I had the wonderful opportunity to capture a wedding reception of a sweet couple, Jack and Annie almost a month ago at the Mussel Bar at Fremantle. This was only my second wedding, so I am doing this voluntarily as a learning experience and to add to my portfolio. This time, I was slightly more prepared compared to my first wedding photography experience except that I still lack a fast lens that will actually AF on my D60. I managed to borrow myself a steady tripod just in case I need it, and I did use it a few times throughout the night. I also borrowed a Nikon 24-120mm due to the limited range that I have from my 18-55mm and 55-200mm. Yes, 18-55mm would probably be okay, but I still would like to have a few closer shots of the couple at times. So, my gear for the wedding was:
- Nikon D60
- Nikon 24-120mm
- Nikon 18-55mm VR
- Nikon 55-200mm VR
- Nikon 50mm 1.8
- Tripod
- One spare battery for the body
- Two SB-600 Speedlights for quick swap
- Three sets of rechargeable batteries
- 14GB worth of SD cards
Man, was my gear heavy! I didn’t end up using the other lenses except for the 24-120mm, which I found easier to reach from the wider end to the tele end. Of course, the lens itself isn’t perfect. With its widest aperture of 5.6 at the focal length of 120mm, it’s hardly capable of taking in enough light into the sensor. I opted to use Auto-ISO with a maximum of 1600 this time round due to the limitation of time and the thought of the shots turning out with too much noise or underexposed is just scary. Then again a lot of my shots turned out to be rather noisy. I almost exhausted all three sets of batteries, so I have recently purchased another set of batteries.
The reception has definitely taught me a fair bit about wedding photography. I still have trouble getting some of the exposures right and still need to work on my framing. Thankfully, the professional photographer for the first two hours or so in the reception was friendly enough to allow me to tag along for their shoot and was very friendly. Thank you, Anita.
Well, after almost a month of on and off editing, I was finally able to present the final pictures to the couple. Hoping that they liked it much as I do, I have even made a slideshow for them.
Here is the slideshow that I put together: (Please refresh the page if you can’t see it)
Hope you guys enjoyed it 
How did you config the flash for the sunset shots? I like those.
Doesn’t seem possible to recreate that with the built in flash *jealous jealous*
Also, how’d you avoid the flash reflections on the windows (shots of the couple at their table)? Did you bounce the light of something?
Very nice, Ray
@cheahwey – Thanks cheahwey. I don’t remember configuring the flash much, I think I left it the way it was with a (fake) stofen diffuser, which caused quite a few overexposed photos. I think a built in flash should be able to come out with the same shots
The flash reflection, I think I was quite a distance away from the couple, set the camera on tripod and might have bounced the flash on the ceiling, if not direct. But most probably not. I also cropped the picture quite a bit.
Sorry didn’t really answer your questions. And thank you again.
It’s good. Perhaps a bit more clarity and better angling would have made them even better. You know when you see a picture, there’s a shocking simplicity to it that makes it so amazing?
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@Feng – Thanks. I’m not sure what you mean by your second sentence. Are you saying my photos are simplistic or..? :/