weddings

[Dave Parker]

I do weddings as part of my photography business, and I never recommend doing a friends wedding, that is unless you don't mind loosing a friend. Wedding can be the demise of a good friendship..

That said, if your going to use LF gear, do as Ted said, then grab either a 35mm or a compact MF body and shoot lots of film.. or digital depending on what you have.. and make sure you are up to snuff on lighting techniques.

Good Luck.

Dave

[David Beal]

We did weddings (35 mm and MF) until a couple of years ago. As others have noted, they are incredibly stressful, must be planned as if you were going into battle, and are complex. By that, I mean that 50% of the job is pure people skills, 25% is salesmanship including contract law, and 25% is photographic technique .

My partner and I made each other a promise that the only way we would ever do a wedding was if someone wanted to pay us to shoot it "retro:" b/w, LF, strictly with flash bulbs. So far, no takers.

And even if you have the right equipment, don't shoot a friend's event of any kind. I made that mistake, and lost a good friend. Never again.

/s/ David

[Photomax]

I shoot weddings professionally and I agree with most of the thoughts put forth here.

How about this as a suggestion: Make it crystal clear that you will NOT be responsible for professional wedding photography. The only way the couple will get professional results is to hire a professional. Period. What YOU can offer is picture taking as your wedding gift. You present the couple with some nice pictures you take at the wedding instead of buying them a blender. You will be more relaxed by not having the pressure of being "the guy." If things go wrong with some of your pictures there will be no hard feelings. Its not worth loosing a friend. You may have a good relaxed relationship with your buddy but you MUST consider the bride and her family: they will be expecting quality photography. If your images fall short you are going to feel bad for a long, long time. Its just not worth it. You are doing them a bigger favor by saying NO to this responsibility.

So keep it light, but bow out of the main responsibility. Take a ton of pictures, edit them and make a nice album as your gift. Odds are your images may be nicer than the ones taken by the pro. But being "the guy" is a pressure packed responsibility almost unequaled in professional photography...

I did casual gift photography for all my college friends before taking on a paying job. The difference in pressure when you are being counted on is immense.

Good luck!

Max

[Armin Seeholzer]

I do it still as my parttime job and do it also for friends but do it only if you are really sure on the photog part, and it seems you are a beginner.
I did so many thad I do it without any troubles, but do it with 35mm, MF and also Digital today, with the last its almost like a dream!
Talk to them thad you only do it if they don't care what comes out, otherwise they have to pay for a professional!
Tell them best would be to hire a pro for all the important things 3-4 hours an you do some snaps all the time!
My 2 cents after some 100 weddings!
Armin J. Seeholzer

[Downix]

For fun, a friend of mine is getting married, and was not planning on any pictures at all. So, I offered to take a short movie of her service and to do some posed pictures for her, as my wedding gift. Yes, I'm using my LF camera, and for the movie I'm using my Super8 cameras... talk about a wild extreme. 8)

But it's being done as a gift, and I told her not to expect professional results.

[David Luttmann]

I do it still as my parttime job and do it also for friends but do it only if you are really sure on the photog part, and it seems you are a beginner.
I did so many thad I do it without any troubles, but do it with 35mm, MF and also Digital today, with the last its almost like a dream!
Talk to them thad you only do it if they don't care what comes out, otherwise they have to pay for a professional!
Tell them best would be to hire a pro for all the important things 3-4 hours an you do some snaps all the time!
My 2 cents after some 100 weddings!
Armin J. Seeholzer

Armin, I converted all my wedding and portrait work to digital gear a while back and I would never go back to the hassle of using MF again. A lot of people like the so called photojournalistic look and that is troublesome with the slow handling of MF.

[Padu Merloti]

I have covered 2 or 3 weddings in the past for friends and relatives, but I don't go as the main photographer. I insist that they hire a professional, or if they don't, to please assume that no picture will be taken.

There's one care to take if you're the second photographer. Be in synch with the first photographer in regards to where you will be at all times, and if he's using an assistant with slave strobe, that you won't interfere with his job. As it was mentioned here, when you're the pro, you've planned the thing very carefully, and the last thing you need is this stupid guy draining the batteries of your slave flash unit.

All that said, I will cover a friend's wedding in November (yeah, 9 months away) as a second photographer. What I plan on doing is much more than wedding photos. I will edit a small book (apollo and asukabook are two good options) with not only photos of the wedding, but some other photos I will take of them in my studio (probably using LF) and some places outdoor. Additionally, the book format allows for non-photo content, as for example some nice bio written by their parents with infancy photos illustrating the text.

They will have their traditional wedding book with the boring formal poses (which I don't care to take), but I plan on more creative photos and plenty of nice candids (what 12GBs of CF cards can do huh?). I'm sure they'll like the book better than the blender