Wedding photography Tips

[chrispic]

Wedding photography seems to be a subject of considerable interest. I have done a few but I would love to know who else has and what their experiences have been.

I would also love to know how many photographs people have shot at a wedding. I took nearly 300 on mine is that too many or not enough.

Weather here is really starting to warm up. Thank goodness

Chris

[lbrowne]

Last wedding over 2000 shots taken, editing down to under 800 and hoping to get lower than that for a tighter set. Next wedding is just a short one, but overall planning on tighting up my shots so I don't have as much final editing to be doing. I'm working on keeping the final images to 400-600 max as too many more can be overwhelming for the bride and groom.

With digital it's easy to take so many shots and many wedding photogs do, but if you're getting what you need 300 may very well be enough for you. There are some wedding photogs in that range also. What length of day was that for and were you and the bride/groom happy with the results?

The main consideration is to have at least three bodies. Last summer I had three; my first wedding of this year I had only two bodies with me and the 40d error 99'd on me near the beginning. None of the fixes I'd read about worked, so it's off for repair. If one body goes down and there is no second backup, it's a nerve wracking feeling!

[chrispic]

Hi,

WOW 2000 images. I don't think I could take that many without really annoying everyone!

The 300 images was up to the meal and nothing in the evening. I was wasted. Couple seemed happy.

No offense but I would not have the nerve to turn up at a wedding with a camera body worth less than what I was charging for the wedding. I have a D300 it has never let me down, paid job or otherwise. I agree you should have a back up but I would rather have one really good pro body than 2 consumer models.

What do other people think

Chris

[spoildgal]

Chris,

I shot with a D200 and my D3. I have also begun bringing another person with me to get more of the random people shots, while I'm getting the important shots. I always sit down with the bride and groom before hand to figure out what style they are wanting for their photos, journalistic or posed or a combo. Usually a bride has gone through so many wedding magazines that she has a few specific shots in mind. After getting to know what they want, I make a shoot list. Once I make sure I have everything on the shoot list I let my creative juices take over.

Depending on the length of the wedding and how much they have going on, 300 to 400 is more then enough. Just remember you still have to edit the photos and get them back to the customer in a timely manner. Shoot to make a good phhotgraph. Don't just shoot to shoot. Take a breath, take in the scene, and document the good stuff.

[chrispic]

Hi,

Thanks this is really good advice. I appreciate it.

Chris

[brucep]

You might read Scott's 88 must take wedding photos post.

Here's another resource about wedding photography from our Knowledge Base. Some of those links may not work now, but there's still a lot of info for you if you read the entire thread.

[chrispic]

Thanks this is great. I have looked at it and there is a load of help there.

Chris

[trevster]

2000 Images !

The thought of being tied to a PC for hours weeding out the duff shots
makes me shuddddddder. Chances are; your hourly rate is going to drop well below the minimun wage, unless you're charging a fortune.

Not being critical, just giving my personal feelings on this.

Trev

[chrispic]

I am glad I was not far off the mark at 300 or so!

Chris

[trevster]

Each to his/her own Chris

I believe life's too short for reviewing and PP 'ing huge numbers of images.

Having said that, for the bog standard outdoor group shots, I generally use high-speed continuous - with AI servo.
It's possible to rack up a few shots doing that - but better that - than get blinkers and other shot spoilers.

Trev.

[tomj52]

My step-daugher was married in September of 2010, there were two photographers and they shot over 2,000 images between the two of them. They placed almost all the images on their website and the bride then sent a link to all the guests so they could order the pics they wanted from the wedding.

I was shocked that they shot over 2,000 images and that they posted almost that many on-line for folks to order. I assume it was a way to drive profit, with the fact that digital costs nothing (compared to film) and the small amount of time they invested in post-production meant more money for them.

I also read thru Scott's 88 pictures you must take at a wedding list - they hit every single one of the 88, plus a whole lot more.

[I_am_DLR]

You might read Scott's 88 must take wedding photos post.

Here's another resource about wedding photography from our Knowledge Base. Some of those links may not work now, but there's still a lot of info for you if you read the entire thread.

Both of these links just take me to the portal page. Searching didn't turn up any relevant results either. Anyone know where they are?

[schteve]

Not sure DLR .... but i saved these off some time ago

88 must takes..... http://photozo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2757

and wedding photography thread ..... http://photozo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1019


lots of informative links in both...and some dead one too

[I_am_DLR]

Excellent! Thanks you, sir.

[Rodz]

Last wedding over 2000 shots taken

Holy Cow! Please tell me your finger got stuck on the shutter release!

[JustinRD]

2000 Images !

The thought of being tied to a PC for hours weeding out the duff shots
makes me shuddddddder. Chances are; your hourly rate is going to drop well below the minimun wage, unless you're charging a fortune.

Not being critical, just giving my personal feelings on this.

Trev

2000 Images is not that bad...and if you have a good work flow its really easy to weed through them. Wife goes through that and can get a wedding finished easy in about 6-8 hours of no interuption.

"No offense but I would not have the nerve to turn up at a wedding with a camera body worth less than what I was charging for the wedding. I have a D300 it has never let me down, paid job or otherwise. I agree you should have a back up but I would rather have one really good pro body than 2 consumer models."

As for the above quote...you really need to think about it. The consumer model camera's are not bad....Cameras fail Plain and simple i've seen it before and I'm sure I'll see it again. When your at someones wedding I'd take 0 Chances. This is one day where you will never get a do over. You have to think straight, cover your bases and be professional about it. I mean what would you do at that one moment when someone bumps you and the strap slides of your shoulder or whatever the case may be...camera falls and end of story. I'd much rather have a lower model backup then no camera at all. Wife and I do weddings, we normally have 3 bodies as like many..they are heavily used. At this very moment we shoot with 2, Now i second shoot so if anything happened to mine no big deal. My wife being the primary shooter, if something happed to hers i'd gladly give up mine to finish up the day.

Just my thoughts....take it as you will ))

[monty671]

Hope I can provide some useful input. Been shooting weddings now for 4 years. Averaging about 40 weddings each year. Just had a small one yesterday.

We operate as a team. two shooters, each with different items to cover. On average we create about 1200 images each. Plus we also go thru about 20 rolls of film.

When trying to know if you have shot enough photos, you need to know what you are going to be providing. Who are you shooting for? Who have to get the images? How long is the wedding?

A new wedding photographer would believe they capture a wedding for the couple. Not true. You take photos for the couple, Yes, but they are only one of many. You have images you need for the Wedding Coordinator, The venue, other vendors and most importantly, you advertising for the next client. This means images for your blog, advertising sites like wedding wire and most importantly, submitting your images to magazines. We have be lucky this last year or more. We are averaging almost 50% published.

Our wedding books average 80 images.
The wedding coordinator and other vendors get about 200 images.
We provide the couple about 600 images.
100 images you take just for magazines.

Now how long are you shooting the wedding? Are you present only for the wedding? Or are you on site all day? When we do all day weddings, we typically are with the bride by around 11am. From there we take pictures all days until the reception is over and the couple has left. This makes for 12 to 14 hour days. For a twelve hour day that means just over 160 images an hour. That is not that hard to get to.

Just giving you something to think about.


Ron

[perpetualpixels]

Ron,

You said some things that I didn't even think about as for as taking pictures of the other vendors and things that nature. You mention magazines. How does one start doing that? Do you contacting the magazines directly?