Im photographing my first wedding today.. any suggestions?

Question:tips suggestions anything will help :D

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: tips suggestions anything will help :D

You do not give any detail about your previous experience. Have you worked as an assistant to a professional photographer at weddings? Have you looked at all the wedding photography websites you can find to get ideas? What kind of equipment do you have?

If you are going into this cold, then it would take all day to try to tell you the do's and dont's of good wedding photography and that you really should not be doing this without experience.

Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, but your question reads as if you have not even worked as an assistant and have no training at all. Your question even sounds somewhat desperate.

Weddings are a very stressful shoot, and totally unlike any other. You have no room for error, you cannot do it over. Ugly brides, (and YES, there are ugly ones), think they will magically look beautiful in their photos and if they don't it is YOUR fault.

My advice to you today is to try to fight the nervousness you will have, I still have it after doing weddings for years. Try to think outside the box. Look for details, just anything that the typical amateur would not shoot. Go for candid and posed shots. Get to the venue early and take test shots to get your camera settings down. Try to be thinking ahead of things all the time and move yourself into position to get the shot. There will be guests with their cameras in your way. Be polite but FIRM and excuse yourself for moving in front of them for your photos. YOU ALWAYS have FIRST priority when it comes to photos, DO NOT let others get in your way and get a crappy photo of an important scene that YOU should capture.

Think ACTION - REACTION. This is where an assistant really would help. I have my assistant always be watching for REACTIONS to things. When I am shooting the bride and groom's kiss, my assistant will be shooting the reaction and tears of the parents. When I am shooting the eating of the cake, my assistant will be shooting the smiles and laughs of the guests. These photos go great together later in album design.

Young flower girls are usually always good for some cute shots, especially in candid moments when they are not really part of the ceremony.

I could go on and on, but maybe that will help you some.

AFTER, you do this wedding, you need to sit down and take stock of some things if you intend to seriously pursue doing it for hire in the future.

You MUST have good backup equipment. Sooner or later you will have a camera body or flash unit fail, or drop a lens. You cannot just throw up your hands and say... "oops sorry, you are not going to have any photos because I am unprepared for anything like this". Be ready for a lawsuit if you do.

Speaking of lawsuits, you must have liability insurance. If any accident happens that can even be remotely considered your fault, hello lawsuit.

You must have a contract spelling out in no uncertain terms what you will and will not provide both during the wedding coverage AND after the coverage, i.e. albums, CDs, copyright release, proofs, on line expiration time, etc.

Always get FULL payment at least a week before the wedding, most photographers will require a month in advance. Do not wait until the day of the wedding or wait on promises of being paid after the wedding.

I also do my best to sell all after wedding items such as albums, DVD slide shows, proof books etc. BEFORE the wedding in initial meetings with the couple. People are much less likely to want to spend money after the wedding than they will before.

That kind of scratches the surface. All this may be preaching to the choir, you may already have all this in place, but again, your question does not give that impression. If you want to actively pursue wedding photography... GREAT... go for it... just do your best to protect both yourself and your clients. If you do not address the things I have referenced, sooner or later they will jump up and bite you... and it WILL hurt!

My best to you. You will likely have no problems today, just be prepared for the future... that is one main difference between an amateur and a professional.

steve

Look for good angles walk around the whole room and take candid shots of people smiling or dancing or having fun and of course the sentimental love moments.

Carry a Power Bar, watch what's going on in the background, zoom into some details, use a groomsman to locate family members for groups.

Edited to add...love the butterflies!

Have fun, Sabrina should be happy!

Pray. Pray that if you mess up big time you won't get sued.

Oh boy... one thing I can tell you - TOO LATE!

The best course of action on your side would have been to politely decline an offer to photograph a wedding and suggest that a professional wedding photographer is hired...

But I'm afraid you're out of time for this... So best thing you can do is pray, as someone advised.

Photographing weddings is something people take years of learning, before they take up the solo task of doing this. So you won't be able to catch up in one day.

Just about the only thing I can suggest in your situation:
- have 2 of everything: two bodies, at least two lenses that can be interchanged in case one is broken or messed up, several sets of batteries for your camera + flash. Several high capacity memory cards.... Remember that you won't get a second chance, so if anything goes wrong with your equipment, you've lost the shots forever.

1. Stay calm - it's infectious.

2. Groups - start off with everyone then get rid of the less key players as quickly as possible... don't reverse the principle as you will be keeping people waiting around all day while you chase errant bridesmaids in the toilets etc.

3. Break everything down into steps / stages... just do one thing at a time.

4. Post up the pics when you've finished so you can get some feedback and +ve suggestions from people.

5. Good luck!