Originally Posted by Daniel Browning
Agreed.
Agreed.
I want to wish you the best of luck shooting your first wedding. It is a stressful situation even if your just shooting a friend. My first two weddings were for friends also and it was tough. You want to make sure you get all of the shots that are crucial to the ceremony. I would recommend shooting as many pictures as you can just to make sure you get all of the shots you should be getting. Make sure you have plenty of memory cards handy. You can worry about culling through them later, but just make sure you get the shots. The hardest part is going to be posing and then making sure you get the shots at the wedding. After that, it just comes down to your photographic abilities to make the shot.
I would say if you didn't have the funds to purchase the L type lenses and a good flash like the 580ex II, I personally would go to the local camera store and try out a Tamron 17-50, the non VC one. That is less than half the price of the L quality lenses but still gives pretty good image quality. Just make sure that the lens is properly calibrated with your body before you buy it. It takes a couple tries sending it to the company to get it working right. Plus takes about a month. Just make sure you have it correct when you buy the lens and your good. If you go this route, you should have enough to fund the purchase of a good flash. I shot this combo with my first two weddings and it did a very good job. I also had a 100mm or an 85mm to help with the stuff where you have to stand at the back of the church. If you have the funds to get a longer lens or even a 70-200 then do it. 2.8 is a must if your shooting with the XT as you cannot bump the ISO that far. Hopefully this helps. I know you have some very good suggestions from the posters above.
Kindest regards,
Jayson
You might want to float the idea of a separate bridal session apart from the actual wedding day. I find this to be a great solution for making sure you get the best wall-hanging memories. All of these shots were done a week (or more) before or after the ceremony.
That's the ideal solution. However in my opinion it does take away some of the charm of the actual day. Hair is always looking slightly different etc etc... But it is ideal. I had 1,5 hours for the bridal shots last month (my first wedding) but time flew faster than I could ever imagine.
Anyway, I was shooting together with my brother and here is my take:
I had a 5D2, 100mm f2.8L macro, 24-105 f4L, 50mm 1.4 and a 430EX flash from myself.
I borrowed a 24-70 f2.8L and an extra 430EX flash from a friend.
Finally I rented another 5D2 for my brother and a 70-200 f2.8L Is with it.
My girlfriends 450D with kitlens was my backup.
Anyway: My brother went of to the groom in the morning and he had the 70-200, the 24-105 andthe 50mm.. I started ofat the bride with the 24-70 and the 100mm. We both had one flash.
My brother mainly used the 70-200 and the 50mm. I used both the 24-70 and the 100mm.From the point wherethe groom arrived at the brides house, my brother and I had sort of an agreement. He would be shooting with the 70-200 and I would be shooting the wider angles with the 24-105 or the 24-70. (But since I love my 24-105, that was the one)
It worked out pretty good, one person shooting the whole package and one looking for close(r)-ups.
My brother didn't stay the whole day and I mostly used the 70-200 from that time.
My take:
Have at leastone lens that can use f2.8 or even wider. I would strongly recommend the 70-200, because it is very flexible. I must mention that I use a full frame camera. It's also very good for the shots where you'd like to be "invisible". In our case the couple was looking a lot at us and see what we were doing. Not a problem with the staged shots, but a problem with the shots where you'd like a spontaneous shot. The kiss etc... A long lens like the 70-200 is very practical for those situations. Also the f2.8 makes it "usable" indoors. I'm marking usable because I needed a flash even though shooting at f2.8. Indoors you'll see that a light looking room isn't per se that light []
Anyway I would recommend not to buy too much now. Renting is a great idea. You can get equipment that you're not able to buy and justify and benefit from the advantages they have.
I would also recommend you to see to what level of ISO you'd like to go max. I shot a lot at ISO1600, which was perfectly fine for the 5D. However I'm not sure how well the 50D would be in this regard. When I had the 50D I never liked to go higher than ISO800...
My personal favorite is this:
1x5D2 (or 2 if you have a second shooter)
1x24-70L for the closershots, both indoor andoutdoor.And for the group shots. The 24-105 would also be suited for a lot of shots, but you might want to have a good lowlightprime for the indoor shots.
1x70-200 for the close-ups and spontaneous shots.
Again I'm talking about full frame camera here, so for a 50D you'd start looking for a 17-xx instead of the 24-70 or 24-105. However a 24-105 would also be good for the whole range if you're sure you don't have to shoot in small spaces or very large groups.
Good luck and have fun at the wedding!
Jan
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