If you are shooting pics of people / groups during parts of the wedding, the most imporant photographic tip I can give you is....
Talk to the people (unless you are shooting candids) and be friendly / cordial..
I am not familiar with Nikon flashes but I usually shoot at a shutter speed of around 1/60 to 1/90 or so with flash..
Be sure to get enough depth of field when shooting groups (f/5.6 at a moderate distance should be sufficient if you are trying to get a decent amount of stuff sharp)..
Also, it's a good idea to have backup equipment even though you are a #2 shooter..
JFR2 wrote:.
Hi Folks,I'll be assisting a friend of mine at a wedding this weekend. I'llbe using my D40 w/ 18-200 and SB-400 flash. Ive got a 2Gb mem cardand 2 batteries. Any other good tips for a new assistant??.
Thanks!-JR.
Pak K So'Enjoy your life, guy'.
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Wrote the following for another person who was talking about shooting a wedding.i realize there are many pros who are wedding phtographers, so ignore this..
Many yrs ago I shot 2 weddings; one for a friend and one for my brother in law. afterwards I made myself a promise that I have kept: NEVER AGAIN.if you must-.
-do your research. there are plenty of web sites available. find out what scenes EXACTLY to shoot and what to shoot it with. make yourself a list of expected shots and take it with you. make it in order of the shots..
-check out the church and check out the reception hall. this means go to them. can you use flash in the church? ASK the minister without fail before the ceremony starts, preferably when you check out the church. are you supposed to be at the brides home BEFORE everything on wedding day for pictures? which pictures,of who, are they going to be there,who tells them to be there? I was for one of my weddings. my day started at 5:00am and I didn't leave the reception till past 2:00am. it was almost 24hrs on my feet.
At wedding and reception, pop or water only. you will be the soberest one there. your job is to produce pictures nothing else. what shots are needed at every place? of who are the shots at everyplace needed? where are these people? you are going to tell/ask anyone that you need after the ceremony to remain? if you do not ask them, who is?.
-get a external flash, as big as you can buy. also brackets,cables, more batteries(if flash takes extra), any other needed accesories. you do have more than one camera battery, right? and charger? do you need a12volt charger as well???-again. read. research so you know everything about taking wedding pics.-after reading. do you need any more lenses? what kind, what size, what fstop?.
- memory cards. do you have enough gb? if no, buy major brands only. do not take a chance on any great deals on memory cards. if you have el chepo cards do not use them, replace them. in all respects this is when you go with the best and most dependable equipment you can find.- consider a backup dslr. if you do not have one-buy, rent, borrow..
-you mentioned setting up your tripod and taking many pics with it. do you absolutely have permision of the priest/vicar to use a tripod at that location. do not assume. also the same question about flash in the church..
-find some way to talk the couple into using a wedding pro. this couple may not be your friends AFTER the wedding.try this web site-.
[URL is in our block list, either at the request of the site or due to spam]...ing-photo-tips-for-amateurs.htmlalso try this. it is a pdf file, 79 pages.http://www.aljacobs.com/NEW%20WEDDING.pdf.
You should read the following web site. very interesting.http://tips.romanzolin.com/articles/article006.php.
Where do wedding photographers learn their trade???.
By being an assistant to a PRO wedding photographer. do it without fee if you have to but get the experience.- and very lastly. THE VERY VERY BEST OF LUCK. you will need it..
Gary.
Another reply-.
At the wedding I was refering to I was in the house with the brides and all the bridesmaids at 7:40am, haveing arrived 10min earlier. at the reception I was shooting till about 2am when the bride/groom finally left. that ended up at just under 18hrs shooting. when I did this it was with film, not digital..
Though I have been asked, the one thing I learned was never again. the 2 weddings were done gratis, no fee, that was the wedding present..
If you want to do more weddings I suggest glen johnson's book "digital wedding photography". not cheap, but well worth it. I have not read it all the way yet, but my conclusion is anybody who reads the book will never do a wedding. he simply tells what you have to do to photograph a wedding...
I just did a wedding, and I am so glad that the grooms Aunt showed up and decided to work the wedding instead of just watching so I was able to take a 2nd..
This is a lot of work and I would not recommend doing this if you are just starting out in photos.but any way best of luck...
Thanks guys. The good thing is my friend isn't putting a lot of respondsibility or expectations on me. I'm just there to help out. Any good shots that I may take will be a bonus. I'm going to try to stand back and "capture emotion"!.
-JR..
Well that might not be as bad, I think that you should be able to learn a lot if you just are a bonus pic guy...
JFR2 wrote:.
Hi Folks,I'll be assisting a friend of mine at a wedding this weekend. I'llbe using my D40 w/ 18-200 and SB-400 flash. Ive got a 2Gb mem cardand 2 batteries. Any other good tips for a new assistant??.
As a second shooter you'll have plenty of additional freedom and a little less pressure. Mainly, keep a close eye on that SB-400. I haven't used that flash personally but shooting lots of photo's during relatively short intervals can put a lot of stress on a flash causing the batteries to overheat. Once they do, exposure accuracy can suffer at best and the flash could shut down until everythings cooled down at worst..
To keep such problems to a minimum, try to stick with relatively high ISO settings and as wide of an aperture as is practical..
Have fun!.
'Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey!'.
Tom Younghttp://www.pbase.com/tyoung/..
We absolutely NAILED this gig!! The pictures came out sooo good. I was def a 2nd shooter, rather than assistant. During the cocktail hour, we set up a slideshow with a laptop showing some of the best pics from the Bride getting ready and from the ceremony. Everyone LOVED the pics. By then end of the night, we had 3 people approach us to do their weddings! We really needed business cards! Afterwards, my friend and I decided that we will sit down and discuss/develope a business plan..
It was a really good experience..
I ended up using one of his spare SB-600 flashes. I think I'll grab one from B&H soon. The SB-400 is great for light duty but I'll need the 600..
Thanks for the help!.
-JR..