I got invited to a wedding...because I have a camera.

Shoot the wedding; call it their present and hand them a disc of images with "PROOF" watermarked across them at the end of it, along with your price list for prints.
 
It sounds like there are some issues with your family so probably you'd need to decide what's best, to either decline; just put in an appearance and don't stay long; or go and enjoy yourself.

It probably feels disappointing to think they asked because you have a 'big' camera as much as anything, and I don't know what they intended or if they just weren't necessarily thinking about how that might come across. I'm sure plenty of us get asked to take pictures and it depends on what the occasion is and who's doing the asking! It's up to you if you don't take a camera at all, or take along a p&s, or take your DSLR.

But if you do, I'd think about making it clear you are NOT a wedding photographer, that it takes specialized skills that you don't have, etc. Help them understand why good wedding photographers aren't exactly cheap, to make it less likely they don't have expectations you can't meet.

If you decide to take your camera, at most maybe offer that if you get a few good pictures, you'll give them a few good pictures. And that's it. But think before you give them pictures, which ones you're giving them, because once you do it's out of your hands what they do with them.
 
Yes, all the time. No, I don't take any photos using anything else other than my cell phone. I'm pretty darn straight forward about this because I want to enjoy myself at parties :D
 
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Reminds me of the dating world. You got money and a boat and whatever else to impress the women then women started using you for your money. Sucks but mission accomplished. Gotta have something i guess. Be nice if people cared about your charming personality but lacking one of those at least you got a camera. Uncle Bob who is always having parties and stuff all he's got is beer, that and he goes out of his way to invite people over. Rich uncle Jessie, all those psychophants want his money but isn't that why he got/ wanted money. Be glad you have a camera, they might not want to spend any time with you otherwise and who's fault is that?
 
Never had the problem getting called for family affairs - my Dad was a Pulitzer prize winner for spot news, in the White House Press Corp as well and a bunch of other things so he took care of the family stuff.
 
People who know me, know me so that they wouldn't do that. They know if they asked me to bring the camera and take pictures I will but they also know that they are not going to have any pictures.
 
Yep, sounds like this wedding has all the makings of a fine Griswold Family get together. Load up in the truckster, grab Elaine, Eddie, Catherine and Aunt Edna and go have a real good time.
 
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I just tell my family "I photograph wildlife and really like birds in flight, but if you're willing to catapult the (bride/graduate/event type) I'm willing to photograph it"

But then my family would expect that type of rebuttal.
 
I just tell my family "I photograph wildlife and really like birds in flight, but if you're willing to catapult the (bride/graduate/event type) I'm willing to photograph it"

But then my family would expect that type of rebuttal.

Some of mine would grab 2x4s and bungie cords and start making a catapult.
 
Have you ever been invited to a wedding or a family event just because you have a camera?
Invited? No. Asked to photograph? Yes.
I advised our dear niece that "My skill and equipment are not up to the level that you deserve for your wedding." I did, however, make her cake toppers and a few other little ditties.
 
I am often asked to bring my camera with me to weddings as people know my love of photography. I tell them that I'm no wedding photographer as that takes a special kind of skill, but that I'll try and take some candids as and when possible without getting in the way of a proper pro wedding photographer. I've then given the photos that I think are good enough to the bride and groom as a supplement to what they have from a pro. If I felt that they were relying on me of the actual wedding photos I would be politely clear that I don't want the responsibility of being the 'official' photographer, and that while I am a competent landscape photographer, event photography isn't what I'd describe as my forte. If they persisted, I would say that I had forgotten my camera when I arrived.

Having made it clear to them that they should hire a proper photographer as it is the one and only thing that survives physically from the day, I wouldn't feel guilty about them not having an official photographer because they ignored my advice. To ignore my reluctance to be the 'official' photographer would be rude on their part.

Would I care about them speaking ill of me as a result? Not really. Having been polite about it throughout, all I'd care about was that I was reasonable, polite and right.
 
Thanks everyone for all the awesome responses, it definitely gave me some food for thought.

But I pretty much made up my mind that I'm not going to go. I love my cousin and his soon to be wife, but I only see them once a year (maybe) and they are just not part of life. Even though I got an invite, the way they worded it sounded like I only got invited because I take pictures and that just made me feel uninvited. I'm sure that wasn't their intention, but I never know with my family. As I mentioned before, I don't like weddings. I went to my brothers wedding a couple years ago and I hated it, it was one of the hardest things for me...but I did it anyways because it was my brother.

Its not until the end of the year so I got plenty time to think about it and who knows...I could end up changing my mind! On the other hand...the food menu looks good. Haha.
 
So a cousin of mine invited me to his wedding, I was planning on going just because it's my family. It's not a easy thing for me as I hate weddings but I was going to go anyways until I read the invitation where they wrote a whole thing telling me to bring "my big" camera and take pictures.

Its a rare occasion for me to be invited to events so I was like cool, I actually exist to my family! and to find out that I only got invited because I have a camera, sorry..a "big camera" it really bummed me out.

Have you ever been invited to a wedding or a family event just because you have a camera?

Spend ages gathering and positioning people and at the last second turn the camera around and start taking a load of selfies.
 
Many years ago I owned a publishing company with a small chain of weekly and biweekly newspapers. The invitations to all events family and social got to the point where they always included "by the way can you bring your camera". A larger company decided they wanted my company more than I did. After selling out I was so turned off by anything to do with photography that I put up my camera and only recently started back seriously. You wouldn't invite someone to an event that just happened to be a doctor and say "oh by the way can you bring your bag and give checkups" or an auto mechanic and say "could you bring your tools and tuneup my car". Yet people have no qualms in doing it to photographers. Now when someone invites me to something with the "can you bring your camera" I ask if I'm still invited if I don't , and watch them squirm.
Yeah doctors don't get that-- but it's not exclusive to photogs. I get the "can you bring your hair cutting scissors?" All the time
 
Thanks everyone for all the awesome responses, it definitely gave me some food for thought.

But I pretty much made up my mind that I'm not going to go. I love my cousin and his soon to be wife, but I only see them once a year (maybe) and they are just not part of life. Even though I got an invite, the way they worded it sounded like I only got invited because I take pictures and that just made me feel uninvited. I'm sure that wasn't their intention, but I never know with my family. As I mentioned before, I don't like weddings. I went to my brothers wedding a couple years ago and I hated it, it was one of the hardest things for me...but I did it anyways because it was my brother.

Its not until the end of the year so I got plenty time to think about it and who knows...I could end up changing my mind! On the other hand...the food menu looks good. Haha.

If the food menu looks good then you got screwd because the if you taking pictures you don't have time to eat.
 

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