>>my sister in law asked me to be the photographer on her wedding. <<
Pat Warnshuis responded:
>DON'T DO IT!!! Volunteer to take pictures at the wedding but DO NOT take on the
>responsibility of being THE wedding photog. This is a specialty field and, trust me,
>you are going to fail their expectations in some way. There are scores of horror
>stories of relationships destroyed by false and un-negotiated expectations on both
>sides. I urge you to have them hire an official photographer and offer to take some
>personal, amateur shots on your own.
I agree with this recommendation, from personal experience, but an alternative
if the couple simply cannot afford a pro is to be sure the couple agrees to
accepts whatever they get. Get in writing if you can.
I have had three experiences. The first was with my own wedding. The boyfriend
of one of my wife's friend's volunteer to do it and he is a reasonably good
photographer. Something came up and he couldn't do it so he had his girlfriend
do it. She was good at composition but she didn't know enough about exposure
and that the lightmeter would be fooled by all the white. Subsequently, nearly
everything she took is underexposed. She didn't get any flack over it but I
do to this day for not coming up with the money somehow for a pro photographer.
The second experience was me as the photographer at my wife's brother's wedding.
I told them before hand that I won't do the wedding cliche photos and that I
am going to shoot it how I see fit and I won't do it if they complain. Some may
think that is arrogant of me but if I try to do a style which I don't personally
like, I like it will look crappy anyway from my lack of sincerity. Anyway, the
prints come back and my wife gave me flack for not taking the cliches which I
said before hand I wouldn't do. The couple didn't give me trouble.
Some of you may say, "What does your wife have to do with
it?" To you I say you obviously are not from an east Asian culture.
In the end I was vindicated because my brother-in-law had a backup photographer who
does shoot weddings professionally. When everyone compared his photos to mine, the
verdict was unanimous that mine are a lot better and mine are also just plain
good - not just good in comparison to his. They were just shocked initially
because they were not accustomed to my style. It grew on them and they now
praise my work at my brother-in-law's wedding. Just last night, my wife and
her mother commented how that other photographer's photos seem lifeless while
mine seem alive. This wedding happened 18 months ago.
Even though I believe the photographers, not the equipment was the difference,
I used Nikon (N90s, N2000, 20/2.8, 35-80/4-5.6, 85/1.8, 80-200/2.8, SB-26 w/diffuser
or bounced) where the other guy used a Canon Elan system. He would sometimes
try to give me "pointers" which really irritated me. I told him I would photograph
the way I saw fit and he is free to follow his own suggestions.
The third experience was this past weekend where I was the sole photographer at
my wife's sister's wedding. I haven't got the proofs back yet from that one
but I have a feeling that this one is even better than my wife's brother's
which was pretty successful.
This one I used an N90s, 20/2.8, 35/2.0, 85/1.8, SB-26 bounced when possible, and
a Mamiya 645 for portraits of the couple. I had a Nikkormat FTn for backup
but didn't need it.
David Johnson
