Hey Fellow PhotoSig users! I am a amateur photographer and I'm getting ready to shoot my first wedding on Valentines day and I'M SO NERVOUS! This is an important day and I don't want to mess it up! Do any of you have any tips or suggestions to ease my nervousness?

Also, I've been having a problem with my camera (Canon Rebel Digital XS), whenever I shoot multi pictures in a row it freezes up and says busy and I can't take another picture for a good 30 seconds. I read online that the camera does this to keep the flash from over heating and to get an external flash to resolve the problem. Would and external flash really fix this problem? I like to shoot rapidly because you never know what you might capture and I would hate for my camera to freeze up on their first kiss or another special moment. PLEASE help me!

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From sheenawilkie/Administrator (0) on January 25, 2012 2:23:17 PM CST I would not shoot a wedding unless I had two cameras of equal quality that were working reliably. Get that camera to a repair store and make sure you have a back up camera. You cannot shoot a wedding properly with your on board flash. You need an external flash, and a flash bracket, and a diffuser. Get a reflector too. And you need to test all this out and be comfortable using it before you use it at a wedding. I'm not saying you aren't capable of doing this, nor do I want to discourage you -- but are you really ready at this point to shoot a wedding? You've got good reason to be nervous, it is really the most stressful work I have ever done. Reply

From glasgowphotography/Tessa (2,366) on January 25, 2012 2:49:42 PM CST I think I'm ready. I just want to make sure I do the best I can. I went to high school with the girl who is getting married and I just got off the phone with her, she is well aware that this would be my first wedding and she seemed very cool with being my first. She said, "you gotta build your portfolio somehow." I was relieved that she understood. I am shopping for all the accessories you listed, but I was wondering what exactly a diffuser does? Is it the same thing as the light box diffusers? Reply

From sheenawilkie/Administrator (0) on January 25, 2012 3:03:06 PM CST A flash diffuser is like a tiny soft box for your flash. Good luck! Reply

From ollie0626/Jonathan (3,494) on January 26, 2012 6:55:24 AM CST Hi Sheena, Which flash bracket do you own/recommend? I have a Nikon SB800 and have been using it on camera. I wouldn't mind trying out a flash bracket. Thanks! Reply

From iostream/Dean (4,398) on January 25, 2012 2:42:53 PM CST It may simply be that you've filled the buffer - one of the things you pay for in a more expensive camera is a larger buffer. That sounds more like what's going on than something to do with the flash. You can help that a bit by buying high-speed cards. The faster the camera can write to the card the faster it can empty that buffer. I'll echo what Sheena said, though. You can't shoot a wedding with on-camera flash. Well, you can, but it won't be good. You need to get hold of an off-camera flash unit and a good diffuser. And you need to practice with it before The Big Day so you know what you are going to get. Reply

From glasgowphotography/Tessa (2,366) on January 25, 2012 2:52:57 PM CST Okay thank you, the SD card I've been using is the cheapest one I could find, but it holds A lot of pictures! I'll definitly be heading to the store to ask about what high-speed cards are the best! Thank you sooooo much! I'm feeling a little more confident! I can't wait to get my new accessories and go out and practice with them! Reply

From sheenawilkie/Administrator (0) on January 25, 2012 3:02:28 PM CST You're shooting in RAW right? Reply

From glasgowphotography/Tessa (2,366) on January 25, 2012 3:52:26 PM CST Yes, I am. I just ordered all of the stuff I think I'll need (external flash, diffuser, flash bracket, tripod, extra batteries, new lenses.) I'm excited to get my stuff! I'll practice with my new equipment, post some pics on here and see what kind of critiques I get! I love photoSig, it's the only place to get instant feedback and answers! Thank you guys for your suggestions! Reply

From sheenawilkie/Administrator (0) on January 25, 2012 4:01:36 PM CST You're not gonna need a tripod, keep that for your landscape photography ;-) Good luck! Reply

From glasgowphotography/Tessa (2,366) on January 25, 2012 4:33:31 PM CST oh okay! thanks! I always wanted one and just decided to throw it in on my order! Reply

From iostream/Dean (4,398) on January 25, 2012 6:42:04 PM CST One other thought: for the big day, do you have a friend you can borrow another Canon body from? If not, see about renting one for the day - it will be cheap insurance. You will also be able to do the Real Photographer thing where you hang two cameras around your neck. :) Reply

From glasgowphotography/Tessa (2,366) on January 26, 2012 1:35:56 AM CST My aunt has a camera identical to mine. I'll see if she trust me enough to let me take it for a back up! Reply

From mikewebb/Mike (13,855) on January 26, 2012 1:16:25 AM CST Did that order include more than one SD card? I gather that most wedding photographers like to spread the risk of card failure. Imagine having 300 images on a card that fails. I'd also say cheap is very, very bad for your purposes. I hope someone has mentioned that an equally big challenge is people management. You'll need to get the groups organised for the formals and I'm sure you need to sit with the bride ask what groups they want, write this all down, create a practical running order and then recruit someone who knows all these people to get them in place. Tough day ahead! Best wishes. Mike Reply

From marshall/Marshall (11,954) on January 25, 2012 6:59:42 PM CST Tessa - As someone who does not shoot weddings, my first response would be: you are not ready to shoot a wedding, at least not right this second. I mean no offense, but you've got some work to do in the next three weeks, including learning the new gear you've just ordered, finding and ensuring that you are comfortable with backup equipment. You've already found a serious impediment to wedding shooting with your current equipment - you simply cannot miss a key moment because your camera is writing to the card for 30 seconds. Ok, that's the scary stuff. Now, you ARE going to be shooting this wedding, so you've got to do the work in the next couple weeks to get as ready as you can get. The reason it's so vital to know your gear inside and out is that the primary job of the wedding shooter on the day is to find and react to great moments, and also to wrangle people when necessary to make the pictures they want. In other words, this is a job about people, not about gear, so you have to be able to focus your attention on that. (Sheena, feel free to back me up on this or refute my only semi-educated rantings.) You should also be prepared to shoot more than you expect (a couple cards may not cut it), have to deal with random and changing light (can you get into the space and actually practice in the conditions you'll see?), and have to deal with people who may not be patient about getting their picture taken. Good luck in your preparation, and let us know how it goes. Reply

From rmullns/Robert (3,078) on January 25, 2012 7:47:46 PM CST In addition to what Marshall says here -- all good advice -- make sure to get a written contract where you will face zero liability as to anything going wrong. ... best advice I can give you. A tripod will come in handy for the formals and it's also handy when you need to shoot slow shutter speeds in a dark church -- it needs to be versatile enough to move quickly and with a joystick mount for the camera -- Your camera isn't actually frezing up it's buffer is full and it's writing images to the card ... shooting RAW is only going to make it worse ... Reply

From dogothunder/Tim (6,886) on January 25, 2012 8:41:31 PM CST yea, everybody say's that they are cool with it being your first wedding shoot.....up until you screw it up. If there's one thing I've learned in this life; don't cross a bride on her wedding day. They don't have a TV show called Bridezilla for no good reason. A contract is an absolute must. Reply

From robertwallis/Robert (12,897) on January 25, 2012 11:25:32 PM CST Borrow someone's wedding album and study what's in it. Know what the shots are that you need, make a check off list. If you don't have an external flash yet, get yourself a Vivitar 285. You can't beat the price, they are simple to operate, rugged as hell and minimal bells and whistles to screw up, and they have nice high power output that some of the way more expensive units don't have at 4X the price. Check at Robert's in Bloomington or Indy to see if they have one used for a good deal. Otherwise check in Louisville at a couple of the pro shops down there. Reply

From tvernuccio/Sheila (37,104) on January 26, 2012 12:51:39 AM CST hi Tessa, I'm a hobbyist photographer who uses a Canon Rebel XTi. I don't have an external flash and I only have the kit lens and a 20 some year old used zoom lens. I don't have experience shooting weddings. So anyway, last year a very dear friend of mine got married. He needed a photographer and my husband and I (hubby is also a photographer) agreed to photograph the wedding. Of course, we did not charge them. The groom was aware we don't have proper equipment, and he also knew we have next-to-no experience in shooting weddings. I did it for him because he's a dear, dear friend who's like family. I knew without a doubt that he would be appreciative of our efforts and forgive our flaws and missed shots. I've been asked by other people to shoot their weddings and I always refuse and tell them why. Anyway, I'll tell you about my experience shooting the wedding. First of all, I didn't have a back-up battery so that meant I had to charge my camera up before the wedding and several times after the wedding. While the wedding itself is only a few minutes, I was taking pictures before the ceremony and after the ceremony. There's a lot involved...taking candid pics before, shooting the bride as she's getting ready, ceremony pics, taking pics of everyone posing with the bride and groom afterward, then you have the cutting of the cake ceremony, toasting the bride and groom, throwing of the garter and bouquet, taking pictures of the cake and food, pictures of the bride and groom dancing, and then all candid shots of the reception or party after the ceremony. *Whew* It's a whole lot of constant shooting, but I was unable to capture everything because I had to keep stopping to charge my camera. My husband had a little pocket camera with him so he took pictures with it when I was charging the Canon. I missed several important shots. Fortunately, my husband got what I missed. If you're by yourself though, you're not gonna have someone to back you up like I did. You really need a 2nd camera or at least a 2nd battery. I had to use my on-board flash which I absolutely hated! I told the bride and groom ahead of time that the pictures would not be good because of that. I told them I'd do my best to soften the harsh shadows by diffusing my flash. So I taped a piece of an index card over the flash to diffuse it, and while that helped, I still had harsh shadows. Besides that, at one point I smelled smoke. It was the flash burning a hole through the index card. It got really hot. And yeah...the lag time when using flash is horrible. I hated having to wait so long between shots. Anyway, the bride and groom were very grateful and appreciative that I shot the wedding for them, and they seem to be very happy with the photos. But I shot for free. If you're charging the bride and groom, you definitely need to get a contract. My recommendation to you would be to not shoot the wedding. It's their special day and if you mess it up...well...that's it. Regardless, I wish you lots of luck, Tessa! :) Reply

From glasgowphotography/Tessa (2,366) on January 26, 2012 1:42:19 AM CST thanks everyone for your replies. i'm taking it all in and trying to decide what to do. I wasn't going to charge a whole lot...mainly for gas because it's a hour drive both ways. Reply

From del/Administrator (0) on January 26, 2012 9:02:58 AM CST Not specific to weddings, but always charge what the job is worth, not just what you need to avoid a loss. And if you are not comfortable charging what the job is worth, don't do it. Del Reply

From swanda/John (1,023) on January 26, 2012 12:04:34 PM CST She's an amateur, shooting her first wedding for a friend. There's nothing wrong with doing the job for expenses to gain experience. Reply

From stmv/Sebastian (59,814) on January 26, 2012 12:53:45 PM CST all good advice, I occasionaly get drafted or signed up for commission photos, or the proverbial free ones, stress level is much higher, so that is normal, but some key advice is to make a plan, a written plan, scout out the church and locations prior (day before), make a shoot list based upon this scout, and while being flexible, make sure you stick to most of your planned outline, don't allow yourself to be bullied by say the certain family members that shall not be named. lots of batteries for the external flash three camera batteries spare flash 1 tripod (keep the spare camera on it and also for group, better control by using the tripod, allows you to make adjustments to people without worrying about re-setting up the camera position.) recruited assistant for crowd control, and to help make adjustments to poses maybe a notebook for a quick upload/check,, incase you have to do an emergency reshoot) backpack with pockets so you can keep things organized remember that you are the composer, and they should listen to you, making sure heads looking in the right direction, eyes open, etc, I often take burst shots, and will copy the face from one to the other to fix the one that blinked. you may have to bracket in tougher areas in case of not getting the exposure right. anyway,,, have fun,,, oh one more bit of advice, make sure that people understand that your photo area is off limits, especially the group shots, this is not having a bunch of friends shooting extra photos next to you as you are trying to get life time memories, snapshots are for the reception, and they can take their own during the wedding, but your time is your time, and the space around you, your setup, etc, is for your control, otherwise, the group will be interacting with the other person, and it will double or triple your stress. Maybe this sounds grouchy, but I learned this from an grouchy old photographer when I was young. Reply

From medicinebow/James (94) on January 26, 2012 9:04:54 PM CST Although it's a little too late in your case, one of the things i've done when invited to a wedding is to ask the couple if I may shoot also. Most already had hired a professionsl and said no problem. It's good to make sure the pro doesn't have any issues with you shooting also. Some have this forbidden in their contracts. I've gained some good experience with little pressure except from myself to do a job well. I also shared a wedding shoot with a pro as the pros husband was actually a member of the weding party. The pro wanted to be able to enjoy the reception with her husband so I covered the reception and shot the wedding as an aside photographer. One wedding I shot while another pro was shooting turned out good for me. I shot one of my coworkers getting married and they were quite happy even stating my photographs were of better quality then the pros. Some quick shooting at opportune times really gave these folks something extra over what the pro had done. But you are sort of being thrown in to the fire. All good advice above. Do get a FEW high quality, fast cards. Definitely look for a second camera to use. Reply

From yahn/Eric (2,867) on January 27, 2012 7:06:46 PM CST Bring duplicate gear if possible, bring twice as many batteries than you think you'll need, and your pictures will look better with an external flash. The "busy" issue I have experienced with my Canon EOS 60D. The problem was the write speed of my memory card. I've been a wedding photographer for almost 30 years so feel free to contact me with any questions. Good luck with you're first wedding. I'm sure you'll do fine....Eric Reply

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