Wedding Photography

Brandon Rice

Brandon Rice

Distributed Producer
Ok... my friend wants me to do his wedding photography, so I had some Q's...

First off, here's my setup right now.

Nikon D50
Sigma 24mm f2.4
Nikkor 50mm f1.8
Nikkor 55-200mm f5.6
1 GB SD Card

Now, the first question I have is, should I get any more gear? Another lens? A speedflash perhaps?

Second question is, what are the "must have" photos I need to make sure and get?

And finally, what do you, or would you charge for the shoot?

Thanks! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I would get a flash for sure. Any chance you could have an assistant that was in charge of the flash? An optical or radio slave and a flash on a monopod with someone to hold it would be the ideal setup. Maybe an additional flash card as well. I'd be happy with the lenses you have.

heres a guy who always gets some amazing shots if you want some ideas - http://www.johnlewphotography.com/main/index.html

He also charges an arm and a leg, but is awesome to work with. Dont forget too that many times the photographer calls the shots on when things happen, especially if there isnt a DJ. So I wouldnt be afraid to push the bride and groom to cut the cake or throw the bouquet when the time is appropriate.

I dont do this professionally by any means but for a friends wedding I'd charge 500 and hand them a DVD will all of the photos. I'd probably give them a CD of all the really good ones cropped and retouched as well. If you really like them set the pictures to music and author a dvd slideshow of the days progression.

I'd also sit down and talk with your friends about what pics they do or dont want. In this day families are so confusing you might as well ask about who needs to be in what shots or how it will work. My wife and I have such confusing family trees with step this's and half things and multiples of this and that and missing a few of these that we just told our photographer (the guy I attached the link to) to take some pictures of the ceremony and reception and just get whatever he thought looked good, but not alot of posed family stuff.

Anyways hope this helps. Have fun with it!
 
OK... I will break this down for you because I shoot weddings and events (about 3 a month right now).

First, gear:
For me I shoot with 2 x Nikon D200 cameras. I do this so I do not need to change lenses while I am shooting. I normally have a 70-200 VR on one and either a 17-55 2.8 or 28-70 2.8 on the other. I like to shoot fast glass where I can control the DOF but whereas I don't need to exceed ISO800 for low light situations.

2. Flashes... If you are going to shoot a wedding, or anything professional, you will need a flash unit, and especially something you can control wirelessly. With the D50 you will want to get the SB800 and another one, so you can have off camera flash. At the very least get the SB600, but then you are forced to use it on camera, which I wouldn't do.

3. Flash bracket... You want to be able to take the flash off the body of the camera.

So... here is what you do: go to rentglass.com or proglasstogo (maybe, I can't remember) or call your local camera shop and RENT GLASS. Don't go spend $3000 on lenses. For this type of event I would recommend bringing a 17-55 f/2.8 and either an 80-200 2.8 or 70-200 vr 2.8. This will give you good range and flexibility. From this point you might wnat to bring your 50mm for some portrait stuff, but stop down to at least f/4.0 in order to get that lens to be sharp. If you give someone soft wedding photos they SHOULD shoot you in the face. Also rent at least one flash, if not more.

Now, money. You should tell them that you will shoot it for free, give them all of the originals, and if they want to give you any cash as a tip then accept. For me I got started by working as an assistant. I didn't get paid, but learned what to look for and how to establish poses. I learned what to look for and how to light. I learned what to look for and how to capture a moment. Most importantly, I learned what to look for. Remember, you are in control of a small amount of time but you are capturing the only memories that will exist in print of an event that will cost $10,000+ (or in film words, imagine you shoot an entire $10,000 film and when you go to edit every tape is blank), sure you shot it but you have nothing to show afterwards.

Do not charge unless you are sure you can deliver 100% satisfaction. For me, I assisted on 20 weddings before I did my first solo, and that I did for gas money. I then built up my portfolio until I was satisfied and then only took work on referral.

One last thing... bring at least 10GB of cards, shoot RAW if you are uncertain about balancing light and working with flash (I shoot jpg because for an average wedding I shoot 4000 images all in burst), and expect to spend many hours writing actions in photoshop to process each image (I have actions to convert to black and white, save file names, resize for thumbnails).

I'm not saying don't do it... but I am saying that the moment you take money to do it you are establishing an expectation. I have seen too many people rush in before they are ready and run into problems. example: the kid I hire on occassion as an assistant did a solo gig, and everything went bad...

When you are ready I have contracts I can send you... get a contract or else you could be held liable for THE COST OF THE EVENT.

Just protect yourself, weddings are fast, intense, stressful, and you can't repeat anything. You also need to have at least 50 poses memorized that you can execute quickly...

Good luck
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I was thinking of charging 400-500, mainly because the wedding is in Arizona, and I'll have to be traveling. Also Jeremy, isn't it a good idea for me to just purchase a speed light? I want to get one anyway, and they're pretty inexpensive. I'll definitely rent some glass though, good call on that.

All really good advice. One other thing, I really don't plan to do this for a living or anything, so a portfolio isn't super important to me, though I do want to do a great job for them. I'll pick some more SD cards up as well.
 
Jeremy - not arguing at all, just uninformed - how do they hold you liable for the cost of the event? Is this if you pretty much ruin the whole wedding/reception for them? Or just take bad pictures? Anyways, your contracts sound like a good idea.

Thought I'd add too that the most impressive thing about our photographer was that he never stopped to eat, drink, or use the restroom but once that I noticed. All during a nine hour day. Once at the reception he came and asked if he could step out for ten minutes and then he was right back in the mix. He had a water bottle strapped to his belt and refused cake and pizza (we hate normal wedding food, so we had 20 pizzas brought in) when I offered and he just never seemed to fade. He was a machine. So be prepared.
 
jdajda said:
Jeremy - not arguing at all, just uninformed - how do they hold you liable for the cost of the event? .
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Because a legal precedent has been set on more than one occasion where someone was there to record the wedding and did a poor job they were sued. This is America, the question isn't whether you will be sued, but when will you be sued

jdajda said:
Is this if you pretty much ruin the whole wedding/reception for them?

Or just take bad pictures? .
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It can be for either. I have done weddings for people where the couple who hired me is completely chill. Our premeetings and discussions were perfect. We had everything negotiated and it was going to be an easy gig. Then you show up and everyone thinks they know better than you... and then the mother in laws and mother of the brides get involved. THEN, because D-SLRs are so cheap and everyone is a photographer, the five people who think they are pros follow you around and bother you all night with questions, suggestions, or critiques.

jdajda said:
Thought I'd add too that the most impressive thing about our photographer was that he never stopped to eat, drink, or use the restroom but once that I noticed. All during a nine hour day. Once at the reception he came and asked if he could step out for ten minutes and then he was right back in the mix. He had a water bottle strapped to his belt and refused cake and pizza (we hate normal wedding food, so we had 20 pizzas brought in) when I offered and he just never seemed to fade. He was a machine. So be prepared.
Click to expand...

I keep a water bottle in my bag which I either plant in the room or carry with me. My bag has everything imaginable in it... flashes, lenses, bracket, reflector, safety pins, hairspray, ect. It is everything. I normally agree to 5 hour shots and then move into overtime, depending on what was negotiated in advance.

Every photographer has a contract... it protects you.



Brandon, go get a bridal magazine or do a search of wedding photographers. If you cannot recreate these images then do not accept the gig. You are setting yourself up for a miserable experience, and if these people are friends of yours, then you are setting yourself up to lose friends at the very least.
 
Jeremy Ordan said:
Brandon, go get a bridal magazine or do a search of wedding photographers. If you cannot recreate these images then do not accept the gig. You are setting yourself up for a miserable experience, and if these people are friends of yours, then you are setting yourself up to lose friends at the very least.
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I extremely confident I can do it... but also not sure I want to do the work, lol. Maybe shooting a video instead is an easier route. :thumbsup:
 
Excellent advice. I would suggest getting a copy of noise ninja for the processing. It's a life saver. Buy the flash(es), and I can't see the harm in buying good glass either, if you have the money. Maybe bring a shot list with a breakdown of who's in each just so you don't get home and have an awe f*** moment.

Allen
 
If you're the only photographer then that's your first problem right there. It usually takes 2 people just to control the situation. If this is a small wedding and you're prepared to be a type-A personality then you MIGHT get through it, but you have to be aggressive and calm at the same time.

I've just started on these gigs and a lot happens in a few hours... there are a lot of things to be aware of... things like the nice person that wants to chat with you about things while you're working and because of the stress of the environment you get tempted to "take a quick break" and chat for a second... then you are behind and twice as stressed for the rest of the day.

As Jeremy is saying... weddings are about as serious as it gets. If you were doing an indi video project that was costing $10K per day and there would be no second takes all day... and all the actors were only in town for this ONE day... well... it's that serious.

BE EARLY... "on time" equals LATE.

Scout your location and get a plan in motion. Know what lenses you want on the cam for various situations before it happens. Having only one body means you're going to be quick-changing lenses a few times through the day.

Heed Jeremy's advice to get good 2.8 glass. You'll need it.

You MUST have a flash and bracket... if you can put an SB-800 on a bracket and run a cord to the D50 shoe... that's what you should do... you want AT LEAST one flash... and it's got to be on a bracket... but for TTL through the D50 it's got to be corded to the cam.

Considering the situation and everything you'll have to do... I'd for sure shoot the reception in auto. The wedding? I'd be tempted to go A priority... but at 2.8 you'll need to watch the distances to cam... for posed shots most people should be at the same focal plane.

There's a lot to know dude... really you should be reading a book and/or scouring the net for as much info as you can get. The 50 memorized poses is no joke... and you'll take at least 5 shots in each of those poses... it's possible that you'll be photoshopping open eyes where there were closed eyes on bridesmaids or groomsmen... but mainly focus on the bride... and secondly on the groom... and never, ever assume that one single pic is good enough on any pose.

One guy... one cam... hmm... good luck.
 
Brandon Rice said:
LOL... this is beginning to sound like a bad idea...
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It is bad advice to do this if you have no idea what you are doing.

Everyone... let me repeat... EVERYONE I know starts doing weddings as an assistant.

I'm not saying don't do it... I'm saying don't charge for it because the moment you charge you have set an expectation. And, for all the other working shooters out there, if you are just going to shoot for your own enjoyment, let the pro get his images and then you get yours...

I hate when I have just posed the whole wedding party in the 15 minutes I get after the wedding and before the reception to get 15 poses (150 images) and people are getting in my way.
 
It's not a big deal Brandon... but like Jeremy says... as soon as you are being paid to do a job, you are, by definition, a professional and there are expectations associated with that. No matter what anybody says in terms of friendship... if you don't deliver then people will resent the situation.

If you had a buddy that played around with flooring... and he said he would come over and install a hardwood floor for you and that "since he wasn't a real professional" he would only charge you half-price... then installs your floor and screws it up in a few obvious places... would you be thinking about the deal he gave you or would you be pissed that he screwed up the hardwood investment and didn't leave you with a nice floor?

It's totally different expectations then if the same friend says, "I know a thing or two about flooring and I'll come over and help the pro that you hired... if you can give me a few bucks for my time."
 
In other words, if you mess up, this is what happens.....

machine%20gun%20bride.jpg
 
In the age of digital... it's not like you're going to not get any good shots... it's that you have to get the shots you HAVE to get... and not getting those would be the problem.

The only way that's a problem is if you forget or don't know how to pose people... or if you're not in the right place or not ready during KEY MOMENTS.

For better or worse it's not a coin toss... it's about what happens a week or two later when the bride wants to see the kiss after "I do"... or the bouquet toss... or whatever... it's all THAT stuff that can get away from you. The amount of pics that you'll take in a day is astonishing. I don't know anybody else who takes 4K snaps in a day, but that should tell you something.

From a professional photographer viewpoint you need to get a crap-load of formal, POSED pictures that are standard fair for weddings.

Sure you'll have some bad shots... EVERYBODY does! Jeremy doesn't present 4K pics to the bride... but the question will be DID YOU GET THE SHOTS YOU NEEDED TO GET without forgetting anything important?
 
It seems like that every bride knows the complete business of wedding photography and what must be done and not. I kind of doubt that.

It sounded like these are friends of yours and that they wanted you to come over for the day and shoot nice pictures. If they wanted a real real professional for that job, they would have asked one.

It is not rocket science. I know that there is a huge difference between someone like brandon and a professional wedding shooter, but cmon he will for sure deliver some awesome pictures and thats what they want. And I am sure you dont charge anywhere near the price of a professional.

If you tell them that you are not a real professional there should be no problem. They must know that you maybe cant deliver a coverage of every single moment, like someone that did hundreds of weddings. But they are normal people and dont have a clue and when they see your pictures they will be really happy, because theses pictures are still a 100 times better than any picture they made in ther lives.

Thats just my opinion.
 
I dont know how much a professional would ask for such a shooting, but telling it like this, it sounds quite a lot.

I think it all depends on what kind of friends they are. In my world you can talk to friends and clear everything up. It is all communication. Of course up front.
 
professional shooters get at least 1,500 for shooting a wedding. Most I work with around here are pulling in close to 2,500 per wedding.
 
I think everyone is missing the point... which is why I used the hardwood floor analogy.

If you have a friend "save" you $1000 in labor fees but he costs you $5K in materials then the $500 you paid him is only insult to injury.

Spending $5K-10K for a wedding day is pretty common... so while it sounds great to save $1K on the photographer... you're kidding yourself if you think that they will still be considering the $1K savings if you don't get the pictures that they wanted you to get. If you are the only photographer then they will STILL expect their pictures to be good and complete if this is an expensive event.

It's not like anybody has to read between the lines here... it's been spelled out crystal clear... this isn't about the cash savings on the day's events... it's about the fact that it's a one-time reality shoot and it's not a good idea to go into it with the premise that you're getting paid to handle a professional's job, regardless of price... when you have no previous experience with weddings.
 
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