Wedding photography

Swanlander

I was asked to photograph a wedding for friends recently. I have a good digital SLR (bought from E bay) and the results are good - the friends are impressed and pleased. So has anyone tried wedding photography? I am thinking I could advertise and do it Saturdays. Any thoughts? Tips? Problems?

Jem8472

I think it would be a good job. But just got to make sure you dont mess it up otherwise you are going to get some serious hassel.

You need to think about having a backup camera if one breaks, how you are going to get the photos printed. And do you have the eye to get a great picture?

Good luck if you want to have a go at it.

whitewing

I would do a few strangers for free to start with as your friends' photos may have been good because they know you and are relaxed.

My friend has a friend who is a photographer and it can be difficult to get money out of people after the expense and the excitement of a wedding. They can quibble over minor details.

whitewing

Are you male or female? Best wedding photo album I ever saw was someone who I didn't know very well. It covered from the start of the day with the bride getting ready (nothing dodgy, lol) and had arty-farty photos of small details of the day, close ups of shoes/flowers for example. It made it seem that a lot of care and attention had gone into it.

I guess if you were male it may be more difficult to get into the bride's room as she is getting ready, especially if you were advertising, lol.

samhale

Unfortunetly, I know in Birmingham at least, many many wedding photographers are popping up, and getting very little work. In most areas there are at least 5 photographers for every 10 miles, and have very little work to do...

ashe

whitewing wrote: »

I would do a few strangers for free to start with as your friends' photos may have been good because they know you and are relaxed.

My friend has a friend who is a photographer and it can be difficult to get money out of people after the expense and the excitement of a wedding. They can quibble over minor details.

Thats why you get the money off them before the wedding!

whitewing

ashe wrote: »

Thats why you get the money off them before the wedding!

Yes, but then they moan about the quality, and this bit being wrong, and such and such else wrong. And try to get a refund. Or Freebie extras.

I don't know myself, not being a photographer and not hiring one for ours. (perception is if they're not too expensive then they must be no good, lol)

Swanlander

I am male so I guess I won't get in to many brides bedrooms! Good points everyone - I need to look at insurance of course. I can use my sons camera for back up.
I was talking to someone at my camera club last night and he gets at least one wedding a month just by word of mouth. I guess its where you live that dictates demand.

suckmaster.burstingfoam

Wedding photography is a pretty serious affair, and shouldn't be entered into lightly. You should be absolutely sure of your photographic skills (and that means being 100% confident in using your camera in full manual, all of the time) and you must be sure that your photos are of a sufficiently high quality.

You need to be organised, and you need to work VERY hard - not just during the wedding, but afterwards in sorting and processing images.

Remember that this isn't just a quick buck - the photos you take are important. A lot of people assume that it's easy, but the truth is that the majority of wedding photographers are rubbish.

However, I must say, despite being male, I normally get into the bride's bedroom just fine.

tracynixon77

hi there i am getting married next july and would be more than happy to let you into my bedroom to photograph me and do my wedding photos as we are on a very tight budjet and at the moment we are not even intending in have any photographs at out wedding because of the cost but i take it you dont live in scotland xxxxxxxxx

davieboy

You will need 2 of everything (at least!) in case something packs up - cameras, lenses (wide and telephoto), off-camera flashes, oodles of memory cards and batteries. Weddings are one offs so you are solely responsible for capturing the happy day. Maybe start by doing portrait sessions which can be repeated or rescheduled if something goes wrong. use the money to build up your kit till you have what you need for weddings.

I have spent the last eighteen months wheeling and dealing to get my kit up to scratch to start doing weddings - fuji s5 pro with nikon d80 as backup, tamron 17-50mm f2.8, sigma 70-200 f2.8 with nikon 50mm f1.8 as backup, nikon sb-800 flash with sb-600 as backup. (You'll need the f2.8's to get a decent shutter speed in poor lighting) This little lot cost over £3k and many would consider it the lowest rung on the wedding photographers ladder!

Factor in public liabilty and professional indemnity insurance plus tax and NI contributions and it may not seem that attractive a proposition.

I have spent two years researching the idea of becoming a wedding photographer and will finally do my first wedding on the 25th October (unless any others come up in the meantime!) it is for a friend of a friend and is being done on the basis of them covering my costs and then a donation based on how happy they are with the end product. its the only way for me to get some images for a portfolio.

I would add that this type of photography is more about how you get on with/deal with other people, i think there has to be a connection between the photographer and the couple. It's been said many times before that the secret to a healthy photography business is 40% business skills, 40% marketing skills and only 20% photography skills!


to traceynixon77, if you live anywhere near Inverness and your wedding is before November 2008 send me a private message. if not i have been to weddings before where the bride & groom had no wedding photographer but invited amateur photographer pals to take pics and picked the best ones for their album. I am sure with the explosion in the digital slr market some of your friends will have the equipment to get you some good shots!
:beer: