My brother asked me to photograph his wedding. I don't know the details but I assume it will be outside and informal. It will be at my grandma's farm on July 3 and the annual fireworks blowout and bbq will follow.
I know they will be happy with whatever I get but I'd like to get some really nice pictures for them.
I know there will be lots of portraits with various combinations of family members. I'll also do my best to document the ceremony. What other types of shots should I try to get?
I don't have much to work with but I'm sure I can get by with what I have. D7000, 18-105, 70-300, 50mm, SB900 flash, cheapo tripod. I am worried about lighting because it will be in the afternoon.
Hi Chris,
I find that it helps to figure out an efficient order to "build up" the various family or wedding party group portraits, and then remove select people to get the other groupings I want. For example, if you were to start with the bride and groom, then add in mom and dad from one side (say the brides side of the family), then siblings, then aunts uncles and grandparents, etc.then add in everyone from the other side of the family (so you get everyone together) then take out the bride's family and start working your way down to smaller groups with the groom's family, etc. There are multiple ways to do this, you just have to figure out an orderly method and then stick to it. Once you get "off track" it's hard to keep track of what groups you've managed to photograph and which ones you still have left. Make sure you coordinate this with the bride, because otherwise she will start saying "oh, can we add so and so into this picture?" and things will quickly devolve into chaos. If she knows you have a plan, and that you will eventually get to all the people she wants pictures with, then she will be much more likely to help you organize the people effectively. Try to get the Maid of honor, or best man, or someone else in the family that knows everyone and has a "take charge" personality to help you get folks organized for the formals. It's a pain to have to hunt down grandma and grandpa when it's their turn to be added to the pictures. Invariably the brides father will decide he needs to go find them, grandma and grandpa come wandering up, but the brides father is missing, so the brides mother goes to find him, etc., etc., You get the picture... Have a plan, make sure you coordinate it with the bride and that she coordinates it with the groom, their families and the wedding party (where they should be and at what time for the formals). And try to enlist the help of an "authority" figure to help you pull it all off.
I find that "groups of two," (i.e., the bride and her dad, etc.) work best as posed candids as opposed to "formal" pictures. Don't just have them stand side-by-side, but have them interacting in some way. Have the bride adjust the dad's boutonniere, or brush lint off his shoulders, or some other way of doting over him.
Then you can have them stand formally after the ice has been broken. Whenever you are photographing two people like this, be ready to capture the spontaneous moments that will happen in between poses. Invariably, after you are all done shooting and are looking at the images on your camera LCD the bride will give her dad a great big hug, or kiss on the cheek, or connect in some other way. You should anticipate and be ready to capture these moments.
There will be lots of these moments throughout the day that you should be ready to capture. Anytime relatives or friends meet, be ready to capture their greetings/hugs and smiles. Pay special attention to the kids, they're always doing something worth photographing.
Your equipment sounds fine. Try to photograph in even lighting (not dappled shade) or half sun/half shade. Don't have the groups posed so that they are looking into the sun (everyone will be squinting). Open shade works best if you can find it, and then use flash for fill. You will probably have to keep the ambient background exposures from blowing out, so be familiar with the shutter speed and aperture combinations that will keep the background under control (i.e., for a shutter speed of 1/200 and ISO 100, expect to use an aperture of around f11 if the background is in sunlight). Know what your flash range is if you are shooting at f11. (Look at the distance on the flash, or calculate the effective distance using the guide number, otherwise there is a good chance you will stand too far away for the flash to be effective. (Although it varies with zoom ratio, a good estimate is that your flash range will be about 15 ft at full power and f11.) If you are standing a relatively fixed distance from your formal groupings, using manual flash settings will give you much more consistent results than using TTL, and won't be thrown off by the white dress or dark tux. Take a test shot with the bride, adjust your flash power appropriately, and then use the same settings for all the other groups.
There's lot's more we could talk about, and hopefully Rebecca and others will chime in too. I have to take a break to get the kids fed...
Keith
P.S.
Good luck!
