My first wedding as a photographer...?

I understand that the situation is extenuating, but please be honest with yourself...if you are not familiar with the functions of the camera you are really not ready to photograph a wedding. I have been shooting weddings for over thirty years and can assure you, it is far from easy and requires more than just a camera. Knowledge of poses, lighting and extra equipment are a must.

At the VERY least, persuade them to go to a studio for a formal sitting right after their ceremony.

Edited to add: When I got married my husband hired a kid who was in college for photography to shoot our wedding. We got 12 images. The rest "didn't turn out". THANKFULLY we went to a studio for formals. If you think what I said was harsh, I'm just trying to save someone the heartbreak I had.

If you want photo advice , here it is. Have two cameras and two off camera strobes. Carry a list of expected images and have an assistant check them off for you. If you are shooting in a church, learn the rules and layout of that church and speak to the minister about what is acceptable.Use diffusers, such as the Gary Fong Lightsphere on your strobe or use a diffuser and your strobe on a bracket. Have a 28-300mm lens with image stabilization for low light ceremony shots and use either a tripod or mono pod to steady yourself. Study not only the poses of wedding photographers, but the lighting and depth of field and try to emulate it.

Try to get some practice at indoor photography with the flash BEFORE the big day. This will help you to become more familiar with all of the bells and whistles that the Canon Rebel XTi has to offer. I believe that this is a 10 Megapixel camera, so you should be able to get some great quality. Be sure all of the batteries are fully charged with back ups in your pockets. Bring alone a few extra memory cards as well. Be sure to read the owners manual on the camera if you are unfamiliar with the settings. Take a look at some wedding photography books in the bookstores to get an idea of how everyone should be posed and what shots are essential. I would also try to talk the bride and groom into going to a professional photographer AFTER or BEFORE the wedding to get some nice portraits taken with professional lighting and backdrops.

LOL at your additional comment. Don't feel bad about asking, this is a legitimate question and way better than other's that I have seen. Anyway, if your friends asked you I assume they know what they are asking for and that you all sat down and talked about what they can expect and what you can expect from them.

anyway I use an XT both for work and for personal use (although I have never photographed weddings, I have tried some portraits).

All I can say besides the obvious (extra battery and lots of memory cards) is: Might want to shoot in RAW if you are handy with post processing or know someone that can help you out. Keep it in aperture priority (the AV on the wheel on the top of your camera, you can change the f-stops by turning the dial in front of that wheel) for portraits and try some shots at whatever your lowest # is in F-stops (this will depend what lens you use). (In fact, I would probably keep the camera in aperture priority the entire time.) This will blur out the background and make your subject more the focus of the picture. Make sure to take extra time doing "portrait" type shots of the bride, groom and the court. Look at your shots after shooing to make sure they are not under/over exposed, have glare, motion blur, etc.

For candid shots (which are a must...for some....for me they are, anyway) make sure your continuous shooting option is on (can change this on the second button to the right of the lcd screen) so that when you spot a moment, like the bride and groom kissing on the dance floor, you can shoot more than one shot and might get a good one in between.

How long do you have until the wedding? there are many sites out there with manuals to the XT that can really help you. As far as photographing a wedding for the first time all I can say is look at other people's stuff. Go on www.flickr.com. There are many great photographers on there that do weddings. Look for pose ideas, specially for the bride. You are going to want tons of shots of just her (it is her day ;)).

My most important piece of advise is to use the camera A LOT before the wedding. It took me a while to get used to mine. All of the shots I took with it at first seemed very crappy and I am still learning new options.

anyway, I wish you luck, but please make sure you talk with them first and tell them what they can expect. You will be a lot more relaxed knowing whether or not they will be ok if some shots don't turn out how they want it.

PR

Do as much up front work as you can. Find the manual for that camera or google it and find it on line. Learn that camera inside and out. Take as many test shots as you can get away with, and become as comfortable with the unit as you can get. As several others have mentioned, make sure you have extra batteries, and memory cards available. A charger isn't a bad idea either. Shooting RAW is probably a good idea so you have as big a file as you can get to do darkroom magic after the fact. Also find out where the ceremony, and reception are going to be held, and go there before the big day and do even more test shots, so you can get comfortable with the surroundings and the lighting. Sit down with the couple, and come up with a shot list, so you get everything covered the couple look forward to. You can find samples on line. Get thee to a book store, and spend a couple of nights scouring their photography section for wedding photography, and study study study. The basic idea is not only to capture and record the day, but to capture the uniqueness and specialness of the couple, their wedding party, family, and the joy of the day. When you're at the venues before the big day study also the archetecture inside and out of the buildings, and how they present themselves in differing light conditions. Look for scenes that present themselves to group and individual shots.Also talk to the person doing the ceremony. Make sure he doesn't have any restrictions to your photography during the ceremony. During the big day stay calm and work efficiently. Don't let yourself be pulled from person to person. Stick to your shot list, and get er done. stay focused, but be open to a few candids, and unforseen shots as they present themselves.

Good Luck.

i would def just keep it on all the auto settings... that would be best! and make sure you have extra battery and memory card.... and before you go for sure look around at other peoples wedding photography online to see ideas and stuff it will help you i make a list before i go somewhere of poses i liked so that for sure i remember cause sometimes in all the crazyiness you forget what you wanted to do =]

be sure your weber has plenty of charcoal and lighterfluid, his bride's family will want to bar-b-que your backside when the pics don't turn out.

find a pro photog post haste to do the job, help them if you must just to learn that no mortal human can just jump into wedding photography without some training and experience with cameras.

incidentally, i don't know a wedding photog that uses less than two or three cameras at any wedding. two minimum and they know all about how to use them almost instinctively

Hello.. you don't have an email I can contact you by.. but someone sent me this link and it helped me GREATLY! And don't let these other people bash you.. they're just jealous they've been in school for years and no one will hire them.. =P hahaha Good luck! And check out the link!!!

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-page1.html

ok, some basic information... take extra CF cards, and extra batterys {throw ur charger in too, just in case} take a tripod along, and a shutter release cord if you have one... discuss with them before thewedding {i suggest at least a few days before} what they want from the pictures... if you have multiple lens's use the fastest one youve got...

i would have imed u all this, but u dont allow im...

gl.. have fun..

most Importantly make sure your camera is FULLY charged and/or have a backup batery.

if your worried about lighting and flash, take pictures b4 - view and adjust.

don't worry about the features of the camera.

take the best pictures u can and then let PhotoShop make the special effects , etc.

I have seen your work, just do what you do. You will have more than enough images for your BIL and his wife to add to their collections. You rock

Perk: BITE ME YOU ARROGANT WEENIE! And everyone else who are $marta$$e$

Fly birdy