Questions and answers

Gah! My friend was invited to a wedding and the groom mentioned that they are looking for a photographer. So my friend volunteered me and another mutual friend of ours. I've never even been to a wedding; the other photographer is also an amateur with, afaik, no wedding experience. Between my lack of experience in this and the fact that there is no guarantee that the other camera guy will be able to make it, I'm sort of freaking out... I don't want someone's wedding to depend on me. That said, I do have one thing working to my advantage: it looks like there will be less than 10 people at the wedding and that includes the bride and groom and both "photographers".

I've read everything on this forum regarding shooting weddings and plenty of other material online. I have a few lenses and a flash and memory cards. The other photog has all that stuff too. Any tips/advice/comments/suggestions for a wedding as small as this?

And another issue: I think the couple is expecting to compensate us. 1) Is ~$400 reasonable for an amateur photographer? 2) Should I even be charging them?? I doubt that I will completely f up the shots but they will by no means be "pro" level...
 
I personally wouldn't do it, I can't really assess how good you are and how you are related to the couple, but I wouldn't be able to do it as the "main" photographer. Getting a bit experience while a professional takes care that there will be enough good photos would be fine, but being the only one would scare me greatly.
 
Ditto. #1 being volunteered as a photographer to immortalize someone's special day just isn't cool. People ask me to do family shots and expect great results just because I've got a camera and take nice track photos. I tell them to rent a car and pile the family in and I will take that shot for sure.

I would politely decline and tell them that you aren't comfortable with it(assuming you aren't). And if you were to do it I wouldn't charge nearly that much as a first time. Rent some equipment(better lens, different body) and ask them for enough to cover that cost but keep it reasonable. And I mean between the 2 photogs unless the other person is experienced. You've got a flash now? find a friend, dog, grandparent, neighbours 22 year old daughter whatever and practice if you plan on doing it. And shoot in raw or god help you with the white balance inside the venue.
 
I doubt that I will completely f up the shots but they will by no means be "pro" level...
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Then don't do it. Wedding photography is no area for amateur work. Don't get me wrong, if you have a good portfolio that shows you are up to the task of professionalism, then go ahead.

But, as you're saying that you are nowhere near a "professional" level, tell them to stop being cheapskates and hire a professional. Besides, you have an easy way out: you were volunteered without your consent; simple enough.
 
Without wanting to put across a bad idea (its your decision, I'm just giving some advice from the other side of the fence) I did the photography of my aunt's wedding last year (I at least knew half the people there, and had my dad on hand to help move people to where they were needed). They didn't want anything to be too expensive, I was there basically as a guest who took photos during the boring bits. I was (and still am) nowhere near pro, and they knew that. I got a flashgun for the occasion, which helped quite a bit, and sort of dived into deep water, unknowing if I could swim.

Fortunately it wasn't that bad. I only buggered up a few shots as I had it on full auto, which chooses where to take the focus, so that focussed on the background a couple of times. If I were to do it again (something which I'm in no hurry to do as it was quite boring) I would definitely have it on manual mode. Having said that, I did shoot RAW and after some PP most looked pretty good. Pretty good for a first timer: by no means professional, but they got them all printed out into an album and framed a couple too.

As has been said, it is certainly not an easy thing to do, and I wouldn't suggest you think you can easily get away with it. I don't think I really did, but they seemed happy enough.
 
Key factor - you don't know them. I certainly wouldn't do it.
 
Sir Stiggington said:
Went for the 55-20 Nikkor VR lens by the way. The difference from 200-300 is suprisingly small to be honest...
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Good rule of thumbs, if you can't get your shot at 200mm, you won't get it at 300mm.

epp_b said:
Good point. There's a big difference between shooting for someone you know personally and someone... else.
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Yeah. It's easier to do it when it's someone else. :p
 
Yeah. It's easier to do it when it's someone else.
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When you do it cheaply for someone else, their perception of you is that you're guy who does photography "for cheap".

When you do it cheaply for family, their perception of you is that you did it cheaply because you're family.
 
I'm thinking of the photography, not their perception. Photographing someone you know well isn't just easier or harder than photographing a complete stranger, it's different. Generally, I think it's harder to capture the truth about someone you know.

Just my .2.
 
Psirus said:
I personally wouldn't do it, I can't really assess how good you are and how you are related to the couple, but I wouldn't be able to do it as the "main" photographer. Getting a bit experience while a professional takes care that there will be enough good photos would be fine, but being the only one would scare me greatly.
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eroy2 said:
Ditto. #1 being volunteered as a photographer to immortalize someone's special day just isn't cool. People ask me to do family shots and expect great results just because I've got a camera and take nice track photos. I tell them to rent a car and pile the family in and I will take that shot for sure.
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epp_b said:
Then don't do it. Wedding photography is no area for amateur work. Don't get me wrong, if you have a good portfolio that shows you are up to the task of professionalism, then go ahead.

But, as you're saying that you are nowhere near a "professional" level, tell them to stop being cheapskates and hire a professional. Besides, you have an easy way out: you were volunteered without your consent; simple enough.
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Agree with all of them, unless you're willing to do it for free and they understand you have no practical experience with wedding photography, seriously don't do it. Even if you do want to break into the business of wedding photography, you should cut your teeth on ppl willing to 'get what they pay for' and basically do the first several jobs for free...or next to free. Wedding photography is intense and exhaustive work and the last thing you need is a dissatisfied bride ...
 
Even if you do want to break into the business of wedding photography, you should cut your teeth on ppl willing to 'get what they pay for' and basically do the first several jobs for free...or next to free.
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See... I'm an "all-or-nothing" kind of guy. Either do a professional job for a professional rate, or don't do it at all. This world has enough half-assed imagery.
 
Hrumph. The world's full of divas. Nobody needs wedding photos that look like they came out of a poncy fucking wedding fashion magazine. Used to be that people were happy with any photos, just something to immortalize a fucking archaic ritual. I'm sure most people would be perfectly satisfied with that, just any fucking pictures, which is something that some photographags who are disconnected to real people don't seem to realise.

Do you want to do it? If yes, do it. Do they give a damn if the photos look like they were taken by their cousin Ed or some artistic overly expensive wedding photographer? If the latter, tell them to fuck off, they'll probably think you're being ironic and therefore funny, if the former and yes to the first question then do it and rent fast lenses if you don't own any and stop asking these people questions.
 
epp_b said:
See... I'm an "all-or-nothing" kind of guy. Either do a professional job for a professional rate, or don't do it at all. This world has enough half-assed imagery.
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Yes but the professionals have to start somewhere? And people are ALWAYS getting married (even when many of them shouldn't) of all sorts of economic levels and budgets. Some simply cannot afford anything nice but still want wedding photos and if they're fortunate enough to have a friend who does decent photography and are willing to take what they can get, more power to them. It's those couples tho who have a wedding budgeted that's reasonably high class (in the $10-30K total cost range) and are expecting a 'friend' with no practical wedding photography to produce results of a $1000-7000 job are the one's asking for trouble and a lot of dissapointment.

I personally share the same opinion as you, I would NOT want to take on a job like this unless I can produce a reasonbly close-to-professional level of work.

Ramseus said:
Hrumph. The world's full of divas. Nobody needs wedding photos that look like they came out of a poncy fucking wedding fashion magazine. Used to be that people were happy with any photos, just something to immortalize a fucking archaic ritual. I'm sure most people would be perfectly satisfied with that, just any fucking pictures, which is something that some photographags who are disconnected to real people don't seem to realise.
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I actually met someone who uses 'Harumph' in real life and the first thing my friend said was 'seriously, who actually SAYS that?' :lol: It's pretty clear from your tone that you're one of those guys who hate attending weddings. They can be overdone and irritating.
 
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LeVeL said:
The other dude that was supposed to take pictures with me cant make it. As of right now I've told my friend to tell the couple that I'm not really comfortable having their entire wedding on my shoulders. We'll see what happens...
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Good call, they are going to have to find another friend or suck it up and spend money on a photog
 
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