I have recently booked my first wedding for December. (yay!) I shoot (for now) with a Nikon D50, and the only lenses I have are the 17-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens and the 85mm f/1.4. I am definitely planning on renting more gear... probably a D200, as well as more glass. What lenses would you recommend? Also, any other equipment? I figured I'd also rent or maybe buy the SB800...

Hi Caroline,

Congrats on booking your first wedding. I'm a Canon shooter, so can't help much with Nikon recommendations for specific pieces. I will say to have at least one backup for everything flash included. If something can go wrong or break it's bound to at a wedding and you want to have a spare of everything ready to pull out and use like nothing went wrong.

Good luck,

Danielle

You'll need a fast wide angle lens. A 28-70 would suffice but wider is better. You'll also want a good telephoto, probably the 80-200. Those two lenses plus your 85 prime should have you covered for glass. Don't forget "little" things like lots of memory (you'll need CF cards if you rent a D200) and batteries.

From another who just finished his first wedding this weekend - I could post a lot about how you need batteries, a backup body (a must) and CF cards. But you know all that. I'm going to offer two bits of advice. If you have Lightroom, bring your laptop and card reader. Run a slideshow at the reception, it will be the best thing you do all day. The couple will know you got some great images of them so they'll relax, the friends (many of them will get married soon after all) and you'll give away a ton of business cards.

My second bit of advice is to be assertive. The couple has lots on their minds, but don't be afraid to tell them, TELL them, "I'm going to take you guys over here, I've got a great QUICK portrait idea, and then I'll have you back at the party in two minutes." Then do it, don't be, "one more, no, ONE more-ing" them, fire 4-5 shots and you're done. They'll love you AND the images.

-Doug

you know, i really dont want to sound harsh here - but i have to ask - why are you booking a wedding if your not even sure what lenses and equipment you need?

i do realize we all need to start somewhere, and i am not trying to dog you - and of course i have no idea waht your background is but i do feel that this is knowledge you should have upfront before booking a wedding.

i suggest a wide lens, a long lens and maybe a nice portrait lens but without knowing the specifics such as where you will be shooting - outside, in a church? etc. its hard to give advice.

No offense, but I think this is awful advice.

The focus should be on getting the necessary pictures and providing the couple with professional service.

The last thing you want to do at your first wedding is fumble with a laptop, cards, Lightroom, and try to get a slideshow up and running.

Crawl before you walk, walk before you run...

Edit: Tami has a good point. Hopefully your clients understand that this is your first wedding and they are being charged accordingly. I also don't want to be harsh, but understanding your equipment -- and as an extension, understanding what equipment you'll need to complete a job -- is the foundation.

Damon,

I did it, and it worked great. I uploaded the images in the car from the ceremony to reception. I purposely shot some portraits of the couple on a 1gb card so they'd upload fast. 60 images. Picked 15, batch processed and threw them into a slideshow template I'd made the day before. The whole thing took 5 min. after I parked my car, and it was totally worth it.

I guess we'll agree to disagree.

-Doug

How about a compromise between Doug and Damon's thoughts.

Caroline are you shooting an engagement session? This would let you get comfortable shooting the couple and they to you shooting them.

Bring some of your best engagement sessions to the wedding as a slideshow.

I love "A Better Bounce Card"... www.abetterbouncecard.com It is cheap, or you can make it yourself, and it is really useful in dark receptions in avoiding the "flashy" look. I recommend the Feather Light out of all of the different types of bounce cards...

I don't really know how else I am supposed to know what I need unless I ask. I have never done this before! You all are the professionals, and so far everyone on this site has been really helpful and encouraging. The lenses you suggested are what I figured, but I guess I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track.

Give Paul from LensProToGo.com a call and he will walk you through the list of exactly what you need, he is good like that .

And you are absolutely right! We are all here to learn and share what we know, so we can help others and ourselves become all we can be. There is absolutely no shame in asking anything around here.

I am a Cannon shooter so not much technical help here. I know that it is not the equipment that make beautiful pictures it is the photographer, but I will say this, if you are a pro (getting paid for the gig), then use pro grade equipment, it is only fare IMHO. Must have backups for everything. Fast glass is essential for a wedding. Double up on CF cards and batteries. Read as much of the forum as you can, look at as many Wedding pictures as you can and last but the most important one - shoot as much as you can. Shoot anything and anytime with the wedding in mind and you will do just fine!

Good luck and keep us updated with the results.

Caroline,

Asking is the right thing to do, anytime you don't know something... but what I think Tami meant was that it's standard good advice to second shoot at least a time or two before you strike out on your own in the wedding business.

But there are probably lots of people here who didn't do that, including me. I did a few really low budget, low key weddings before I ever second shot with anyone. As long as your ciient understands your experience and skill level it should be fine, be positive but be honest. Also, do look for chances to second shoot, you'll learn a ton, both because of the chance to watch someone with more experience and because there will be less pressure.

I also had my first white water kayaking experience by putting my newly purchased boat in a class 3 rapid (Not recommended. Then I immediately signed up for a class and started hanging out with people I could learn from). It's a similar choice you're making...

As for equipment, the Nikon 50mm 1.8 is a great lens for the money (much better than the canon version). Get a flash, either SB600 or SB800 will do, and PRACTICE with it. A LOT. Before you're' at the wedding and it counts.

Renting a D200 is a great idea, but be sure you have time to practice with it in advance and learn the features, it's a much more complicated camera than your D50.

And most of all, relax and keep your eyes open, weddings (like class 3+ rapids) can be overwhelming.

Good luck!

~Bill

Thanks so much - and it definitely makes sense to second shoot first. I am currently in the process of contacting local photographers about second shooting, as I know the experience would be awesome. The wedding I am doing is for some friends of mine, they have a really low budget for their wedding so I offered to help them out. They completely understand that I am not a professional and have never done this before, so at least there are not any unreasonable expectations.

I really appreciate your tips! Thanks again...

as i stated earlier, i really wanst trying to be harsh - but the fact is that it is a wedding, someone's very important day and not knowing what lenses you need just sounds scary to me. you may be a very well establlished photographer who is just starting to branch out into bweddings, i dont know.

beleive me, when i started, i thought it would be easy, have some lenses and shoot. no, its not that easy, you have to know when and where and how and loads other stuff as well. there is so much that can happen that you have to be prepared for.

just please make sure you have backups. make sure you know what your shooting restrictions will be - there are some churches who wont let you shoot anywhree near the b&g so you have to be ready for that (with a zoom!) - make sure you know all about the venue - visit the venue around the approx time of the wedding so you can get a feel for the light (because of the changing daylight savings time and season change, vist closer to the date of the wedding).

be ready for STRESSFUL bride. read some books! there are some great books out there, i can list some later for you to get from amazon - you can buy them used for cheap as well) brush up on your poses - get some friends to pretend and practice posing them for some cool shots after the wedding.

+1

Basically, I would be sure you get/rent the 17-55 /2.8 lens from Paul. It is the lens I use for 70% of the day. I am currently renting a 70-200/2.8 from him - and love it for the ceremony, but don't really use it otherwise. I think the 50 and the 85 could serve you well for a good amount of the shots, but it's up to you. I shoot with the Nikon D200 and love it - but as others have said, always have a backup (even if it is film). Better to be safe than sorry.

The other thought I have, is this. If you are planning to continue in the wedding business, do you have the means to just buy some of these things as opposed to renting them? If you are going to keep trying to make this a career, or even a side job, it is probably more cost effective to just go ahead and buy them. If you are not, then just disregard that!

Hope that helps. Good luck!

-Becky

+1....


read, read, read and then read some more. learn what the equipment does and how it works. learn your lighting and how to adjustment. the equipment is only as good as the person using it.

call up some local photographers in your area and see if you can second shoot or assist them as a mentor. there will be no pay that is worth speaking about, however the learning experience you could get could be priceless. keep your head up and keep learning new stuff.

hope this helps.

Scott