Wedding. With a catch...

Halfcharged

Halfcharged

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So this weekend I'm doing the pictures for a wedding of my other halfs friend. They know I'm not professional - just a hobbyist, and I've stressed this to the groom (who I was dealing with by phone) more than once. However, they like what I already sent them, and never really budgeted for a professional so I'm doing it free of charge.

I've not photographed a wedding in any kind of official capacity before. I've spent a lot of time going through official photographs from other people's weddings to get some ideas and obviously the bride and her bridesmaids usually account for a large proportion of the photos. So I was all ready to spend alot of time on making the bride and her bridesmaids look her best.... making the most of that white dress and the way the light hits it, showing off that hair and makeup and.......

........Then it turned out there are no bridesmaids. There is no bride. It's actually a gay wedding...

So my question is, does anybody have any tips or ideas for posing a male couple? Or does anyone have any example pictures they could share? Some of what I was thinking I might do still applies, but by no means all.

Thanks all in advance!
 
Hi, ok so you don't have the most time left to prepare for this now, but don't sweat that too much. When did you find out that it was a gay wedding? What sort of venue is it?
I did a lesbian wedding for some friends a month or so back, it would be similar, but not the same.
I'd start with establishing what they want and if they want any specific shots that might be different to the norm. Use google - the wedding I just did was on a beach, look at images, put them on your phone or something and review them when you have a bunch of ideas. If you have time try to discuss some of this with the couple & you can use it to help both manage their expectations and get input from them.
There is a fair chance that they want to be treated totally normally as a wedding couple, they might want the same sort of shots but you might have to change poses a bit.
 
From the photographer's POV, a gay wedding is the same as a lesbian wedding, and both of those are exactly the same as any other UK civil wedding with three exceptions ...

(a) you need to forget the concept of "bride" and "groom" and

(b) your preconceived ideas of "wedding photographs" do not apply, and

(c) the whole thing might well turn out to have a nicer, more laid-back feel to it than many a "traditional" wedding

My best advice to you would be to talk it over with the guys beforehand, particularly as they've probably picked up from you that you weren't expecting this. They'll have seen shots that they'd like you to get if you can, so the simple way forward is to ask them to send you links to the sort of pictures they like and take it from there.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I was only asked two weeks ago when one of the grooms put something to the effect of "booked everything, but forgot the photographer - do people still get photographers for weddings these days?". Most of his friends said yes, and my other half threw my name into the hat - I don't know the couple myself. It was only my partner that informed me a week ago that actually it was a gay wedding. I hadn't been able to get hold of either groom until Sunday otherwise I would have found out earlier from them (probably rather awkwardly!).

Anyway I've had a chat with one of them. He said the whole day is supposed to be quite relaxed. There's no formal meal - it's an afternoon tea. There are around 40 guests, no speeches. We discussed a little bit of what he was looking for. He wasn't quite sure as he was originally just going to ask everyone to take pictures on their phones and hope there'd be some good ones. I suggested doing the usual sort of stuff at the venue. During the ceremony I'd wander around quietly with a long lens "ninja style" and not get in the way. Post ceremony a couple of formals with the register (since there's no photo's while it's being signed for real) etc. Then at the reception venue we'd do about 15-20 minutes of the usual stuff with family and friends, and maybe a couple of fun ones, then for the rest of the afternoon I'll just wander round with a long lens and not get in anyones faces. I've no plans to do anything "out there" since this is my first one. Just going to stick with "safe", but nice shots I think.

I went for a blast out to Kent yesterday to check out the two venues... I even managed to blag my way into the rooms where it's happening which was a bonus. The venues are lovely. The reception venue would have a lovely backdrop of the Kentish countryside were there not a car park in the way. I'm going to have to give a little bit more thought to that. The wedding venue is a registry office. The room is not particularly massive so I won't be moving around very much during the ceremony. The area for post ceremony drinks is large, with high ceilings so won't be using bounce flash. I made a "light-scoop" type diffuser which I hope will soften the flash enough just to take out some of the shadows.

Adam - Do you have your pics on a website? May I have the address if so?
 
Look on the bright side - you haven't the issue of exposing for a bright white dress and dark suit :D

They know you're not professional, take formals, take informals, they obviously weren't worried about recording the occaision with images so anything you provide will be a bonus for them.
 
My first wedding was a gay wedding, or rather a civil partnership. It's best to treat it the same as any other wedding - including a lot of poses.

There are a lots of great examples of gay weddings online to give you some ideas. Here's one for starters: http://andreasholm.com/same-sex-wedding-casa-de-laila-spain/ (by Andreas Holm)

Obviously they won't be expecting that standard but hopefully it should help you.
 
Halfcharged said:
... (since there's no photo's while it's being signed for real) ...I went for a blast out to Kent yesterday to check out the two venues...
Click to expand...

Eh?? Since when has there been a ban on photographing the signing in Kent? I wish I had a tenner for every one I've photographed there!

Just out of interest, what are the venues?

theurbanclown said:
... including a lot of poses.
Click to expand...

Assuming that's what the couple want :)
 
The groom has been told that there's no photos during the signing of the register. It seems a little odd - I'm sure every other wedding I've ever been to there were photo's during the register signing. Maybe it's the preference of the registrar for some reason.

Indeed anything I give them will be a bonus, but naturally I still want to make the best job of it that I can. If nothing else it's also a good challenge for me. Weddings are the worst events to practice at from the point of view that everything only happens once. But on the other hand it's an event where people don't get funny about having their picture taken and you see people at their most relaxed (well, if it's a free bar anyway!).

Thank you for the links too @theurbanclown and @Adam J . All stunning pictures... I'll stick some on my phone for reference as suggested... Also loving your pictures of Cuba. I went there a few years ago. Unfortunately I had no idea how to use my camera at the time so most of my pictures were mediocre or below...
 
Got married at the weekend (yay!) and I was led to believe that its standard that no photos of the official signing are allowed (but the tog said he'd get a few sneaky ones when the vicar wasn't looking). We then did the posed signing afterwards.
 
Halfcharged said:
The groom has been told that there's no photos during the signing of the register. It seems a little odd - I'm sure every other wedding I've ever been to there were photo's during the register signing. Maybe it's the preference of the registrar for some reason.
Click to expand...

Yes - sorry, but I forgot that you're doing this in an amateur capacity :oops: :$ Incidentally, you keep referring to "the groom", but in a same-sex wedding, there isn't one!

Broric said:
Got married at the weekend (yay!) and I was led to believe that its standard that no photos of the official signing are allowed (but the tog said he'd get a few sneaky ones when the vicar wasn't looking). We then did the posed signing afterwards.
Click to expand...

Congratulations. Just for the record, in England it's always down to the officiant - be they registrar or priest - whether the real signing can be photographed, and except in the case where there's a county-wide ban on any photography at civil ceremonies (AFAIK Wiltshire's now the only one) in practice it's a complete lottery. There is no consistency whatsoever. It's one of the many joys of professional wedding photography :)
 
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Serendipitous Sid said:
Just for the record, in England it's always down to the officiant - be they registrar or priest - whether the real signing can be photographed, and except in the case where there's a county-wide ban on any photography at civil ceremonies (AFAIK Wiltshire's now the only one) in practice it's a complete lottery. There is no consistency whatsoever. It's one of the many joys of professional wedding photography :)
Click to expand...

I am on the Bucks/Berks border, and there isn't a single registrar in my area that will allow photos during the actual signing "data protection blah blah" but quite a lot of the vicars/priests are fine with it.
 
chip said:
... there isn't a single registrar in my area that will allow photos during the actual signing "data protection blah blah" ...
Click to expand...

Next time you hear that, try inviting them to explain what the problem is if you shoot from the side at the same height as the register so you can photograph the event like the couple want you to but you can't possibly photograph the entries ...

;)
 
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