Do you do weddings?

[baruth]

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation. It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

 

[steve giron]

Definitely keep your friendships!!
There are great web sites out there that explain most of it.

Here's one http://www.aljacobs.com/weddings.htm

From the front page ...

"This site is for beginning Wedding Photographers, those who have been chosen to do a Wedding and might not have a clue and for the Brides and Grooms who also might be clueless. "

May the force be with you. Watch out for Bride-Zilla

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for
weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is
not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation.
It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you
approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

 

[Casey Cheung]

Unless you have the specialized skills or experience, I'd suggest you to keep your friendship intact by politely declining the offer. Or, you may choose to be daring, of course!

Casey

PS: Yes, I'm a wedding photographer

http://www.caseystudio.com

Here's one http://www.aljacobs.com/weddings.htm

From the front page ...

"This site is for beginning Wedding Photographers, those who have
been chosen to do a Wedding and might not have a clue and for the
Brides and Grooms who also might be clueless. "

May the force be with you. Watch out for Bride-Zilla

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for
weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is
not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation.
It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you
approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

 

[Dennis D]

Casey Cheung wrote:
PS: Yes, I'm a wedding photographer

IMO you're one of SF's best. How's it going Casey?

Have you tried the Polaroid's EN-4 equivalent battery yet? I found that my EN-4's really lost life after the buffer upgrade, so I bought the Polaroid battery and I'm in the middle of conditioning it now. It's rated at 2100 while the EN-4's are 2000. I use the DCB 60w battery at weddings but for casual shooting I needed something that lasts longer than 150 shots :-(

Good seeing you here again, where ya been? Or have I just missed your posts?

Dennis D

 

[FunD2h]

Casey Cheung wrote:
PS: Yes, I'm a wedding photographer

IMO you're one of SF's best. How's it going Casey?

Have you tried the Polaroid's EN-4 equivalent battery yet? I found
that my EN-4's really lost life after the buffer upgrade, so I
bought the Polaroid battery and I'm in the middle of conditioning
it now. It's rated at 2100 while the EN-4's are 2000. I use the DCB
60w battery at weddings but for casual shooting I needed something
that lasts longer than 150 shots :-(

Good seeing you here again, where ya been? Or have I just missed
your posts?

Dennis D

--
Ken

I am gong to get another battery soon for my H....let us know what you think of the Polaroid please. They are cheaper also!
ken

 

[Dennis D]

Ken Seal wrote:
I am gong to get another battery soon for my H....let us know what
you think of the Polaroid please. They are cheaper also!
ken

I have heard from others that say they'll get twice as many shots with the Polaroid battery. I got mine for around $50, you can get two of these for the price of one EN-4.

I'm going to try it out tomorrow, it's going through the conditioning cycle right now.

Dennis D

 

[FunD2h]

thanks for answering back so quick!

 

[Dennis D]

Here's where I bought mine:
http://store.yahoo.com/efunctional/pr-114dg.html
Seemed like a decent price.
Dennis D

Ken Seal wrote:
thanks for answering back so quick!

 

[ninjapj]

Hi, it seems like your thread got hijacked If you really have thoughts of becoming a wedding photographer you should assist someone before going on your own. If your just doing it to help a friend, I would decline, like the others said you want to keep your friends Yes, I am a wedding and people photographer..

http://www.photosbypj.com

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for
weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is
not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation.
It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you
approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

 

[Jonathan F.]

I wouldn't...weddings are too much hassle.

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for
weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is
not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation.
It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you
approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

--
---------------------------------------------------



All your base belong to us.

inhousephoto inc. digital • photography • media
http://www.inhousephoto.com

 

[Dennis D]

Very good advice!
Dennis D

ninjapj wrote:
... If you really have
thoughts of becoming a wedding photographer you should assist
someone before going on your own. If your just doing it to help a
friend, I would decline, like the others said you want to keep your
friends...

 

[Dennis D]

Jonathan F. wrote:
I wouldn't...weddings are too much hassle.

And a lot of post processing!
Dennis D

 

[Herman Roote]

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for
weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is
not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation.
It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you
approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

I did both when I started weddings, tell your friends your only a amateur and they would be better off with a pro for now, but do pics yourself and you will learn by you mistakes, still have your friends.

Regards--
Herman

 

[cliff87314]

A friend who is a successful wedding photographer uses Nikons and hasselblad. For other work he is very happily transitioning to Digital.

After his first Digital wedding with the tremendous amount of postprocessing he has decided that it is better to hand over the set of negatives and prints and say goodbye
--
Cliff Travis

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

I know my limitations. I can shoot up a storm at the racetrack - day or night. I can handle professional bowling tournaments. I'm decent at landscapes and even wildlife when I take a mind to do it. Even photomicrography is a 'snap', so to speak.

However, I know that I would be way out of my depth trying to shoot formal wedding shots. I have not spent much time during the past 30 years shooting portraiture, and wedding formals decidely fall into that category.

It's not that I couldn't learn how to do it well, it's just that I've never had the desire to do so. If I did, I'd take the advice of others here and sign on as an assistant to one of my local wedding pro friends.

Now, I could handle candid shooting well enough, and I bet you can as well. This might be a good way to approach your friends regarding their wedding: offer to shoot some candids of family and friends before the service and at the reception instead of being their main shooter. That way, you're giving them some extra images and not flatly refusing.

Of course, stay out of the way of the pro when the formals are taken. I've read enough threads about 'hovering' amateurs from the wedding pros around here to know that's very important!

Stan

I shoot nature and wildlife. People have approached me for
weddings. They think photo is photo, obviously. Some times it is
not easy to say no. They just don't quite believe my explanation.
It is a delicate social thing. They are friends. How do you
approach this situation? Should I go ahead and ruine their wedding?
--
baruth

--

Once you start down the DSLR path, forever will it dominate your destiny! Consume your bank account, it will! Like it did mine!

More info and list of gear is in my Posters' Profile.

 

[Dennis D]

This is the downside of digital, you have to do your own processing, but once you get a good workflow going it's not too bad. I've made a lot of actions that automate my processing, I just set it up in Photoshop, let it run while I go do something else. I don't really spend a lot of time sitting at the computer processing anymore.

Dennis D

cliff wrote:
A friend who is a successful wedding photographer uses Nikons and
hasselblad. For other work he is very happily transitioning to
Digital.
After his first Digital wedding with the tremendous amount of
postprocessing he has decided that it is better to hand over the
set of negatives and prints and say goodbye
--
Cliff Travis

--
Dennis D

 

[auroraproject]

Here's a different point of view, I got married September 2002, and I had a pro photographer and a friend of mine shoot the wedding. I'm glad I had the pro there as my friends shots did not turn out well, lots of camera shake and oof. Personally I would tell your friends to hire a pro and offer to shadow him at the wedding, then compare all the shots taken.
--
D100 User & Pbase supporter.
http://www.pbase.com/digifan

 

[Casey Cheung]

Hi Dennis!

I'm doing well! Summer is here, and so are weddings! Thanks for your kind words! I've been noticing your great work too, both your shooting ability and the subject content! Yes, those bridesmaids are certainly "fit". And, you really should tell some of those complainers to take a flying leap off a... You've been too gracious in your replies!

I've been hanging around on this board, but been doing more reading every so often than actually posting...except of course when I have a specific problem!

Please let me know how you like the Polaroid battery for the D1x because I'm seriously considering getting a few myself! Yes, battery life sucks after the RAM buffer upgrade. It's really frustrating me! I hate having to resort to my Quantum Turbo with all the extra weight and cords. Also, did you say in another post that you have the new 24-120 VR lens? Howya like it? Sufficiently sharp and fast?

By the way Dennis, email me privately if you're interested in the NIK Define program.

Cheers!
Casey

Casey Cheung wrote:
PS: Yes, I'm a wedding photographer

IMO you're one of SF's best. How's it going Casey?

Have you tried the Polaroid's EN-4 equivalent battery yet? I found
that my EN-4's really lost life after the buffer upgrade, so I
bought the Polaroid battery and I'm in the middle of conditioning
it now. It's rated at 2100 while the EN-4's are 2000. I use the DCB
60w battery at weddings but for casual shooting I needed something
that lasts longer than 150 shots :-(

Good seeing you here again, where ya been? Or have I just missed
your posts?

Dennis D

 

[Tom Steffan]

I shoot weddings & I'm afraid I would decline the job if someone was to shadow me. It's a tough strenuous job as it is. Not trying to flame but just a point to consider.

Tom

Here's a different point of view, I got married September 2002, and
I had a pro photographer and a friend of mine shoot the wedding.
I'm glad I had the pro there as my friends shots did not turn out
well, lots of camera shake and oof. Personally I would tell your
friends to hire a pro and offer to shadow him at the wedding, then
compare all the shots taken.

 

[Dennis D]

Hi Casey, I sent you an email!
Dennis D

Casey Cheung wrote:
Hi Dennis!

I'm doing well! Summer is here, and so are weddings! Thanks for
your kind words! I've been noticing your great work too, both your
shooting ability and the subject content! Yes, those bridesmaids
are certainly "fit". And, you really should tell some of those
complainers to take a flying leap off a... You've been too
gracious in your replies!

I've been hanging around on this board, but been doing more reading
every so often than actually posting...except of course when I have
a specific problem!

Please let me know how you like the Polaroid battery for the D1x
because I'm seriously considering getting a few myself! Yes,
battery life sucks after the RAM buffer upgrade. It's really
frustrating me! I hate having to resort to my Quantum Turbo with
all the extra weight and cords. Also, did you say in another post
that you have the new 24-120 VR lens? Howya like it? Sufficiently
sharp and fast?

By the way Dennis, email me privately if you're interested in the
NIK Define program.

Cheers!
Casey

Casey Cheung wrote:
PS: Yes, I'm a wedding photographer

IMO you're one of SF's best. How's it going Casey?

Have you tried the Polaroid's EN-4 equivalent battery yet? I found
that my EN-4's really lost life after the buffer upgrade, so I
bought the Polaroid battery and I'm in the middle of conditioning
it now. It's rated at 2100 while the EN-4's are 2000. I use the DCB
60w battery at weddings but for casual shooting I needed something
that lasts longer than 150 shots :-(

Good seeing you here again, where ya been? Or have I just missed
your posts?

Dennis D

--
Dennis D