Money, Money, Money, MONEYYY

[beagle100]

Heather, I just skimmed through this thread, and I have to say, you are very cool under fire! Your level-keeled tone and attitude in the face of a multi-page onslaught of "Don't do it!" 's and "You're not ready!" 's was very impressive, very commendable. Threads that have begun almost exactly as you began yours have turned nasty here before, many times. You're one cool cucumber, which is a great personality trait to have. I looked through your Facebook galleries...you could probably handle a low-key, simple wedding I think, as long as nothing were to go wrong, and the light level was good, and so on.

I very much appreciate that!

I used to be a big naysayer to those who wanted to start doing weddings (or whatever) without the proper equipment in duplicates, and experience....but now I say, if you really want to do it, go for it! 'cause honestly, the fact is that people are not likely to be swayed by random anonymous people on the internet. Jump in and do your best, so long as you are prepared for best/worse case scenarios.
Heres the caveat though...I will say this much. as far as weddings are concerned, what can go wrong, will go wrong.
Lighting will be terrible, space will be cramped, people will get in your way, flashes will stop working, batteries will die, cameras will act up...all while you are trying to get that special shot that will only occur once during the wedding.
we bring backups of everything.. and i mean everything. two cameras, 6 flashes, 10 camera batteries plus a few chargers, 36 AA batteries for the flashes, tripod, monopod, light stands, 8 lenses....plus all the other misc. stuff that we might need.
and $#&% still goes wrong, so I end up running around fetching spare stuff so the wife can keep shooting as uninterrupted as possible.

Just be aware of your surroundings. If there is a rehearsal, GO TO IT! see how it will go down. if they give out pamphlets outlining what happens when, TAKE ONE!
cover your @$$. have a contract...whether your charging or doing it for free, doesn't matter. the biggest red flag in photography are clients that don't want to sign a contract. for us, no contract = no work. period. no exceptions.

if you are doing Formals (we always do...its my favorite part) make sure someone (usually from the bridal party, or whoever is arranging things) is designated to help wrangle people for the different group shots.
go over what the bride and groom want beforehand as far as specific shots go.

I really could go on for pages and pages outlining what we do before a wedding, but a lot of it involves gear you don't have so there's not much point except to tell you to take everything you have, just in case.
just go in as prepared as possible, both mentally and equipment wise, and by the time you are done with the shooting, editing, and delivery, you will have a pretty good idea if its something you want to continue doing.

Thank you!!


Weddings were never my forte nor something I yearned to do but since I was asked I seriously considered it. This was my second time being asked to shoot a wedding. I turned down my cousins wedding because I simply wasn't in a place emotionally nor technically ready for a huge stress shoot then. But I feel as if I may be okay this time around. BUT among all of your guys's advice, I think I am going to opt out of the wedding and just offer them some engagements shots and anything outside the wedding they prefer. Other than that I will still be attending the wedding, so I'm happy either way for them

And of course I need more practice, though at 21 years of age i've been "shooting" since I was 15; it was merely a hobby up until this past year where I was getting many people telling me to charge them. I hate those words, "how much do you want." I never liked "charging" people nor telling them how much I wanted, because I didn't really know. But now that I have a "set" list of prices, its much easier but still difficult asking for people's money. I was never one to take from people, but at this point I know my efforts are worth something and if they're willing to pay... heck I'll take it

I'm just proud of how much I have learned in these past few years and working my way up to my dream gear. I started off with a pentax point and shoot camera and had many others from canon point and shoots, to nikon d3100, d5000, d5100, d90, d7000 and now d7100. Out of the bunch I think I learned my way around camera with the d90 and as I aspire to grow my next "dream" camera is a full frame, d750.

Also, I'd like to note that I really never wanted to get into people portraits because I just loved the natural feel about landscapes, etc. But as I grew, family and friends wanted "modeling" pictures, portraits of their grandkids, engagement shots, etc. So I knew I had to learn and learn somewhat quick, so from where I started, I definitely feel better about my photography and comfort level, but many many many more years to come for learning and experiencing new things.

OK, you have gone from a d3100 then to the d5000 and d5100 and d90, d7000 and now d7100
you've spent $000's and $000's on camera gear
and now you realize you need a lot more practice before growing into your "dream camera"

someday you may realize it's not about the camera gear !

 

[Heather Koch]

Heather, I just skimmed through this thread, and I have to say, you are very cool under fire! Your level-keeled tone and attitude in the face of a multi-page onslaught of "Don't do it!" 's and "You're not ready!" 's was very impressive, very commendable. Threads that have begun almost exactly as you began yours have turned nasty here before, many times. You're one cool cucumber, which is a great personality trait to have. I looked through your Facebook galleries...you could probably handle a low-key, simple wedding I think, as long as nothing were to go wrong, and the light level was good, and so on.

I very much appreciate that!

I used to be a big naysayer to those who wanted to start doing weddings (or whatever) without the proper equipment in duplicates, and experience....but now I say, if you really want to do it, go for it! 'cause honestly, the fact is that people are not likely to be swayed by random anonymous people on the internet. Jump in and do your best, so long as you are prepared for best/worse case scenarios.
Heres the caveat though...I will say this much. as far as weddings are concerned, what can go wrong, will go wrong.
Lighting will be terrible, space will be cramped, people will get in your way, flashes will stop working, batteries will die, cameras will act up...all while you are trying to get that special shot that will only occur once during the wedding.
we bring backups of everything.. and i mean everything. two cameras, 6 flashes, 10 camera batteries plus a few chargers, 36 AA batteries for the flashes, tripod, monopod, light stands, 8 lenses....plus all the other misc. stuff that we might need.
and $#&% still goes wrong, so I end up running around fetching spare stuff so the wife can keep shooting as uninterrupted as possible.

Just be aware of your surroundings. If there is a rehearsal, GO TO IT! see how it will go down. if they give out pamphlets outlining what happens when, TAKE ONE!
cover your @$$. have a contract...whether your charging or doing it for free, doesn't matter. the biggest red flag in photography are clients that don't want to sign a contract. for us, no contract = no work. period. no exceptions.

if you are doing Formals (we always do...its my favorite part) make sure someone (usually from the bridal party, or whoever is arranging things) is designated to help wrangle people for the different group shots.
go over what the bride and groom want beforehand as far as specific shots go.

I really could go on for pages and pages outlining what we do before a wedding, but a lot of it involves gear you don't have so there's not much point except to tell you to take everything you have, just in case.
just go in as prepared as possible, both mentally and equipment wise, and by the time you are done with the shooting, editing, and delivery, you will have a pretty good idea if its something you want to continue doing.

Thank you!!


Weddings were never my forte nor something I yearned to do but since I was asked I seriously considered it. This was my second time being asked to shoot a wedding. I turned down my cousins wedding because I simply wasn't in a place emotionally nor technically ready for a huge stress shoot then. But I feel as if I may be okay this time around. BUT among all of your guys's advice, I think I am going to opt out of the wedding and just offer them some engagements shots and anything outside the wedding they prefer. Other than that I will still be attending the wedding, so I'm happy either way for them

And of course I need more practice, though at 21 years of age i've been "shooting" since I was 15; it was merely a hobby up until this past year where I was getting many people telling me to charge them. I hate those words, "how much do you want." I never liked "charging" people nor telling them how much I wanted, because I didn't really know. But now that I have a "set" list of prices, its much easier but still difficult asking for people's money. I was never one to take from people, but at this point I know my efforts are worth something and if they're willing to pay... heck I'll take it

I'm just proud of how much I have learned in these past few years and working my way up to my dream gear. I started off with a pentax point and shoot camera and had many others from canon point and shoots, to nikon d3100, d5000, d5100, d90, d7000 and now d7100. Out of the bunch I think I learned my way around camera with the d90 and as I aspire to grow my next "dream" camera is a full frame, d750.

Also, I'd like to note that I really never wanted to get into people portraits because I just loved the natural feel about landscapes, etc. But as I grew, family and friends wanted "modeling" pictures, portraits of their grandkids, engagement shots, etc. So I knew I had to learn and learn somewhat quick, so from where I started, I definitely feel better about my photography and comfort level, but many many many more years to come for learning and experiencing new things.

OK, you have gone from a d3100 then to the d5000 and d5100 and d90, d7000 and now d7100
you've spent $000's and $000's on camera gear
and now you realize you need a lot more practice before growing into your "dream camera"

someday you may realize it's not about the camera gear !

It's definitely not about the camera, everyone has there way to getting their dream gear. Let me tell you I didn't lose any money going through all those...
Also I used each camera as a learning step to gain my way up the totem pole. Being able to function on different cameras, I believe its a strong suit...

 

[Heather Koch]

UPDATE:
I contacted the "clients," my friends and told them I would sadly decline their proposal for me as their wedding photographer. She was just glad I was honest with her and I told them I'd help with finding the perfect one for them

 

[shmne]

UPDATE:
I contacted the "clients," my friends and told them I would sadly decline their proposal for me as their wedding photographer. She was just glad I was honest with her and I told them I'd help with finding the perfect one for them

Probably for the best! I don't offer to shoot friend's weddings for a reason. Mostly because I like to drink at their weddings.