What might I need to do a Wedding??

I am doing my Best Friend wedding and I think that I am going to use my Nikon D3100 (I will have my Canon with me) but the Nikon can do faster shooting and I can get them coming down the aisle and stuff..

What do I need to get?

For my Nikon now I have the Body, a 18-55 lens, a 55-200 lens & I just got a 70-300 lens for it.

I was told that I might need to get a 50mm for it – but what else? What is a good flash?

I am Very scared as she is my Best Friend (she is having 2 other people take pictures as well but I am the PRIME Photographer)..

I want to do the best that I can - I have been going out to practice and stuff but would Love to get tips & tricks that I need…

Thank You & Have a Great Day,
Marcie

I don't think you need a 50 with the lens you have. Do you have a flash? Plan to attend the rehearsal, you can find out the best place to stand and light issues and etc. When taking pictures of people coming down the isle ( lesson I learned ) do not go down on your knee, for some reason I wanted to get low, it made the people look 7 feet tall, but this was at the rehearsal so no problem. Ask minister ( or who ever) if there are any flash restrictions Also have a list in your pocket of shots that they want. Have fun and use some props for some fun pics. Hope you show some on PT.

Good Luck...

Marcie, to be honest, I don't think you are ready to do to a wedding. Not as the prime/main photographer.(as a 2nd photographer sure) Weddings are not just a 1hr portrait session. Weddings can be a full day get it perfect photoshoot that can not be redone.

You'll need a speedlite. Since you plan on taking both brands, you'll need a flash for both cameras.

People speak of the 50mm because it's a fast lens, other then that you already have the 50mm focal length covered in 2 lenses.

Be prepared when you are shooting, that no one will treat you as the professional photographer. What I mean is, your friend plans on having 2 other people take pictures. So in theory there are 3 photographers, those other two people will not really see you as a pro, because probably in their eyes they are also the sh*t when it comes to taking photos. The guests will see there are 3 people taking pictures, and will start snapping pictures with their cameras. When people start to take pictures while the main photographer is shooting, photos can become ruined. Flash from other's cameras can ruin your photos. People who are not suppose to be in the photo, could end up standing in your way just as you took the shot, (so they could get their picture).

Do you know how to correctly exposure/light a room? where the bride is getting all doll up, do you know how to exposure correctly for inside the church? Do you know when to use faster or slower shutter speed at the moment. Such as if there is rice to be thrown. Do you want to capture that rice to freeze mid air or to slow it down. Can you get the correct settings in that split second, for any moment? Can you shoot macro/close up. Many wedding photographers shoot the rings or flowers close up. Wedding photography is not just about portraits of the bride and groom it's about every detail to capture on that special day so for that loving couple they can look back and say hey I remember that or, hey I don't remember that at all, I am so glad my photographer shot it.

Crystal stop and take a breath, you can spend all you time in creating negativity or else you can be supportive !!
Marcie has been told she will be the main photographer so she can set the rules of who shoots what, she should be the only one shooting up front during the wedding.
If this couple wanted or could afford a professional photographer they would of hired one. Marcie is already scared, but she wants to this for her friend, and has committed to it, she has the basic tools and the basic knowledge. Her friend has seen Marcie's pictures and has asked her based on what she has seen.

So what if she doesn't get all the shots you mentioned she will get the important ones.

You can do it Marcie......

I agree with what Crystal said. A wedding is a real important event. There is nothing wrong with shooting a wedding to get your feet wet. We all have to start somewhere. However, I have seen photographers, shoot their friend's wedding and it all goes wrong. The photos could come out ok, but the friendship is ruin because of something that was said or wasn't done, or didn't wait for the drunken best friend to be in the photos etc.. Or everything goes 100% smooth. No problems what so ever. Perfect photos, happy ever after relationships.

Wedding photography is not to be taken lightly. If I were you, I would suggest they hire a photographer and you be the back up photographer to get some practice.

You say you are going out and practicing. What are you shooting when you practice? Are you shooting other weddings?

Marcie did not say: I am thinking of doing a wedding, or should I do a wedding. She asked what might I need to do a wedding, and that she is doing a wedding.
She said she is scared ( which is normal) and she wants to do a good job, so how is telling her not to do it, helping her ?? If this couple could afford or wanted to pay for a professional photographer I am sure they would of rather than asking friends to do some pictures..
As long as she has not misled her friend about her qualifications and ability than this could be a happy experience for all...

Im a little on the fence about this... on one hand a wedding is a very important day that cannot really ever be redone. Id hate to see a friendship ruined due to expectations not being met.

That said... if you are very upfront with them... and i mean VERY upfront... and they are willing to "risk" it... then by all means, get your feet wet

And im not stating or implying that you cant do it. Or you cant get great pictures... only that in reality you havent done it before. There will be variables that you havent encountered before.

my recommendation is put thought into your shots. But take a lot. Dont have someone pose and take one shot... and leave. Try and burst 3-4 in slightly different configurations. landscape vs portrait. Have a full body shot and zoom in for a tighter shot on the torso/face... etc... so on. basically the more you have to work with at the end of the day... the better lol. That said... if youve got the same person there for even 5 minutes... move on (except the bride and groom of course... try and get those as perfect as possible haha). lol

That said... back to your question... a 50mm would be nice im sure... but you probably dont want to be switching lenses. It is time consuming. You havent said what lenses you have for your Canon... but id try to balance between the two. eg put the 55-200 on your nikon, and something like an 18-55 on your canon. then its simply a matter of grabbing the camera you want for the shot.

Hell, if you have a fast/decent point and shoot... bring that too. Ive got a nice P&S that has an f/2.0 lens. much faster than any (non-prime) lens i can afford for my nikon. If youve got something similar... keep that on you. You may feel silly using it... but ive stood next to a friend with my panasonic P&S and him (canon dslr user) in awe. If youve got it and it works. take it.

Last but not least... youll need a speedlight, Will probably want a diffuser as well.. I have an SB-600 for my nikon. Its not the newest or the best... but it has worked consistently for me. You will want some time practicing with this though. The rehearsal or actual wedding day is not a good time to experiment with a speedlight for the first time. Trust me. Dont do it. lol.

Good luck

Forget the 50mm. Spend your money on an SB-600 or an equivalent flash instead. You will have to have it anyway. Slap the flash on, set the ISO to 400 or 800, set aperture priority mode and set the aperture to f-8.0 and shoot. This will give you an image you can work with. Make sure to have plenty of rechargeable batteries for the flash and remember to allow the flash to recycle. I know this is a basic answer but it should get you a file that's usuable. If you have time to get playful and creative, do it but don't forget to reset to the basics when you need to. Cameras and flashes are pretty smart so with your limited experience, you need to trust them. If the room has a low ceiling and it's white or near white, point the flash up and bounce off the ceiling. It would be nice to have a light modifier for the flash also. It would help soften the shadows. Try to keep your subjects as far away from the background(walls) as possible to avoid shadows if you don't bounce or modify the light. Weddings are not easy and as long as the friend is not expecting Denis Reggie quality, you should get something usuable. I would suggest that they hire a pro but if it's not in their budget, then at least they will have some images.

I think what Crystal said is important to consider. It's not anything personal, just the fact that weddings are something that require a pretty good amount of practice and experience before you can be the primary photographer. Nobody should be the primary photog on their first wedding gig.

If at all possible, I would try to explain that to the bride and groom. Let them know that being a wedding photographer requires some experience as a second shooter, and you don't have that level of experience. Again, nothing personal, just be honest and realistic. Then, if they still want you to be their wedding photographer, show them your work and make sure they know what to realistically expect.

Let me put it in a different context just to illustrate why I'm saying this. Let's say it's your wedding, and you're ordering a wedding cake. Are you going to hire the baker who's done lots of wedding cakes, or the one who's never made a cake because their area of expertise is cookies?

Omg! This is a wedding for one.. Second a friendship is involved... U mess up the wedding u mess up the friendship...if you not ready dont do it, dont do it for a favor either if u not 100%. Sure...if u want practice and experience be a second shooter at weddings build your experience from that and you will grow from that...I'm sorry I wouldnt risk doing that for a friend I speak with Integrity cause you never know the consequence, but if your friend taking that risk then good luck...I'm sure u can do it , do some homework beforehand and I wish you the best ! Crystal I agree with you!

This is one of the many great things about this Forum, you hear back from so many people, with several different ideas and ways of looking at things. After rereading my post, I hope I did not come accross as attacking Crystal, that was not my intent. Cheers to Crystal and PT

I've been a photographer a long time but I wouldn't take on photographing a wedding. It seems to be a specialized area of photography and if you haven't had any experience it might be something that's out of the range of your skill level. I think you have talent and take a lot of good pictures but some of your photos show that you're still learning.

Maybe you should get together with your friend and the other photographers and determine how this would work with three photographers. It might be worth suggesting that they reconsider having you take on the responsibility of being the lead photographer and have you be an assistant.

Your friend may want you to be there and part of the wedding, and might want you have the honor of being the primary photographer. Perhaps instead you can think of something else special you can do. Maybe as a gift have one of your best photos framed for her, or find other ways you can be part of her wedding day.

Right here goes with my tuppence worth, The fact is the couple do not want to spend money on a pro photographer thats an obvious fact, two it is obvious that by choosing 3 amatuer photographers they are hoping that somewhere along the line a few decent photographs may emerge and if they dont then they only have themselves to blame, so the best advice for love photography is to make it quite clear to her friend that she will in no way be responsible if there are no decent photographs and ask her if on that basis she is prepared to go ahead.

On the subject of what advice she needs then here is a link that may be helpful, www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=51

Also buy that flash ahead of time and practise like crazy.

Look at as many wedding photographers sites as you can.

In other words research like crazy

In a way everybody has been right so far, Crystal was being her usual full on honest self, personally I love the way Crystal states it so clearly, Ive had both barrels myself from her but she was right . Darrell also is right that we should support her as whatever we say she is going to do this anyway and if we can help then power to us, Geoffellis and shadowfixer have some pertinent pointers too that make perfect sense and I dont blame icepics one bit for the comment on never doing weddings, I often wonder why I do them myself and thats usually when I am in full flow in the middle of a wedding , anyway as I said its my tuppence worth that changed into a pounds worth

I will also add to the speedlight need- one for each camera you plan on using. I would also think about what editing software you have or plan to have. I know you;ve posted having issues recently with your post processing software. Do you shoot RAW? If you don't start now, it gives you more recovery information to work with. Most wedding shots need light balancing or color balancing or both, at least in my limited experience mine tend to. Very rarely can you hand out a print straight out of the camera.

Check into a rental agency for the lens. I am shooting a wedding in a month (my first in years and I am scared to death). I am looking to rent a light meter, a pocket wizard and an extra speedlight & stand. I am also debating renting a fast zoom. I am also reading a bunch of books, taking tons of notes and looking at many photographers for inspiration. My kit contains a sturdy tripod, 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 zoom (which I worry isn't fast enough), 100mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8, and a 70-300 f/ 4-5.6 and a older 550ex speedlight. Not mentioning the back up batteries, re-chargeables, and many cards.

I would get with the bride, get a contract, and find out what style she wants so you can brainstorm ideas and find out what she wants from you. Go ahead to the venue, take practice shots, go to the rehearsal. Set rules that you need to do your job- that's what this is a job. I should also mention- I have shot 3 weddings as a 2nd shooter as well as one disaster on my own. The only reason I am doing this wedding as it was me or a craigslist unknown and I know I can deliver what some fresh out of the box guy can do so I am shooting for free- as the only photographer unless I bring a 2nd shooter. Experience and grace under fire are the keys to this type of photography, IMO.

On the lens topic, I would recommend having at least one fast zoom. A 24-70 f/2.8 is a good choice for a lot of the photos you'll be taking. As mentioned in the link David posted, you don't necessarily want to shoot with it at the widest aperture for the most part. But your lens is going to be sharper stopped down a little than wide open. So an f/2.8 lens stopped down should be sharper than an f/3.5 lens at its widest aperture.

The last wedding I shot, I also used a 70-200 f/2.8. Good choice for a second body. My favorite prime for weddings is the 135 f/2L -- quite possibly the sharpest Canon prime ever. I don't own one yet but it's always good to put on the rental list. (I only realized how great it was by pixel-peeping photos my photographer shot at my wedding )

I also have a 550EX, but I used a pair of 580EXii speedlights at that last job and the difference in the recycle time makes them well worth renting (or buying if you have the budget for it).