ChurchYesterday I got confirmation on my very first job as a commercial photographer. I will photograph a church wedding ceremony. This is quite a responsibility and I am very (positively) excited about it.

Now the real planning starts:

  • Meeting the bride and groom for learning their expectations
  • Getting a list of “important people” from the couple => of whom do they want pictures in any case
  • Meeting the priest to evaluate how he wants photographers to behave in his church (for example, is he ok with taking pictures from behind the altar ?)
  • Scouting the location: Familiarizing oneself with the church: Where are good positions to shoot, which shots should be taken
  • Evaluating the light situation on that day at that time: There are nice Apps for the iPhone which tell you the direction and angle of light for a certain location and exact time of the day and season, must dig that App up.
  • Choosing the equipment. I will go with two bodies and two lenses on that day. The 24-70 f2.8 Nikkor will be the workhorse, but which one should I pick as secondary lens ? 85 mm f1.8 ? 70-300 mm f3.5-5.6 VR ? The old manual focus AI-S 80-200 f4 Nikkor ?
  • And other things of which I do not think now but which will become important in the process.
I will do the shoot together with a friend, Keb Leynad (artist name :-). Having two photographers on scene will give more flexibility in terms of perspective and picture material available.