In At The Deep End - My First Wedding

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glennk

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Glenn
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Ive been asked to do a few weddings in the past and always turned them down due to sheer fear of getting it wrong (Not a good starting point I know). With a turn of events in my personal life I may now find myself in a position where I need to earn money. Paid Photography is just 1 thing I aim to have a go at in the coming years, I do have other ideas so This will just be one source of income if it happens for me.

A friend has asked me to photograph their wedding in June. Her message read something like "Hey lovely - am sure not your bag at all but do you do wedding photography for a fee ??! We're not after anything formal at all and can't bear the thought of anyone standing to attention - guest or photographer but thought would ask - no worries if you're not keen - just hope that you're joining on the day !!....:)) !!....please tell me you got your invite !!....! :S xx"

So not much pressure there then :-) But serious Id like to give this a crack. I guess everyone has to start somewhere. I feel I have the ability to at least do it justice. But Id like to make it as good as I possibly can. I now have a decent knowledge of photography. Some of my photographs do go down well on social media and people in my area seem to enjoy my candid shots.

Any advice would be helpful. Please be positive :-)
 
I did a few "candid" wedding shots at the weekend for some friends ……. all 560 images
It was a small wedding, a "mature couple" friends of ours - not a "white wedding"

The experts will give you all their "expert" advice

but, apart from the obvious, I found the following useful

1). If Registar Office - talk to the Registrar, he/she will give you advice and tell you the shots that the "pros" usually take and where to stand
2). Same for a Church Wedding - if you have a friendly vicar
3). Really watch the light especially if it is a bright sunshine/shadowy day
4). make it obvious from the start that you are the "official" photographer, so that all the guests that want to take photos get out of the way so that you get the best position and view for any "official/main" type shots.

It can be all a bit of a rush, so in the quiet minutes, keep checking your gear and basic settings on you camera(s)………….
I took a D750, D700, a Nikon 70 200mm f2.8VR, a Nikon 50mm f1.8 and a Nikon 16 35mm f4 VR
I took about 300 shots with the 50mm, 200 shots with the 70mm 200mm f2.8VR and about 60 shots with the 16 35mm f4
both cameras lasted without a change of battery …….. although I took 3 spares for each
I used a Nikon SB 600 flash indoors

would I do it again - probably/yes, for a small wedding - but I'd take a little more time at all stages - you realise afterwards that most of the time there is no need to rush

I would never do a "big" white wedding for a young couple or similar - as I am sure that it is not easy at all

Hope this helps …….. but as I said it is the first one I have ever done ……. so listen to the experts
 
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What do people generally do if its a very strong sunlit day ?? Are you taking people into shady areas ? using Flash ? I have a little experience of trying to shoot street in Whitby at our Goth event. Harsh sunlight makes for horrid photos with shadows etc. I guess its about remembering to watch for shadows and get out of strong sun ?
 
Hi Glenn - I think the first thing you need to do is either be a guest or photographer. Trying to be both will cause you no end of hassle.

Also, it's been said a million times here before, but make sure you have the right gear for the job and backups. Although the people requesting your services have made it sound all informal and light-hearted, if your gear goes belly-up during the day itself I doubt they'll be best pleased.

Are you planning on charging for your services? Although everyone has to start somewhere and there are many arguments for and against working for free or for experience, I'd seriously consider whether or not you want to be taking any money for this. I might be wrong, but just gong by the questions you're asking, you don't sound ready.
 
I once photographed wedding as a 'favour' to some friends. It highlighted a few things. Most importantly, the amount of time it takes to produce the final set of images. A lot of people balk at the price of wedding photography but fail to account for the considerable hours spent not only on the day, but both prior and after the 'big event'. And then there's the cost associated with the final deliverables. Wedding albums can cost a small fortune to purchase. Add the cost of printing and your time mounting the prints. It's not a cheap exercise.

The other thing was that I didn't feel like I was a guest until I'd packed my gear at the end of a very long day. I was the photographer. Period. Your mind is focused on the task in hand, not enjoying the festivities. If you're not comfortable with using fill-in flash, practice. And practice again. Before the day. You haven't got the time to learn on the go. Especially if you're being paid.

Would I do it again? Only under the right circumstances and probably never with the intention of making money.

Have you considered seeing if any pro-wedding photographers in your area would let you tag along as second camera? I think it'd be a great way to gain experience.

Best of luck.
 
I couldn't do it. The thought of cocking up somewhere would be too much for my nerves:nailbiting:
 
I really dont think they are relying on me to that great an extent. I asked what she wanted and the following answer came back "honestly no pressure at all....you won't be the only one taking pics - we're not looking for a portfolio just a few shots at falling Foss and then randoms as they occur !!!....you take such lovely casual people shots....really only what you're comfortable with as we'd rather you were there as a guest and enjoying yourself than worrying about missing something !!....:)) x"

Im well up to the work of editing. Not 100% cool about fill flash but have some experience. But yes Im lacking at present in the skills to pull it off fantastically. That said Im confident I could do a half decent job.

I aim in the long run to do Wedding photography, and to doo it bloody well. I guess we all have to start somewhere. i do have a friend who said I could tag with him a few times so I guess that could be a start point.

Any more thoughts also appreciated.
 
Sounds to me like a good set up to have a go at. I've done a fair few weddings. Started off just doing some shots at a reception, mostly candid, a few posed when people asked or I saw something good. Charged them 50 quid for about an hour or so of doing photos in their garden. This was about 7 years ago. Then I went on to do a few full weddings charging a proper fee, totally different thing.

Sounds to me like the bride is ideal for you to help out, she likes your style and has seen what you do. Don't try to get a load of new ideas in your head about how 'you should photograph a wedding'. I'd go for it, don't think of it as a wedding as such, just 'an event'. The 'W' does seem to strike fear into people, myself included!

Also, I agree you can't shoot a full wedding and also be a guest, but if you explain that to her, there is no reason that you can't get some candid stuff before the ceremony, and after. You could also plan to just take the bride and groom away to do one formal portrait as in future years they will probably be glad they got one.

So here are my tips...

1. Be absolutely clear what you are and aren't doing photography wise. If you're not comfortable doing posed group shots just tell her that, if she wants them done she will have to get someone else to do it.

2. Agree on a shot list or if there are any particular people she wants shots of (knowing her you should be at an advantage here). She may want you to nip out of the wedding venue first so you can get them coming out etc. Shot list is a good way to define your boundaries.

3. Shoot in your own style, that's what she likes.

4. Have back ups, 2 camera bodies, minimum 2 lenses, batteries, cards. Yes, you'll probably need a camera bag.

5. Lay off the booze till you're finished shooting!

So my opinion is that you can do it, you obviously have the skills and so long as you are clear about what you can and can't do there is no reason not to do it. On the other hand if you just want to go and enjoy the whole day, just explain that and I'm sure she'd understand.
 
I agree with @gibtheo. Don;t try and create lots of new ideas, just remember - she's asked you to do this based on your previous stuff, so she likes that. That being said, some things are just not appropriate for a wedding. I wouldn't go taking shots of the bride up close with an 8mm fisheye. It just doesn't look pretty! :D

Make sure you have a back up plan if your gear goes a*se up. First time I did a wedding I had a friend on call with his gear just in case. and as said before, pratice, practice, practice, and then do some more.
 
After shooting 400+ weddings professionally, I agree with Steven's five points above, although I'd add to #4 that you need both those bodies and lenses with you at all times. However, I'm with Danny if wondering whether the questions you asked suggest that you might be better off doing this one without the pay. I totally understand what the bride's said regarding her expectations, but a pound to a penny says that if you screw up, the couple will still be mightily p***ed off with you.

If you're looking to get into shooting weddings from scratch, what you need most of all is experience, and the best way to start getting that without the pressure is tagging along with a snapper who knows what they're doing. Alternatively, shoot your friend's wedding FOC for the experience, let the couple treat you when they've got their pictures, and treat that as a bonus.
 
Oh yes, I definately wont be charging. It will be my present to them. Hope that will take the pressure off. Ill have a very direct conversation with her this week.

A big thankyou to you all for your feedback. Ive also just got a request to shoot a quite well known music festival. Basically shooting the crowd and candids. Its all experience I guess.

My fear at present is I dont have a second camera body. I need to rectify that asap. Speculate to accumalate I guess.
 
glennk said:
Oh yes, I definately wont be charging. It will be my present to them. Hope that will take the pressure off. Ill have a very direct conversation with her this week.

A big thankyou to you all for your feedback. Ive also just got a request to shoot a quite well known music festival. Basically shooting the crowd and candids. Its all experience I guess.

My fear at present is I dont have a second camera body. I need to rectify that asap. Speculate to accumalate I guess.
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If you are Nikon shooter even a D200 or D300 is great as an inexpensive "back up"
 
I did my first wedding last year as a favour for a friend-of-a-friend. They had no budget at all for a photographer. They were originally just going to use their guests pictures and then had second thoughts.

I didn't charge anything - the experience was absolutely invaluable and was all I wanted. However, I did stress to the couple several times that I was just a hobbyist and if they had ANY reservations at all about it then they should book a professional. I sent them some pictures I'd taken at other weddings (where I was just there as a guest) and they were happy with what they saw.

Like others, I was absolutely bricking it in the lead up to the day. I did a recce at the venues 3 weeks beforehand - the nice worker at the council registry office was happy to show me around. The country pub and hotel whhere they had the reception was equally obliging. I wanted to check out the lighting, size of the rooms (and how that'd work with bounce flash etc), and where I might get a decent view of the ceremony without distracting the guests. I also wanted to see if there was anywhere near the venue I could do some nice posed shots, and fortunately there was a vineyard next door, and a meadow with a wooden column structure in it over the road.

I'd also done alot of research and looking at other peoples pictures online. Then on the day I turned up 2 hours early so I could chill out in a cafe and have a final look through pictures I'd printed from professional photographers sites that I really admired, trying to make mental notes on how they had probably been created.

On the day I took 2 cameras - my D7000, and my old D3000. I used an 18-105 zoom during the ceremony, then during the reception the same 18-105, an old 55-200 (although it wasn't a great lens so I mostly tried to use the other zoom where I could), and a 50mm prime. I used just one flashgun with no modifier other than a bounce card, and shot handheld for the entire day. I also took spare batteries for both cameras, and a whole pack of AAs for the speedlight.

As others have said, don't underestimate the sorting and processing time... it takes ages. I spent hours and hours over 3 weeks going through the pictures time after time.

In all I did four "passes". The first was to bin everything that was just bad. Then I went through and took out all the boring ones where nothing was happening and there was nothing of interest. Then I went through and took out all the ones that were too similar to others.

From 600 odd photos, I ended up with a master DVD of about 80 that I processed (very basic colour correction - I'm rubbish at processing and need to learn more) that I felt told the story of the day. I also had a folder of "alternatives" that were nice, but I felt were too similar to ones in the "master" folder to include in it. That folder had about 100 or so pictures in it.

Not every shot was a work of art in my mind, and I made some errors, but to my relief, the happy couple either didn't care or didn't notice and were extremely pleased with what they received... and sent me £120 worth of local champagne! Apparently their guests remarked on how hard I'd worked which was nice to hear too.

Go for it - just make sure they're realistic in their expectations from you. Remind them your'e not a professional, but that you'll do your very best for them.

Oh by the way - one other thing. Another thing I learned is It's VERY hard work being on your feet for 8-10 hours! Wear thick socks and the most comfortable smart shoes you can find!
 
BillN_33 said:
If you are Nikon shooter even a D200 or D300 is great as an inexpensive "back up"
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or a fuji s5pro which are selling for around £200 and is a D200 with a Fuji sensor. how I wish fuji would release a newer model
 
Halfcharged said:
As others have said, don't underestimate the sorting and processing time... it takes ages. I spent hours and hours over 3 weeks going through the pictures time after time.

In all I did four "passes". The first was to bin everything that was just bad. Then I went through and took out all the boring ones where nothing was happening and there was nothing of interest. Then I went through and took out all the ones that were too similar to others.

From 600 odd photos, I ended up with a master DVD of about 80 that I processed
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Really? If that took you more than half a day tops you're not doing it right. What software were you using to process the pics?
 
snap-happy said:
Really? If that took you more than half a day tops you're not doing it right. What software were you using to process the pics?
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When you're not doing a lot of it I can see how it'd take that long. I expect a pro to be able to cull in a couple of hours (an hour for 600), but if you're used to going through 100 pics at a time, 600 is a bit overwhelming.

I'm still no editing guru, a full wedding takes me about 3 days in edit, though it's getting closer to 2 days, and I reckon I ought to be aiming for one.

But that's 2 shooters (1800 ish to start) down to 450 ish.

For a novice I'd estimate 3-4 hrs in post for every hour shooting.
 
Did this this weekend for a friend.
Started with, 'are you bringing your camera' to ending up with a detailed list of times and photos the bride wanted, which wasn't bad as at least I knew what she was expecting.
I shot 400 images, took me about 3 hours to process as most were right in camera. I delivered 226 final images.

As said, you aren't a guest at that point, you are always working. I had a two hour drive there, started photographing at 11:30 and finished at 19:00 with a 2 hour drive home.
Know your flashgun, you will need fill flash on a bright sunny day. Have additional batteries or a add on pack, I have a Godox flashgun battery pack that gives rapid recharging and so the AA batteries in the flash don't run out.
Have an assistant handy. You'll be amazed at how handy they are, even if it's just to hold stuff (like subject personal belongings not wanted in shot), guard your bag, organise the guests or even be a voice activated stand if you're using a reflector.

Oh and get there early. Chat to the vicar ask whats allowed or not and also if there are any particular good shots they know of.

And be prepared. You will be on the go for ages and worn out afterwards. Drink plenty of water.
 
Phil V said:
When you're not doing a lot of it I can see how it'd take that long. I expect a pro to be able to cull in a couple of hours (an hour for 600), but if you're used to going through 100 pics at a time, 600 is a bit overwhelming.
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Indeed. And AFAIC apart from experience/practice, the key to editing a wedding without losing the will to live is to

1. Get it right in camera

2. Go through the take at speed and bin everything which is patently crap. If you can't make your mind up in no more than two seconds if a shot is crap or not, you've just proved that it is, so bin it.

3. Then go through what's left and pick keepers (as opposed to deleting those that aren't).

4. Check that your keepers include all the "must have" shots and that the total number is in line with client expectations.

5. Then process, remembering at all times that (a) you are likely to be far more picky than your customer is and (b) time spent in serious turd-polishing is usually wasted
 
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Serendipitous Sid said:
Indeed. And AFAIC apart from experience/practice, the key to editing a wedding without losing the will to live is to

1. Get it right in camera

2. Go through the take at speed and bin everything which is patently crap. If you can't make your mind up in no more than two seconds if a shot is crap or not, you've just proved that it is, so bin it.

3. Then go through what's left and pick keepers (as opposed to deleting those that aren't).

4. Check that your keepers include all the "must have" shots and that the total number is in line with client expectations.

5. Then process, remembering at all times that (a) you are likely to be far more picky than your customer is and (b) time spent in serious turd-polishing is usually wasted
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This is where Lightroom works a treat. Use the grading to sort the images
 
Went through this same situation a couple of months ago, wedding snapper for friends with no money, the day is way too stressful! Biggest issue I faced was the couple want to pose in front of a trellis which looked awful and had poor light, took a fair bit of coercing to get them to move where I wanted them to be.

The end results were good, but too much like hard work to do very often and it's pretty clear to me why it costs so much to hire a pro. I did manage to get about every shot in, plus of few "right place, right time" ones, and they were delighted with the results.
 
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Seahorse said:
Went through this same situation a couple of months ago, wedding snapper for friends with no money, the day is way too stressful! Biggest issue I faced was the couple want to pose in front of a trellis which looked awful and had poor light, took a fair bit of coercing to get them to move where I wanted them to be.

The end results were good, but too much like hard work to do very often and it's pretty clear to me why it costs so much to hire a pro. I did manage to get about every shot in, plus of few "right place, right time" ones, and they were delighted with the results.
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This...
Is the big difference between shooting for mates and being a pro.

I set up and no one questions my choices, but they'll tell their mate where they want shots and what they want shot. That's the hurdle your attitude has to get over before the wedding. By the day, make sure you're the pro and you call the shots.
 
snap-happy said:
Really? If that took you more than half a day tops you're not doing it right. What software were you using to process the pics?
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First time... inexperience... The software that comes bundled with the the D7000. I'm learning gimp now 'cos it's free....

I don't mean I actually sat in front of a computer for 8 hours a day for 3 weeks. I meant I kept coming back to it for an hour here, 2 there. Then deciding which ones to crop, which ones would look better in monochrome etc. Every picture I did any work on, I spent quite a long time on as I was experimenting quite a lot.

The last "gig" I did (a baby photo shoot) was much, much quicker. I've still got a lot to learn though on the editing side especially.
 
Halfcharged said:
First time... inexperience... The software that comes bundled with the the D7000. I'm learning gimp now 'cos it's free....

I don't mean I actually sat in front of a computer for 8 hours a day for 3 weeks. I meant I kept coming back to it for an hour here, 2 there. Then deciding which ones to crop, which ones would look better in monochrome etc. Every picture I did any work on, I spent quite a long time on as I was experimenting quite a lot.

The last "gig" I did (a baby photo shoot) was much, much quicker. I've still got a lot to learn though on the editing side especially.
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I won't go into too much detail, but 'workflow' in pro terms:
Cull hard, I favour 'edit in' but many favour 'edit out'. You should get rid of anything OoF or where the shot was 'missed' or duplicates of the same setup / idea. Many amateurs will use a complex star system, but as a pro, it's a keeper or it's not.
Then batch as appropriate for WB and exposure tweaks, then go through and tweak what couldn't be batched. Convert to TIFF / JPEG
Then cloning and other pixel level editing.
Then you can consider processing styles, B&W etc.

Finishing one image at pixel level before you've started the basics on others is extremely inefficient.

Cropping is rare in my world, it's too destructive of data. Consider this, you're looking at a shot and you think 'there's a shot if I throw 2/3 of the image away', you deliver the images, the bride loves your cropped image and wants a 30" print or a double page spread in the album. You either deliver it (and it's crap) or have to explain why you can't. If you'd chucked it, you'd have saved yourself the hassle.
 
I think other people have this all covered more than I do so I'll leave you with this advice someone told me about wedding photography and when I queried about doing it myself.

Their advice was to find people who never really had any money and couldn't afford a photographer and offer your services for free to gain experience and confidence in the beginning. You'd simply take photos and give them all of the useable photos on a disc instead of prints, albums etc. Anyone who can't afford a photographer would be more than happy for someone to take the photos and wouldn't have high expectations if they didn't turn out well as you were doing them a favour for free.

I'm certain the photos you'll take will be ace. I just wanted to give you this avenue as it's something I never thought of before but makes total sense and even if you do it a couple of times just for experience you'll pick up tips etc and know how to perhaps do things you didn't do so well next time round. Another thing that was mentioned was to see if you could be someones aide for a day too to see what they do on the day. They'd be grateful for the free help in setting things up and you'll probably get to take some shots too if you bring along your own camera.

Good luck :)
 
YoshiK1 said:
Their advice was to find people who never really had any money and couldn't afford a photographer and offer your services for free to gain experience and confidence in the beginning. You'd simply take photos and give them all of the useable photos on a disc instead of prints, albums etc. Anyone who can't afford a photographer would be more than happy for someone to take the photos and wouldn't have high expectations if they didn't turn out well as you were doing them a favour for free.
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The problems with doing that are

a) you wind up with pictures of poor people at cheap venues - these are only any good as a portfolio if your intended target market is poor people at cheap venues

b) the second part doesnt follow - just because you are free or cheap it doesnt mean they won't expect a high quality job , nor does it mean they won't create like buggery about it on mumsnet/facebook etc if you turn out not to be david bailey. in fact IME cheap clients are often more inclined to being bridezilla than the ones paying a decent whack
 
Phil V said:
I won't go into too much detail, but 'workflow' in pro terms:
Cull hard, I favour 'edit in' but many favour 'edit out'. You should get rid of anything OoF or where the shot was 'missed' or duplicates of the same setup / idea. Many amateurs will use a complex star system, but as a pro, it's a keeper or it's not.
Then batch as appropriate for WB and exposure tweaks, then go through and tweak what couldn't be batched. Convert to TIFF / JPEG
Then cloning and other pixel level editing.
Then you can consider processing styles, B&W etc.

Finishing one image at pixel level before you've started the basics on others is extremely inefficient.

Cropping is rare in my world, it's too destructive of data. Consider this, you're looking at a shot and you think 'there's a shot if I throw 2/3 of the image away', you deliver the images, the bride loves your cropped image and wants a 30" print or a double page spread in the album. You either deliver it (and it's crap) or have to explain why you can't. If you'd chucked it, you'd have saved yourself the hassle.
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Thank you for the tips - much appreciated!

When it comes to pictures I'm taking just for myself then I am very much either keep it or throw it, and I tend to do it on the camera - it doesn't even make it as far as the laptop. I considered I should be more sensitive with pictures that are effectively somebody elses. I shall try your approach next time though, and save myself some hours. Or weeks....
 
Well, just an update really. It all went pretty well. Certainly not a traditional wedding but a big one with masses of guests and a full 24hours of wedding plus celebrations. What i have realised is I love to Photograph people. I now need the next step to do a more traditional white wedding. Ill be posting more questions soon.

Many thanks to those of you who offered support and help / ideas.

here is the testimonial I recieved.

http://www.whitby-photography.com/customer-testimonial-sam-and-luke-pearson/
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
2. Go through the take at speed and bin everything which is patently crap. If you can't make your mind up in no more than two seconds if a shot is crap or not, you've just proved that it is, so bin it.
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This has to be one of the best pieces of advice I've read regards to culling... You've mentioned it before, and it's really struck a chord with me. Fab advice!
 
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sunnyside_up said:
This has to be one of the best pieces of advice I've read regards to culling... You've mentioned it before, and it's really struck a chord with me. Fab advice!
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Glad it works for you, lady. I got that from my mentor at Foundation Workshop in 2007, Greg Gibson (he of the two Pulitzer prizes). He seemed to know what he was doing :D
 
sunnyside_up said:
This has to be one of the best pieces of advice I've read regards to culling... You've mentioned it before, and it's really struck a chord with me. Fab advice!
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Serendipitous Sid said:
Glad it works for you, lady. I got that from my mentor at Foundation Workshop in 2007, Greg Gibson (he of the two Pulitzer prizes). He seemed to know what he was doing :D
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What if I start with say, 1000 images (random number), employ this method and then end up with like 5!?
 
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