Hearing how hard and stressful it is, first thing is first.

What set of lens would I need? I want to get started and start practicing.

My only weapons are 50mm 1.8f and 18-55mm (Stock Lens)

Just point me in the direction of the right lens please :thumbsup: and I'll do the practice, Unless you guys can give me a few pointers on angles etc etc

ive heard its not a good thing for a noob to do because its hard and stressful

I did an entire wedding with a 24-70 2.8L. However, I think it would have been better if I had a 70-200 2.8L. The reach would have been a huge plus. Also, a high power flash is a must.

You can do a lot though with the 50mm 1.8f. Most weddings I have gone to have low light so you want the biggest aperture you can get.

ive heard its not a good thing for a noob to do because its hard and stressful
Well when i get invited to a wedding i asked if i can take pictures alongside the professional, as long as I don't get in his way, I think this should be good practice right? How else would i get started?

Oh and the L series are an arm and a leg haha, time to start saving!

you can ask to be an assistant for a wedding photog. this how most people start. as for glass, you need fast glass for sure.

Well when i get invited to a wedding i asked if i can take pictures alongside the professional, as long as I don't get in his way, I think this should be good practice right? How else would i get started?

Oh and the L series are an arm and a leg haha, time to start saving!

Yeah, I just went to the wedding and took pictures for myself to practice. Stay out of the pros way and you shouldn't have any problem. Make sure to let him get the first shots off if you see him ready to take some pics. Your flash could mess up his shot. Most other people with their point and shoots don't take that into consideration.

Yeah, I just went to the wedding and took pictures for myself to practice. Stay out of the pros way and you shouldn't have any problem. Make sure to let him get the first shots off if you see him ready to take some pics. Your flash could mess up his shot. Most other people with their point and shoots don't take that into consideration.


Most wedding photogs I've watched will ask the audience to wait until he gets his shot and then take all you want for each pose, then they move to the next pose.


Off-camera flash is a must.
28-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, maybe a fisheye for fun pics and at least 2 bodies.

Depending on your age, you may be young enough that a lot of your friends are going to get married soon so you can get a lot of practice. I went through a couple of years when I was in my late 20s where I went to 5-6 weddings/year. Too bad that was before I got into photography :(

Most wedding photogs I've watched will ask the audience to wait until he gets his shot and then take all you want for each pose, then they move to the next pose.


Off-camera flash is a must.
28-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, maybe a fisheye for fun pics and at least 2 bodies.

Depending on your age, you may be young enough that a lot of your friends are going to get married soon so you can get a lot of practice. I went through a couple of years when I was in my late 20s where I went to 5-6 weddings/year. Too bad that was before I got into photography :(Yeah i know how that is, if i got myself a camera about around 19 I would have captured a lot of cool moments, weddings, trips, Eclipse, Graduations etc etc

Oh yeah do you guys carry a lot of Compact Flash cards? Imagine you guys usually take pics in RAW mode and lots of it, maybe it will help to carry a card reader and a laptop?

Just carry a bunch of cards. I don't do weddings but it's nice to know you can walk around with 10GB of free space in your pocket.

Just looked up the price for both lens *ouch*

are you guys suggesting the Lens because of the Aperture or for the L series glass?

Each lens is around $1100 roughly.

Hmm or maybe i can just rent them.

you get what you pay for. quality glass isn't cheap. but it's an investment if you're serious about it.

you can either rent (from rentglass.com) or you can purchase used if the new price is too much.

i took my camera to my cousin's wedding and the "professional" photog got intimidated by me and asked me not to take any of his "shots" aka poses.

so ask before you shoot.

I've only photo'd one wedding as a guest with my D200. I got a few nice shots, but more importantly I learned a hell of a lot.

First my stupid mistake: Moving targets = Continuous focus mode, d'oh!

Less obvious (to me at the time): The SB800 is powerful, but I had the diffuser on for closer shots and that didn't help me when I zoomed out to 200mm and tried a shot. Even without the diffuser I think I was asking too much of it as far as distance. Definitely would like to have a bracket to get the flash off the camera as well.

The day left me wanting a better lens, but overally I'm glad I did it.

i think the guy was using a wider lens, like a 17-35 or something like that for the one i went to. but then again it was indoor

I can't say I think you're ready to do wedding photography. Unless it's a friend of a friend type thing.

I can't say I think you're ready to do wedding photography. Unless it's a friend of a friend type thing.

^ Yeah that ^

There is no way I would even think of being "THE" photographer for anyones wedding after my first attempt as a guest.

Maybe after one more practice run as a guest I would feel better about it overall, but too much stress for sure.

people underestimate how much skill it truly takes to get wedding-quality photos (and i'm not just talking about sharpness). yeah, you could get lucky and get one in awhile. but how about 100's and 100's. it definitely takes some experience.

the best thing one can do is practice... or do it for free

I just attended a wedding and was a paparazzi wedding photographer. As many pictures will be taken indoors a flash (with a diffuser or bounce card) is a must! Also, don't forget you really only get one chance to get the right picture.. so take your time but make sure your settings are right.

My first mistake was to not use a flash indoors (thought lighting was enough). Pictures came out blurry and i forgot to use the wrong auto-focus mode. Needless to say, a good learning experience. You don't have time to fiddle around!

You can't beat an L lens.. but on a budget the 17-85 and 28-135 aren't too bad and are much sharper than the kit lens.

I just attended a wedding and was a paparazzi wedding photographer. As many pictures will be taken indoors a flash (with a diffuser or bounce card) is a must! Also, don't forget you really only get one chance to get the right picture.. so take your time but make sure your settings are right.

My first mistake was to not use a flash indoors (thought lighting was enough). Pictures came out blurry and i forgot to use the wrong auto-focus mode. Needless to say, a good learning experience. You don't have time to fiddle around!

You can't beat an L lens.. but on a budget the 17-85 and 28-135 aren't too bad and are much sharper than the kit lens.

Yeah i was told those 2 lens are step below L lens.

Pardon my lack of Photog vocab what is a diffuser? and bounce card?

STICKY FOR PHOTOGRAPHY TERMS? unless its posted somewhere that I didn't see

I can't say I think you're ready to do wedding photography. Unless it's a friend of a friend type thing.
It sort of is, honestly i'm looking for a way to upgrade my skill, and this would probably be the best way unless i can find a teacher.

and that lens rental place looks great but a few are out of stock, is there any more rental places i can look at? That is online?

diffuser is for flash, helps to diffuse the light. google it.

I still, not trying to be mean, don't think doing someone's wedding is the way to go about learning. Shooting your camera is the best way to learn, but your title gives a perfect example of why I've said what I said. You're still a newb and a wedding isn't the place to learn.

Of course, if the couple just doesn't care, then sure it's fine.

I agree that you shouldn't jump right into the wedding scene right off the bat, but if you absolutely have to... then good luck. It is usually a great idea to be a "backup" photographer to shadow the professional, that way you can learn the ins-and-outs from someone who knows what they are doing. I personally jumped right into weddings blind-turkey and had great success. I had never even been to a wedding before, there was NO rehearsal, and I had just bought the Canon 30D (bought the new camera FOR the wedding) and had my Rebel XT as backup. I did an awesome job and the parties were happy. The reason i can say i did an awesome job is because the clients were 100% happy with the results, and that is what counts. They pay, YOU do!

Ok,

My usual weapons of choice are
1) Canon 28-135 IS
2) Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
3) Sigma 10-20 (ONLY ONLY ONLY for locations hots)

The best advise i can offer is to go to the REHEARSAL and take you camera. That way you'll get an idea of whats going to happen and when, the best places to stand to catch the "moments" from great angles, and to ask questions about using a flash and whatnot. you need to research the location and know everything about it. Don't worry about the wedding guests too much. If you NEED to get in someones way to get the "money" shot, then DO IT! You are the one hired to capture the moments and they won't want to see a shot taken from behind the groom's head when you could have just moved 4ft to the side and temporarily blocked a guest.

You should dress professional but comfortable at the same time. When i shoot weddings I wear black colors to blend in. Dress pants and I bring a long AND short sleeved dress shirts and decide which to wear based on heat. I always bring a black, and a silver tie but so far haven't worn a tie because the parties tell me i don't have to.

You NEED NEED NEED plenty of memory! Get the high-speed cards so you don't miss any shots by waiting for the camera to finish crunching the numbers after a nice BURST of shots. I have 18GB of fast cards, and an additional 6GB of slow back up cards.

Shoot in RAW!!! Raw + JPEG is OK but RAW is a MUST!

Thanks for the awesome tips guys, I really don't want to be the main photographer, and prefer to shadow a professional, but i guess my friends doesn't mind too much, since they don't have enough to hire a pro, Although i urge them to get a pro, and I made it clear to them that, I'm still an amateur. If they keep on insisting then i guess i gotta take a dive.

seriously, google is your friend. You'll find a lot of information there.
also, check out nikoncafe.com

and as gay as it is, there are some on myspace. you won't learn much, aside from poses, etc etc.

I'd say if you're seriously interested.

spare bodies
memory cards (gotta shoot raw)
flash
lenses
batteries

at the minimum.
then you got lights, strobes, etc. etc.

my one main question is.. why do you want to get "better" at photography and decide to use weddings as your venue?..

do you want to do wedding photography as your main field.. or do you just want to get better at photography in general?..

if the latter of the two is the case.. then trust all of us when we say.. stay AWAY from weddings because the amount of skill, training, pressure, risk, and equipment is NOT worth it for someone starting out..

however, if you do want to shoot weddings are your main focus.. the best thing to do is what Eric (Mack) said already.. try and find a gig as a wedding photogs assistant and learn the most you can that way..

best of luck bud.. :thumbsup:

Not a photographer, but coming from someone who has priced out photographers from a wedding:

If you don't have good glass, your pictures will show.
If you use flash, your pictures will show.
Don't post on the Internetz about how much you suck. I googled one person's name and found a post on a dslr forum asking for help. Needless to say, I DIDN'T call the guy.

I had one guy tell me that some of his customers request the digital graininess in their photos as it gives them an "old-time" look. Complete BS. His pictures looked like cheap P&S photos and he didn't want to spend the money on better lenses because of how much they were.

Of all the money spent on a wedding, the only thing that lasts are the photos. If you're too cheap to spend $1100 on a lens, you're not going to get a clientele.

Not a photographer, but coming from someone who has priced out photographers from a wedding:

If you don't have good glass, your pictures will show.
If you use flash, your pictures will show.
Don't post on the Internetz about how much you suck. I googled one person's name and found a post on a dslr forum asking for help. Needless to say, I DIDN'T call the guy.

I had one guy tell me that some of his customers request the digital graininess in their photos as it gives them an "old-time" look. Complete BS. His pictures looked like cheap P&S photos and he didn't want to spend the money on better lenses because of how much they were.

Of all the money spent on a wedding, the only thing that lasts are the photos. If you're too cheap to spend $1100 on a lens, you're not going to get a clientele.

this is the reason why buying Pro level bodies and glass is called investment. Because it might throw you in a hole at first, but the out come will be huge, hopefully the photog just doesn't suck at being creative.

this is the reason why buying Pro level bodies and glass is called investment. Because it might throw you in a hole at first, but the out come will be huge, hopefully the photog just doesn't suck at being creative.
Its one thing to be technically skilled. Its another to have an eye. There are people that man make amazing pictures out of the shittiest cameras.

go to the wedding section of Canon POTN and you'll learn EVERYTHING!

Thats where I went to get all the tips. There are even lists out there that tell you, the photog, what shots to capture as "money shots" and the rest is up to you.

I think i have the list somewhere.... hmmm

Few things here:
My general "mental" set shot list, in the order I take them, is something like:
- Flowers/rings (if available)/shoes/details
- Bride with parents (before wedding)
- Groom with parents (before wedding)
- Group photos (customers choice)
- Wedding party together
- Photo of each member of wedding party, usually full length and head/shoulder portrait
- Full length of bride and groom, alone and together
- Rings on hands/held in one hand/on a white tablecloth
- Cake cutting
- First dance

You're welcome Lisa . I was on such a roll though I realized I left out some substantial "list tips." I've found these also to be money shots.... they sell.

Mom or B'Maid assisting with veil
Bride w/siblings
Bride w/her grandparents
Bride w/her ladies
Groom w/siblings
Groom w/his grandparents
Groom w/groomsmen
B&G with both sets of g-parents
B&G w/both families together - huge group shot
B&G w/her family
B&G w/his family
Processional - shots of each couple
Ring exhchange during ceremony
THE kiss
Misc. other ceremony shots - if permitted
Head table toasts
Head table kiss
Parents speaking
Head table shots
Some main table shots
"panoramic" table shots
The "ungartering"
Garter throw
Bouquet throw
B&G & Garter/bouquet catchers
"Regartering" shot
Misc dance candids
Neighbor groups
School chum groups

The above is not an all-inclusive list and is subject to constant revision and just plain winging it But you want to be easy to do business with, and a digital shot costs you nothing as compared to the old film shot, so I agree to all reasonable requests. - Stu



The lists are not REQUIRED, but a good place to start from if you have no clue what you are doing. If you at least get some of the shots on the list you'll be in good shape. I know lots of Wedding photogs make a print out (computer paper or even some 4x6 prints) and keep the lists in a back pocket as emergency backup. I would not under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES leave home without a list for backup. Even the pro's that have been shooting for 20+ years keep a list in a pocket, bag, or at least the car. :thumbsup:

I want to be better in photography in general, but weddings is one aspect i eventually want to get better at, other then that I want to try models, but weddings seems a little bit more realistic for me right now then models.

To be honest, I take pictures of cars and inanimate objects but, I want to do something with people involved, adds more life to my pictures.

But again thanks for the tips guys, appreciate it a lot.

Not many photographers are this helpful, maybe cause they feel threatened or something.

But in my opinion the best artists out there are the ones that can teach.

I want to be better in photography in general, but weddings is one aspect i eventually want to get better at, other then that I want to try models, but weddings seems a little bit more realistic for me right now then models.

To be honest, I take pictures of cars and inanimate objects but, I want to do something with people involved, adds more life to my pictures.

But again thanks for the tips guys, appreciate it a lot.

Not many photographers are this helpful, maybe cause they feel threatened or something.

But in my opinion the best artists out there are the ones that can teach.

:crap: :crap: :crap: :crap: :crap:


Just felt like saying it :)

Good luck bro!