chance to help shoot a wedding

Elaine

I have the opportunity to be a second shooter at an all outdoor, afternoon wedding in a couple weeks. It's quite low pressure as the lead shooter is a sixteen-year-old sophomore in high school! (She's our babysitter and she's fantastic, just lacking experience...not that I have any more than she does in this department!) I do not really aspire to be a wedding photog, at least that's how I feel right now, but it seems like it could be a good experience to be involved, especially in such a low pressure environment.

Anyway, I'm trying to prepare as best I can and wondered if anyone here could offer me some tips or advice...things to do or not do, equipment check list, etc... The main shooter has met with the B&G and established a time-line and a comprehensive list of shots for the formals, as well as looked through some photo books and chose realistic and casual style shots to aim for.

I've been thinking of getting an external flash for my own portrait business and I expect a learning curve on using it successfully. Is it even worth it to try and get one for an event that's on Sept 15?

OK...open for all ideas!

jeffreaux2

This is an excellent opportunity to get your feet wet in wedding photography. I did the same thing on Aug 4, and would gladly do it again. I would look at it not only as a learning experience, but also as a chance to build your portfolio.

My primary equipment concern was power and storage. At least a second battery is a must. Also, I do not own piles of CF cards, so I made sure to bring a laptop and card reader so I could empty the cards as needed. My plan was to shoot all I wanted before the wedding, but to enter the ceremony with ALL my cards empty, and ALL my batteries charged. This got me not only through the ceremony, but gave me plenty to work with during the reception while downloading what I had taken in the church to the laptop. I never ran a battery completely down, and never got close to having to slow down on shutter clicks because of storage capacity.

As for an external flash, that is an entirely different subject. I nearly bought one the morning of the wedding, but decided that I would be better off even in the dark just shooting with the methods I am familiar with. Yesterday, I did order an external flash. I was saving for a couple new lenses, but caved in to the possibilities that a really good flash can open up. If you have seen many of the posts here, you know the difference a bit of fill can do even on well lit outdoor shots. I justified the purchase by telling myself that the flash unit will make EVERYTHING in my camera bag more flexible, and generally perform better. I use Canon and am waiting for the 580EXII to come to my door. I expect to have to learn a little before being able to use it to its full potential, but there are many good tutorials online for this. I guess I haven't answered you question yet so here is my answer. I think that a good bounce flash unit can improve what you already do, and probably improve the wedding shots as well.

BTW here is a link to a handfull of my first wedding shots.

http://jkmann.smugmug.com/gallery/3089935


Have fun, and good luck!!!

ShepsMom

What a great opportunity for your Elaine, it will be good experience, and you might actually like doing weddings after all I just bought myself an external flash, i'm totally confused with it, but i'll have to learn how to use the darn thing.
I'm going to the wedding in NY in september, and of course, i'll be bringing my camera for just fun shots to see what comes up.
Good luck, let us know how it went and of course, post some shots!!

ShannonHeat

Elaine,
You must remember to have a lot of fun. I know this sounds kind of crazy for a wedding photographer, but take it fmrom my experience, the more relaxed and fun-filled you are, the more relaxed the bride and groom will be. You can definately see it in the pictures, and they will certainly appreciate it.
At least 2 camera batteries will be needed, and for being a second shooter, I'd say 4gb of cf cards. The external flash is a great idea, you'll love it!
I think you are an exceptional photographer, and you will do a fantastic job. I'm looking forward to seeing your posts from the wedding.
Good luck and have fun!