My first wedding consultation....

[IgsEMT]

Ok well im really trying to learn. I only started. 6 months ago and taught myself everything so far. I just invested in a 50mm 1.4 which should help with my lighting. But i dont know any other way to learn. :/

50 1.4 would do squat for your lighting, if there's no light to work with.

But to answer the question posed....

Hey everyone im meeting my first client tomorrow. They are perfectly aware I have no experince shooting a wedding. But they love my pictures. I have full confidence in myself to shoot a wedding though. I dont have any products to show or anything but I was wondering what are some things to talk about during the consultation? Any advice?

First and foremost, clients - ESPECIALLY IN THIS CASE,have to be aware what they are getting into.
Find out what they are looking for (proofs, images on a disk, albums, etc etc etc). Find out their expectations.
Timeline: where's the event taking place, number of locations. Give your self time for individuals of the bride, individuals of the groom, families, extended families, etc.
Payment schedule.
Turn around time.
CONTRACT. Even the crappiest contract is still a contract.

On a personal note, few weeks ago I was hired by another photographer to shoot a wedding. It turned out that the photographer who hired me was trying to get into the business himself and hired someone else (me) to be the primary shooter while he was my second. I didn't know anything of that until the morning of the wedding when I showed up at the bride's house and this guy was there working with her. Mind you, I never met him, only spoke on the phone several times. After he explained to me what was happening, we ended up doing what needed to be done to give these people the product they deserved. The only bad thing about that job, as with most weddings I do, is that its for another studio and I can't display it, BUT its a small price to pay for potential networking. Before going into the wedding, don't forget you need backup gear!
Good Luck

 

[MReid]

I will try to be nice:
At 6 months experience you don't know enough to know what you don't know.

Weddings are pressure cookers and if you don't know your equipment back and forth without even having to think about it....well things can go very wrong in a hurry....also equipment will break, or stop functioning for a multitude of reasons, you need to be able to react and get back on track in seconds.

Not to mention all the time management and people skills that are required...you can't just jump into it. Some people do and get lucky...some people aren't as lucky.

Do yourself a favor and study and practice A LOT for another year, then start slow with portraits.

I speak from experience:
My second wedding, I was shooting the formals in the church as the sun was going down. It was getting darker and darker and I didn't know enough to figure out how to adjust the flash and ambient adjustments so the pictures came out SO dark.
Later discovered I did not have my camera/flash settings set up how I though they were, and did not know enough to be able to tell the difference.

My fourth wedding, 30 seconds before the bride came down the aisle my camera stopped working...just stopped. I sprinted out to my car and grabbed my backup camera (wrong place for it) and got back just as the bride started down the aisle.
Later when my brain was not in panic mode, discovered the lens had come loose and a 1/4 turn would have clicked it back into place.

These stories occurred over 100 weddings ago and thankfully I look back on them today with just a fraction of the terror I felt at the time.

 

[CCericola]

Please get insurance ASAP. Not only does it protect you, some venues will not let you shoot weddings there without it. I would NEVER even think about shooting a wedding on my own without at least a 1million dollar liability policy. I have 2m + 50K in equipment coverage for a little over $300 a year.

 

[Robin Usagani]

No guts no glory!

 

[DiskoJoe]

Please get insurance ASAP. Not only does it protect you, some venues will not let you shoot weddings there without it. I would NEVER even think about shooting a wedding on my own without at least a 1million dollar liability policy. I have 2m + 50K in equipment coverage for a little over $300 a year.

Really? Thats not a bad deal. (mentally noted)

 

[lapequesalsera]

Vanessa, first of all, don't let anybody tell you that you can't do anything, not just photography but in general, I made a quick visit to your site and for 6 months I think there are some hood shoots there, practice a lot so you can get better everyday and when you look back at some of those images in your website you will be able to know what you could have done better.

I have zero experience in weddings, but it's definitely not a 2 hr portrait session, I suggest visiting the venues before the day so you can get an idea of the views/ lighting, etc... Are you making a good profit our of it? I suggest helping out these people by not overcharging, you are going to get a good experience out of this wedding and that should be plenty of payment.

Good luck!

 

[KmH]

....and my clients are very happy with them...

Take into account that your clients have an emotional involvement with the photos that makes them unreliable as judges.

 

[KmH]

and you being a professional photographer dosent give you the right to be a professional jackass on someone who only want to learn! Great thanks for your opinion though!

Really. Poor. Form. :thumbdown:

 

[The_Traveler]

and you being a professional photographer dosent give you the right to be a professional jackass on someone who only want to learn! Great thanks for your opinion though!

Are you sure?
I thought it did, for sure.


But his remarks were actually not jackass-y but meant truthfully.
You need to prune many of your images and finish the ones you keep.

I, on the other hand, am totally not a professional and that may allow me to be a jackass.
I just checked with my wife and she says that not only am I allowed, it is essentially compulsory.

She just yelled in and said that believes it is a genetic thing.

 

[littlefish]

okay, I'm new here, but not to a photography forum, I checked out your website. I did notice that you started it six months ago. Kudo's to you. My problems is I find it hard to believe that you picked up a camera for the first time six months ago. That you instantly knew how to take pictures and edited them. With that you were immediately able to start your own website. With-in what.....? Days....hours? I'm not buying it. You have been shooting pictures for more then six months. Your photo's show a range of seasons, locations and I find it hard to believe that you took all of those pictures during the fall and winter of this pass year.

That being said, I think you are a very talented person. It most likely would not be to your advantage to shoot a wedding yet. As has already been mention, being an assistance to someone who has shots many, many wedding would be to your advantage. You will learn a lot.

You have excellent potental, but you are not ready yet. Unless as you suggested in your first statement, you have full confidence in your ablitiy to go into something you have never done before. Which I might add is usually one of the most memrable and important days of a couple's life. So I'm suggesting you reconsider your "full confidence", because if you mess up, there is not second chance. and you will be hated and possible sued.

 

[Nessy024]

okay, I'm new here, but not to a photography forum, I checked out your website. I did notice that you started it six months ago. Kudo's to you. My problems is I find it hard to believe that you picked up a camera for the first time six months ago. That you instantly knew how to take pictures and edited them. With that you were immediately able to start your own website. With-in what.....? Days....hours? I'm not buying it. You have been shooting pictures for more then six months. Your photo's show a range of seasons, locations and I find it hard to believe that you took all of those pictures during the fall and winter of this pass year.

That being said, I think you are a very talented person. It most likely would not be to your advantage to shoot a wedding yet. As has already been mention, being an assistance to someone who has shots many, many wedding would be to your advantage. You will learn a lot.

You have excellent potental, but you are not ready yet. Unless as you suggested in your first statement, you have full confidence in your ablitiy to go into something you have never done before. Which I might add is usually one of the most memrable and important days of a couple's life. So I'm suggesting you reconsider your "full confidence", because if you mess up, there is not second chance. and you will be hated and possible sued.

i live in south florida with no seasons lol but your advice is great! thank you little fish! im going ot meet them now and go over everything you guys said!

 

[GlassSlinger]

Well, how'd it go?

 

[rexbobcat]

"For outdoor portraits, it's recommend early in the morning to avoid harsh lighting."

This makes me worry.

 

[raider]

you're a business owner... hire someone that knows what they're doing!

 

[CCericola]

"For outdoor portraits, it's recommend early in the morning to avoid harsh lighting."

This makes me worry.

Just a quick side note. Unfortunately the photographer does not get to have input as to the time of the ceremony. However, with the proper training, experience and equipment, a professional can work with less than ideal lighting situations.