Winged Power Photography

June Is The Most Popular Month For Weddings!

Don't know what it is about June. Perhaps it is the nice weather, right before the heat wave, or perhaps it is because you're finally coming out of the colder seasons, and you feel the need to live a little. Or, maybe it's all of the wildlife in bloom... whatever the reason, June Weddings are the most popular of the whole year.

If Wedding Photography is your business, then you don't need me to tell you that you're going to be busy. You ARE busy. You probably have been all year long, if your business is successful and booming.

You might be one of the lucky/unlucky few who get asked to come take some pictures at the wedding or serve as the impromptu wedding photographer... and its your first wedding photo session. Eeek!

Whatever the reason, it never hurts to keep some basic advice and tips in mind, as you prepare to photograph your next wedding!

Hot June Wedding, Hot Tempers, Hot Situations... better keep backups handy!

Things happen. Someone spills a glass of champagne on your camera. Someone accidently pushes you into a cake, lens and all. Someone slaps you on the back, just as you are swapping lenses and causes you to drop that lens you needed for the group shot. Whatever the reason and whatever the situation... have a backup handy.

How much backup?

How important is the shot? How much backup can you afford? :)

Take a quick look at forums like the Fred Miranda discussion forums, Model Mayhem, DPreview, etc. you will hear the same thing, no matter what brand of camera a photographer shoots with:

• Have more than one camera body with you.
• Have more than one lens with you. (wide, long, extra-wide)
• Have at least one lens that can do double duty. Ie, have one ultra-zoom lens cover both wide and long, in case your wide is lost or damaged or your long is lost and/or damaged.
• Have spare batteries!!
• Have plenty of memory for your camera

I can't afford two of everything!?

Now, when I say have more than one camera body, I mean have one mounted with one lens(wide) and one mounted with another lens(long). That way, you only need to grab your other camera for one kind of shot and the other for the other kind of shot. You don't lose precious time swapping out lenses.

This also reduces the chance of some dirt or liquid landing in your camera. Sitting down and cleaning your camera means lost photo opportunities!

Now, the two camera bodies don't have to be the same. Let's say you shoot with Nikon gear, you could have a D200 and a D80. Canon shooters might go with a 5D and pair it with a Rebel Xti. You know the drill.

It also goes without saying that you don't have to buy all of this. Any good reputable camera store will have rental services. You can finally give that 70-210 f/2.8 a try. ;)

What are good lenses for wedding photography!?

Ask a bunch of people and you will get a bunch of answers. Mostly the same, but with enough difference to make you doubt the rest.

Simple way of looking at things is to think in terms of "generally".

Generally, you will want to shoot individuals, couples, small groups, and large groups. For the majority of these shots, you can do this with anything from a wide (20mm) to a normal (50mm) lens. This assumes you have about 7-10' of space to work with, between yourself and the subjects. Needless to say, that 15-55mm or 17-75mm f/2.8 lens is sounding pretty good right about now. ;)

For some shots, like in the wedding chapel, or during the service outdoors, or other shots where you just want to isolate the faces of your subjects, or reach in close without intruding in on the scene, you will want a longer lens. Something in the range of 75-300mm will work. Though that 75-300mm f/3.5-6.3 will NOT work. What you will want to look at is something like a 70-210mm f/2.8.

Anything else, 50mm f/1.8, 28mm f/2.0, etc... that's all icing. If all you have is the fast wide zoom and the fast long zoom, you'll probably be good for like 80% of your shots.

Wait... what about those photographers who have like ALL prime lenses? Why are you suggesting zooms?

By all means, if you are able to get up close and personal with people and have the monies for these high end primes, please do so! You certainly won't find them lacking in ability. My suggestions above are solely looking at it from a 2 camera body, and one lens per camera setup. By knowing either lens can handle the midrange focal length, you have some overlap and thus backup. With the faster apertures of the lenses, you will have some guarantee that the lens will be fast enough to work both indoors and out. It isn't the best combination and you CAN get away with a slower 18-300mm VR zoom lens that is slower.

But then again, good luck with those flashless indoor shots.

So, How Much Storage Will I Need? Should I Bring A Laptop?

First off, leave the laptop somewhere safe, like your staging area or in your car, secured. The laptop should be for reviewing and backing up your photographs. It is pretty bulky and hefty for just offloading your cards.

Second, you will want backup copies, so keeping your cards loaded and having another copy on your laptop is a good thing. Last thing you want is to offload to your laptop, wipe your cards, then lose the laptop.

Third, memory cards are cheap. Get yourself a half dozen 4GB memory cards and you will be set for the wedding. If you have doubts, go crash a wedding or some other event and take pictures as if you were photographing the event. See how many photographs you have taken and how many cards you filled up. Did you use up all of your cards? Did you have some spare? Did you find you were swapping cards often?

If you found yourself swapping cards often, you need larger cards, or you need to lay off that 5fps mode. :)

If you found you have burned through all of your cards quickly, then you need more cards, and/or larger cards.

If you found you have spare capacity left at the end, good. Make sure you have at least 20% more capacity than you need, this will cover for events that run long or events that suddenly get relocated for extra shots.

Dang! That's Alot of Work and Gear!

Hey, you chose to shoot the wedding. ;) And that's just the camera gear. You'll want to check out the location(s) ahead of time. Coordinate with the bridge, groom, and families for group shots either before or after the ceremonies. You'll want to talk to the church management about flash and lighting. You'll want to coordinate with the wedding planner and/or the person in charge, as to how your work meshes with the event itself. That.. and you will have to deal with alcohol laden folks, emotionally charged families, non-stop work, and plenty of work AFTER the shooting is done.

And to top it off, since you're shooting in June, it's going to be warm, so dress appropriately!

Wedding Photographers:

Individual Taste Photography: http://www.individualtaste.com.au/

Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories author: Glen Johnson asin: 0471790176

The Art of Digital Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style (Amphoto) author: Bambi Cantrell,Skip Cohen asin: 0817433244

The Art of Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style author: Bambi Cantrell,Skip Cohen asin: 0817433252

Professional Techniques for the Wedding Photographer: A Complete Guide to Lighting, Posing and Taking Photographs That Sell (Photography for All Levels: Advanced) author: George Schaub,Kenneth Sklute asin: 0817456023

How to Start a Wedding Planning Business author: Cho Phillips,Sherrie Wilkolaski asin: 1411600436

Wedding Photography 101: The Complete Guide to Starting and Growing a Wedding Photography Business author: Scott Harris asin: 1414050143

Wedding Photography, 2nd Edition: Art, Business & Style (A Lark Photography Book) author: Steve Sint asin: 1579905463

Photographer's Guide to Wedding Album Design and Sales author: Bob Coates asin: 1584280980

The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images from the Pros author: Bill Hurter asin: 1584281227

Wedding Photography: Creative Techniques for Lighting, Posing, and Marketing author: Rick Ferro asin: 1584281421

Technorati Tags: Canon digital wallet june Lenses Nikon Olympus Photography product review Tips Tutorials weddings