Terrified of potential first wedding shoot

[bigtwinky]

While saying that giving someone 6 months should prepare them to shoot the wedding, it does not make them a pro. They will make mistakes. They will miss shots. Things will happen.

I guess what people pay for is more of a guarantee (or so they think) that the shots will all come out perfect. That the photographer will know where to be and what to do to properly capture the moment. Something that someone who is not used to shooting weddings wouldn’t necessarily see as they are more focused on ensuring that basics are done.

So I guess its experience they are paying for.

However, this is all in theory (and all my opinion). I have seen pictures from weddings where people paid $3,000 for the day and they weren’t all that great. The photographer wedding market seems to be someone oversaturated with people who think that just owning a digital camera with a $5,000 lens makes you a photographer. So they charge what people will pay.

 

[JerryPH]

So why would anyone pay $3,000 a day to have their wedding photographed?

Because they deserve this... not this?
(random choice of decent and crappy photographers chosen from my list and google)

 

[Synnove]

People pay for the peace of mind that comes with hiring a professional. I only helped my friends out because they couldn't afford a photographer otherwise. They knew they wouldn't be getting the same quality but they couldn't afford to do anything else. I would never allow someone to pay me as a professional because I'm not one. I also wouldn't do shoots for anyone other than a close friend unless I had the equipment and a crew. It certainly isn't taking business away from truly talented wedding photographers as my friends wouldn't have been able to hire someone anyway.

I don't think 6 months practice will make the OP a pro but it will help get better shots for the wedding of people that can't afford a photographer otherwise. When my husband and I got married 10 years ago, we couldn't afford the dress, the food, the cake, the flowers or the photographer. We just got married on the air at the radio station where I did the morning show. We've talked about doing a traditional wedding with all of the trimmings but I wouldn't do it unless we could afford to do it right this time to renew our vows - and that means paying a very good photographer to document it all.

 

[craig]

I worked tirelessly for a year to come up with the loot to pay for my wedding. I guess I should have claimed we are broke and made due with what we got. After all it is a celebration of love not money. So free wedding photography is a creative gift.

My point is we can come up with excuses until we are blue in the face. At some point fueling the fire of free wedding photography or any type of free photography is going to come back to bite us.

Love & Bass

 

[JerryPH]

It will basically kill the entire business side and quality will drastically fall off if left unchecked.

What true quality professional will not charge more than $3000/day? That's still less than 7% of the *average* wedding costs in the USA per capita. As VI put it... pretty much all the other stuff goes down the crapper and that $3500 dress will NEVER EVER be worn again, yet the pictures are for life... where *should* THE COUPLE be placing their priorities?

 

[matt-l]

Be calm and don't worry, you'll do fine! Just don't think about the money or the pressure.

 

[JerryPH]

There is no money, he is going to do it for free, and there is no pressure since they apparently do not care about the results (which I have a hard time buying into, but it could well be true as easily as it was for me in my wedding).

He cannot help but do well!

One of the first things I would do for practice is what I am, by coincidence, going to do today. Go to a church with a very low and poor light and practice low lighting scenarios... at least 200-300 shots, if not more. Come home and practice on how to best output them in post process.

Shoot nothing but RAW files (in pactice and ESPECIALLY at the wedding!!!). RAW gives you the most latitude to bring up lost detail in shadows, recover minor blown highlights, widest latitude to set proper white balance, has no generational losses if you save over and over as you play and it gives you the most latitude for cropping before visible loss of resolution happens.

 

[NateS]

Thanks for all the comments/suggestions. Jerry - They don't "care" about the results because they've seen some of my photos (nothing special I know) but they are better than your average snapshots. They know the photos they get will be decent at worst and will capture the moments of their special day.....that's the most important part to her and her groom. They've seen all of my photos, understand my abilities, and are still okay with me doing the wedding knowing that. So.....they are fully aware of the quality I am capable of at this moment and fine with their pictures looking that "good/bad".

I won't be doing any practicing in a church. They are getting married in the local park (free) and I know the spot they are using in that park. Over the next 6 months, I plan to go to that exact spot (and surrounding area) and practicing with my wife as the "model". Hopefully this will let me get a long list of areas, shot ideas, and other preperations before the wedding.

If they have an indoor backup location (in case of rain) then I will practice a lot there as well. The nice thing about the park is that I can easily go there as much as I want to practice without bothering or effecting anybody. This should allow me to get a huge amount of practice in preparation for the wedding.


Oh, and this bride and groom are taking out a loan and hoping to spend 3000-4000 buck total for the wedding... 500-600 is what she plans to spend on the dress. Hopefully that gives you an idea of their "tight" budget for the wedding.

 

[abraxas]

Thanks for ...

Dude, don't look back!

Good luck.

 

[NateS]

Dude, don't look back!

Good luck.

I'm soaking in what advice I can in here, but yes.....I'm going to practice my hardest, do my best, and not look back. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[bigtwinky]

With the amount of interest this thread has had, you better be posting up those pictures when done!

 

[craig]

Fo Shizzle!

Love & Weep

 

[NateS]

Thanks everybody and form- great pointers and I'll practice and remember to use those. I would never attempt this with my current lens lineup, but I may not have much more than a Tamron 18-50 f2.8 plus my 50mm f1.8.


I'll definitely post a lot of pics when it happens and you'll probably see plenty of threads in the meantime of me practicing. Hopefully I can get some good c&c between now and then.

 

[NateS]

Okay...I thought I'd bump this because I did the wedding yesterday and it went really well. I have about 500 photos to go through, but I have edited the bride only formals and posted them up. By this point it was getting dark so I was fighting the light (hence the semi-dark backgrounds). Anyway, I am thinking the bride and groom will be pleased with the shots. I'd be glad to hear what everybody thinks of the shots and I will update this thread with the links to the various threads I make with pictures of the wedding.

In short, I'm very glad I undertook this daunting job. It was horribly nerve racking, but a great photographic experience that I'm glad to have under my belt. Plus I think it went well, so that doesn't hurt.

These are the bridal only shots. New threads (and links in here) will be made as I get the editing done.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...6-first-wedding-bridal-shots.html#post1626646


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[craig]

Tried to view the images. I am getting boxes that contain: Content protected by owner.

Love & Bass