In this article, Adrián Sánchez, our Guest Author today, tells you what equipment he uses as a wedding photographer.
A wedding is many hours of work, around 12 hours, where most of the time you have to carry all the equipment on your back. Also a wedding photographer , most of the time is spent in tension and stress to be prepared and avoid any moment of the wedding that may arise at the least expected moment. If you add to all this that most of the time we work at more than 30 degrees, I could tell you that one of the most important things for a wedding photographer is to know how to optimize their photographic equipment and take the essentials and essentials with them.
For this reason, as a wedding photographer, with more than 10 years of experience in reports, I want to share with you the indispensable and essential photographic equipment that cannot be missing in your wedding report. If you are an amateur and want to dedicate yourself professionally to being a wedding photographer , you have to know that one of the most important things for a photographer is his work tool, and therefore you will have to make a considerable investment.
If you are already an event photographer professional, this guide can help you optimize your work equipment with what is truly essential and do without unnecessary weight.
NECESSARY EQUIPMENT FOR A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
- camera bodies
- Backpack
- objectives
- Flash or LED lights
- Accessories
1. CAMERA BODIES
A wedding is a very important, unique and unrepeatable event, which is why I always recommend taking two professional camera bodies. Although it is not something highly probable, it can always be the case that the camera could fail or even, in the rush of the moment to get that photograph that suddenly appears, the camera could fall or hit and therefore not Being able to continue with your wedding report, can you imagine the brown that that would entail?
To prevent it, it is essential to take two camera bodies and that they are high-end, among other things, in addition to the quality provided by a camera with a Full Frame sensor , most of them have to insert a double card , another essential aspect to heal yourself and avoid any unforeseen event or failure that may arise with the consequent loss of reporting.
Cameras that allow you to insert a double card give extra security to a professional photographer by automatically creating a backup. Although most photographers use SLR cameras, in my case two Canon 5D Mark IIIs, many are switching to mirrorless cameras, they are much lighter and the quality offered by brands such as Fujifilm or Sony has nothing to envy. as before to Canon or Nikon.
2. BACKPACK
When a wedding photographer has to choose the backpack where he is going to carry his photographic equipment , he has to take some aspects into account so as not to make a bad decision. The function of a backpack is not only to carry your photographic equipment, it is also to protect it, facilitate its access and keep it safe in adverse weather conditions.
It has to be a large backpack in which you can carry all your photographic equipment. It is always better than carrying two small ones and less cumbersome when it comes to moving freely. That it is well protected both outside and inside, having several compartments padded with each other and that are adaptable to your taste and your equipment.
It has to be comfortable, you will spend a lot of time with it on, I recommend that it have the back area made of breathable and padded material, when you work for a long time at high temperatures, you appreciate it.
That it is waterproof is a quality that you cannot miss when buying a backpack for your photographic equipment. An unexpected summer storm or an off-season wedding can leave your camera gear drenched. One of my favorite brands and the one I currently work with is Lowepro ProTactic.
3. OBJECTIVES FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
I personally like to shoot most wedding shoots with fixed lenses, they are brighter, lighter and generally of higher quality.
I also wear an all-terrain suit for more complicated moments of the wedding where I need more versatility, such as in the church, where you don't have as much freedom of movement and you need to secure very important moments, although I always combine it with a second camera body. fixed target.
You could do an entire wedding with an all-terrain lens and lose a lot of weight, but as in the case of bodies, for safety, it is convenient to carry several lenses for unforeseen events such as breakage.
In addition, at a wedding you find yourself with very different situations and moments, where only one specific objective is unable to get 100% performance out of each situation, so it is always better to have the option of choosing between 3 or 4.
In my case I have 4 objectives, less than I would like, but I can't carry any more for space. Among them is a high-quality all-rounder such as the canon 24-70mm 2.8 canon, versatile, bright and responds well to any situation, and 3 very bright fixed lenses that serve me for moments of great creativity: Sigma Art series 35mmand 50mm 1.4and Canon 100mm f/1.2.
4. FLASH OR LED LIGHTS
I only take a Flash and an LED bulb, although I recommend taking two Flashes in case one fails or for some moments of the wedding like the dance, in case you want to place two remote-controlled flashes to take more creative photographs and create a different atmosphere.
Most of my reports I am accompanied by the videographer, for this reason, I like to bring an LED spotlight that, together with his, add a lot of light and create an environment that I personally love, such as for outdoor banquets where you can't bounce the flash or even in the dance so as not to override the colored lights in the environment.
The truth is that I use the flash very little, most of my photographs are with very bright lenses and I don't need the flash. Mostly I use it creatively remotely with a Yongnuo shutter release and illuminate only part of the frame or create creative lighting. I have yet to add another flash to my equipment but with the LED bulb I am running out of space, although I am sure that soon I will be able to make a hole for it.
5. ACCESSORIES FOR THE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Today, dual card cameras allow you to carry high-capacity cards and forget about them for the entire wedding (or almost). Before, with cameras with a single card, it was preferable to carry low-capacity cards to exchange them during the wedding to ensure church moments, for example, and in the event of a card failure, not lose the entire wedding, but only a part. In my case, I always carry two high-speed cards of 128gb and 4 of 64gb, enough for a wedding in RAW format with backup without having to worry.
Batteries I always carry a spare for each camera, I recommend original ones, although they are more expensive, they last twice as long as the white label ones. I also carry several sets of rechargeable batteries for the flash and a battery for the LED spotlight.
When I go to a wedding alone without a videographer, I also usually take a tripod for the flash and place it to my liking and height for creative remote control photography.
I usually add a Magmod honeycomb filter to the flash. Hoya UV sunshades and filters are not lacking in any of my objectives, I like to have my equipment protected and they have saved me from more than one scare!
I have to say that I have always gone alone as the only photographer to do all the wedding reports, only this year I have incorporated a second photographer into my services and I only go as the only photographer for small weddings.
In addition to the extra security that comes with going with a second photographer, I want to keep improving and that allows me to take pictures from other points of view that I couldn't before. I hope my recommendations and experience will help you and good luck!
This is an article by Adrián Sánchez, a wedding and events photographer based in Madrid who also works in the rest of Spain. You can follow his work on his website.
If you also want to participate as a guest author, click here.
Did you like the article? Thank Adrián for his advice by sharing the article on your favorite social network so that others can also enjoy his recommendations. Thank you and see you soon.
