Need advised on wedding shoot.


Gikens

New Member
Jun 22, 2011
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Dear bro & sis, I need some advised on wedding gear. I need to help a friend to be her main photographer on the actual day of the wedding as old photographer ( her friend too ) back out last min due to some work related stuff. Btw I already made known to my friend I m not pro photographer but she say it ok. The things is that the gear I have is limited. Pls advise me on the gear I should used.
Gear that I have:
Body D7000
Lens: nikon 50 1.8
Nikon 28-80
Tamron 18-270 PZD
Soligor 100-300
I guess I need a flashlight coz the build in flash might not be strong enough am I right? Although I made known to her I m not pro but I still want to give her my very best shoot I can provide.
Pls advise n many tks.
 

Dear bro & sis, I need some advised on wedding gear. I need to help a friend to be her main photographer on the actual day of the wedding as old photographer ( her friend too ) back out last min due to some work related stuff. Btw I already made known to my friend I m not pro photographer but she say it ok. The things is that the gear I have is limited. Pls advise me on the gear I should used.
Gear that I have:
Body D7000
Lens: nikon 50 1.8
Nikon 28-80
Tamron 18-270 PZD
Soligor 100-300
I guess I need a flashlight coz the build in flash might not be strong enough am I right? Although I made known to her I m not pro but I still want to give her my very best shoot I can provide.
Pls advise n many tks.

When is the wedding?
If you have some time to practise (eg other weddings/events), that would be better. Gain some experience under your belt.
Things happen really quickly at a wedding, and without prior experience, you would likely be 'lost'.

An external flash would be ideal for such an occasion. But if you buy one, you need time to get used to it.

Basically there are 2 points to note:
- be very familiar with your equipment. Know how to use it like it's second nature. Know the strengths and limits.
- be prepared with prior knowledge of the event, location, etc. so you don't encounter any or too many 'nasty surprises'.

sounds simple but encompasses many aspects :) Good luck!

What kind of shots are you after?
Maybe take a look at wedding portfolios of our fellow CSers to get some ideas...?
 

I agree with all the things Zerocool just metioned. An external flash would be good, but you need time to have a feel of it. When is the wedding? have time to practice by scouting the area in advance, know the programme, so you will know where and when you should be at that momment. Good also that you reminded your friend about you limitation. Have fun shooting, hope you post some pics here for our pro's to at least C&C.
 

ZerocoolAstra said:
When is the wedding?
If you have some time to practise (eg other weddings/events), that would be better. Gain some experience under your belt.
Things happen really quickly at a wedding, and without prior experience, you would likely be 'lost'.

An external flash would be ideal for such an occasion. But if you buy one, you need time to get used to it.

Basically there are 2 points to note:
- be very familiar with your equipment. Know how to use it like it's second nature. Know the strengths and limits.
- be prepared with prior knowledge of the event, location, etc. so you don't encounter any or too many 'nasty surprises'.

sounds simple but encompasses many aspects :) Good luck!

What kind of shots are you after?
Maybe take a look at wedding portfolios of our fellow CSers to get some ideas...?

Bro, the wedding is very close.. I have only abt 2 wks. I will be borrowing another D7000 body frm my friend as a back up incase my D7000 break down n also at the same time to use it to mount different Len incase no time to change Len. I thought of using 1 body mount with 18-270 PZD, another mount with 50 1.8, as for flash I will be buying external 3rd party flash which will be mount on with 18-270. Guess the one with 50 1.8 will use the build in flash. How is the combine? Is it good enough? Pls advise..
Btw the dinner is held in a hotel.
 

Turboredbean said:
I agree with all the things Zerocool just metioned. An external flash would be good, but you need time to have a feel of it. When is the wedding? have time to practice by scouting the area in advance, know the programme, so you will know where and when you should be at that momment. Good also that you reminded your friend about you limitation. Have fun shooting, hope you post some pics here for our pro's to at least C&C.

Tks bro.. I will look through the thread of wedding profile the bro post here. On the same time I will try to post some photo after the wedding for the bro here to give some advise to improved if the couple allow me to do so..
 

Bro, the wedding is very close.. I have only abt 2 wks. I will be borrowing another D7000 body frm my friend as a back up incase my D7000 break down n also at the same time to use it to mount different Len incase no time to change Len. I thought of using 1 body mount with 18-270 PZD, another mount with 50 1.8, as for flash I will be buying external 3rd party flash which will be mount on with 18-270. Guess the one with 50 1.8 will use the build in flash. How is the combine? Is it good enough? Pls advise..
Btw the dinner is held in a hotel.

Borrowing another camera body may or may not be a good idea, depending on whether you are able to set both cameras up such that you can interchange them seamlessly. Your friend may have set up his/her camera in a particular way, which might just confuse you further.

Are you familiar with flash photography? If you are not, you'd better get practising asap. It's really not as simple as it looks. i-TTL helps a great deal, but unless you like the 'deer in the headlights' look, I suggest you learn about bounced flash and flash modifiers :)

Depending on a number of factors (e.g. expectation of couple, location, ambient light, style of shoot, etc), wedding photography gear can be fairly affordable, or it can be "pocket-busting" expensive.
I am in no position to decide whether or not your setup is good enough. You need to consider all the factors and decide for yourself :)

I would like to conclude by saying that although the wedding couple say "it's ok", there's a very high chance they are hoping for a good result...
no pressure!
 

since you are the sole photographer, you need to get all the must have shots,
a flash is a must, since people is expecting sharp sharp and clear clear photos
bring a lens which cover 18-55 range, even a kit lens is fine, long reach is not a must, since most of the shots are done between 18 to 35 focal length
discuss with your friend about her itinerary, you need to write down all the shots you need to take on some note cards, and some keynote on the shots,
keep refer to the cards to guild you along.

keep your set up simple, so you can focus on what you suppose to do,
leave the fancy shots aside, shoot all the must take shots first,
remember, a normal shot is far better than no photos at all
 

for me.. if have two bodies.. one will be mounted with 18-55.. and the other with 85mm.. lowest f no. if possible..

rent them together with a flash..
 

Ferderico said:
Body D7000
Lens: nikon 50 1.8
Nikon 28-80

Just bring these and a good flash will do. (you are just missing an wide angel lens.)

Tks bro.
 

Btw any bro here encounter gripping problem? It see like the grip not good enough for me when the flash is mount. Maybe my hand is too big:).. Anyway does battery grip help in tis area? Thinking of getting a battery grip but still considering getting a 3rd party grip which is half the price of the oringinal nikon. Any advise on tis?
 

Gikens said:
Btw any bro here encounter gripping problem? It see like the grip not good enough for me when the flash is mount. Maybe my hand is too big:).. Anyway does battery grip help in tis area? Thinking of getting a battery grip but still considering getting a 3rd party grip which is half the price of the oringinal nikon. Any advise on tis?

Yes, the grip does help. I encounter the same problem as u before. I went for the original grip.
 

Gikens, please understand that the battery grip adds quite a bit of weight to your setup. That may make it worse for you. If you feel the camera is not balanced (for eg when you mount a heavy lens) or if you shoot in portrait orientation a lot, the battery grip may help. My advice is to actually try it out first before you dive in and buy one.
 

Last edited:
daredevil123 said:
Gikens, please understand that the battery grip adds quite a bit of weight to your setup. That may make it worse for you. If you feel the camera is not balanced (for eg when you mount a heavy lens) or if you shoot in portrait orientation a lot, the battery grip may help. My advice is to actually try it out first before you dive in and buy one.

Yes bro, I do understand it will add abit of weight. I think the weight is fine for me, things I m scare of is the balance n good grip. When I mount flash n Len, I has the feeling tat I might drop the camera anytime .. :(
 

SamTac said:
Yes, the grip does help. I encounter the same problem as u before. I went for the original grip.

Tks for the feedback. Now I m thinking should I get the original or 3rd party. Coz if I get the 3rd party at half of the price of the original, I can used the other half amount with maybe abit of top up to get a decent tripod. Anyone has any comment on 3rd party battery grip? Or should I juz get the original? Confused..:(
 

unless your are using a pro lens, which lens heavier than the bodies, there is not much benefit of using a grip.
nevertheless, you can try it out and see.
 

sinned79 said:
guess u are missing a wide lens, u will need it during table shots

Yes I m aware of tat, but for the time being I guess my 28-80 or 18-270 can still help abit.
 

catchlights said:
unless your are using a pro lens, which lens heavier than the bodies, there is not much benefit of using a grip.
nevertheless, you can try it out and see.

Tks bro. I m not using pro lens but I guess my hand are too big.. I juz dun have a good grip on my camera when I m shooting. Always have the feeling I will drop the camera..:(