Choosing the Photographic Equipment for Your First Wedding Shoot

Shooting a wedding reception is an important area of commercial photography. Sometimes a photographer has to work several dozen wedding events in a year. The career of the master begins with the first experience received at the event from friends or relatives, it is important to properly prepare for it.

A minimum set of techniques

Without this, no shooting is out of the question. If a person has at his disposal the necessary gadgets, it is easier for him to fulfill the request, if not – you will have to prepare properly:

1. A camera is needed from one of three excellent brands – Sony, Canon, Nikon. All this – a great technique, it remains to choose the most convenient, with an intuitive interface and uncomplicated operating principle. It remains to clarify whether there is a service center for warranty service. The experience of photographers suggests that Sony in this regard – the most problematic, if it is not about capital.
2. Matrix size – the second factor in the right choice, the larger it is, the more expensive equipment, but it determines the clarity of detail, lack of noise, the development of halftones and transitions, the minimum of the DOF, which has a positive impact on the bokeh.
3. Lenses do not have to buy from the same manufacturer: third-party companies can be many times cheaper, but not worse in quality: Sigma, Tamron, Samyang, Tokina – great options, the main thing – pick the lens you need for the wedding, some decline in image quality amateurs can not notice, it can only force a professional.

The choice of lens depends on the task facing the photographer, and it is determined by each of the 4 conditional stages into which the wedding photography is divided. A professional already knows by experience what he will need, an amateur can be guided by his recommendations.

Features of wedding photography

For the photographer-professional period of creative and commercial activity is divided into 4 blocks (stages, periods) – gatherings (and not only the bride, sometimes the groom, the photo session in nature or in urban development, the wedding in the registry office, the banquet in a restaurant, cafe or other places.

1. At home you should use 85 mm to make portraits of the bride and her bridesmaids, in the interior, atmosphere, with the presence of interesting details – at a wide angle. A 50 mm lens, with a fixed distance and focus, will come in handy in limited spaces where long-focus ones cannot be used.

1. A walking or city entourage with the newlyweds can be shot with a long lens, forgetting about the wide angle lens. The main secret of success is variety (not uniformity) of portraits of the bride and groom. You can switch from wide-angle to long-focal-length lenses and vice versa.
2. You can take photos of the wedding ceremony only at a fashionable exit registration: Registry Offices usually have their own photographers.  For a novice photographer, ancient castles and natural bodies of water can be a challenge. In a district registry office you can use the same polentinik (50mm lens).
3. Banquet can also be shot on 14-85 mm (a professional would increase the upper value to 200, but it is not particularly worth experimenting). For the first few hours of the banquet, you shouldn’t poke a person in the face with a wide angle lens to capture their emotion, especially since it won’t help.

Over time, there may be a need to buy better equipment, but in the beginning it will be enough for the budget Chinese production, although professional photographers talk about the excellent quality and ease of use of flagship models, at an astronomical price recently put on sale.