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Oly wedding photography – a non-pro’s experience

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I have done this just once, on my cousin's wedding, in India. There were supposed to be two photographers covering about 1000 guests at the ceremony and reception, but for some reason, one of the guys failed to turn up. Luckily, I had brought my E 510, kit lenses and 50/1.8 with me, and got into action to "save the day". It was almost 10 hours of non stop photography: the one "professional" guy took care of the B&G and major ceremonies ( there are a lot of those in Hindu weddings), while I, the unprofessional poser with a lowly E 510 went on taking candid shots of the guests, the venue and the works. I was finally satisfied when the "pro" chose to use my shots to fill about 40% of the album for the event, and even requested my Uncle to pay him only 50% of the agreed price, as I had done most of the work.

A good experience, but I would definitely wait to get the right lenses and set up to do such a thing again...

Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Vishu Vyas

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
 
Timskis6 said:
I particularly really like #3.

Question - how do the clients feel about the red-tinted shadow PP on the last few?
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Thanks Tim.

My friends haven't seen these yet, so I don't know what they think of them. Just to make a couple of things clear: I'm not being paid - this is part of my wedding gift to them - and I don't know yet whether I'll include these PP'ed versions - if I include these shots at all in the album. But I'll definitely let the b&g have them all (natural color and PP'ed - where I did it - jpegs) on the dvd I'm including with the album.

Looking at these on a different screen, I think I need to tone down the tint on the ones you mentioned and make it more neutral.

Cheers
Christa

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
Brad, those look excellent! Very professional. I'd hire you, except I'm already married and you're kind of far away :-)

I've read some comments in the past by others who shoot weddings with Oly gear who go for the 14-35mm; it sounds like a good option, but it's still expensive! The 35-100mm is a dream lens...if only it weren't so big (and expensive)!

Cheers
Christa
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
John, you did very well - certainly better than what I got from some of the guests at my wedding ;) (good thing we'd hired two photographers) It's good to see what one can do even without IS, which for me was a godsend for many shots.

The second one I think is the best - shame about the head on the left. And the one of your girls is really cute!

Cheers
Christa
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
Boneoh said:
Here is a fun picture from my nieces wedding last Saturday. She could NOT get the ring on to the groom's finger! It seemed to take quite a while, not sure if the groom was sweating too much or the bride was just a bit nervous. The audience had a good laugh at their expense.

I enjoyed taking a lot of captures, but I'm glad that they had pros there to do the real job. That would be way too much pressure for me to enjoy the event. I'm sure the wedding pros all have horror stories about Bridezilla...
Click to expand...
That's a nice picture - congrats on not blowing out the dress in the sun! I think the skin tones look just a little bit red/pink, but I may be mistaken.

I'm not sure I would want the pressure of being paid by a couple who want professional results: these friends of mine were very casual about giving me the "job" and were basically just delighted that I took the trouble at all and thanked me even before seeing the results! So I wasn't too hung up about not knowing my flash well enough or not having a chance to get the bride and groom alone together in a nice location; all the things I'd definitely want if I felt more under pressure.

Cheers
Christa

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
My thought upon seeing the first was: "what a cake!" It seems a bit soft at the top, though (the shot, that is).

They had quite a location and evening for their wedding! The fill flash evened out the shadows nicely (once again, I have to learn how to use flash..), but I think I'd adjust those horizons - or go completely for a "dutch angle" for a couple of them.

Thanks for showing!

Cheers
Christa
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
Brent, thanks for posting, and sorry for badgering you into it :)

I really like the first collage: excellent b&w, in particular! And the last candid with the oldtimer car is funny. As someone else mentioned, the photo of the couple on the stairs seems a tad soft, but maybe it's the effect of high ISO combined with denoising?

About the whole group shots: after I'd arrived and asked one of the pastors about how the ceremony would be, I was handed a program for the day by one of the ushers, and gasp!, there was an entire page of set group photos to be taken! And I'm talking about twenty different combinations at least! It turned out that this program was indeed serious; how the b&g had intended to get these done without a photographer I don't know, since I'd been casually told the week before that "yes, please, uhm, could you take some photographs?". There was another guest with a malfunctioning DSLR, so that wouldn't have been an option; I'm not counting p&s and phone cameras.

Anyhow, it turned out that the thing was well organized: a guy stood there with program and microphone in hand, calling out the required people for the next shot. The trouble is, once the planned shots were over, EVERYONE else wanted a shot with the b&G, too - and I'm talking over 200 guests! Plus several people begged me for shots of them alone, with friend, with spouse... Patience was the word of the day.

Cheers
Christa
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
..thanks for joining in! I can't believe the paid photog just left before the cake and dance - unless he was only being paid until a certain time.

You have some nice photos of the event; I think I'd dial down the flash power next time, though, or maybe use a diffuser? The flash looks a bit harsh on a couple of shots, but your use of flash was still better than mine (i.e. practically no flash at all!) ;)

Cheers
Christa
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
...for joining in and commenting! There are some really good shots posted here that show very well what can be accomplished with our gear.

Btw, here are some shots with my camera from my own wedding, just to show what can be done with an old E-510 set on auto and an 14-54mm mkI: these were taken by my sister-in-law, and I was surprised by how well the camera handled the different conditions even when it was used basically as a superior point and shoot (ok, that's just me being sarcastic about leaving a DSLR set on "auto" all the time ;) ). A bit of PP, and the photos were set to go. I must say that my sister-in-law also has a rather good eye: we ended up including about twenty of her shots in our album.

Cheers
Christa











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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
Gidday Christa

You got some really lovely shots, mate. Well done.

I would have killed for my 14~54 and 50~200 when I did the shots below. I was using my (almost) new E-510 with the two kit lenses, along with my 30 year old Sunpak flash unit (how I didn't fry the electronics I will never know - the Sunpak triggers at 169 volts ... ).

http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/v/main-page/Kohler_Wedding/

The B&G also liked my shots (mostly) in preference to those of the pro(s) shooting the wedding! I also helped them to patch up the somewhat strained relationship with the pro ...

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Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
(see profile for current gear)
-- -- --

The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...

Gallery: http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php



Bird Control Officers on active service.

Member of UK (and abroad) Photo Safari Group
 
These are from my third wedding. It was shot over Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. It was the first time I got to use the 35-100 for what I bought it for and I must say it's phenomenal. The first two weddings I did, I quickly realized that I needed speed and wanted shallow DOF. For four-thirds, the SHG f2.0 lenses are our best advantage in my opinion. I mainly used my E30w/grip but also the E510 which works so well with the 50mm 2.0 that I chuckled with pleasure when I reviewed some of the shots. My flashes were mainly 2 Metz 48 AF-1's used in bounce mode or through umbrellas for formals. I also used an FL-36r used for a spot-light effect and fill flash in the reception area. It was mounted on a stand near the corner of the room and triggered with an Ebay "poverty" wizard that I had taped to the side of the Metz that was mounted on my E30. All in all I was extremely pleased and only found myself longing for one thing after this wedding......the 14-35mm!

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God Bless,
BRAD
 
..great shots CRISTA and also the rest of the photos posted in this thread are awesome too .....

I only do wedding once in a while ...cos wedding photography is too tiring for me...

here's a few from me...

























Thanks...

ABBAR
 
John, I think you did a good job: the shots are nice and natural with good skin tones and a smooth, finished look. Btw, I think you have a few doubles in that set.

Cheers
Christa

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
Ah, the 35-100mm....as I said in another reply, that's a dream lens! I have seen so many great shots from that lens, and these are no exception!

Very professional-looking photos: sharp on the subject, nicely blurred backgrounds, good compositions. I only found it hard to find the focus on the cake: my eye seemed to expect to find it on the leftmost rose, not the one in the right foreground. Maybe it's my western-driven left-to-right viewing?

Cheers
Christa

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/
 
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