[lukeleung777]

I am a new for taking wedding photos, do you have any sugestions to take wedding photos and what kinds of lens I need to use. Thank you very much.

[BoboAbel]

Where's wedding taking place? Church or Gov't Registry? In church, it's more flexible and many chances to express the feel. Typically, U can use wide angle lens eg. 17-35mm to take a shot at the entrance of the church. Of course, a zoom lens from 28-80mm or -105mm is compulsory. If U have a tele up to 200mm or even 300mm it is also great as sometimes U can't stand very close to the couple near the stage in a church (some churches don't allow U to step on their stage). U need to rely on a tele to get a close up, esp. at the moments when they're so touched and when they exchange rings and so on. So, U need to have >1 lens for taking photos at a church. In Registry, basically a zoom lens with about 28-80mm or -105mm is enough as the room is so small that U don't have much room to move around. Clear? Hope my little advice helps.

[perlee]

BoboAbel so detail~

[lukeleung777]

Thank you very much, BoboAbel. Do i have to buy 3 lens including 17-35mm, 28-80mm, or 70-200mm. These 3 lens are very expensive, would mind recommend any places where I can hire.

[BoboAbel]

So, what lens do U have? Which brand of camera do U have? If U want to save $, U may buy SIGMA, TAMRON or TOKINA lens. U can check defever 2nd hand items: 17-35mm may cost about $2k-2.5k, 28-80mm may costs <$1k, 70-200mm is around $1-1.5k. Of course if U buy large aperture ones, they would cost a lot more. I haven't heard any shops U can hire lens. Sorry. If U have Canon or Nikon, it should not be hard to find friends around to share the lens with U. :>

[chingyuen]

Be honest, for my experience, unless you have at least 2 camera bodies which you carry at the same time all the time, one with wide lens, one with zoom lens etc ...

otherwise, although in theory you should, but in practice, most of the time you won't have time to change lens during the wedding. The day will be very tense, and changing lens (esp outdoor) will actually become a risk.

IMHO, get one with a large zoom range (my boss using Nikon 24-200mm). Although in the other hand, apparently there are no large zoom lens in the market which is perfect, or even near perfect.

Dream lens: 11-300mm, with VR/IS, L lens for Canon, f2 ... not too big, unbreakable, unscratchable ...

[lukeleung777]

Thank you very much for both professional advice.

[lukeleung777]

I can not afford to buy one more camera body for wedding. Is it really work to buy a 24mm to 300mm len for wedding.

[wlachan]

What camera you will be using anyway? You aren't giving any useful information. For a starter, I think the range between 28-105 is essential. Anything else is optional depends on the situation and your shooting style. There are professional using Leica M with a few primes being able to produce tasteful wedding photos, while some with all the big zooms they had still produce crappy snap shots. I am more concern on the skill like exposure (especially flash) and composition. Will you be able to lock on to the subjects fast enough (AF or MF) when the moments come? These are the issues must be settled. If you are hired, backup body is essential. Wedding cannot be redone. If not, just use what you have and do your best. It makes no sense to invest heavily if you aren't shooting it for money. Good luck and have fun.

[lukeleung777]

Thank you very much, wlachan, for your valuable advice, btw, are you a wedding photographer??

[wlachan]

Nope, I am not, not for money anyway.

[moi]

For Registry, Is it essential to have Flash (indoor)?

Mine is D70s, the flash is q expensive since seldom use.

[wlachan]

You need flash for that, but it's best to use ceiling bounced or the subjects will look too harsh. The good news is, you can use a dirty cheap flash with bounce feature and set the flash to A, D70 to ISO800 1/60s f4. The trick is to do 90 degree straight up ceiling bounce. If you do 45 degree, there will be harsh shadow on the faces of the subject. There are other tricks for more pleasing results, but will be more expensive as well.

[moi]

Thank you v much.
BTW, any flash recommended?

[chingyuen]

well, for nikon D70s, I think the only choice is SB600 or SB800. If you can can afford, of course get SB800 --- the extra battery can mean a lot in this kind of situation.

But just bear in mind that the battery can gone pretty quick. Especially u cannot afford to out of battery during this occassion. The best is prepare 3 sets of batteries ... or at least 2 sets ... charge the first set, when u r using the second sets when u have time and chance.

As wlachan said, push up ISO, open aperature to widest ... not only give you faster shutter, but also to conserve flash battery