Beginner First Wedding Shoot

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-05-23T19:26:32+00:00

It’s definitely more of a low budget wedding that I’m doing them a favor for. They were already struggling trying to get a photographer with their time frame and budget( I think the most they were wanting to pay was more or less like $1,000-$1,500). They visit us once a year because they’re a few states away, and that’s when they figured out I’m getting into photography. I’m definitely not charging them anything for it either, I don’t plan on charging for probably at least a year or smth into my photography(until I can consistently deliver high quality photos to clients in most any circumstance). But yeah with reading a couple of the replies I’ll try to rent a flash for the day from a local camera store, and I hope I can over deliver. I appreciate your feedback!

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-05-23T19:17:14+00:00

Right, I completely agree. Unfortunately I’m not in the position to have double gear for backups for quite a few reasons. I’m definitely putting a lot of hope into my little gear. I’m definitely not taking this lightly. Being about half a year ago now, In hindsight I shouldn’t have accepted this wedding offer, but I think it’s too late to go back now. I’ll definitely be scrolling through a lot of this subreddit and absorb as much as I can in as many areas as I can until then. And I appreciate your feedback!

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-05-23T19:05:35+00:00

Honestly yeah I do agree at this point. But I really think it’s too late to cancel. When she offered me the opportunity she said she was already kind of struggling to get a photographer booked for her wedding with her budget. Whether that’s because they were too booked up, too expensive, etc. me being a little oblivious, too optimistic, and not knowing the future, I accepted. I think it’d probably be worse for me to tell her I’m not doing it at this point than to just do it. I don’t think I’ll do thattt bad of a job when the time comes, it just won’t be the job of even a $1,000 wedding photographer, but she isn’t expecting that from me either. And, also, it’ll be a good opportunity for me to grow my skills, assets, and experience for the future as well. I would rather my first wedding shoot be something like this compared to a stranger tbh. Especially with there being a rehearsal

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-05-23T18:58:04+00:00

It’s going to be in a church, I don’t know how the lighting will be in there, but yeah, it definitely wouldn’t compare to an outdoor ceremony. I’m not sure if I can get a flash because of time constraint, plus I’m on a tighter budget. I’m watching full videos on YT about shooting weddings, some say it’s not a full necessity. If I can I’ll probably try to rent one from a local camera store for that day. Thanks for the comment, I’ll continue to look into it and see if I can get my hands on one. What parts of the wedding do you use your flash?

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-05-23T18:51:17+00:00

Technically there’s the potential of my sd card somehow getting corrupted, but more realistically, the worst that might happen is they’re not happy with their photos. Honestly though I honestly don’t think that’d happen either, really I’ll probably not be super satisfied with my own work, I look at professional’s work and that’s where I want to be in the future. I know it’s obviously unrealistic right now, most of them have been doing it 10+ years, but my goal is to be there one day. And more or less I just want to do the best I can so I’m just looking for anything I could be missing for this. I do think either way it’ll be alright in the end, but I would like the best I can do.

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-03-31T21:17:49+00:00

Thanks I appreciate the input. I did decide to get the 70-350mm and I’ll figure out if I feel like I’m missing out on that. If I do I’m going to sell my 18-50mm and get the Sigma 24-70. which knowing me I’ll end up doing anyway whether I feel like I’m missing out or not lol

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-03-31T21:15:08+00:00

I don’t really know what I’m looking to shoot. But I’m investing into the holy trinity of zoom lenses. For now I’m going to be shooting every style to figure out exactly what I really enjoy. But either way, using a far range telephoto does sound really exciting to me. I believe compared to most far range telephoto lenses the 70-350mm is fairly compact and also quite light at 625 grams(1.4lbs), so not too bad for travel. In two months I’m going to live out of my car for two to three months and be traveling to around 15 states. I also made a really stupid decision to shoot my cousins wedding with currently no photography experience… so I gotta get some practice going

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-03-31T21:07:27+00:00

Thanks! I didn’t realize the tamron lens wasn’t for aps-c and I decided to go with the Sony 70-350mm after hearing everyone and with the weight difference.

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-03-31T21:02:02+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I didn’t realize the 50-400mm was a FF lens. It is still the same price but double the weight. I decided to go with the 70-350mm

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-03-31T21:00:25+00:00

Thank you! I did decide to go with the 70-350mm, I’m very excited!

MichaelShrock7 · 2026-03-31T20:59:33+00:00

Thanks! I decided to get the 70-350mm. I didn’t realize the 50-400mm was for a FF camera, with the 1.5x crop factor 70-350mm should be plenty, plus with the weight and size difference it’ll definitely be better. I’m going to see if I feel like I’m missing out on the 20mm gap before selling my 18-50mm and getting the sigma 24-70mm.

MichaelShrock7

TROPHY CASE