I haven't been on here in a long time.I'm shooting my first solo wedding in a couple weeks and It's defnitely an "Uncle Bob" type scenario. The bride knows what is going on and I need to get a solid lighting setup to get some group shots. I'm shooting with a 5DmkII and some decent lenses. I don't have the budget for high end lights or anything like that. Any recommendations you guys could give would be helpful.
I'll be shooting with a 5dmkII and a 24-105 f4, 85mm 1.8 AND A 17-40MM, if need be. It will be in a church with poor lightng. all I have right now is a Canon 430EXII. I know its not ideal, but it's a family siutation and I want to do the best that I can do given my resources.
Be more specific on what recommendations you want. You say you don't have a budget for high end lights, what is your budget? Do you know how to operate a manually powered flash? Do you have radio triggers or will be using a cable? Do you have any lighting equipment at all? What is your definition of "solid lighting setup to get some group shots"? Do you have an example of what you would like it to look like?
Rent! If you dont have it, rent it. Rent it early to learn the gear or rent one day just to play and practice so you know how to use it for the wedding. Renting the proper gear needed for a job will be so worth the expense so you can deliver!
Hard to offer equipment advice without even a hint what your budget is. If you're looking to buy additional lights, a few cheap used strobes (e.g., Nikon SB-80 can be found on ebay for $$80-$110 per strobe) and some inexpensive radio triggers (e.g., used Cybersyncs) might be a good route. You'll need a couple of stands as well. And you'll need time to practice with them. That's assuming you already shoot competently in full manual mode and have at least a basic understanding of how to use off-camera flash. If you're contemplating trying a completely foreign setup at a wedding, that's just crazy, and you should follow Diggler's recommendation to use a decent flash bracket and go with that.
If you only have one body, you should get your hands on a second one. You probably have a friend with a 5Dc or 5DII who would let you borrow it for the weekend -- no need to buy a second body for one wedding. But you definitely want two bodies. Aside from the convenience of having two bodies with different lenses already mounted, you've got a backup in case of emergency.
If your groups are small a single flash will work. If you will be shooting a lot of people then the single flash will not spread light very wide, maybe only 3-4 people wide then falls off fast. This is when it is good to have 2 more flash units. For manual flash go buy 2 Yonguno units for under $70.00 each, plus light stands and adapter to hold the flash to the stand. They fire from seeing the main flash or anyone else shooting, so it is best to have a radio trigger. Use a flash card to cut down on that 'direct flash' look or a umbrella or SB. Practice ahead of time.
I'd do what I can with what I got and I'm comfortable with.
If you don't want to invest much- then cheap 3-rd party flash plus wireless trigers (phottix works great for me) should help. Off camera flash gives great results, but you need to practice first- a wedding in not a great practice field
Good luck.
Thanks for all the advice guys! Definitely not going to use new equipment for the first time at the wedding, I know better than that. I'm not a wedding photographer per se, it's a just a one off deal. Definitely gonna try and learn new equipment before hand and get a 2nd body.
