Friends Wedding

ryyback · Sep 11, 2007

Hi all,

I need your advice please.
We have friends of ours that are getting married. Although we really don't 'hang out', they are still friends none the less.
They want me to maybe shoot there wedding. They don't want much, just a photo album and dvd of photos and the engagement photo's.
We are on the guest list as well.
Would you do it for free, or do it for a cut back fee, like half or so of what you would normally do it for??
I was thinking of doing it for around $400?
Thanks all

Mike_E · Sep 11, 2007

You are looking at 8-16 hours of hard work (OK no blisters or real sweat, but still) and the risk of loosing them as friends if you bang it up. There are incidentals involved so unless you are willing to wright it off as a wedding gift and are still going to do it then charge.

Have you ever shot a wedding? If not then you might want to think about offering to shoot alongside a pro for free. Wedding albums are more important than you would at first think and if you are at all uncomfortable with this then by all means give it a miss!

If you do a search about this you will find that you need back up for everything including another camera body and flashes and other invaluable tips.

mike

ryyback · Sep 11, 2007

Thanks Mike.
No I haven't done a wedding before, but have been studing my asss off the last 2 months or so. I'm no pro that's for sure. This is their second wedding, so not a big fancy deal. I believe they are getting married at a hall, so nothing to extreme really.
I'll ponder it, as it should be an easy shoot (I use that term losly-easy). Like I said, we really don't hang out or anything, but I will ask the bride to be what she thinks.

Big Mike · Sep 11, 2007

Like Mike said, that's a tough situation. To do it well would mean a lot of hard work (shooting and processing)...and if they are relying on you, you can't screw it up. Do you have backup equipment? Do you have a good flash (plus backup) for shooting in a dark hall?

Before I started doing weddings, I was asked several times. I always told them that they would be better off hiring a pro for the important things, like the ceremony and the formals. Then I offered to shoot everything else for them. Maybe that would work here.

EOS_JD · Sep 11, 2007

ryyback said:
Hi all,

I need your advice please.
We have friends of ours that are getting married. Although we really don't 'hang out', they are still friends none the less.
They want me to maybe shoot there wedding. They don't want much, just a photo album and dvd of photos and the engagement photo's.
We are on the guest list as well.
Would you do it for free, or do it for a cut back fee, like half or so of what you would normally do it for??
I was thinking of doing it for around $400?
Thanks all

Looking at your equipment list you don't have a lot. I guess the 17-55 is the f2.8IS model? This is a good lens although in a dark hall you may require a high ISO (even with f2.8).

You can do it but take Mikes advice. Weddings are pretty serious affairs and if your camera stops working (it happened to a friend of mine) and you don't have backups then you may find yourself in bother.

My take would be ask them to get a pro but you'll shoot candids and a few formals for them. All they need do is pay for the cost of the images. That way you both benefit. they get images and you get practice at a wedding - no pressure.

ryyback · Sep 12, 2007

Hey all,

I emailed the bride to be and said to her that I am NOT a PRO at this. Also I threw in this--"have you thought about hiring a pro?" Her response was that she did NOT want a PRO, as she doesn't trust them? I guess she wasn't happy with the photographer at her cousin's wedding awhile back.
I am doing it on the cheap for them, they don't have loads of money (like the rest of us). I made her agree NOT to yell at me-as I would do my very best , if they really want me to do this.

Her latest email has everything a go for next year's big deal. It's there second wedding each sooooo, if it was there first I would say NO for sure-

Gotta start somewhere I guess.

I will have back-ups before this wedding in August 2008, like a flash or 2, and another lens besides my treasured 17-55, etc. Going today to look at flashes actually when I'm in London On. later today-

Jovian · Sep 12, 2007

My best advice would be to see if you can shadow a pro that's in your area sometime (or two or three) before your wedding next year. Our first weddings are always our worst, it's rough to just jump into it. You live and learn, and I think most of us learned the hard way that we weren't as prepared as we thought we were in the beginning.

You're in a unique situation where you have a lot of prep. time before next year, so like I said... talk to pros in your area, see if you can shadow, or assist any of them a few times, it'll help you bunches.

Hope that helps!
-Andrew-

JIP · Sep 12, 2007

The question is, what do they expect? are they thionking they will get the same results from you as they might from a pro and you think you can deliver that I say more power to you. I say good luck but be prepared for alot of pressure and be prepared for this friend to turn into a different person when ou are taking her picture and especially when thie images come back and they don't turnout exactly like she expected. But all in all I say good luck this might open a door for you that you might have never thought of.

ryyback · Sep 12, 2007

Nope, no where did I say I was thinking I could do as good as a PRO???

I have warned them that I am NOT A PRO, but she doesn't care I guess. I'd much rather they do get a pro, but they are lacking the funds for that, and she doesn't like the PRO's for some reason?

I'm still a newbie but I have 11 months to learn, and it might open a door, but at the same time it might shut that door real quick if you know what I mean-LOL
Everyone has to start somewhere and since this is a small (100 people) or less wedding, than I'll help them out, but she has been warned-I'm NO PRO-

---YET?

I will do the job shadowing soon if I can find someone to let me 'ride along'. I think that would help alot. My nerves are already on end. A little help goes along way-

JIP · Sep 12, 2007

Well "shadowing" as much as you can will help immensley. As much as anyone would imagine what shooting a wedding might be like there is nothing like the real thing. If you do not get to shadow be prepared with a list work along with the B+G and figure out what they are going to want make a tentative list go over it with them and revise it one thing you have on your side is time. Also I did not want to suggest that you were going with them thinking of you as a "pro" but if someone does not know alot about wedidng photography or photography in general they might get the impression that you can produce the same kind of images that she might get from a pro. As others have said this is a great way to get sued and/or at least loose a friend. Finally do not be too afraid to do this alot of people here (including me) are giving you pretty dire warnings but really do not be scared to do this if they know what to expect from you and you do your homework you can probably pull this off and have alot of fun doing it so Good Luck!!!.

ryyback · Sep 12, 2007

Thanks JIP-

I agree JIP. At my job with Waste Management, we wouldn't throw a guy in a front-end loader truck and tell to go out and start picking up business, etc without some 2 weeks of training at the least. Or say you can cook a burger at home, but that won't make you a chef-lol. Practise does make perfect, and they do know what to expect to a certain degree. They know I am not a pro, but I will do my best for them if I am really the guy they want. At Waste Management I deal with alot of stress, so I am hoping that the stress training there will help with this-

Anyway, I have 11 months to get real good, soooooo here's to hoping.
Thanks again all.

Big Mike · Sep 12, 2007

It's good that you are letting them know where you stand than being up front about it. Also, it's good that you are thinking about this, very far ahead of time. I'm sure you will do a good job when the time comes.

table1349 · Sep 12, 2007

ryyback said:
Hey all,

I emailed the bride to be and said to her that I am NOT a PRO at this. Also I threw in this--"have you thought about hiring a pro?" Her response was that she did NOT want a PRO, as she doesn't trust them? I guess she wasn't happy with the photographer at her cousin's wedding awhile back.
I am doing it on the cheap for them, they don't have loads of money (like the rest of us). I made her agree NOT to yell at me-as I would do my very best , if they really want me to do this.

Her latest email has everything a go for next year's big deal. It's there second wedding each sooooo, if it was there first I would say NO for sure- Gotta start somewhere I guess.

I will have back-ups before this wedding in August 2008, like a flash or 2, and another lens besides my treasured 17-55, etc. Going today to look at flashes actually when I'm in London On. later today-

In my book that is a red flag stating Do Not Do This! If you don't trust a pro, why would you trust someone that has never done this. Second wedding or not, there is a reason she wants pictures. Memories. While money is important to us all, is a friendship worth this? If you decide to do this I would do two things before the big day.

1. Find out exactly why she doesn't trust a professional and with that, what kind of shots she is looking for.

2. Study, Study, Study, everything you can get on wedding photography before the big day. Have an exact plan of what you want to shoot, what shots you plan to take, who will be in what shots, where they will all the different people stand etc. Otherwise you are looking at a ton of grief. Good Luck.

JIP · Sep 12, 2007

I'm curious why are you asking us advice when you have a wedding package on your website for $2500???. It would seem with pricing like that you got it al in the bag already sseing as how I having shot eddings for 6 years would not consider charging someone $2500 for a wedding even with an Art Leather album.

EOS_JD · Sep 13, 2007

JIP said:
I'm curious why are you asking us advice when you have a wedding package on your website for $2500???. It would seem with pricing like that you got it al in the bag already sseing as how I having shot eddings for 6 years would not consider charging someone $2500 for a wedding even with an Art Leather album.

haha well noted JIP.... Seems very odd...... perhaps copied from somewhere else like the photo list too?! the quality of images in the galleries is very poor and a lot of practiuce will be required before the photographer is ready to shoot weddings.