Help! I've Been Asked to Photograph a Small Wedding!

haha.. you were a fool but at least they'll have some photos!

If you go full auto, don't shoot anything backlit or you'll have a nightmare afterwards. Watch your backgrounds. Shoot a little above eye level. Have her bend at her knee (puts the weight on the back leg and looks slimmer. Don't shoot straight on (usually), have them turn towards each other.
People reallly know how to pose themselves, you just have to watch and know when to tell them to stop.

Make them laugh and have genuine smiles.
Don't deliver EVERY photo that you took. It's hard to look at 9 of the same pic and decide which is best. You do that for them.

When in doubt, always make them look at you, then look at each other, then a little kiss. You just took 3 poses. Snuggles are nice pics.

I could go on and get way more detailed but if you hit the basics you'll be ok.

Also, charge all your extra batteries and take extra cards!

Good luck! I'm shooting this weekend too. Last wedding of the year. (yeehaw!)

Decide which camera you are most comfortable with and leave the other one at home. Two cameras is one too many. Yay, yay, I know pros take several cameras but that is so they can have different lens set ups and different settings. Not something you are going to be doing if you are shooting on auto and only using a zoomable lens. I suggest the G7x is actually the best choice if you Canon D is still using the kit lens.

Check pinterst for some posing ideas and make sure you know who the most important people are (their family, grown kids, parents etc)

Be sure to make sure that there are no branches or other pointy objects sticking out of heads   

Yes to no weird things in the background.

And no trash. No photos of half eaten dinner.
No photo of anybody in the bathroom. Make sure the bathroom door is closed.
No unmade bed and nothing on the side tables.
You can hang the suits and the dresses on the back of doors, but for only a couple of shots.
They are on a golf course so you want a golfcart with just married sign on it.
Look for arching trees.
Near twilight don't be afraid of flash. You will get some interesting effects. Actually don't be afraid of flash. Do some photos with.
Remember you don't have to show the couple everything. My father always said the difference between a professional photographer and an amateur. Amateur will some you everything they do, a professional will only show you the best.

     Actually it's always best to have a back up camera with you (in your car that you can easily get to) in case your camera breaks, locks up, suddenly stops working for whatever reason. You don't want to be shooting a wedding when this happens and be stuck. With a back up camera you take a 5 minute break, run out to your car and grab it. I never shot a wedding without a full back up kit. Never needed it, but it was there if I ever did. You never know what might happen. Since you have two cameras, bring both. 

Do a bit of research and decide what posed photos you want to take. Make a list and include in it all of the photos the bride and groom want taken with which family members. It's MUCH better to get this list before the day of the wedding. Have one of them email it to you. It will be very difficult to get it the day of the wedding because everyone is so busy and distracted. Plus this gives you time to plan. 

Look up posed wedding photographer shots, but please don't get stressed out. They know your ability. This is just to give you ideas. Freebird's advice was wonderful. Basically you want the usual basics like Megmc mentioned and then add in any the couple want like if they ask for a photo of the couple with a cousin or whatever combination they wish. Remember to take multiples of each shot. People do tend to blink. I used to talk to the folks to get them to be more comfortable when I was posing them. 

Good luck and I'm sure you'll do just fine. 


 

How did this go for you?

How did this go for you?

Thanks for the update, I'm sure they will be happy with the photos.