The Lenses You Need for Wedding Photography

Choosing the best lenses for wedding photography can often be a confusing and long process.

There are so many different types of lenses out there to choose from: macro, zoom, prime, wide-angle, etc., and all of those lenses also come with a really big price tag.

As a photographer, it's important to find the lenses that really capture your style of photography, and it's equally important to find lenses that can capture the different parts of an entire wedding day.

In this post, I'm walking you through the four different types of lenses that you should have in your camera bag when photographing a wedding.

A Portrait Lens

One of the first lenses that you need to focus on getting is a really strong portrait lens. This lens is very versatile, and can be used throughout the entire wedding day.

Most people tend to gravitate towards an 85mm or 50mm prime lens when choosing out their portrait lens for the wedding day. These lenses provide a great bokeh effect on the images, which make portraits dreamy and beautiful.

I usually recommend getting a prime lens for your portrait lens, just because the quality of the photos tend to look better on a prime lens vs. zoom lens. My favorite is the “Nifty Fifty” (50mm) lens because it's something that I can use throughout the entire wedding day and never feel like I'm missing anything or or that I'm too close or far away from the subject.

A Wide-Angle Lens

The next lens that you can add to your bag is a wide-angle lens. This is personally one of my favorite lenses to have on hand because it allows you to capture so much that is happening on the wedding day.

A wide-angle lens helps you to capture more in a shot than you would normally be able to do, so it's perfect for so many components of the day. Maybe you have a small getting ready room that all of the bridesmaids and bride are in, or you have a huge bridal party that you need to capture, or there's just a great dance party at the end of the wedding with all of the guests on the dance floor. 

In all of these scenarios having a wide-angle lens allows you to fully capture your multiple subjects while still keeping the quality of your photos high. 

I personally love the 35mm lens, as it can be used both as a wide-angle and a portrait lens. It's the perfect length for being able to capture a lot of subjects, but still having the quality and non-warped look that works great for portraits.

A Zoom Lens

 If you're photographing a regular wedding ceremony, you probably want to have a zoom lens in your camera bag. This is not a lens that you are going to take out super often, but it's going to be very beneficial in different scenarios when you can't get close to your subject.

I usually only get my zoom lens out for a ceremony, but there have been so many times when I'm grateful to have the zoom lens because I haven't been able to get close to the couple during the ceremony, and using a normal lens would not be able to fully capture the moments happening.

I used the 70-200mm zoom lens, which is a huge lens that you don't necessarily need. Having something that goes up to around 100-150mm is probably enough for most ceremonies, but feel free to play around with different lenses and see which focal length range you like the best.

A Macro Lens

Now, a macro lens is definitely not necessary for weddings, but it's also a fun addition to your photos. I use a 100mm macro lens to capture ring and detail shots on the wedding day, as well as sometimes as an alternative to my zoom lens.

Also along with a macro lens, you can play around with other types of lenses throughout the wedding day. This can help you add an extra unique look to your images as well as give a little bit different perspectives for your couple.

Now, my final tip for you is to take some time to make sure you like a lens before you purchase it. 

There are two ways that you can do this.  First you can reach out to a fellow photographer and see if they'll let you play around with one of their lenses. You can also rent lenses through sites like lensrentals.com, on which there are a ton of affordable lenses that you can try out to see which one is your favorite.

I hope with this post you feel more prepared and excited for your upcoming wedding photography opportunities!. If you liked this post, you should check out my other post about how to prepare for your first wedding as a photographer.