Wedding Photography

[Laura]

Hey, probably been covered but the search function is playing up for me.

Im heading to a wedding in March, I was asked to be the photographer but declined. I would however like to shoot the wedding as a bit of a back up/ behind the scenes.. alternative take on the day.

IVe discovered lens pimp.. amazinf site so am going to hire a lens for the day.. what should i be looking at for those "traditional" style wedding shots?

 

[SamP]

You're a canon fiend arnt you?

 

[Revels]

Fast is key.

17-50mm and 50-150mm is what I used. Both f2.8 constant.

 

[Laura]

yeah canon, online seems to say the 24-70mm is a solid wedding lens

http://www.lenspimp.com/category/Standard/Canon_EF_24-70mm_28_L_USM/

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Anything uber fast.

85mm 1.2 is a good canon lens from what I've heard.

Honestly, brides and women love those super narrow DoF shots, when done well of course.

Also, fast is better for low light which is always useful.

If the lens has a maximum aperture smaller than f2.8, don't bother.

Make sure it's a L lens too

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

That 24-70mm is the equivalent of my Nikon version. A great all rounder lens, you could theoretically shoot a whole wedding with just that lens, it does everything.

70-200mm is good for the actual ceremony, as you don't have to be in the couples face.

I would avoid wide angles, as they will distort the people which looks odd and really unprofessional.

 

[Feirny]

Just seen the prices of the deposits, jesus.

 

[SamP]

If you're just shooting because you can just go for candids. 85 1.2/24 1.4 are both fantastic and will get you most shots.

 

[Laura]

tbh probably not far off the cost of just buying the lens , but they have to cover themselfs i guess.

 

[JamesBryan]

http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/

^Also a very good site to hire from.

I'd go for the 85mm 1.2 and the 70-200mm 2.8

 

[Nick_P]

I used lenses for hire, was a seriously good service from them. Would recommend fooo sho

 

[NickMelson]

I hired the nikon 24-70 a few months back from lens pimp, you don't have to pay the deposit as its optional and a it was a fantastic service received 2 days before i was suppose to which was a nice surprise.

 

[Billy]

I have an eBook on wedding photography "Do It Yourself Wedding Photography Complete Course" can be viewed on your PC or iPad etc, if you want a copy PM me your email addy and I'll send it over to you,

Billy

 

[Nick_P]

I like to read this

http://www.wedpix.com/articles/

 

[Nick_P]

I'm doing my first wedding in June as a second shooter.

Found out its a gypsy wedding! lol

 

[Andy.]

Keep a close eye on your kit!!

 

[JamesBryan]

I'm doing my first wedding in June as a second shooter.

Found out its a gypsy wedding! lol

Good luck :quiet:

 

[JJ!]

I did a wedding with an Olympus E-620 with the standard kit lenses as a favour for a mate. They were chuffed to bits with the results TBH!

 

[Laura]

me again, the 85mm 1.8 is £18 to hire and the 1.2 £60, is it worth the £40 difference?

 

[Tigger]

For the speed maybe I would guess it is

 

[Andy.]

1.2 has slower AF but that shouldn't be too much of a problem at a wedding. It an amazing lump of glass though. I bought the 1.8 as I really couldn't justify the extra cost for the red stripe.

The 1.8 is a good lens, but the 1.2 will have better colour & contrast (and looks immense).

 

[Laura]

need to make a desicion today, hummmmm lol

 

[sneeks]

This is a handy thread as I have found myself in the same situation having recently declined a request for me to take official photos on the day of a wedding but I would like to attempt some more casual photos of my own.

 

[Laura]

having flicked through the oficial photographers page and a number of other ones online i think im going for the candid lurking in the bushes kinda theme, The photographer for the day seems to favour the cliche set up shots as well as the other popular set up shots, (people running towards rthe camera) etc.

Id like to provide a slightly alternative take on the wedding.. i just dont want to **** it up haha

 

[Laura]

Ok so the postage bumps it up massively i think ill be going with the 1.8 85mm at the 1.2 is £100 all in.

 

[Cup_Phil]

I'd recommend against the 24-70 f2.8L - it's a FANTASTIC lens on a full frame - but it's a bit of a weird range on a crop body (which I'm assuming you had)
I had one on my 7D and I swapped it for the 17-40mm f4L as it's a nicer wide indoor lens

If you're going for stealthy shots the 85mm 1.8 is a nice lens - or the 70-200mm f2.8L is really popular with wedding photographers and is a superb lens - but it's £1900 so likely to be expensive to rent

 

[Laura]

yeah im using a 50d, after reading review after review im going to be annoyed i didnt choose the 1.2, so ill have a think about it tonight

 

[Andy.]

The 1.8 will be more than fine. Do you have an off camera flash?

 

[Laura]

yeah i have a speedlite but the place where the wedding is doesn't like flash photography

 

[Laura]

Well just to let you know, i decided not to hire in the end, i actually just bought a new lens id wanted for a while to upgrade my 70-300 that i use for the drifting stuff, and had had for a good few years, was only £107 when i bought it and its had a hammering.

so i used

50mm f1.8
28mm f2.8
and 70-200 f4 IS USM L series lens

really happy with the results, only had a quick flick through last night on one of the memory cards but yeah. chuffed, ill post a few up when ive done them, only as a candid shoot so none of the formal pics

 

[JamesBryan]

Good lens!

How much $$$ did you get it for?

 

[Laura]

got quite a good deal with jessops, they price match any physical store within 15 miles, went in with a print out from an online store knowing they wouldnt get anywhere near it, they searched online for the cheapest store one they could match then managed to wangle another £10 off, which was great as i needed in there and then. was about £55 off what they were selling it for.

Id quite like to have a crack at a propper wedding now in all honesty as i was hankering to have a go at then more traditional shots that i couldnt really get at this one, ive been asked to shoot a friend of a friends wedding as they cant afford a propper photographer and were contemplating not having one.

 

[Jay_A]

Would love to hear how u get on with the new lens!

Im at a friends wedding this coming Saturday and they've asked me to be their unofficial photographer, so very excited

 

[Laura]

couple of sneaky preview shots, id love to hear your thoughts I'm loving them but I'm not sure if thats because they are genuinely good or just because I've never done anything like this lol

Cooper Wedding 2012-54 by laurataylor225, on Flickr

Cooper Wedding 2012-52 by laurataylor225, on Flickr

Cooper Wedding 2012-44 by laurataylor225, on Flickr

Cooper Wedding 2012-94 by laurataylor225, on Flickr

Cooper Wedding 2012-99 by laurataylor225, on Flickr

 

[Jay_A]

Lovely pics. I especially love the black and white ones.

Is that a choccywoccydooda cake?

 

[capturedbyjames]

Getting married in a pair of Converse? Awesome!

Nice shots. The confetti one is a tad over-exposed, but could probably be recovered in editing. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

 

[Laura]

Lovely pics. I especially love the black and white ones.

Is that a choccywoccydooda cake?

it is and it was yummy!! work of art! We wouldnt let the bride and groom see it when it was delivered so me and the best man signed for it, was soo funny mike and laura trying to work out how it looked from out facial expressions.

Getting married in a pair of Converse? Awesome!

Nice shots. The confetti one is a tad over-exposed, but could probably be recovered in editing. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

That was on purpose, i did quite like the over exposed-ness of it as it makes the colours stand out. Dunno i like it exactly how it is

And yes, the best men all had different coloured converse and matching ties haha

 

[Brazo]

#1, would have gone a little wider to give the subject some breathing space

#2, background is distracting, at f6.3 pretty much the whole frame will be in focus, f2.8 would have defocused it. The old fashioned lamp post is distracting and appears to just out of grooms arm. The shadows are interesting but more could have been made of them and even the shoes lol with that late afternoon sun.

#3, nice composition but as said above overexposed and that should never be intentional in this sort of shot.

#4, range rover and placeholder are a little distracting, again a shallower dof would work better

#5, The cake is either out of focus or too 'in focus' depending whether you were trying to capture the cake or their hands as the main subject, radiator looks out of place in this sort of shot. I just checked the original and nothing is in focus.

 

[Laura]

unfotunately i cant mve lamposts, cars or radiators, ill take your comments on board tho

you picked on some elements i actually love as negitives, i guess its personal taste and all that, everyone has different tastes

 

[Brazo]

No but you can move yourself and compose so they aren't incorporated I didn't mean to be harsh (dont think I was?) and hope I was constructive!