I have been asked to shoot a wedding for a friend, but I'm not sure what equipment to start with. The camera I have is an EOS 10D.

The main compenents that I'm inquiring about are the flash and flash bracket. I know that my camera supports E-TTL, so a Canon Speedlight would seem like an obvious choice... unfortunately (as with every product out there) there always seems to be mixed reviews that leave me just plain confused. I've seen reviews on the 550ex go from outstanding, to emergency use only.

My experience level is moderate, but I don't think I could do it all manual. I really would like to go with the 550ex, but wedding shots seemed poor with that flash in the reviews I read... but I assume that's because of the extreme contrast in the attire.

Well, I'm not sure where exactly to start, so if I could just enlist the help of all of you awesome photographers out there...

Thanks,

Michael

Hey Micheal, Not sure how much you're wanting to spend but you really don't need a lot to get decent shots with the 10D. I just shot my wife's cousin's wedding in Phoenix last weekend with mine and the 380EX flash,(had this from my elan setup), and was very happy with the results. I set my ISO at 200 only turned the flash off for the ceremony shots on aperture priority. I'll post a few tomorrow for you. They're still on my laptop. For the bracket I went with Donald's advice and got the stroboframe vh2000 and wouldn't trade it for any other. I've used the quickflip styles and much prefer the vh2000. I took one strobe with me but never used it. Only had 20 minutes to shoot all the formals and such after the wedding ceremony. I've tried the 550ex from the studio on my 10D but seem to get underexposed shots. Could be the settings on it but the boss doesn't have instructions for it. Personally I wouldn't mind having a set of 3 550's plus the transmitter for weddings. Would sure beat setting up strobes for formals. Anyway hopes this answers a bit of your question, if not I'll try again.. Take care.. Doug

People who photograph weddings are a brave lot. :) On 95% of all the stuff I shoot with the 10D (with the exception of the studio shoots) I use the 550EX. It's a fast recycling, bright flash. I almost always use a lumiquest softbox on the flash (unless I'm shooting from more than 10 feet away from the subject). I have found that it can tend to underexpose if I'm not paying attention to what I'm shooting and my metereing mode (for example, shooting where the background is bright and not switching out of evaluative is just asking for trouble). I've never shot a wedding before, but I would probably rent some L glass. Probably something like the 24-70mm f/2.8L lens and the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. Might even bring along a 16-35mm F/2.8L for wide group shots. If you're not having to shoot from the back of the church, the 24-70mm is a fantastic lens. Loved using it at the Hot Import Nights car show earlier this month (Seriously low light event). With the low noise of the 10D, I would feel very comfortable shooting a wedding at ISO 200 or 400. At ISO 400 and 2.8L glass, I'd think the flash would almost start firing as fill. But again, don't shoot weddings so I have no real idea.

Can't tell you much abt the cannon system, I use Nikon with TTL dedicated flash when shooting weddings. I purchased the bracket mentioned above and love it to death, best thing for keeping the flash above the film plane to keep the red-eye effect from showing up. I also bought an omnibounce reflector for the front of the flash and keep the camera settings on Auto and TTL and never miss a shot due to underexposure. I also have a battery pack to keep the flash recycling and can get through the entire wedding without worrying abt battery life in the flash. Nothing worse than getting ready for a shot with everyone posed, and the flash does not recycle due to low battery life!