Long story short, a good friend of mine is getting married in September.  They don't really have a budget for a photographer, so I am hoping to surprise them with some photos from the wedding/reception.  Considering I've never done wedding photography work, and it's been a good decade + since I've seriously done people photos, to say I'm rusty is pushing it.  I am starting to surf different sites (pop photo, etc) and make notes, but I figure some of the guys here will have something those sites miss.

Any tips, tricks, or gear you guys would recommend?  If it comes down to it, I can try to rent something but to say money is tight is putting it hilariously mildly.

At the moment, I was planning on my D7200 with 50mm 1.8 and 70-300 for the gear I'd be bringing.  I'll probably end up dropping a couple bucks to get a pocket reflector since this will be an outdoors shoot at around 5pm.  Sunset is ~9pm that time of year, so it'll still be pretty damn bright out.

I could probably come up with the $ to pick up some cheap lightboxes off amazon if it would be useful/power is available, but the closer to a $0 budget I am, the better.  Will probably need to beg/borrow a flash for my camera since the popup won't cut it.  Going to be a 3 hour round trip drive out to their farm already, and the truck isn't exactly a gas sipper.

That's exactly my thought.  Hell, I've told them I might not even be able to make it since my health is in the toilet.  I'm going to be talking to them later this week and (hopefully) explaining they need a regular guy that has done it before.

If I do make it though, I wouldn't mind taking photos on top of the other guy's work.

What zackg said but if they aren't going to have anything and you want to do it then good for you.

I'd recommend getting a diffuser and snagging an assistant to hold it in case it's a sunny day (also helps to bounce flash towards the couple for those shots after dark or when they're leaving in the getaway car)

depending on the time of the wedding you might try to steal the couple away for some sunset shots too...

If they aren't going to have someone professionally take pictures, then I'd say that your pics will be better than nothing.  You already have a nice camera.  Get nice flash to go with it and you should be good.


I did this.  At both my brother's wedding, and then later for my sister.  They didn't want to pay for a professional.  Pictures are not super duper, but I took lots of them.  I mean, you can replace the memory cards, so why not take a load?.   And some of them turned out nice.  I used a Canon Rebel first, then a Nikon similar to yours.

I'll double check but I'm fairly certain it's a can't afford a photographer situation.  If it came between $1500 for a boiler for their new house or photographer, I'd hope they'd get the boiler IMO.  Crossing my fingers they have someone else on tap because I'd be disappointed if I couldn't make it for health reasons, so they didn't get anything.




They are putting pretty much all their spare cash and time into finishing their house enough to live in come winter.  Building it from the ground up within their family.  (they all do construction)  Sunset won't be for a couple hours after the wedding, but I am hoping to get some if we're all out that late.  I'll have to look up costs on a diffuser since the local shop doesn't rent them.

Just did this for a friend, similar situation.  I am not a pro and I mostly do landscapes, so it is strictly a hobby for me, I think the finished product turned out ok.

- Two photographers Myself and another friend (after some arm twisting) ended up shooting the wedding.  I did the rehearsal (and dinner) the day before on my own.
- Three camera bodies if you have them distributed among the two photogs
- Sync the time ( and timezone) on the bodies, it's fixable after, but it helps in PP
- Get a list of all the family attending and come up with a list of poses (Bride/Groom, Bride Mother, Bride Father) get this list in order and go over it with the Bride a couple days beforehand.  When it comes time to pose you just work your way down the list.
- Attend the rehearsal to get a layout of the facility and test your equipment, bounce flash off ceiling, whitebalance
- Get the order of events down, outdoor photo shoot required and when before the ceremony?  Scheduling is very important.
- Definitely need a speed light. Amazon if you have the time.
- Shoot RAW+JPEGFINE, memory is cheap
- Bring extra memory cards, had one go bad right as the bride is walking down the aisle, changed it out and kept shooting. That was  a weird error.
- I bought an extra battery but didn't end up using it during the shoot, but I am sure I will in the future.
- I wish would have bought one of those amazon studio lighting kits, I probably will buy a kit in the future.

I made sure my buddy knew he wasn't getting a professional wedding photog and I would do my best.  Good luck and relax.  

This happened to a family member of mine earlier this year. Day of the wedding and the photographer was nowhere to be found... so I drove to best buy and bought a A6300 with 16-50mm kit lens and a 70-210mm. It was a nice bright sunny day, I didn't have any other equipment, barely had to do any PP and they were very happy with the results.

Just to give you an idea of my experience, I will shoot around 30 weddings this year. I have been doing wedding photography for a little over a year.

 

As far as taking photos on top of the other guy, some photographers get really bent out of shape over that. Me personally, I couldn't care less as long as you stay out of my way.


I would not volunteer to shoot the wedding, as that is a ton of responsibility that in my opinion is not worth taking on if you don't get paid.


But, if you're dead set.


That is a decent bit of gear to get started. I would definitely find a speed light that you can use, this will be crucial during the reception. If its an indoor reception with the right ceilings you can just bounce the speed light off of ceilings and walls with good results.


If you can manage to rent a 70-200 f/2.8 I find that to be the perfect ceremony lens.


I shoot with

Nikon D750

Nikon D7100 (back up)

Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 (primarily ceremony)

Nikon 105 f/2.8 (Macro lens for ring shots, some details and the occasional portrait)

Nikon 85 f/1.8 (Portraits and reception dancing)

Sigma Art 50 f/1.4 (Portraits and go to lens for dancing)

Sigma Art 24 f/1.4 (Wide portaits, shots of venue)

Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 (rarely used at weddings, sometimes I will pull it out during dancing)



If you have any more specific questions about wedding photography please don't hesitate to ask.  


My website is www.lukecrawfordphotography.com if you want to check out my work.


Good luck!

Dang! What a shitty situation.

 

Thanks for the tips.  I'm needing to have a good chat with them here soon as I'm able. I don't want to disappoint them as they are good friends of mine that have helped me keep my sanity the last few years, but I need to be realistic with my abilities/limitations as well.  To be brutally honest, I'm not sure the doc will even clear me for driving that far on my own, let alone physically being able to keep up/do it.  

Totally agree with this comment.  I'd say that it's their responsibility to hire someone to have their big day captured, not yours.

They can't afford a photographer, so you are doing them a favor. They will be thankful for whatever you give them. Don't stress it.

This is really the bottom line here. Just showing up and getting a few decent photos will be plenty.

Do it but don't give the couple any expectations.

Wedding photography is one of the toughest fields out there if you want to be good. When we do wedding photography, I always insist on having at least a 2 man team. There is so much shit going on that one man cannot reliably cover everything, even if you say that its "going to be a small and simple ceremony".

The reason good wedding photographers are paid so much is because there is a guarantee that those once in a lifetime moments (assuming the couple does not get a divorce) are captured on the camera. This requires years of practice, the accumulation of expensive gear to reliably work in a wide variety of lighting conditions and the discipline to do the proper setups.

When we do a wedding, the process of us starts days before. We will join in during the practices and we will do a recon of the event locations. We will even interview the bride and groom to determine where they will be every moment of that special day. On the actual wedding day, the day typically starts 0800H for me where we document the preparations of the bride and groom, and it will end around 1 in the morning after the reception.

Prepping for a wedding coverage is like prepping for an assault during a hostage situation; you take part in mockups and do practice runs. To do this well, you have to be so prepared that you can see in your mind's eye the picture that you will be getting even before you take your camera out of the bag.

My rant aside, still take pictures during the wedding. Its good practice and you will learn A LOT. But again, don't give the couple any expectations because you may just ruin your reputation and relationship with them.

Also, the suggestion above is a good one, try renting some gear that you think will help you. Get the gear in 1 to 2 days before so that you can familiarize yourself with it.