An assumption that landscape togs make good wedding togs.

Les McLean

Les McLean

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On occasion I get asked to shoot a wedding, fortunately I'm usually able to turn down the requests without too much trouble.

However, an ex-work colleague of mine has approached me to shoot her son's wedding next year.

I trotted out all my usual responses like I'm not a wedding tog, it's an awesome responsibility, you only get one chance if you screw up etc etc.

After all these reasons (or excuses), they (the prospective bride/groom) say they have seen my work (mainly landscapes) and think I'm the bloke for the job.

And this is the pertinent part, why do folk assume that because you can sometimes take a passable image in one genre, it automatically makes you an expert in another? It's a bit like casting Wayne Rooney as the lead role in Swan Lake because he shows a nifty bit of footwork on the football pitch.

I've reluctantly taken on the job, mainly because my ex-colleague (she was my secretary) and I remain good mates, and I don't want to let her down.

I can't say I'm looking forward to the occasion, and I've made it clear to the bride/groom that although I'm confident that I can cover the wedding, my output will unlikely be as polished as a respectable wedding tog.
 
Good luck Les, for what its worth, your technical understanding will be a huge help and getting some 'people' practice in beforehand will probably be no hindrance either. I am not going to hand out th eusual 'don't do it' advice, I think you are old enough and daft enough to know the pitfalls and what you are letting yourself in for. However, yes, people do assume that if you can produce one kind of good pic, then they must all be easy for you :cuckoo:
 
Good on you les.:thumbs:

and if you need / want a hand just shout mate:thumbs: someones got to hold the reflectors
and spare kit:D


md:thumbs:
 
Les, Whitby Goths on your site, hey they are your Bride, Groom and guests, no problem matey, your will nail it. If they are the only good ones from 3000 other shots then maybe some practice needed but I think you will have no problem and do them proud !
 
dseered said:
Les, Whitby Goths on your site, hey they are your Bride, Groom and guests, no problem matey, your will nail it.
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LOL, that's true, I've even got a template for the bridesmaid shoot :)

113167625.TiukEg3D.jpg
 
best wishes and good luck
 
You realise now you absolutely have to take bad pictures, otherwise all your counter arguements will be null and void and she'll think you were just making excuses. :p

seriously though, good luck.
 
Trev Rich said:
I Highly recommend that you visit this linky. for a big tip. (and maybe some semi pro help?)
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very good I wondered how long it would be till the reference was made to him.

I am sure you will not fail on this occasion good luck and remember to post your shots after!

a handy tip i found was looking through this site and getting ideas from the pros on here as in the pics they have posted.


Michael
 
Looking at the quality of the pictures on your website, I'm sure you'll do a great job.

I would like to offer one piece of advise: Practice using fill-in flash if you're not used to doing it.

If you want some more tips, have a look here:

http://www.dslrbasics.co.uk/how-to-shoot/2009/4/12/a-friends-wedding-like-a-pro.html

(Shameless plug for my website, sorry,:nuts: but it might help you 'focus' on the task at hand.)
 
gresleysteve said:
Looking at the quality of the pictures on your website, I'm sure you'll do a great job.

I would like to offer one piece of advise: Practice using fill-in flash if you're not used to doing it.

If you want some more tips, have a look here:

http://www.dslrbasics.co.uk/how-to-shoot/2009/4/12/a-friends-wedding-like-a-pro.html

(Shameless plug for my website, sorry,:nuts: but it might help you 'focus' on the task at hand.)
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Thanks for that-and some good tips on your site :thumbs:

possibly the only thing I would disagree with, is a tripod, I've found them useful when taking the 'group' shots, can leave the camera on the tripod, while organising the 'group'

I'm not a complete novice when it comes to weddings, many years ago, as a skint student (most students are permanently skint), I used to do weddings , and perhaps covered around 25 a year for around 5 years.

Therefore I know how difficult they are , I'm pretty comfortable taking people shots, it's the whole baggage that comes with shooting weddings that makes me want to run a mile :bang::bang:
 
It is a strange assumption that a landscape photographer would make a good wedding photographer, and vise versa, no reason why the should or shouldn't really.
Landscape tog=
Can take hours to take a single pic.
May not be able to talk to people.
May wait for the "right" light.
Used to taking static subjects.
Wedding tog=
Will only shoot if he can light it with fill flash.
Has to organise mountiains by hight order in groups.
Has to have a free meal.
Gets stressed out if another tog come near him to shoot the same pic.

The above is firmly tongue in cheek.
I'm sure you'll have a good time and get some great pics.
 
Les McLean said:
I'm not a complete novice when it comes to weddings, many years ago, as a skint student (most students are permanently skint), I used to do weddings , and perhaps covered around 25 a year for around 5 years.
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:lol:righto you wont need any help :D. And I expect to see some great shots.


md:lol:
 
I knew before I posted that I was in danger of trying to "tell my granny how suck eggs". Over 100 weddings makes you more experienced than most pro wedding togs!

Good luck with the shoot. I'm sure you won't need it.:thumbs:
 
Les, what you need to do is get them to stand a mile away and take a really nice wide angle shot getting a glorious landscape wedding picture. You could supply them with a magnifying glass so that viewer can see the wedding guests and you can show off your awesome landscape photography :)
 
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