Ooh, Ooh, Drafted to shoot a wedding!

"to put on someone who isn't a seasoned pro at this. If you make a mess of it, your friendship is at stake. Hopefully they aren't soliciting you to save a buck."

I'm trying to think of another reason. Give me a minute .. nope, can't come up with one.

--
People want the best stuff and they want you to give it to 'em.

Hi Jerry,

Take the pressure off of yourself if you are doing this free gratis for a friend. You might tell your friend that you flattered to be asked to
shoot the wedding but as a non pro you can't guarantee anything.

You've been given some great advice via this thread. You also have more and better equipment then many Pro's. Just go out and have fun taking as many shots as possible. Afterward you can cull out the not so good ones.
I expect you and your friends will be pleasantly pleased with the end result.

Share a few with us when it's all done.

Have Fun!
Darrell

Jerry,

Have your friend be the main photographer, and tell them you'll fill in with candids.

If it is a good friend, I would rather enjoy the wedding.

----
Brooke
D2x M3

I couldn't help but chime in cuz I am a die hard wedding photographer, been doing it over 30 years and have trained with the very best. I just last year switched over to digital from medium format.

I have 2 D2x bodies and each is kept built up with lens, strobe and grip in separate cases. One body has a 17-55 and the other 28-70. In the cases are a 70-200; 10.5 fish eye, actually 11 lenses in all. I in no way use all the lenses at any one given wedding but I have used them all depending on the requirements. I agree with one person shooting formals and one shooting candids, you must choose who is better qualified to do either.

Good luck, it's a big responsibility.

Hi Darrell,

The groom and I are both members of the local Barbershop Chorus in the White Mountains of Arizona. That is how I know him. I do the newsletter and the web site for the chorus, http://www.spebsqsafwd.org/wmac/Newsletter-.html ), and of course, take a lot of "people pictures" in the process. He and his bride asked me to do this as a result of some of these pictures. PS: The friend I mentioned earlier took many pictures for this site, notably the show pictures each year: http://www.spebsqsafwd.org/wmac/2005%20Show.html .

The pressure of the wedding isn't really a problem, but getting all of the standard wedding shots that they may like is. With the lists and examples furnished in response to my request, I should be able to do a good job. I know I will enjoy shooting the pictures more than just sitting there watching.

Thanks again to all for the great advice, I have learned a lot.

Jerry

Jerry,

Before shooting your first wedding you should assist a few wedding photographers -- for free if necessary. You will be amazed at how much talent it takes to work with people, how little time you have to think, and how fast you have to problem solve.

Saying no to a friend maybe risky, but putting your friendship on the line if they don't like your photos is riskier.

Having the right equipment doesn't mean you are prepared.

An good photographer with wedding experience will be in better shape than you with only a D-70, 35-70 lens, SB800 flash and tripod.

Hi Dan,

Your advice is right on. However, my favorite part of photography is "people pictures," but I don't intend to concentrate on weddings. I like meetings, events, charity organization events, or the Barbershop Chorus gatherings. I also like to photograph cars at car shows, etc.

There is a wedding pro in our small town, but he isn't receptive to training anyone, so the opportunity is limited. The major reason I said yes to this wedding is that I firmly got the idea that if it wasn't me, it would be Aunt Emma with a point and shoot.

I guess it just presented a challenge, and I couldn't say no.

I will post some of the results. Wedding is at the end of April.

I would be interesting to work with a pro if I had the opportunity. Perhaps then I would be more enthusiastic about doing weddings.

Regards,
Jerry

What your saying makes sense. My advice would be to keep it as simple as possible, relax and enjoy yourself.

Maybe take one medium size camera bag with the as little as possible and have a second camera bag with your extra gear and back-up nearby just in case. This way your gear won't bog you down.

Your "predicament" sounds like mine was about 12 years ago when my brother-in-law asked me to shoot his wedding.

I was scared but also honoured and challenged. I did do his wedding. I was comforted knowing that he had hired a studio that day so that no matter what I did he'd have at least those pictures.

That wedding is now 140 weddings ago. I did not know at the time that his wedding would be a life altering event for me. My sister-in-law also got married in 1994, did not have a studio, and hired me for the whole day.

It took time for my little sideline to get rolling. Four weddings one year, nine the next, 13 in 1999, 23 in 2000, and a pretty much average of 20 a year since. I've gone from a fully manual Nikon FM2 and a dinky flash, to a Nikon F90s with a Vivitar 283 Flash (autofocusing) to my present Nikon D100 and SB80DX.
The next camera is the D200 and SB800.

Anyway, that's a little bit of my history. If you have the "Heart" for it man, go for it! That to me is the number one ingredient of a wedding photographer. I have zip credentials. I shoot JPEG. I use one lens (28-70).

The camera is set to P--100% of the time. I charge a lot less than most, take a ton of pictures, go to the rehearsal, hunker down for a 12 hour day,

review my 600-700 photos, delete the bad ones, burn usually 3 cds, have the pictures developed the next day, hand over everything to the couple the next day, get paid, suck in every nice thing is said to me and get ready for the next one.

I meet with the couple ahead of time, require a $100 deposit. We discuss the day, fine tune the list I always bring with me to the wedding, establish a rapport with the couple.

The rehearsal offers photo ops plus an oppotunity to meet the main people of the wedding day, meeting the wedding official and learn of the "rules" for the day, confirm addresses, phone numbers etc.

I immerse myself in the wedding day to the point of being essentially "part of the day". I don't orchestrate or fake a whole lot. I'm always on the hunt for the unusual or unexpected and take pictures of it.

I am not at all intimidated by whether I know the people or not. Knowing them is an advantage--my pictures will be better as a result.

Also, I stay longer than just about anybody. I leave a wedding at around 11:30 p.m. normally. I let the day take on its own natural flow. The bouquet and garter pretty much signal my departure but I always ask if there's any more shots we should do.

I bring my laptop with me to the reception and download my cards as the night progresses. Typically, I've done about half of my editting by the time I pack it in at the wedding. A couple more hours and I've got my 550 or so shots of the day. The next morning I drop off my CDs to Black's and ask that they call me when my photos are nearly done. I put my 4x6's in two rather humble albums and head off to the "party".

I like getting paid, but I also luxuriate in the usual "Is that your photographer? Your pictures are done already!"
Anyway, call me at 807-768-0611 if you would like more than this.

Always nice to see someone join the ranks. Consider it a supreme compliment that this couple thinks you have the right stuff. It's arguably the biggest day of their life and they've asked you to photograph it!
Thanks.

MyBigBoy said:

"to put on someone who isn't a seasoned pro at this. If you make a
mess of it, your friendship is at stake. Hopefully they aren't
soliciting you to save a buck."

I'm trying to think of another reason. Give me a minute .. nope,
can't come up with one.

Click to expand...

Wow, well hopefully your friends aren't the type of people who ask you to do a favor and then get angry that you don't do a professional job of it.

I shot a wedding for a friend about six months ago. They didn't want the pressure of having a professional photographer but they wanted to make sure someone would get them pictures of the whole thing.

I'm just an amateur, and at the time I didn't even have a DSLR, just a P&S with a decent external flash. I stayed out of the way, and didn't tell anyone where to stand or what to do with their hands. I just took a ton of pictures and had a lot of fun doing it.

I got exactly one picture in which I pressured the bride to pose according to my instructions (it looks great after a little Photoshop):



Technically, the pictures aren't too spectacular, but the bride and groom got pictures of their wedding without a lot fuss, and they've been very happy with them. The bride's sister is making an album for them.

My advice is to explain the situation to them, find out what they expect from you, and tell them honestly what you think you can do and what the risks are.

Also, there are tons of books in this subject. Someone will have an approach that can work for you.

--
-- Mark

Hi Mark,

This will be a situation similar to yours. They know what I can do, and I will meet with them to discuss their expectations ahead of time so there shouldn't be a mismatch.

For some reason your picture didn't open in the message.

Thanks for your response. I'm glad the wedding worked out for you.

Regards,
Jerry

Great story, life sometimes changes on something you thought unimportant but what you did almost on a whim. Keeps it exciting.

We come from similar equipment backgrounds. I put a lot of miles on two FM camera bodies, 8 lenses, a Vivitar 292 flash, later picking up a 283 flash, etc. Last film camera was an N90, which I loved.

Went digital several years ago with an Olympus E20N, sold it when I bought my D70.

I appreciate you describing your typical "wedding day." I will attempt to use it as a model. Who knows what can happen in the future?

Thanks for a great response!

Jerry

I searched on that topic on the internet and got useful articles that helped.

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed my "life story."
I really wish you well.
Gary.

You got many good advices above. One more think I'd like to add:

You need experience. Even one is better than none. The more than better. If you manage to visit any friend's wedding before that one, ask for permission to take photos and do it as if you were the main photographer (as longer as it doesn't hinder the actual photographer's work.)
--
John

Digital Fan said:

Well, like many of you who carry around a digital Nikon and 17-55
lens, I have been asked if "I do weddings" a few times. It is
usually easy to say "no," however, I was recently asked this
question by a friend to whom it is difficult to say "no."

It probably won't be a large wedding, nor a really formal one. It
will be a very important one, of course, so I want to do the best I
can. I am not worried about equipment as I have a D70, D2H, 50
1.4, 85 1.4, 17-55, 70-200VR, (all Nikkor) and a couple of older
lenses I used on my N90. I also have 2 ea. SB-800, 2 ea. SB-600,
lots of batteries, 2 "flipits," and other miscellaneus stuff. In
addition I may have the help of a friend who has a D100 and more
lenses, experience and camera stuff than I have.

My question is: Is there a list of "mandatory pictures" that must
be taken at a wedding?

Any help or advice appreciated.

Jerry

Click to expand...

--
John

--
John

Thanks John,

The wedding isn't until the end of April. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to do that prior to then.

Thanks for the advice.

Jerry