moments' while the main shooter has to be on the bride and groom.

Kind of a rite of passage, actually, when you're the fresh and quick kid running around backing up the solid-but-tired old pro, it's not really a question of *if* you upstage them, but how well and how much. This really is a trade I've always thought well-suited to an apprentice type system. Some of the best old dudes I learned a lot from would give you a smile and point with their eyes where *they'd* rather be standing if they didn't have to do the standard stuff.

I think it's a much better way to get started than flung front and center all unprepared.

I think it's worth every bit of schlepping and setting up the lighting, running triage on almost all of the half-a-dozen mother-of-the-bride crises the pro is supposed to deal with while shooting, covering for the effects of the open bar, if applicable, And sometimes even distracting the clowns in a given family with some attention. You get practical learnings, but also you get to see a wedding as something more than like a pit of ornery geese to be thrown into while being paid to make the whole thing look dignified... You can kind of step back and see what's really going on, and that's probably a big difference between actually liking to do it and joining the 'I did it once, never again' crowd. I mean, it's always kind of stressful, but you have to genuinely like to do it to really do it well.

TYOsborn · 05-03-2009, 08:05 AM

I took the plunge and ordered the AF540GZ to be shipped overnight for Tuesday delivery. A bit painful to the pocket book, but no one rents them around here. Hopefully I will like it and maybe even get into doing weddings. I'll definitely be reading up on how to use flashes.

It's supposed to be cloudy that day and around 60. Any advice on what settings to use outside would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm meeting with my niece (the bride) on Monday to go over what she wants.

I'm thinking of doing the touch ups and then putting them on CD for her to choose what she wants printed and then letting her have them printed.

I love this forum. Everyone is so helpful. Thanks again!!

res3567 · 05-03-2009, 10:54 AM

Originally posted by Classvino

AMEN ! (I speak from experience.)

Despite my warnings and before-the-fact disclaimers, there were still bad vibes after I gave them the pics.

In hindsight, (and 30 or 40 weddings later as a second shooter) I wouldn't have paid much for them either. (Not that that was the issue... I didn't charge them anything - and they still complained... though refusing can also generate bad vibes sometimes too...)

Jamie

What were some of the issues?

res3567 · 05-03-2009, 11:02 AM

Originally posted by Venturi

The thing with weddings - aside from the bridezilla aspect - is that it doesn't matter how good of a shooter you are. If you have never shot a wedding you honestly have no freakin clue how to shoot one or what to expect.

I suspect you'll disregard the following - I did as do most people on 1st wedding advice - but for the record...

I shot two weddings last year, that's two more than I should have to be perfectly honest. Both times there were two of us shooting and both times we did pull it off ... but barely.

Weddings are out of control. At best they are a live demonstration of the chaos principle. It doesn't matter how well planned, how well rehearsed, how many weddings the official has performed. As soon as you mix highly strung, excited people you get chaos. Nothing happens "on schedule" and if you're not 100% on your game you're going to miss something "critical". And being on game means knowing what is supposed to happen when and also knowing your equipment like you were born with it.

If you're agreeing to shoot this wedding because otherwise they wouldn't have a photographer then my 1st suggestion is to offer to at least split the cost of a pro as your wedding gift and maybe see if they'll let you "stand in" with them.

Like I said at the start I've done 2 weddings - and if I'm lucky I'll never shoot one again.

IMHO it aint THAT hard.

You have to be on your toes and alert and to take plenty of pics.

Be in position assert your self and TAKE CHARGE!

You are the director of photography and what ever you say goes.

They will bow down or not get the pics!

I enjoy the challenge and have done it many times with great results.

My only gripe is that my K10D hunts sometimes in low light; weddings can be full of that.

That is why I practice shooting manual.

A LOT.

I even ordered that focusing screen from China to help; based on the reviews on this Forum. Thanks guys!

I love it .

It really shows me how to do everything I have learned at a sometimes rapid pace.

But if the BRIDE is happy, it is all worth it.

Got another one comming up next month.

Tag teaming with my cousin who has a Canon 30D........

And more to come after that.........

res3567 · 05-03-2009, 11:15 AM

Originally posted by TYOsborn

Thanks for everyone's comments. It's my niece's wedding and I will be the only shooter. It's the "they won't have one if I don't" deal. I do realize the conflict it could cause, but I'm sure they realize I'm not a professional and hopefully don't expect the pics to be as such, but I, of course, hope they will be. So with that being said, I need to get a 16-50/2.8 and an AF540?

Thanks again and all that pray... say a prayer for me!

You will be just fine! Outdoor wedding are esier because the available light won't be a problem.

The problem I have is shooting indoors in low light in regards to focusing.

Need more info.

What time of day?

Any thing going on indoors?

With that I can help guide you on lenses and flash equipment.

05-02-2009, 07:59 AM	#21
TYOsborn Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Illinois Photos: Gallery Posts: 250 Original Poster	Wow! Thanks so much for all of the input. I don't have a 2nd camera body, but will check into renting one as well as a flash. I'm meeting with the bride Monday to talk about what she wants. The wedding is outside so at least I don't have to worry about the ceiling. I have two 4 gig cards. My plan is to just fill them up if the opportunity is there. Should get some good shots out of that. The wedding is this Saturday so I'm going to have to scoot to the camera shop. I was planning on ordering one, but won't have enough time for it to get here and for me to learn how to use it. I wish I had known I was going to be shooting the wedding a few months ago. There have been two flashes suggested... Should I rent the AF540FGZ or the Metz 58 AF-1? Also, what settings do you think are best since this is an outside wedding. I'm thinking the only inside shots will be of the bride getting ready. Thanks again! You guys are great! Last edited by TYOsborn; 05-02-2009 at 08:07 AM.

05-02-2009, 01:20 PM	#26
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by axl thank you guys, I'm just asking becouse my sister will have wedding in July, and though she has main photog + second photog (Nikon brothers) I'm brinking my Pentax and my wife is bringing hers too. But it's our first wedding, so let's see... BR Hey, it's a great way to learn about the process, Axl. Also, you can get shots that way that you can't always, when you're the primary. When you're the primary, you're kind of obligated to be a lot of places and pointing certain ways, often just when everyone else around is experiencing the moment. You can get the reaction shots at a lot of 'peak moments' while the main shooter has to be on the bride and groom. Kind of a rite of passage, actually, when you're the fresh and quick kid running around backing up the solid-but-tired old pro, it's not really a question of if you upstage them, but how well and how much. This really is a trade I've always thought well-suited to an apprentice type system. Some of the best old dudes I learned a lot from would give you a smile and point with their eyes where they'd rather be standing if they didn't have to do the standard stuff. I think it's a much better way to get started than flung front and center all unprepared. I think it's worth every bit of schlepping and setting up the lighting, running triage on almost all of the half-a-dozen mother-of-the-bride crises the pro is supposed to deal with while shooting, covering for the effects of the open bar, if applicable, And sometimes even distracting the clowns in a given family with some attention. You get practical learnings, but also you get to see a wedding as something more than like a pit of ornery geese to be thrown into while being paid to make the whole thing look dignified... You can kind of step back and see what's really going on, and that's probably a big difference between actually liking to do it and joining the 'I did it once, never again' crowd. I mean, it's always kind of stressful, but you have to genuinely like to do it to really do it well. Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 05-02-2009 at 01:36 PM.

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05-01-2009, 11:47 AM	#16
kthung Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 359	Without going into details about how to actually shoot the wedding, I think the most important thing is to make sure you have a FIRM UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR EQUIPMENT. That means if you are just buying a flash for the first time. The night before the wedding is not the time to be learning how to use it. Flash adds just one more aspect to the already complicated process that is photography. Weddings are fast paced and you have no time to figure out what is wrong with your exposure if you don't nail it at first. I would say definitely a fast wide to normal zoom and a flash are a solid investment for a wedding. Once you get them, just go out and shoot shoot shoot with your flash. PS. DONT FORGET BATTERIES

05-01-2009, 05:34 PM	#17
kenyee Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Boston, PRofMA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,026	Originally posted by Wheatfield recommending bounce to a noob can be a very dangerous thing to do. You get into a church with a 24 foot ceiling height and see how effective your bounce flash is... lol...good point. Been there and ended up using yucko direct flash because the ceilings were 20+ feet and dark wood

05-02-2009, 01:36 AM	#18
axl Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Nove Zamky, Slovakia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 7,183	Originally posted by Wheatfield I'm going to disagree with this. Here's why. 1) Bounce kills flash power in a real hurry and increases recycle times tremendously. You don't want to be waiting for your flash. 2) Bounce flash is all over the place for light quality, and it can be pretty jarring to the viewer of the pictures if they are all over the map regarding light. On camera direct flash is ugly, but it works. One thing you will notice with direct flash (and is something I forgot about when I made my original post) is that with the camera vertical, shadows off the side of the subject are inevitable. By rights, you want the flash directly over top of the lens to push the shadows behind the subjects and out of sight. This means either an off camera flash (Metz hammerhead style, though there are others), or a flash bracket and cabling. Since this is a one off job on a budget, if you can rent that sort of thing, do so, but make sure you know how to use it, or stay with horizontal camera position. To do this you will be needing a wider angle lent though since you will want to crop a lot of your shots down to vertical. I'm not sure I understand this as you mean it. Any pics of the setup and/or elaborating on this? PS: how about primes for wedding? TIA

05-02-2009, 06:11 AM	#19
mattdm Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boston, MA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,948	Originally posted by axl PS: how about primes for wedding? That's what one of the guys at my wedding used, but mostly because he didn't have anything else. But non-traditional is what we were looking for.

05-02-2009, 07:42 AM	#20
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Well, I think weddings are a good time for a good zoom, especially if you aren't already a prime shooter who knows their kit and has a sense of what you'll be needing at any given moment, (I might just try it, if I were to be a primary shooter any time soon, depending on the wedding, though I'd be using two bodies at least for such, and would probably go ahead and get that Tammie zoom I've been eyeing for events anyway. ) I used to do weddings with a 6x7, and of course primes on that, with 35mm for backup and quicker-moving stuff. It can certainly be done, though a nice zoom is handy. The last wedding I attended ended up kind of quadruple-teamed: the bride and a number of the guests were photo people: and there was a hangup with the primary shooter's gear, on her first time out, (Equipment trouble: take heed of that notion of bringing a backup: in this case it wasn't bad enough she accepted the offer of using my F-1, so a few of us just covered. ) ...Anyway, I had traveled pretty light, just the film body, two or three primes, bridge camera, and a small flash unit: the upshot of all this is what I ended up doing was just doing a couple rolls of black and white and, sort of keeping an eye on what everyone else was doing: A few folks had some pretty nice digital rigs: to my observations, the fast zooms and full-service flashes (And already knowing most of the guests, perhaps) really helped make up for a relative lack of particular experience, though they did know their kit and there was some good talent there. Some shots were staged, and those came out pretty well indeed.

05-02-2009, 09:35 AM	#22
kenyee Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Boston, PRofMA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,026	I wouldn't run primes at a wedding as the primary...too much fiddling w/ lenses and running around :-) For outside weddings, the primary issue is harsh shadows and lighting. I didn't do that much of mine outside and the photos that I did luckily didn't have blown highlights/shadows so maybe wheatfield will have more insight. Run RAW if no one has mentioned this. If you only have two 4GB cards, it sounds like you're still running JPEG... p.s., I'd be surprised if you can find Pentax rental gear locally, unless you buy and abuse the return policy. Even in Boston, I'd have to mail order it :-P

05-02-2009, 11:16 AM	#23
TYOsborn Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Illinois Photos: Gallery Posts: 250 Original Poster	Originally posted by kenyee I wouldn't run primes at a wedding as the primary...too much fiddling w/ lenses and running around :-) For outside weddings, the primary issue is harsh shadows and lighting. I didn't do that much of mine outside and the photos that I did luckily didn't have blown highlights/shadows so maybe wheatfield will have more insight. Run RAW if no one has mentioned this. If you only have two 4GB cards, it sounds like you're still running JPEG... p.s., I'd be surprised if you can find Pentax rental gear locally, unless you buy and abuse the return policy. Even in Boston, I'd have to mail order it :-P You were right. There are only two local camera shops. One never has carried Pentax and the other just quit. No luck renting for me. I have been shooting RAW, but recently switched to jpeg because I was finding my HD filling up with pics I hadn't converted so thought I'd try jpeg to see if it made that big of a difference. I was actually pondering whether or not to shoot raw or jpeg. I guess I'm going to have to check out next day shipping with Amazon or the likes.

05-02-2009, 01:11 PM	#24
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Well, if you're confident with film, that'll do for backup. (Sounds like we're dealing with a case of 'Sure looks simple, doesn't it? Let's ask the world ' on behalf of both client and shooter. Better keep the attitude light: you're still just a friend doing a favor, and about to get some experience... of one kind or another. Whatever you bring to the field is what you have. Let's just have you as prepared as you can be. Relax, pay attention and focus once you're there, in about that order. Get your gear and you using it sorted, the rest is about the people. As flashes to rent are concerned, be better-advised by anyone who knows these models better, but, snap decision? I'd say I'd rather own the Metz, but rent the Pentax, right now: you'll get more help here how to run it, and quicker, I think. The automation may just run smoother, (and maybe more like how your camera itself runs) and you may need that, too.

05-02-2009, 01:11 PM	#25
axl Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Nove Zamky, Slovakia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 7,183	Originally posted by mattdm That's what one of the guys at my wedding used, but mostly because he didn't have anything else. But non-traditional is what we were looking for. Originally posted by Ratmagiclady Well, I think weddings are a good time for a good zoom, especially if you aren't already a prime shooter who knows their kit and has a sense of what you'll be needing at any given moment, (I might just try it, if I were to be a primary shooter any time soon, depending on the wedding, though I'd be using two bodies at least for such, and would probably go ahead and get that Tammie zoom I've been eyeing for events anyway. ) I used to do weddings with a 6x7, and of course primes on that, with 35mm for backup and quicker-moving stuff. It can certainly be done, though a nice zoom is handy. The last wedding I attended ended up kind of quadruple-teamed: the bride and a number of the guests were photo people: and there was a hangup with the primary shooter's gear, on her first time out, (Equipment trouble: take heed of that notion of bringing a backup: in this case it wasn't bad enough she accepted the offer of using my F-1, so a few of us just covered. ) ...Anyway, I had traveled pretty light, just the film body, two or three primes, bridge camera, and a small flash unit: the upshot of all this is what I ended up doing was just doing a couple rolls of black and white and, sort of keeping an eye on what everyone else was doing: A few folks had some pretty nice digital rigs: to my observations, the fast zooms and full-service flashes (And already knowing most of the guests, perhaps) really helped make up for a relative lack of particular experience, though they did know their kit and there was some good talent there. Some shots were staged, and those came out pretty well indeed. thank you guys, I'm just asking becouse my sister will have wedding in July, and though she has main photog + second photog (Nikon brothers) I'm brinking my Pentax and my wife is bringing hers too. But it's our first wedding, so let's see... BR

05-03-2009, 08:05 AM	#27
TYOsborn Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Illinois Photos: Gallery Posts: 250 Original Poster	I took the plunge and ordered the AF540GZ to be shipped overnight for Tuesday delivery. A bit painful to the pocket book, but no one rents them around here. Hopefully I will like it and maybe even get into doing weddings. I'll definitely be reading up on how to use flashes. It's supposed to be cloudy that day and around 60. Any advice on what settings to use outside would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm meeting with my niece (the bride) on Monday to go over what she wants. I'm thinking of doing the touch ups and then putting them on CD for her to choose what she wants printed and then letting her have them printed. I love this forum. Everyone is so helpful. Thanks again!!

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05-03-2009, 10:54 AM	#28
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by Classvino AMEN ! (I speak from experience.) Despite my warnings and before-the-fact disclaimers, there were still bad vibes after I gave them the pics. In hindsight, (and 30 or 40 weddings later as a second shooter) I wouldn't have paid much for them either. (Not that that was the issue... I didn't charge them anything - and they still complained... though refusing can also generate bad vibes sometimes too...) Jamie What were some of the issues?

05-03-2009, 11:02 AM	#29
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by Venturi The thing with weddings - aside from the bridezilla aspect - is that it doesn't matter how good of a shooter you are. If you have never shot a wedding you honestly have no freakin clue how to shoot one or what to expect. I suspect you'll disregard the following - I did as do most people on 1st wedding advice - but for the record... I shot two weddings last year, that's two more than I should have to be perfectly honest. Both times there were two of us shooting and both times we did pull it off ... but barely. Weddings are out of control. At best they are a live demonstration of the chaos principle. It doesn't matter how well planned, how well rehearsed, how many weddings the official has performed. As soon as you mix highly strung, excited people you get chaos. Nothing happens "on schedule" and if you're not 100% on your game you're going to miss something "critical". And being on game means knowing what is supposed to happen when and also knowing your equipment like you were born with it. If you're agreeing to shoot this wedding because otherwise they wouldn't have a photographer then my 1st suggestion is to offer to at least split the cost of a pro as your wedding gift and maybe see if they'll let you "stand in" with them. Like I said at the start I've done 2 weddings - and if I'm lucky I'll never shoot one again. IMHO it aint THAT hard. You have to be on your toes and alert and to take plenty of pics. Be in position assert your self and TAKE CHARGE! You are the director of photography and what ever you say goes. They will bow down or not get the pics! I enjoy the challenge and have done it many times with great results. My only gripe is that my K10D hunts sometimes in low light; weddings can be full of that. That is why I practice shooting manual. A LOT. I even ordered that focusing screen from China to help; based on the reviews on this Forum. Thanks guys! I love it . It really shows me how to do everything I have learned at a sometimes rapid pace. But if the BRIDE is happy, it is all worth it. Got another one comming up next month. Tag teaming with my cousin who has a Canon 30D........ And more to come after that.........

05-03-2009, 11:15 AM	#30
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by TYOsborn Thanks for everyone's comments. It's my niece's wedding and I will be the only shooter. It's the "they won't have one if I don't" deal. I do realize the conflict it could cause, but I'm sure they realize I'm not a professional and hopefully don't expect the pics to be as such, but I, of course, hope they will be. So with that being said, I need to get a 16-50/2.8 and an AF540? Thanks again and all that pray... say a prayer for me! You will be just fine! Outdoor wedding are esier because the available light won't be a problem. The problem I have is shooting indoors in low light in regards to focusing. Need more info. What time of day? Any thing going on indoors? With that I can help guide you on lenses and flash equipment.