neuroanatomist said:
Haydn1971 said:
Context here, UK wedding, low budget, likely to be a registry type wedding then a meal and booze up in a pub back room afterwards - not expecting a great venue, mostly just family reportage and a few informal group photos
Sounds like expectations will be in line with reality. Having been in quite a few pubs myself, you're going to need a flash for sure. Ceilings/walls are often dark and unsuitable for bouncing, so I would also recommend a small flash-mounted softbox (something like the Honl Traveller8) to soften the direct light.
Ditto but pubs are small. A wider lens might be nice. A 16-35 would be ideal. You could also use a Gary Fong diffuser OR, you can't go wrong with a simple Sto-Fen box diffuser. That's pretty much the go-to diffuser for everyone starting out and it works great and doesn't weigh you down or become too cumbersome.
All the advice so far is good. IMHO, TAKE A FLASH!! I've shot a lot of available light photography and shots with fill flash always come out better at events. You don't have time to get shots perfect with available light because things move too fast. You are more concerned with getting good shots period. And the less light you have (pub, etc) the less flash you need. Try to balance the ambient with the flash so all the low light shots don't look like "crime scene photos". You'll probably be shooting M or AUTO Eval Metering Av 3200+ ISO at f/3.5 or f/2.8 at the pub even with some subtle fill flash. Otherwise all the shots will have blown out subjects and black background. (Crime Scene Photos)
Make sure the venue (church or otherwise) is OK with your photography, with using flash during the ceremony, etc.
As for other advice, SCOPE OUT THE VENUES AHEAD OF TIME. Take the same stuff you plan to shoot with AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY. Go with a friend and shoot a lot of practice shots trying to imagine the scenes and how many people will be in the shots, etc. Use the same lenses. Use the flashes. Once you do this and look at all the shots on your computer, you will have an idea about what you'll get on the big day and how to modify your plan to be successful. You'll also have a good idea of which camera settings produce the shots you want instead of trying to figure it out on the fly.
Have the "client" build a SHOT LIST of group shots, friends and relatives, etc and provide a friend or relative to help you find and wrangle the folks after the ceremony for group photos, etc. Work your way down from large group shots to finally just the couple so you get all the shots in the shortest time so everyone can get to the reception which is where they want to be ASAP anyway. Sorry but the last place they want to be is in front of you camera so get it done right away and quickly.
Wedding Photography is less about photography and more about people wrangling and being efficient and professional. It doesn't matter whether it is formal or not or whether you are getting paid. The situation is still the same with the same challenges.