The first thing I do is to charge the batteries in all the cameras that I will be using. I shoot with a Nikon D200, D3s, D4 and Fuji X100. I may also take a film SLR. I have two batteries for the D200, two for the D3s, one for the D4 and two for the X100. I make sure approximately two days before the shoot that they are all fully charged.
I check all my memory cards. I like to clear images from my cards pretty quickly after I've taken them, so I shouldn't have any surprises when I come to prepare my cameras for the wedding. I format each card as this helps keep them in tip top condition. The last thing I want is for a card to become corrupt during or after a shoot and the potential disaster of loosing some or all of the images.
I then inspect each camera, making sure it is spotless, ( I love my gear, so try to keep it in mint condition ). I get a cloth and make sure the LCD screens are clean from smudges. I also check that all my cameras are in their go to settings. I have particular configurations for each camera and I make sure these are set. I don't want the horror of finding out that I've been shooting for half a day on small jpeg when in fact I should have been shooting raw. Unlikely, but I have known it happen to some photographers. I inspect the lenses, using a blower brush and lens cloth to make sure no spots or dust are stuck to the glass.
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| A blower brush and lens cloth should be in every photographers bag. |
Once I'm happy that the camera bodies and lenses are all clean and charged, formatted cards in place, they are packed away in the camera bag. This is done the day before the shoot. I don't like to be hurrying around the morning of the wedding, panicking and ending up forgetting something.
I then look at the accessories that I'll be taking. These are normally tripod, ( taken just in case, but not often used ) flash unit, (SB700) off camera flash triggers, ( Pixel Kings ) reflectors and softbox. I check that the batteries in both the flash and triggers are fresh and that the units are communicating with each other. I also pack some spare batteries as I tend to get through two sets on a twelve hour shoot.
One of the final things I dig out and take with me is a contact sheet or small posing guide book. Sometimes this can be invaluable if the subject just needs a bit of help understanding the pose I'm wanting them to adopt. It isn't often used but just occasionally it has been a real life saver. 'Wedding Photography - A Guide To Posing' by Oliver Cameron Publishing is well worth a look. It's small, light and packed full of inspirational images. ISBN 9780956546302. I also pack a portable hard drive which allows me to download all the images to it at the end of the night. It saves a lot of faffing the next morning.
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| The superb pocket book, ' Wedding Photography - A Guide To Posing.' |
It's also a good idea to take a bottle of water and a snack with me as well. During a twelve hour shoot I find that I'm busy pretty much all the time, but I try to grab a bite to eat when the wedding party are having their meal. It's also a good time to review the images I've taken up to that point during the day and deleting any shots I don't want. I end up shooting around about 25GB of images during the course of the day, ( including the images of a second photographer ) so anything I can do to lessen the work load in the following weeks editing can only be a good thing.
I think it's really important for people to realise how much work goes into the preparation, shooting and editing of a Wedding Day. The reasons why professional photographers charge the amount they do isn't because they are greedy. It's because they work hard, invest heavily in their time and equipment, and because they care greatly as to how the finished images will look. When I capture a couple's special day I want to do so to the best of my ability. I want the couple to treasure the images for the rest of their lives, show their children, show their friends, hang some of the photographs on the walls. So when someone mentions that they can shoot your wedding for a couple of hundred of pounds, quite possibly it's too good to be true. Invest in a good photographer and you can rest assured you are in safe hands.
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