Photo

    From my point of view, shooting of weddings demands high level of proficiency from the photographer. That’s why the work of photographer at wedding ceremony is high-paid. A photographer, having fair name, can calculate on fee from three hundred to one thousand dollars per shooting day. For this money a wedding photographer must demonstrate his skills of shooting portraits of all kinds: close-up, half-length, full-length and group portraits. He has to apply various reporter skills, starting with taking pictures in the street under bright sun and finishing with applying photoflash when shooting in dark apartments. Besides the skills of shooting reportage, recording the event without interference in it, the photographer must be ready to think out and produce some plots to give pleasure to the client with original photos which can be proudly hung on the wall or, as my acquaintance said, “put on a bureau”.
A wedding photographer must become familiar with modern techniques of portrait retouching; so he can’t do without computer literacy.
To fulfill his specific task, the wedding photographer requires peculiar tools. It’s better to have two cameras at wedding. One should have wide-angle, high-aperture zoom, the other – telephoto zoom.
    Wedding is a chain of obligatory ceremonies that flow rather fast. Photographer must manage to shoot all important ceremonies for the newly wedded couple in best camera angles. For example, the signing of documents in Civil Registry Office can’t be repeated specially for taking pictures. Your excuse would poor if you say that you used telephoto zoom and the situation required a wide-angle zoom and you didn’t have time to change the optics. Second camera ready at hand is the guarantee of absolute responsiveness.
It’s convenient to use digital reflex cameras for weddings shooting. For example, I have Nikon D2X. However, the brand of the camera is not so important. More important thing is the presence of RAW format and high speed of recording of shots. It’s foolish to waste moments waiting when your camera winks thoughtfully with a green light and your finger pushes the blocked release button in vain.
   The optics at wedding must be high-aperture and sharp. Camera shouldn’t produce digital noise when shooting at sensitivity of at least 400 ASA. Both cameras should be equipped with automatic portable flash-lamps with swivel heads and light diffuser. A photographer must have a light stand in reserve in his car, because there are cases when he has to shoot in halls with black ceiling and poor lighting. Such rooms can’t be lightened with any flash-lamps, and only light stand can help make a high quality shooting, for example, of a restaurant interior.
This is a minimal kit of tools of wedding photographer. I always take two high capacity studio monoblocks. Three kilojoules of pulsed light pointed at the ceiling of a restaurant more than once saved me from necessity of producing flash layers in dark halls with high ceiling.
    The day of wedding photographer usually begins in the bride’s flat. Photo sessions on the eve of wedding, which are common in America, are uncommon here, in Russia. Our bridegroom sees the bride in wedding dress only in the first day of the wedding ceremony. I try to start my work as early as the bride puts her dress on. The heroine of the wedding is too busy at the moment to pay much attention to the photographer. That’s why it’s possible to take some amusing, affecting, nice and quite natural pictures (See photo 1).

 
     1. Oh! Button is held by the thread! Camera Nikon D2X. Camera lens Nikkor 17 -55/2.8. Focus 34 mm. Sensitivity 400 ASA. Exposure 1/125 sec. Aperture 2,8