Ron Hashiro

1) Do you have a back-up photographer, especially for the candids and for mingling throught the crowd? Chances are that you won't know everyone, or can possibly shoot everyone. Knowing there's a relative or friend working the reception tables would greatly help.

How about a photo assistant to watch over your camera bag? Perhaps a friend of the person that asked you to shoot the wedding? At least you have a home base to work with and spread out from there.

Note: Some have suggested travelling light and carrying a minimal amount of equipment. For weddings, I tend to bring a lot, including a tripod, two camera bodies and an assortment of lenses. The choice is up to you and depends on your situation.

2) Do you have a high-quality point-and-shoot for backups during critical moments? (Better safe than sorry.) At least you can keep on functioning should your main camera have problems. My favorite is the Olympus Epic Stylus Infinity

3) Would you have time to examine the wedding chapel, especially at the same day-of-the-week/time as the wedding, so you can familarize yourself with the lighting conditions, and special gimmicks that each wedding chapel has that adds to it's own personality

Is there a wedding rehersal you can tag along, get the hang of the routine, and perhaps shoot a trial roll?

4) Talk with the church's wedding coordinator. Find out if there is any particular thing most professional photographers do at that particular chapel. That might give you a clue. Also ask if there is anything in particular that church asks you to refrain, especially during the ceremony, in taking the photos.

5) Spend a moment to think through the kind of film you want to use. I use Fuji Reala 100 for most of the close-in posed shots before the wedding and during the reception. Great skin color and very fine grain -- makes great 8x10 enlargements.

Depending on the church, you may not be able to use a flash during the wedding service. Be prepared to switch to higher speed film. I use Kodak Portra, or Fuji Super G 800. If you have a second camera body, (even a manual one) load it with the high speed, non-flash film.

I've noticed wedding photographers use Fuji NPH (ISO 400) with their medium format 2-1/4 inch equipment as an all-around film for the day. They don't worry about resetting the camera and flash between different ISO speeds. That might be a consideration for you. Since I use 35mm and a Nikon N90s/SB-26 combination, it sets the ISO film speed automatically, so I don't mind choosing between films as needed. Of course, with a 2-1/4 medium format negative, the professionals have a lot more flexibility to work with and can afford to play with a little more grain.

6) My favorite lenses? When taking the posed photos, I favor the prime lenses. They're fast, sharp and I don't have to worry about the zoom creeping in or out and fouling up the settings. I typically use the 35mm and 50mm lens for group shots, and 85mm lens for close-ups and portraits. For the wedding party as they walk down the aisle, I switch to the 28-105mm zoom which has lots of flexibility.

You might want to get a hold of a 180 or 200mm f2.8 prime (or zoom) for the long range non-flash photos.

7) Make sure you use a flash bracket so you can flip the camera vertically as well as horizontally. Nothing cheapens a superb vertical wedding photo taken with a quality flash unit mounted on top of a solid Nikon body and super optics as a dark shadow off to one side of the subject trailing off into the background. It's a $50-$150 investment that pays itself back many times on the first event.

8) At the last wedding, I used a 300mm f5.6 prime on a tripod with ISO 800 film loaded in the camera on a tripod. I was able to take non-flash photos of the couple at the altar from a distance of over 100 feet. Needless to say, the results of that effort was quite impressive -- you get the feeling you were right there with the wedding party!.

9) Use a flash bracket and flash extension cord to position the flash above the camera. If you turn the camera vertical, flip the bracket so the flash remains above the camera -- and the flash shadow will fall behind your subject. You can use the bracket for everyday shooting as well to get excellent results.

If you shoot with the Nikon SB-26 flash, make sure the flash tube is level and parallel to the camera, and not tilted down 7 degrees. If you do tilt it down, the flash will automatically select a -0.7 f-stop fill flash mode, and not the regular flash output. This will cause your photos to come out 2/3 stop under exposed. If you gently rock the flash tube up and down, it should lock into the normal position. A moment spent checking this out will save you countless number of less-than-ideal photos.

10) Would you have a chance to take the magic couple out to a fine location for shooting? Perhaps use a wide angle or slight fish-eye for artistic effect? Carry a tripod, as it's suggested for fine-grain outdoor photography.

11) Here's something I learned the hard way. When you meet with the couple, try to determine if you can shoot the posed photos ahead of the wedding (which is preferred). If they request the posed shots to be done after the ceremony you don't have much choice in that matter, however, if they agree to being photographed before the ceremony:

• Confirm the date, time and place for the photo shoot.
• [Here's the lesson] Make sure the couple and wedding party brings the little articles to the photo shoot, such as the flowers (bridal bouquet, boutonnieres, corsages, leis), special articles of clothing or other trim. You can wait a long time if someone such as a relative is supposed to bring it and they're not aware it's needed well before they were intending to arrive at the wedding.

12) When shooting, take note of fine detail such as

• background and foreground
• hair
• dress
• people in the back row getting blocked
• posture and pose
• reflections in glasses
• placement of hands
• pockets bulging with over-stuff items, etc.
• the way the clothes falls into place (or doesn't fall into place)
• (Sounds almost like making a golf shot...)

One of the things I've recently learned to watch out for is the ladies' slips.  We tend to look up at people's heads and shoulders, but things happen and the slips may be visible. So, don't forget to look at the hemlines and people's shoes as well.

Take full-body shots for the posed shots, as well as some close-ups and portraits as the situation permits.

13) On the day of the wedding, include photos of:

a) The chapel.
b) The receiving table.
c) The wedding party, including combinations of the families, bridal party and brides maids, best man and ushers, etc.
d) The signing of the marriage certificate and the minister.
e) The groom's party setting up at the front of the chapel.
f) The wedding processional into the chapel. Usually, you can take the shots from the front of the chapel taking into the oncoming procession. Be prepared to shoot fast! This is one time I prefer an autofocus to a manual focus!
g) The presentation of the bride by the bride's father.
h) Discretely take portions of the wedding service. Preferably with no flash.
i) The wedding recessional.
j) The mingling outside.
k) A sign at the reception hall, announcing the location of the wedding party.
l) At the presentation of the wedding party.
m) The tables of guests.
n) The garter toss.
o) The throwing of the bouquet.
p) The cutting of the cake.
q) The program by the couple's best friends.
r) The couple's first dance.

14) Here's a trick. If the chapel usually asks you to refrain from flash photos, use two cameras -- one loaded with your regular film and flash, the second with the non-flash film. Shoot the wedding ceremony with the non-flash film, and be especially vigilant for the portion when the minister turns and says "you may now kiss the bride....". Take that shot, then be prepared to grab your flash camera body and take the recessional.

15) At the reception hall, if you shoot group shots at about 12 feet, set the aperature to f8 to get good depth of field with even lighting.

16) Some photo tips from Todd S. Peach (mailto:tpeach@verizon.net):

a) In the middle of the staid photos of the whole wedding party, suggest doing a frame or two of "goofy faces" or whatever. This can be a great tension reliever, and sometimes the photo is among the favorites. Be careful doing this when there's sub-six year old ring-bearer / flower girls included, you may not ever regain control.

b) A classic shot that I like is the father and bride from behind as they enter the church. Have 'em look over their shoulders back at the photographer. This can be staged in advance, if necessary.

c) If one is blessed with much equipment, you can set up a tripod and remote control in the choir loft. Preset the camera to cover the altar area, and throughout the ceremony you can bang off available light shots with an IR remote.

d) The experienced photographer who shot our wedding (3 years ago) said he once did a wedding where he was scheduled to do the formal photos after the ceremony. During the ceremony, one of the grandmothers seated in the first row fell over and died. Of course, the photos afterwards were a disaster. He uses that as justification for shooting before all weddings from now on. He also mentioned that he's seen too many marriages not survive the honeymoon. Most of those unhappy couples no longer wanted to pay for his photos. He requires payment of his fees at the time of the wedding (I should mention that he charged us a flat fee and delivered 5x5 proofs and the 2-1/4 negs).

e) Somebody once suggested that nobody ever buys a print of the Pastor. When asked to take his photo, you aim the camera at him, fire the flash, and say "Thanks very much." No one will ever notice the print is missing. I've not had the guts to use that one much. 35mm is pretty cheap.

Todd Peach's Web page on Photography

17) Practice anything in question before the wedding, not during the wedding....review point #13 above and think ahead of each setting to figure out what's coming up, where you need to be, and with what equipment. Remember that professional film comes in 36 exposure rolls, so you'll need to pace the shooting so you don't swap rolls at a critical moment.

18) Take along plenty of fresh alkaline AA batteries for the flash. Swap out all AA's in the flash, and probably also the camera prior to the day's shoot. (Batteries are cheap. Weddings and lost memories are expensive. And, you wouldn't want to miss a single shot because the batteries are gone.) Use alkalines, they last longer and cycle faster than exhausted nicads. If you really want to, you could use photo lithium batteries.

19) Bring along plenty of film. Shoot more shots than you need. Film is cheap.

20) Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Find out more by contacting:  rhashiro(remove this part)@hawaiiantel.net
Copyright © 1997-2006 Ron Hashiro
Updated: April 01, 2006

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