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What basic equipment is needed for for wedding photography?
I would consider myself a fairly serious amateur photographer and have mainly shot landscapes. My friend saw some photos that I had taken and asked if I could take her wedding pictures. I told her that I was in no way a professional and that I could not guarantee the "perfect" wedding portraits. She said that she knew that and wanted me to take them anyway. Now I am wondering what type of lighting and lenses would best suit wedding photography. I can probably think of some things but I just thought I would ask so that I don't miss anything that would make my pictures better than they would be otherwise. Thank you for your help.
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Be sure to check out the sticky threads as they have a lot of good info about shooting weddings.
If you mainly shoot landscapes, better hone up your portraits and PJing. As for gear and lighting, what are you shooting with?
www.tednghiem.com
Take it from one landscape photographer to another- DO NOT go into this wedding without TONS of practice in portraiture and photojournalism.
I was in the same boat as you, roughly 6 years ago. I loved shooting nature and landscapes, and I loved photography in general so I knew my camera very well and brought it everywhere. So I felt okay saying yes to a friend who, well, didn't know any better.
Let me tell you there is a huge difference between shooting a landscape from a tripod, and shooting a wedding. It will end horribly if you just show up on their wedding day and start taking portraits.
Thankfully, you don't need to be AT a wedding to practice for one. The only thing that actually being at a wedding will do for you is help you gain experience under pressure, and the timing of the specific moments etc... The rest, the portraiture and photojournalism, can be practiced every day with just a minimal amount of work to find a subject or social environment.
So the biggest piece of advice I can give is this- Get out and shoot. Ask random friends if you can take their portrait for 30 minutes and just work on it. Think about the light, the pose, and the camera settings. The same with candid environments- get out there and shoot, and consider the light, the timing, and your camera skills.
That is the biggest thing you can do to prepare yourself. Of course the BEST thing would be to assist a handful of times with other photographers, so you can actually see how a wedding day goes. If you can, attend a wedding or two between now and the one you've just agreed to photograph...
Apart from that, regarding your specific question about equipment- again, the advice I'll give is probably not going to be as specific as you'd like, but here it is- know your camera like the back of your hand, and BRING BACKUP. No wedding photographer can afford to be without a backup camera. As far as specific equipment is concerned, I usually recommend: One ultra-wide zoom lens, one telephoto zoom lens, (both f/2.8) ...and one or two primes that cover whichever focal length is your favorite for shooting portraits. If you don't know which focal length you prefer for portraits yet, that will bring me to my next bit of advice- RENT RENT RENT. Rent every single lens you can. Rent the best 50mm prime that your system has, rent an 85mm prime, rent a wider prime, and rent f/2.8 zooms if you haven't decided on which of those to buy yet either. It might cost you a few hundred bucks in the end, but at least you won't waste your money buying a lens that just turns out to contradict your style. I probably spent $500-$1000 or more renting various lenses in the first few years of my career, and as a result I was able to buy all the right lenses and let my vision run free...
Alright, that's all for now. Good luck!
=Matt=
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