Got asked "Can you do my wedding, you have a good camera"

@Phil V is spot on here - getting paid = PRO

PRO means standards, insurances, and worst of all liabilities

Doing one-offs for free is the far safer option and removes the weight (and potential cost) of expectation too. If you look online you'll find there's quite a few WWs with all the gear, insurance etc. who will cover a Wedding for £300; you're pitching yourself into that semi-Pro market by accident

Of course it may well go swimmingly and you have an awesome time and they get photos worth well more than a £300 tog, or it could go tits-up and land you in the s*** as a charging Pro

I'd suggest you tell them you'll do it for free, but IF (afterwards) they like your work then they might like to buy you a nice lens for say £300 ish as a thank you present - much safer

Enjoy either way :)

Dave
 
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Popcorn delivery due tomorrow :popcorn: ........Perhaps I should have ordered double the quantity as I can't see one weeks supply being sufficient:D
 
Jeez I've been paid for building fences, digging holes, painting buildings, baby sitting, dog sitting, fixing cars, fixing bikes, fixing computers, home cinema setup among other stuff and dare I mention, some photography work.

I ain't no pro I can assure you and the folk who paid me accordingly for each of those jobs were also very aware of that too.
 
AndyB1976 said:
Jeez I've been paid for building fences, digging holes, painting buildings, baby sitting, dog sitting, fixing cars, fixing bikes, fixing computers, home cinema setup among other stuff and dare I mention, some photography work.

I ain't no pro I can assure you and the folk who paid me accordingly for each of those jobs were also very aware of that too.
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OMG!!!
I hope you had contracts, insurance, back up tools etc. :p
Hope the taxman doesn't read TP :D
 
holty said:
Hi Keith
if i was you i would get some fast glass for the low light situations you might get at the church and at the reception as your kit lens's wont cut the mustard. also a decent flash is handy
im sure if you in livi camera club someone might loan you a couple im a nikon man so canny help you
by the way im just up the road in seafield
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Have 50mm F1.8, Tokina 11-16mm F2.8, Canon 18-125mm kit lens too, also have flash to use too.
 
swanseamale47 said:
My mum has a great set of spanners but shes no F1 mechanic. ;)
If I read this right your shooting on film which means you can't see if your getting it right or wrong, nor can you easily correct the colours. You say your a wildlife photographer, so do you do much shooting in poor light with flash? A fair few wedding pics are going to be indoors, often with rubbish lighting, akward vicars, and backlit top tables (seems popular at the moment) if the weathers bad you'll be shooting most or all the pics indoors with flash. Thens theres the organising, wedding photography is part photographer, part organiser, you'll need to get the people into the various groups, this with people wanting to get in the warm or more often the bar.
Good luck doing it, if you can and have time try and spend a day with a wedding photographer to see whats involved, theres more to it than you might think.
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Shooting digital swanseamale47. Also hove off camera flash too.
Planning to go to a wedding with a pro wedding photographer in the next couple of months to get some ideas and tips.
 
I was asked by my OH's niece if I would consider shooting her wedding last year. At first I was excited at the prospect but after doing a lot of research and giving it some thought I apologised and said that I just couldn't take the risk that I would fail to take images that were up to my standards, let alone hers.

I did take my camera to get more candid pics, had them printed and presented them to her as a present. She managed to book a wedding photographer and I checked out his previous work, plus also the pics he presented her with after the wedding. I came to a few conclusions:

1. There was absolutely no pressure on me as a (unofficial) second shooter. I gave him a wide berth, never got in his way, and even kept my camera to my side or behind me when he was near. He had all the pressure and I could see he never had a moment's rest over the course of the day; there is no way someone can be the main shooter and enjoy the day in my opinion
2. I never used flash and I find it hard to believe how some people can get away with this, even with fast lenses. The guy had two Canons (looked like one was FF and one APS-C) with big speedlights on each of them. His pics were technically very good and I think one of the big reasons was the use of flash. I matched him for composition and produced intersting pics, but for a wedding you really do need very good glass.
3. Would I say yes next time? As a first shooter - I doubt it. I would try to be a second shooter and this time I would take better glass and proper flash.
 
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southernjessie said:
2. I never used flash and I find it hard to believe how some people can get away with this, even with fast lenses. The guy had two Canons (looked like one was FF and one APS-C) with big speedlights on each of them. His pics were technically very good and I think one of the big reasons was the use of flash.
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Don't confuse 'technically good', with 'good'. To see how wedding photographers operate (very) successfully without flash just see below:

www.yorkplacestudios.co.uk/

These days the use of flash is an aesthetic choice rather than a necessity.
 
Thanks for the link....very interesting. I like their work very much btw.

danny_bhoy said:
Don't confuse 'technically good', with 'good'. To see how wedding photographers operate (very) successfully without flash just see below:

www.yorkplacestudios.co.uk/

These days the use of flash is an aesthetic choice rather than a necessity.
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danny_bhoy said:
Don't confuse 'technically good', with 'good'. To see how wedding photographers operate (very) successfully without flash just see below:

www.yorkplacestudios.co.uk/

These days the use of flash is an aesthetic choice rather than a necessity.
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Photography is all about light, introducing artificial light means you have greater creative control and can adapt to every situation. Using a flash on the hotshoe directed straight forwards in TTL mode is guaranteed to give average results. www.strobist.com is a great resource.
 
an1uk said:
Photography is all about light, introducing artificial light means you have greater creative control and can adapt to every situation. Using a flash on the hotshoe directed straight forwards in TTL mode is guaranteed to give average results. www.strobist.com is a great resource.
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Is there greater skill in introducing artificial light to suit or using the light that's available for equally compelling results? Like I said before, with the high ISO capabilities of modern DSLRs, flash becomes an option rather than a necessity.

Anyway, this shiz is waaay off topic :)
 
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