Budding Photographer needs help!!


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rhgurl15

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May 19, 2009
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I Have a canon eos50d which I adore an I have a 24" iMac both I just bought to take taking pictures of my 3 year old a better experience an to take my love of taking photos to the next level. I have recently had a friend of mine let me shot pictures of her 4 year old daughter an when she saw my work she asked me to consider shooting her wedding in August! Is a medium sized wedding ,but my problem is I am new to everything still an I need some suggestions on lens Ideas for my camera an some shooting mode ideas for an inside wedding at 7pm. Also I have been debating between adobe photoshop 6 for my mac or apperture am especially interested in doing a little playing with black an white pictures with some color effects. Any ideas for a newbie????
 

I'd say your friend is trying to save money. Instead of hiring people, she wants you to do it for free.

If you have NO IDEA how to shoot weddings, DON'T unless you're just a backup/extra for her. She should still hire people who know what they're doing, otherwise it's far too high risk.

We've had too many stories of "I asked my friend to shoot my wedding and the pictures are bad how do I save them help me!!!!" threads.
 

It needs more than gear (camera, monitor and some lenses) and shooting modes to shoot a wedding. Maybe you have a look at the wedding section here to get an idea. Lenses are tools that follow the requirements - which is your shooting style and the conditions at the spot. Shooting modes are presets of camera settings, combined with certain automatic corrections. Use them according what you want to achieve. Everything's possible: from fisheye to 200mm, flash or non-flash, but it requires a concept.
I agree with Rashkae. Your friend should hire a skilled photographer for an event like this. You can still take pictures as backup or "behind the scenes" or any other niche. That gives you the creative freedom to explore whatever you have in mind - without the pressure that you MUST deliver pictures for an event where there's usually no 2nd chance. Start with walking before trying to run.
 

Totally agree with the other posters when they say leave the main photo job to a hired pro. Shooting for yourself is way different than shooting for someone else and a wedding is an event that you can't ask for a retakes.
 

Not another pail of cold water, but just to remind you to treasure the relationship.
 

Agreed, it may be tempting to try...but remember, it is not a birthday...it is a wedding.
It only happens once a lifetime to most people...

Politely decline, and be the 2nd PG. Less stressful, and much more fun!
 

Remind her that you can help her, but it's not a job as you haev no experience, and you better stress that to her tat the end results are not GURANTEED.

If she still wants to proceed, then go ahead and have fun, it's her own risk.
 

As what others have said, even if you got all the L lenses you need but no experience, you won't get good results. You could help your friend by finding a pro to do the main photography work:bsmilie::bsmilie:. Of course, you could then shoot as the backup to gain exp for future assignments, and to supplement the main photographer's shots.
 

Bro, you need to consider alot of aspect before committing into doing a wedding photography for a friend. Its a once in a lifetime thing, if you aren't confident or haven't done any before, pls don't try. Its too dangerous, if your shots don't turn out well, you will be blamed for life.
Experience do count. Its not that easy to shoot for wedding if you are inexperienced.

Next is also your equipment to consider. There was no mentioned of what kind of lens, flash you are using.
 

First it was not free she offered me $400 to do it because my photo shoot of her daughter was that damn good an am always up for a new challange I would just like some ideas because the idea of a wedding does make me nervous I have the creativity for photography an all the time in the world to learn more I would just like to perfect some different shooting ideas before I do the wedding. an am not a bro am a girl!
 

an if I don't do a wedding because of nerves then I shall not have one under my belt for experience to try another one. Surely you have to shoot a wedding once before you can shoot one twice :D
 

What we're trying to say is that you should serve as the secondary photographer for this event since you currently have no experience in it. This would also serve to address your "nerves", and you'd get some nice candid/supplementary shots which would equate to a marvelous wedding photo album for your friend. It doesn't matter if you're being paid for this or not. As most of us are seeing it right now, you seem to have not shot a complete wedding day before. Therefore, it is very much advised that you use this learning opportunity as the secondary photographer to gain experience for future weddings. You mentioned that this would be your chance if you were to be the primary photographer. Well, a wedding IS a once in a lifetime event, you should not use it as a platform for your maiden voyage into wedding coverage and possible trial-and-errors may lead to mistakes. Surely you don't want your friendship to be ruined just because of 400 bucks?

Besides, the fact that you were asking for advice on lenses, equipment and camera settings shows that you (currently) do not have the capability for wedding coverage as the primary photographer. It's harder than it looks.
 

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an if I don't do a wedding because of nerves then I shall not have one under my belt for experience to try another one. Surely you have to shoot a wedding once before you can shoot one twice :D

Get practise without being stressed first.. shoot candids, as 2nd photog, etc... these is how you gather experience without causing distress to both u and the couple. Imagine if you really did goof off for the important money shots, how would you feel? And how would the couple feel, esp when they have paid you and considered that you're doing them a service?
 

this is why when my cousin asked me to shoot her friends wedding. she got a firm NO from me. =)
too risky for a noob like me.. don't be shy to say NO, no need to save face.

its a whole lot easier than having sleepless nights trying to figure out how to salvage the shots.
 

Well, I guess we all missed the 'gurl' part of your handle! :bsmilie:

Edited to add: Since it seems like you're dead set on doing this, I'll see if I can help a bit. But the other guys on here do have a point.

Seeing that you come from the 'birth place' of Rock n Roll, will this be a Rock n Roll themed event (I assume evening dinner and dance since you mentioned 7pm)?

Regardless of the theme or setting, the most important thing you need to know (besides the usual time-tables, lists and must-have shots) is to REALLY be as intimately familiar with the venue as humanly possible. Go ahead and scout the location. Look out for problem areas. Speak with the couple and know what they have in mind and exactly WHERE at the location. If you have time and access, walk around the place and do a test shoot with and without flash.

From there, you can start taking note of lighting, problems and challenges, and plan ahead how to overcome them. Yes, write it down. Sketch out rooms, ceiling heights etc. Unless you know the place like the back of your hand, you may forget a few niggly details.

While you give us little or no information of your technical proficiency, I'll assume (for safety) minimal. No offense if it's more than that. You've got to clue us in gurhl!

Going by that, I would suggest finding out more about your two most obvious shooting options: with natural or existing light, and with flash. On both these two topics, you will find a wealth of 'how to' guides on the net. It would be little point for us to re-type or copy paste the heaps of articles.

But I would offer a hint: Look out especially for websites/tutorials that can clue you in on using bounce flash.

As regards other general guides, again, Google is your best friend.

Let's start you off with these few links:

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-page1.html and

http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&q=how+to+photograph+a+wedding&meta=&aq=f&oq=

and for flash, look at:

http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/ (if you survive just this one website, you should have more information and knowledge you'll need to pull your friend's wedding off qith some degree of success)!

Most important - KNOW your venue and exact itenary, and PRACTISE, PRACTISE PRACTISE any technique you plan to use waaaaay in advance. That would give you a chance to iron out the kinks.

All the best Mississippi gurhl and let us know how it pans out on the day! I would love to see some of your work (with the babies and the wedding!).
 

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Agree with all the other photogs here...

Sis, treasure the relationship with your friend. I am sure your friendship does not worth a mere $400. For that price, to lose a friendship is totally not worth it. Be a 2nd photog or even a third photog or something along that line.. being the 1st photog is much too stressful and heavy responsibility for a person with little exposure.

Even after shooting many events and weddings, I still do have butterflies in my stomach. Each time it is different, the euphoria is different, the mood is different and there is no such thing as second replay...

Go there and have fun. To sum it up... it is macham a holy grail... It combines the skills from macro, landscape, strobing, candid, food, product photography all together in that 10 hours .. just to name a few... The experience will then give you a 2nd chance in the future... :) Especially when you know what is your style.. and that will still evolve over time....

friendly IMHO... no offence here. :)
 

Guys let's give her the benefit of doubt. Perhaps she really has a great talent and great pair of eyes.

So equipment-wise, I would advise you to rent a backup camera and flash. Get spare batteries for them too. Because nothing is worse than your equipment dying on you and you have no means of delivering any photos at all except maybe from your camera phone..haha. :)
 

First it was not free she offered me $400 to do it because my photo shoot of her daughter was that damn good an am always up for a new challange I would just like some ideas because the idea of a wedding does make me nervous I have the creativity for photography an all the time in the world to learn more I would just like to perfect some different shooting ideas before I do the wedding. an am not a bro am a girl!

an if I don't do a wedding because of nerves then I shall not have one under my belt for experience to try another one. Surely you have to shoot a wedding once before you can shoot one twice :D

let's just assume that you are up to the task because you are "good enough"...

then google is your best friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





jokes aside, i am going to echo caution that it is something that happens only usually once for people, you can say "oh i am good enough", but are you good enough for them, really? do you think someone else can do a better job?

if your friend is badly budget constrained, then you can help her out, do a fine job to the best of your ability, that's fine.

if she is not, and someone else out there that she could afford would do a much better job (and i dare say, there are photographers out there who are way more experienced, know what to expect - it is not just about having one nice photo to show)..... then you have deprieved her the opportunity of such joy. and that's the main reason why i will never "try-try" weddings, until i gain sufficient technical knowledge of lighting, event shooting, maybe try it for a few times before i anyhow go into the arena naked and unaware and screw up the whole thing.
 

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First it was not free she offered me $400 to do it because my photo shoot of her daughter was that damn good an am always up for a new challange I would just like some ideas because the idea of a wedding does make me nervous I have the creativity for photography an all the time in the world to learn more I would just like to perfect some different shooting ideas before I do the wedding. an am not a bro am a girl!

Hey...
Am seriously interested in having a look at those pics that you took that wow her over.
:)

I think this thread is a good read for many guys luking in the forum who desires to be a wedding photographer.

Regards
 

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