Hey people,


I have to shoot my first wedding in a week(30 sept). So I looked around here for some advice, but most of it is about gear and that part I've got covered.


I'm just wondering into general tips and I know that there are some more experienced photographers out here. What shots can't I miss? Where do I look at? What are the rules? And other tips.


Here are some that I know for now. I will edit this list with more tips from you guys, so more people can take advantage of them.



  1. Bring a photo checklist. Search[url="http://lmgtfy.com/?q=wedding+photo+checklist]Google[/url]for some ideas
  2. Make sure everything is clear for both parties. Have a contract. Communicate with the wedding-coordinator or official.
  3. Don't shoot it alone, have a second photographer.
  4. Have a back-up camera in case something goes wrong.
  5. Make sure batteries of camera and flashes are full and memory-cards are empty. Take the charger with you, just in case.
  6. Try to get an assistant. Someone who can hold things temporarily and makes sure that things like wedding-dresses are properly aligned and disturbing background features are removed.
  7. Make sure you get the entire dress in the frame
  8. Many churches don't allow flash. Make sure you're able to shoot in low-light conditions at f2.8 and lower.
  9. Take charge and be confident. You are the primary photographer. Don't let people into your way, but be polite.
  10. Capture as much fine detail as possible. Take many close-ups. Macro the rings and the flowers. Capture what the B&G paid extra for(limo, flowers, table settings, favors, etc.)
  11. Make sure white-balance is accurate. A white dress should look white in your shots.
  12. Capture emotion (crying, laughing). Capture children. Have your camera on standby and be ready to shoot spontaneous shots.
  13. White dress and black tux is high contrast. Look at your cameras custom functions to average out exposure if possible. Otherwise tux's look all black with no detail or dress looks all white with no detail.
  14. Shoot large groups first making your way down to the B&G last. That way everyone else can go and be out of your way and by that time the B&G should be putty in your hands.
  15. If you're going to make an album: make sure that when they look back at this photo album, many years from now, that they will have their wedding documented from start to finish
  16. Shoot in RAW.<span> An overexposed image of just the right moment is better than loosing that moment all together. If you shoot in RAW you'll be able to recover much more detail whether it be over or under exposed.
  17. If your camera is capable: don't be afraid to bump the ISO. <span>Motion blur kills an image faster than high ISO noise ever will.
  18. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span>Don't expect everything to go to plan. Sometimes you have to improvise. KNOW your gear! Be able to make changes on the fly.
  19. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span>Stop down. If you're shooting a group of people stop down. I'll often shoot at around f/8 for a group. When it's just the bride or the bride and groom you can open it up but often times the surroundings are beautiful and you won't necessarily blur everything. Context is good. They paid a lot of money to have their event, help them remember it the way it was.
  20. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span>Carry an extra card or two in your pocket.You don't want to run out of space and miss a shot so always monitor the shot count on your LCD.
  21. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Always pay attention to the background.
  22. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Scout the place where you're going to take photos. See what places work and which places are a waste of time. Try to scout at a time which is representative to the shooting day. Think about the angle of the sun and lighting directions.
  23. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Make sure there is a back-up indoor location if the weather suddenly breaks down on you.
  24. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Look out for intimate moments between people. Moments they don't think you're watching and shooting. Think about special moments between the couple or close relatives.
  25. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Bring some food that can be eaten quickly.
  26. <span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]<span style="color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Enjoy the day. It will be more stressful than you can imagine right now.









Thanks,


Jan