Seven things I learned from shooting wedding documentaries

Lead: Oliver Raffs is also one of the ten thousand ordinary photographers in Qian Qian. Recently, he completed the filming of the first wedding documentary in his life. He put his filming experience on the Internet, on the one hand, as a summary of filming work, and on the other hand, to provide some useful experience and suggestions for other novices.

Ruffus has only one D3200. In order to better complete the shooting task, he specially rented a D300. The following is his hardware list:

Nikon D3200+35mm f/ 1.8+SB-300

Nikon D300+70-200 f/2.8+SB-9 10

Image source: Alamoda incident

1. Prepare the backup of all attachments.

Batteries, chargers, memory cards, cameras, shooting lists, it is best to prepare an extra piece of clothes, which can be replaced immediately if something goes wrong. Fortunately, I didn't encounter any situation this time, but I was still a little scared in retrospect. If a bottle of wine pops up two seconds in advance, it is likely to suffer.

Image source: Jes

2. Investigate the wedding venue one day in advance.

The scene is the battlefield. I must emphasize this point. If possible, it is best to find someone who is familiar with the wedding process and scene. You will be busy on the day of shooting. In order not to worry, what you have to do is to know the shooting scene in advance. When you arrive at the scene, you need to know the lighting environment and find a few suitable shooting points.

Image source: Jonathan Day

Step 3 make a shooting list

Wedding documentary photography is not how to shoot as you want. Customers have their own needs. Remember to ask the couple and their families what kind of scenes and themes they need to shoot. If you list these, you will get a guide to the galaxy. At least after the wedding, you can ensure that you have fulfilled the basic needs of your customers. It will be a surprise if you do more and better.

The shooting list doesn't need to be too specific or even chronological, such as? Take a picture of grandma sometime? This kind of shooting plan is unnecessary.

Understand the wedding process

Different places and religions have different wedding customs, so understanding the whole wedding process can help you make a better shooting plan and clarify the shooting theme at a certain stage.

Prepare wide-angle lens

I really regret that I didn't bring a wide-angle lens that day, like a panoramic view of the stage. Now the camera pixel is so high that I can cut the second composition.

6. Prevent unexpected weather

This is mainly to protect the equipment. In addition to checking the weather forecast, it is best to take a few plastic bags and rubber bands with you, which can protect the camera lens from getting wet at critical moments.

Image source: John Hope

relax

Maybe it's the first wedding. I didn't suffer from the so-called "so-called" like some people? WPPSTD (post-traumatic stress disorder of wedding photographers)? . Besides, I think a wedding is a time for family and friends to get together. There are many people at the scene, so you won't be treated as an outsider, and there are naturally many people facing the camera. This particularly relaxed shooting state is rare, so let yourself relax and shoot.

Image source: Fink Dolby