Wedding Photography

ltdesignphotovideo

Ok so my cousin called me earlier this week with some photography questions. Apparently I'm the expert in the family. (that would be news to me, I don't think I'm that good, but I am my worst critic) Anyway, she has been asked to photograph a wedding near the end of October. She plans to use a medium format film camera for the formal shots but wants to use, yes, my exspensive Canon Digital, with both my wide angle and telephoto lenses, for candids. I know she'll take good care of the camera but she wants me to help with her technique. I don't do wedding photography. I shot one wedding as a favor for a buddy of mine but on a general basis I don't do weddings because their is too much pressure involved. I know Shay does some great wedding photography and so does Ulysses but I want to know are there any other photographers and how-to's I can find on the web to pass along to her and maybe I can learn something in the process? Any help is greatly appreciated, dgrinners!!! Rock on!!!

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gubbs

Hi,

I recently had to do a wedding for the 1st time and go some great advice here

Shay Stephens

My advice is always to work on the communication. Find out what they are looking for. Where is everything going to happen, what does it look like there? Knowing what they can expect of you, what you expect of them, and where you are expected to perform this is half the battle. The other half is being able to perform.

Typically, the wedding photographer needs to be able to shoot in bright sunshine, all the way to candle-light conditions. Shooting in daylight is not that challenging except for the shadow contrast issues. The biggest challenge is low light action photography. Practice these until it is second nature. If you can consistently and reliably shoot from daylight to low light, then you are technically proficient to do the job. There is no tutorial or book known to man that can substitute for actual experience in shooting successfully in these conditions. So practice, practice, practice.

The last item, and for some the hardest to learn is the timing and people-watching skills to know when something beautiful, emotional, or engaging is going on. Not only do you need to know when to capture these things, but where. What angles will you use that show relationships, views that show the grandness of the venue, and views that highlight the good while downplaying the bad or unattractive. And these are things that can't be taught in books either. It is something that has to be developed by doing. And the sooner the better.

Books and photo galleries can be inspirational, but they can't train the hand/eye to do the job. Remember, practice, practice, practice. There is no other substitute.

prity goldfish

i did a wedding in march it was my first time and didn't really know what to expect, man did i get myself into something! but pretty much what i did was looked online at wedding photos from other professionals and kind of got an idea of what to capture and i also asked the bride what she wanted and went from there. http://j2ephotographics.com/ <she has some really good wedding shots to look at, as well as other kinds of photography. there's my .02!