Some advice... (asked to a wedding, where to go from here, etc)

[MLeeK]

I am browsing through your portfolio and 90%+ of your images are seriously underexposed and lacking in contrast. Which actually tells me something else-you aren't even working on a calibrated monitor. So, what you are seeing on your computer isn't what your images would look like in a print. Your colors seem fairly accurate or close but slightly on the warm side.
That calibration is more important than any other link in the chain here. If your monitor doesn't reflect reality you don't know what your images really look like.

For example this image

This is somewhere around a full two stops underexposed, however I am betting that on your computer it looks great with great skin and details around the eyes.
In reality? The male is so in the shadows that he has no detail at all in his eyes and they are nearly to the point of shadowed holes. She has no details in her eyes, they are black slits. He's really the one with no details because he's that dark.

If you'd allow us to edit I'd show you what it SHOULD look like-which on your computer will probably look incredibly overexposed.

The first thing you can do to fix this situation is to decrease the brightness and contrast on your monitor to about 75%. Monitors out of the box are set up for internet and gaming. They are far too bright and contrasty for photography. It will look like crap at first! Your whites should be white, but not lit up looking.

 

[Designer]

Serbrider; It seems that your friend stands to save roughly $1,000, and you stand to gain a new lens. Additionally, you both stand to lose a friendship.

What if you agree to do this and then for whatever reason cannot perform or underperform? Will you and your friend be able to put this all behind you and laugh about it?

Looking at your present ability, I would say that it conceivably could be done. You could, if you spent a lot of time and effort, become the photographer that your friend thinks you are. And it is conceivable that this could all be done by December, but it wouldn't be easy.

Besides learning, you might realize that you need more equipment (lights), insurance, and a second shooter to grab the informals.

If you're ready to do that, then good luck!

 

[12sndsgood]

Sure, go ahead.

Whats the worst that could happen?
So, you could screw up, the pictures won't look good and the most memorable day of her life won't have any good memories.

That wouldn't be your problem would it?



Unless of course you're taking money for it and she decides to sue you for damages, etc.




Nah, go ahead.




Your liability insurance will cover it and your best friend is a lawyer so he'll handle the court case for the suit and settle with the state for doing business without a license.
And she'll eventually talk to you again but little short words.

Go ahead.

What can you lose?


That last is a rhetorical question.

No need to be so rude about it. SHE ASKED ME. I haven't said yes. I have actually expressed my concern multiple times to her. She doesn't want to drop it. I've said no twice before, and this is the third time she's asked me. I apologize if you've screwed up someone's life, but that's why I've come on here and ASKED before saying ANYTHING to her. This is one of my best friends, and I have encouraged her SO many times to use a professional photographer, she ended up finding one that she liked, but now her mom is telling her she needs to find somebody cheaper.

I'm not some stupid idiot little girl who is all "MY FOTOGRAFY IS BUTIFUL!! I CAN DO ANYTING!!". I am a novice. And I don't want to do weddings now or in future. But I do want to develop my photography skills, and my friend has been bugging me so long, I wanted another input. OBVIOUSLY I'm such a stupid idiot novice photographer that I should just throw away my camera and never look at it again because all I'll do is ruin people's lives by taking photos of them.

She has told me that all she wants is some posed photos at the beginning, maybe some during the ceremony for her mom's sake, and then some reception photos. She really only wants cell phone photos, but her mom wants her to find a photographer, which is why she's asking me, as her other friend and her brother are more in the wedding. I have said no twice so far, as I've said. As that is a HUGE pressure on ME. She may say she doesn't care, but I do, and it's not about wanting to maintain a good relationship with her, but in my opinion (not hers), the photography at the wedding is HUGE. And very important. Hence, why I wanted an unbiased opinion.

And I got that. So I will not be doing her wedding. Happy?



To everyone else, thank you. I will definitely continue to develop my portraiture skills, and work hard to learn as much as I can, and maybe someday be able to earn something from it.

his remarks were sarcastic, but very truthfull in what can happen or what you should think about. your not ready.and shouldn't do it. If it were me in your shoes, i'd ask her to hire someone more qualified, and then ask to be there and shoot photos as well. This way your not responsible for the most important day of her life, and you still get some experience.

 

[LEO_PF]

While I agree with a lot of what is being said I have to remember....In 1999, I was exactly where you are right now. The difference is that I was using film. My intention was to never do it as a business. I had always enjoyed taking pictures, but I had no idea what I was doing and how to get good results manually.

I had a nice camera, but like you, didn't know how to use the manual settings and to think I had to learn by reading the manual....well, sometimes I understood and sometimes I didn't. So, I decided to take a correspondence course through New York Institute of Photography. This was an incredible way to learn and I would highly recommend it today. If you are serious about learning, getting training is a must and you have said you understand that so I won't belabor the point. You can work at your own pace.

I had been taking the course for a few months and was asked by my step-daughter to do her senior portraits. I had only been studying landscape photography up till then. I thought I had enough knowledge so I did it. Well, taking landscape photographs and portraits are two totally different animals!!! She thought they were ok, but I know now they were horrible. I kept getting asked by friends to do their kids portraits so decided I needed to move on to learn portrait photography in the lessons. Boy, did that help A LOT!

Then I had a friend that I worked with who kept asking me to do their wedding. I kept saying no, just like you. Remember, I just wanted to learn for myself, not do this as a business. Finally they said they knew the risk they were taking with having me do them (no backup camera, 1 lens, never done a wedding before). They were fine taking the risk, so I caved and said I would do it. I did engagement photos, but like has been mentioned by others, these you can re-do if you mess them up.

I had some time before the wedding so I started studying everything I could about wedding photography. I found out about Wedding and Portrait Photography International (WPPI). The best thing I could have ever done was joining that group and getting educated. I wanted to do a good job, even if they were ok with mediocre.

Come wedding day I was so nervous! Everything went great. I was actually lucky enough to be able to use flash in the church (not all churches allow that). Then when we did the formal family portraits, I thought everything was good. There were about 25 people in the shot. No worries. That is until they wanted me to give them enlargements of the portrait. Because of using 35mm film with that many people in the shot, anything larger than 5x7 was fuzzy. Now, even though they said they wouldn't be upset, they were! It caused us both to feel bad!!!

So, what do I recommend? First, I would say no to being the main photographer, but that you would be glad to shoot candids throughout the ceremony with no expectation that anything will turn out. I wouldn't take any money for it at all. That way, it is understood they aren't putting something out and possibly getting nothing in return. Then, after it is all said and done and the images turn out great and if they want to pay you something that is great. This removes the pressure from you and allows you to "experiment".

You need to understand that even though you will be shooting outdoors, you can actually end up with more issues than indoors, depending on the lighting. Bright sunny days mean you HAVE to fill with flash or you will have a lot of underexposed faces or if you have people face the sun, you will have squinty eyes and not flattering light.

I don't recommend an amateur ever taking wedding photographs and taking money for the job. Even for a friend. Do it for nothing and I would get the parents to sign a waiver or letter of understanding that they know they may not get good photographs. If they turn out...GREAT! If not....no issues.

Hope this helps. Just so you know, I had so much fun doing their wedding I decided to learn more, got business insurance and marketed so I would do more. I went on to shoot about 17 per year for several years (until I wanted my life back).

Hope this helps!

 

[SCraig]

Here is what you should do:

Meet your friend and her fiance at a relatively dimly lighted place. A school or a house with dim lights or whatever. A church ceremony may not allow you to use a flash. It varies and there is no way of knowing until the rehearsal.

Shoot a mock wedding. Get all the shots you would get at her real wedding. Pretend it is the real thing and it is the only chance you will have to get the shots. THERE ARE NO RETAKES! You get them now or you don't get them. And if you don't get them she is not going to forgive you regardless of what she says.

Optional: Halfway through the mock ceremony pretend that you dropped your only camera and broke it. No more shots. What do you do now?

Send the best ones out to be printed so you aren't relying on your uncalibrated monitor.

Now all three of you sit down and look at the shots and decide if you should be shooting the wedding.

Come back and tell us what you decided on. I'd be willing to be that 99% of the people here can answer that question already. You can to if you are honest with yourself.

I shot a bunch of wedding decades ago as a second shooter, and I shot a few as the primary photographer. I decided after the last one that I would never, ever, not for any amount of money, shoot another one. A friend asked me a couple of weeks ago to shoot her wedding and I told her absolutely no way. I told her I'd help her pick a photographer, that I'd be happy to shoot casual shots or anything else she wanted but I absolutely, positively will not shoot her wedding as the primary shooter.

 

[Furashu]

Learn the basics: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-beginners-forum/123160-tutorial-thread.html

Look for guides on shooting weddings.

If you feel confident without having to ask a forum whether or not to accept the job after 1 month of increasing your photography knowledge and skills, then accept the job.

I just started reading all the guides, books and intro videos to photography and the fact that you don't have the confidence in making the decision to shoot this wedding shows that you are not ready. It'll take you like two minutes to learn what "various things such as aperture and f-stop" are by reading the guides listed above.

Good luck. If I was you I wouldn't do it until I had the confidence for such an important event.

 

[The_Traveler]

Every week or so, someone wanders in here and says (very approximately):" I've just started taking pictures and every one thinks they are good. I just have really beginning equipment and never have gotten into flash or post-processing because I like the purity of getting the picture right in the camera. Now my friend/sister/cousin/whatever wants me to take pictures at their wedding. Have a look at my pictures and tell me what you think. Can I shoot the wedding?" or something like that.

What I hear is: "I don't know squat. I haven't even tried but I think my stuff looks pretty damn nice. I might even be a photo prodigy. Please look at my pictures, confirm my suspicions and give me a reason to shoot this wedding."

What I want to say is - No, I won't write that.

So what I end up saying is that, just like climbing Mt Everest using toothpicks and dental floss while carrying your mother-in-law or a yak is certainly possible, the odds are against you shooting this wedding and having the result that the bride or the mother envisions.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I realize the temptation of the offer, and I realize why you've wavered in your resolve about declining her offer. The one thing I like is the way you've approached this forum knowing full well where you are with your skill level.

So many people come on this forum posting similar threads with delusions of grandeur: e.g. because friend X asked Y to shoot their wedding after seeing pictures Y took, that Y is prepared and ready and no one can tell him/her differently. Or WORSE, they come here and post the nightmare pictures after the fact! At least you have the foresight to come here and get the honest answer.

The honest answer is no, you have too much to learn in too short a period of time.

You know you're not a pro, not anywhere close. You know you haven't taken the time to learn the basics of how cameras work. You know that you don't have any processing skills beyond basic adjustments.

Knowing all of these things, the answer should be simple for you. I would approach your friend with a counter-offer. Have her hire a pro who doesn't mind you second shooting the wedding. That way, you both get something: She gets good photos of the most important event of her life (maybe even some from you!) and you get the experience.