I always told myself I would never do this...

[MattKing]

Sounds like a very good model. Did you shoot with assistants?
How did you manage others getting in the way?

Sent from Tap-a-talk

No assistants per se, but I would often draft guests (family or friends) to help with rounding up people and identification of who was who.

Teenage cousins were frequently excellent.

And the trick to keeping others out of the way was to give them times when I wasn't shooting.

I can be persuasive in groups .

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I would guess it's way different now

Did one wedding 40 yrs. ago, never again.

Now there are too many wedding photographers and I think people aren't as civil as they were 4 decades ago. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[gleaf]

2/3 is probably a bent statistic as everyone that married and still lives is being counted against this years marriages if they divorce.
However as to a potential revenue streams.. Several possibles cross the evil slope of the mindscape.
Shot one wedding for relatives on the in-law side. Photos may have lasted longer than the marriage.

 

[benjiboy]

Since most peoples only contact with professional photography is at their and other peoples weddings, the popular perception is that you aren't a proper photographer unless you do them and that it validates your status and ability if you do.
I.M.O. the first question you should ask yourself as a novice before accepting a paying wedding is "what am I going to do if it all goes wrong and the brides parents sue me ? ", and even if you do it for free for close friends or family whatever they say before the wedding they will still have expectations of a competent job in my experience.

 

[mike c]

I used to enjoy weddings.

I'd shoot them on film (120 and square format). My clients would pay 1/2 up front, with the other 1/2 due with the instructions as to what was to be included in the package price album.

I'd shoot about 8-10 rolls of 12 exposure 120 for most weddings.

I had my lab develop and do 5" x 5" proofs.

I would take the proofs, label them with roll and negative numbers and edit out any obvious culls. I would then deliver them to the newly married couple along with instructions about what I needed to make up the album they had agreed to buy, as well as order sheets for extra enlargements which could easily be shared with friends and relatives.

Typically, the newly married couple would have the proofs in hand about two weeks after the wedding.

For an extra fee they were entitled to buy all or some of the proofs. My lab did a great job on the proofs, so they would often sell.

My albums were expandable. I frequently had people decide afterwards to buy more enlargements and expand the size of the album.

Once people decided (with my help) which photos were to be included in their album, I would usually have the completed album back to them in 2-3 weeks.

I never discouraged other people at the wedding from taking their own photos. I frequently saw their results. I still sold extra prints, at a decent profit.

This is how it was done by the studio I worked for. They where established outfit and taught me the correct way for approaching a wedding, worked for allmost a year with the owner as his assistant before doing them by myself. His wife would allso sit me down to look over the photo's that I had taken the week before and give me pointers and allso complements . After 1 year I was prepared for most any circumstance to be encountered in most weddings which really helped my confidence and creativity. This was from the late 70's threw the 80's using film of course.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I'm sure I've told the story of my ungrateful cousin too many times already. Long story short, the "pro" they hired, they hired A: on the cheap, and B: solely on a word-of-mouth recommendation. The groom's family was a VERY large Catholic family so they had 13 siblings on his side of the formals, plus some spouses and children. The "pro" shot all the formals on 35mm film with a wide-angle lens, so when they got the prints back, the only time they could recognize a face was if there were less than 4 people in the photo. I did not shoot any formals for them, just a roll or two at the church during the ceremony, and a couple rolls at the reception. Shot them all in b/w, had them printed on matte paper and edited them into a nice album. I did that part as my wedding gift to them. After the wedding, I hear through my mom that "I SAVED the wedding with my photos" and they would be placing an order for prints. That was in 1996 or 1997, I forget which. Still haven't gotten an order. I suspect they took the prints I gave them to Ritz camera and had copies made on the Kodak CopyPrint station.

 

[MattKing]

After the wedding, I hear through my mom that "I SAVED the wedding with my photos" and they would be placing an order for prints. That was in 1996 or 1997, I forget which. Still haven't gotten an order. I suspect they took the prints I gave them to Ritz camera and had copies made on the Kodak CopyPrint station.

Based on previous experience, I'd say there is another possibility, if they were like about 5% of my customers.

They may still be trying to decide which ones to order .....

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Based on previous experience, I'd say there is another possibility, if they were like about 5% of my customers.

They may still be trying to decide which ones to order .....

I know my cousins well enough. They definitely fall under the "cheap-ass bastards" heading. Although by now, if it isn't exclusively the former, it's also part "we just plain forgot about doing it".

 

[benjiboy]

I know my cousins well enough. They definitely fall under the "cheap-ass bastards" heading. Although by now, if it isn't exclusively the former, it's also part "we just plain forgot about doing it".

Unfortunately Scott, we can only choose our friend, not our relations, we are stuck with them, although I have managed to outlive most of the more objectionablel ones of mine .

 

[Peter Simpson]

Hi -

I just realized I left everybody hanging. The wedding went well, my only issue was with a flakey flash connection. The groom's parents were very happy with the photos I gave them and thanked me for my work. The bride's mother also shot the wedding and was, if not quite a "joy" to work with, at least cooperative and qualified. And "work", it most certainly was. I calculated I spent 6 hours at the venue, all of it on my feet. I got about 1/2 hour to eat, but other than that, I was working. My wife was a tremendous help as an assistant, I couldn't have done as well as I did without her help and compositional suggestions (yes, I told her this). And yes, "Uncle Bob" was there, shooting video of the vows from behind the celebrant with an iPhone!

My hat is off to those of you who do this professionally. I will be paying for a professional at my own children's weddings, of this there is absolutely no doubt. I also informed the groom's family that this had been my first and last job as a wedding photographer -- I told them I felt as if I had dodged a bullet and was quitting while I was ahead. So I survived the experience, and it left me with a much greater appreciation of the craft of the wedding photographer.

 

[pbromaghin]

Peter - great to hear that it went so well. You're a smart guy to quit now. I thought I was that smart. Now it turns out that Laostyle17 and my daughter have decided to tie the knot over New Year's in Las Vegas...

I have questions for the wedding pros and this is good a place to ask as any:

It's going to be at one of those commercial wedding chapels. I assume it will be pretty much get-in-get-out. A "professional" photographer is included. I would like to shoot, too, mainly traditional type group shots with tripod and probably flash. I would like to take advantage of the pro's setups, but I DON'T want to get in the way. How do I approach the photographer and how do I get as much permission and/or cooperation as possible?

 

[MattKing]

Peter - great to hear that it went so well. You're a smart guy to quit now. I thought I was that smart. Now it turns out that Laostyle17 and my daughter have decided to tie the knot over New Year's in Las Vegas...

I have questions for the wedding pros and this is good a place to ask as any:

It's going to be at one of those commercial wedding chapels. I assume it will be pretty much get-in-get-out. A "professional" photographer is included. I would like to shoot, too, mainly traditional type group shots with tripod and probably flash. I would like to take advantage of the pro's setups, but I DON'T want to get in the way. How do I approach the photographer and how do I get as much permission and/or cooperation as possible?

A Las Vegas wedding chapel? You could always try dressing up as Elvis .

I expect that if you actually reach out to the photographer and express a desire to not create problems for him/her/them, you will both surprise them and get their cooperation.

Or they will be so difficult to deal with as to make that impossible - but at least you will know ahead of time.