How'd I Do It 3
How’d I Do It: Part 3
Someone just sent me the following question:
“I love your “How You Did It” blogs and I’d like some advice. I’m just starting out and I’d like to be a wedding photographer. Can you tell me what equipment I need as well as any other tips you have?”
I figured I’d do a how I do it series on weddings. I’ll break it up by equipment used, method to shoot weddings and how I do the pick and edit. So let’s start with how I shoot them.
This is what I'd say the minimum is as a Canon shooter (alter the list to the equivalent items if you shoot another brand).
Two matching bodies (full frame preferred), three matching bodies if you shoot two cameras at a time. I'd require that each body shoot to two cards
Professional grips for your camera
24-70 2.8
70-200 2.8
24-105 (its a reasonable backup for the 24-70 and a not so reasonable backup for the 70-200)
Two flashes that can be remote triggered (pick your poison)
Remote trigger sensor with three remotes and three triggers
Three sets of cards
A GOOD well cushioned camera bag
I'll explain my reasoning.
Two/three matching bodies because if you have an accident and break a camera (it's happened to me) you'd like to be able to pull your backup, put it on the exact same settings as you had your broken camera on and get back to work as quickly as possible. A matching camera body is the fastest route to doing that. It saves time and even if it's seconds you'll be thankful. Time is something you always want to save at weddings.
One other point about matching bodies. Having to switch from say a 5DMIII to a 6D means a slightly different feel in your hand, a slightly different set of controls as well as a slightly different look to the pictures. As the day goes this costs you seconds. I feel that because I only have to know the controls of one camera I know the button placement and control scheme cold. That saves me time in formals and all throughout the day. Plus I can look at the camera back, see what I don't like about the picture and instinctively make changes. More time saved.
As a professional wedding photographer this is really key, being able to make adjustments in one round, two tops and have the picture you want. You will find that my entire method of shooting is based on getting the picture you want from the camera and spending as little time in post as possible. As a business owner or partner like me you have to focus your energy on the things that you do that add value to your business that no one else can do. And every job in my business where I can add unique value involves me with a camera in my hand or talking about what I do with a camera in my hand. So I focus on making the most of the time I do have a camera in my hand.
Before I forget grips are important. They make the feel of the camera the same in portrait or landscape and they give you two batteries in the camera instead of one. With two batteries in my camera I never have to change batteries in my camera during a wedding day, which again saves time. At a wedding saving time and being reliable is everything.
You also get the bonus that if all your cameras are the same and all your internal settings are the same then all your pictures feel the same when you deliver them. This will create a cohesive feel to your galleries and help compress your editing time.
There are three main advantages to full frame cameras. Better low light pictures, better feature sets and more ruggized/weatherized bodies that can withstand more punishment. I personally also like the fact my lenses feel a little wider on a full frame (cropped frames make lens feel more zoomed in). About 1 in 9 weddings or so I have to get a wide angle lens from my bag to get wide enough for the shot I’m attempting. I’d imagine it would happen considerably more often on a crop frame camera.
I'd require shooting to two cards because cards fail. If one fails I have no pictures at risk because of the second card. People tend to not be very forgiving of you losing their wedding pictures. I mean it’s not like they can get these 123 people together next weekend for a do over.
If your budget doesn’t support having two card slots then you shouldn’t be shooting weddings. Period.
The 24-70 is a workhorse lens, 70% of my wedding shots come out of that lens. 70-200 gives you some distance. You can be towards the back of a church and still get a great "you may kiss the bride" picture. If you aren't investing a lot in backup equipment then the 24-105 is the one to get because it can almost fill both roles.
Now there are lots of folks who only shoot primes at wedding. Kudos to them. I feel like if you have solid zooms you've got a better kit for weddings than being stuck with just primes. And for those instances where a prime is the best choice I have a camera that I use just for my primes and I have an assistant pull it out then. But this is a discussion of the minimum set of equipment you need so ignore that point. But if you are curious the only one of my primes I really use is my 85.
My other problem with primes is there are a lot of weddings where the venues are dark, cramped, etc, Space becomes an issue. With a 35 or a 50 I would spend a lot of time in the couples sphere of influence, basically all up in their business. With a 24-70 and a 70-200 its like I wasn't even there. I LOVE when couples comment in reviews that we were unobtrusive. Zoom lens give you that better than primes do.
I'd really rather have a good strobe than a flash, but you asked for the minimum list. Two flashes in case one breaks. Most people are only shooting one light at weddings, heck most photographers have not conquered properly using one light. This means you can shoot one flash and then switch right over to the second while your assistant changes batteries in the first as needed. Saves time and nothing is more valuable than time when you are shooting a wedding. The remotes are so you can get the flash off your camera.
Again change your batteries before the ceremony and once more before the reception. It is an ounce of prevention if you do.
This kit will fit in one backpack sized bag. DON’T SKIMP ON YOUR CAMERA BAG! I’m going to say that once more for the people in the back not paying attention.
DON’T SKIMP ON YOUR CAMERA BAG!
It seems like this is a place to save money. It’s not. You need to be able to treat your work equipment like it’s work equipment. You don’t want to kick the bag down the stairs instead of carrying it, but you also don’t want to have to treat everything gingerly. A wedding is typically a fast paced, run and gun with a plan until your plan fails kind of affair. And I need to know that I can drop a bag and it might get bumped or kicked accidentally yet when I reach in whatever I take out is going to work.
Over all my advice is don’t buy anything cheap. I don’t mean inexpensive here, I mean cheap. There is a difference in those terms.
Buying the best equipment in the market for your need will help elevate your work to the best in the market. A great photographer can make great pictures with bad equipment but why would you want to work harder rather than smarter? A good example is for a long time I shot the 5DMII for weddings. Canon has quite a few models they put out after the 5DMIII, presumably they were “better.” But they weren’t better for my need, so I didn’t upgrade upgrade right away. In fact I only upgraded to the R3 because I’d owned my cameras for a long time and typically after 10 years I relegate equipment to backup status and replace it.
I strongly advocate running your business like your livelihood depends on the quality of your equipment as much as your skill. But I also know sometimes you have to make the choice to get just good enough. When I have to make such compromises I go with used inexpensive equipment over new, rather than letting myself get cheap equipment. However I strongly advocate never buying cheap glass (lenses) or bags. They will cost you far more than they save you over time.
With this kit if you are shooting one camera at a time then everything you use has a capable backup in the bag. Redundancy is super important when your job is to capture once in a lifetime moments. All of these things are in my bag (with many other things).
I'd be remiss if I didn't say this, this is just enough. I think you should have a whole lot more in your wedding kit, like a lot more. How much more?
Me with my camera bag.
Well thats a picture of me standing next to my wedding bag. Which is sitting on the floor. I'm 5 foot 10 so as you can see I bring a lot. Not just this kit but a tool box, an extra backpack and 3 soft boxes. I bring all of this because each wedding is so unique, and sometimes there is a piece of gear that you may only use once in ten weddings. Literally only for 1 or 2 shots. But I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Also kudos to me for my first reasonable looking self portrait. Going to keep trying but this one is alright.
One more note on equipment. You absolutely need an assistant. Like it is REQUIRED. An assistant that knows whats in your bag and can fit lenses to cameras and flashes to stands. However my asisistants number one job is in watching the required picture list and making sure we get them. This frees me to think in the moment. If I see great light or a great opportunity I can just shoot it and my assistant says "Hey Bryan we still need a picture of the couple by the fountain." Price your weddings so you can afford an assistant who concentrates on that so you can concentrate on making memorable moments.
Thats it for this week, catch you later.