Wedding must haves?

Clixphoto · April 4, 2011

I have been talked into photographing a family friends wedding. So far I have only done family and senior portraits so weddings will be new for me. As far as lighting goes, I have two shoe mount flashes, an Alien Bees flash unit, a shoot thru umbrella, two reflectors, and radio triggers (one transmitter, one reciever and the AB unit has a slave mode).

Can anyone give me some insight on the wedding "must haves" as far as equipment goes? I already plan on upgrading my tripod, and maybe adding another AB unit or a battery pack for the unit I have. Any suggestions?

Qarik · April 4, 2011

"must haves" ? Depends on your style. Besides the bodies and lens..I bring a umbrella and a stand...that's it... no tripod, reflectors, triggers, etc. If you have the luxury of an assistant and plenty of time to lug and setup OCF..great! go for it. weddings are usaully fast paced and often you will be pressed for time.

tenoverthenose · April 4, 2011

I guess a camera, lens, memory card & battery. I can (and have) shot a wedding with just one body and one 35mm lens. What do you normally need when you shoot? What lens or light do you use? Weddings aren't really that different than anything else (expect that you can't screw it up).

Clixphoto · April 4, 2011

When I photograph seniors I usually use one flash (off camera) with the umbrella. This girl liked my style of documentary type photography but also wants the traditional family group shots. Those group shots are the ones I'm most concerned about because they are not really my thing.

I do have an assistant and would like to use two flash set ups for some back-lit shots I have in mind. Not sure if the AB800 was enough for large groups.

Qarik · April 4, 2011

lighting up large group with multiple OCF can be quite challenging in a wedding type setting. if indoors I would just go with a Fong Sphere to generate nice even light. for outdoors..natural light.

ShepsMom · April 4, 2011

For formals i always use AB's triggered by Pocket wizards, nice lighting all the time. Also i use AB for darker receptions, etc.

I don't use tripods, ever
I carry 3 lenses in my shootsack
1 camera on me, one in a bag.
Tons of CF cards and batteries.

Just go with a flow, capture what you see, go for emotions and you'll be good.

Art Scott · April 4, 2011

Aside from what is listed in your profile (20D, 50D, 70-200 2.8) what do you already have......the 70-200 can be used for over 90% of you wedding.....I shot for years with only a 70-210f2.8.....so I know it can be done......but I would have a 24-70 or 17-70 that can close focus (usually noted as macro even though they are not really macro but are close focusing)...I have pretty much quit carrying any studio lights and rely on my SB900's (with sto-fen style modifier) or my Sunpak 622's shot thru a LumiQuest softbox or 2 umbrellas.......now for formal groups it may take 2 flashes off cam to get the spread even across the whole group so the flashes will need to be up and pointing slightly down to drive shadows to the floor and behind......also the DIY foamy bouncers that Ziggy talks about could work well for very little money........

Right now my standard wedding set up is: 2 D300's, 70-200f2.8, 18-70, 2-SB900's or 2 Sunpak 622's, 3 16 Channel flash triggers (inexpensive ebay triggers- no failures in over 2 yrs), 2 10' light stands with flash/umbrella holders, 2 48" Brolley boxes.......Camera rotating flash bracket -> Stroboframe RB 4 and SC 28 ttl cable (Yong Nou brand...has worked well for over a year).....15 CF cards (2 16gb & 13 8gb all Transcend) at least 20AA for the SB900's and the Sunpak 622's are powered by Quantum batter packs ........roll of gaffers tape white ..... roll of yellow spike tape (1/2" wide gaffers tape to mark certain distances for quick reference). sewing needles and white & blk thread and small diameter super fishing line normally a grey..tough as nails when something super strong and nearly invisible is needed........

studio1972 · April 5, 2011

Sounds like some of these guys are carrying round a photographic studio on their back. I'm with Quarik on this. Keep it simple.

Must haves:

1 decent body 5d/7d or equivalent
1 spare body (can be lower spec as long as it is a DSLR and takes the same lenses)
2 flashes
1 standard zoom
1 telephoto lens (100+mm)
A spare standard zoom, this could be a kit lens on your spare body.
A tripod (often not used, but occasionally shots from the back of a very dark church are required).
Memory cards and spare batteries for both cameras.

Nice to haves:

A good spare body.
Prime lenses, 24, 50, 85, 135 are all handy
A macro lens
A remote flash trigger (built into some cameras now)
A soft box, lastolite ezybox is nice, more robust than umbrellas.
A light stand

I would never take studio strobes to a wedding, you really wont have time for that sort of thing.

trevorb · April 5, 2011

Bobby pins, a knife and some pocket change to by the groom and bride some drinks on a hot or cold day.

marikris · April 6, 2011

Gaffer tape. You can fix most anything with gaffer tape: I've used it for clothing that tore apart, for making rings stay put when you do details, even as band-aids for feet.

Glort · April 7, 2011

studio1972 wrote: »

Sounds like some of these guys are carrying round a photographic studio on their back.

You ain't kidding!

I have read different guys saying they basicaly take one of every prime lens a manufacturer makes ( because we all know only a prime lens can take a decent pic ) and to me appear to spend more time changing them than what they do actually taking pics.

I have run the whole gamut in my career from only having the basics to taking half a camera shop with me and now back to the basics even when I won and have access to more gear than i could have imagined 10 years ago. My mates and I only buy what one of us dosen't already have now and just borrow and swap what we need. When we are all on a job, it's a pretty impressive and heavy pile of gear we have just in bodies and lenses i can tell you.

A lot of people don't know who shooters worked even 10 years ago. You would go out with an MF camera and shoot the majority of the job on the standard 80mm lens with maybe a few of the portrait and park shots on a 150 and no one I ever heard of took more than 3 lenses to a wedding.
You carried a metz flash and had a spare and a body, a tripod and that was about it.

Far from photography back then being substandard to what it is now, i think overall the opposite is mainly true.

Some extra lighting I will say is helpful depending on what style you want to shoot but I think the important thing is not to bog yourself down with gear and spend time you could be shooting setting it up and mucking around with it. whatever you have has to be fast to use and mobile.

These days I prefer to carry less than more because I like to be able to move and catch expressions and fleeting moments. This isn't condusive to changing lenses every 5 minutes or mucking around with complicated lighting setups.

I'm not big on assistants either. have had them but i usually spend more time falling over them and waiting for them to get what I need out of a bag than I can do it myself. I'm pretty old and crotechety these days but when i'm shooting I don't have time to think about my aches and pains and i still move quick... quicker than anyone i have found less than half my age.

It's a lot of each to their own but i really do wonder how some people manage to get the job done with all teh gear carrying and changing they do.

wave01 · April 7, 2011

Hi and first good luck. IMHO you probably have the gear you need what I would do is talk to couple find out what pictures they would like ie with favorite aunt uncle or friends. There are some standard shoots you need formal groups etc, so have a shooting list. Last ahve a backup plan for rainy day
Good luck again

Clixphoto · April 7, 2011

I plan on taking the 50mm 1.4, 24-70mm 2.8, and the 70-200mm 2.8. I will also take my studio light and tripod for the indoor group shots. The hot shoe flash that I have is fairly new and I need to get a modifier or two for it. I was thinking about a Gary Fong Lightsphere for most of the documentory shooting and a snoot of some kind for a few specialty shots during the bride's session I have in mind. I will also take my reflectors for some of the specailty shots. Does anyone have any suggestions for modifiers?

Thank you all so much for your help.

Ed911 · April 8, 2011

Good idea...keep it simple. And, even though some do not take a studio strobe...I do. (Don't always use it.) If you are shooting in a big church, or have a hard to light situation, it can come in handy.

I set my studio lights in the area that I'll be shooting the formals...get everything ready ahead of time, including setting the exposure...so that all the wedding party has to do is walk in. I use a light meter to set up my stobes...you'll never know how well this works until you use one.

Remember that when you ask for advice on shooting a wedding...let us know what kind of wedding will it be...small, large, indoor, outdoor...formal, informal, etc.

Hope this helps.

Matthew Saville · April 12, 2011

Experience, confidence, and a developed style trump ALL manner of lighting equipment or other gadgets. Get off the internet, get out there with your gear, and ROCK it!

I've lost count of how many gadgets I've bought over the years, and honestly I just don't use them. Lightspheres, Expo Discs, the list is, well, okay it's only a little bit longer than that but you get the idea.

My point is NOT that you SHOULDN'T buy these gadgets, but that you should figure out what works best for you well in advance of any PROFESSIONAL work, especially a wedding. Hey, I even rented a flash bracket before,

! I look back on those days and laugh. Either way, just figure out what works best for you, and master it. What works best for me, personally? I could probably shoot an entire year's worth of weddings with nothing but a pair of full-frame bodies, a 24-70 and 70-200, and 35 and 85 primes. I like to keep things lightweight, so my 70-200 would be f/4 if Nikon made one, and the 85mm would be f/1.4 of course, since Nikon doesn't make a 1.2. (Although Canon shooters now have the AWESOME Sigma 85 1.4 as an option, which I'd highly recommend.)

Simple, light, and natural. That's what works best for me. A well-bounced flash when necessary for indoor "formals", or a well-placed wireless flash (same small hotshoe flash) for super-dark dances and toasts. Otherwise, it's ambient, ambient, ambient.

;-)

=Matt=

Ed911 · April 12, 2011

Sage advice Matthew. My thoughts exactly.

lifeinfocus · June 2, 2011

[/QUOTE] (inexpensive ebay triggers- no failures in over 2 yrs),.....[/QUOTE]

Mr. Scott,
Are you speaking of these triggers "Wireless Studio Flash RT-16 Trigger+ 3 Receives 16 Chan"
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wireless-Studio-Flash-RT-16-Trigger-3-Receives-16-Chan-/320624486578?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item4aa6b568b2

Thank You, Phil

Wedding must haves?

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