Wedding Question

[dpct]

Greetings

I'm a very experianced amature. meaning I have'nt ever charged for my work. A friend asked me to photograph her wedding. I have never done a wedding beore and haven't accepted yet. My question is this. A friend of a friend told me I was crazy to accept since it would be a pain to arrange a second shooter. Do all weddings have 2 photographers shooting these days? I have never seen it, but that may be a trend. What do all you folks think?

[scotgasch]

I ALWAYS shoot with an assistant....not only does he/she shoot some but he/she helps out in other ways. Two is definately better than one. I think that in all of my 200 or so weddings I've shot I have only done 6 or so by myself.

[lally0724]

I haven't shot a tonne of weddings, but I've done a few. I do them mainly by myself, once my husband came with me. I think a second photographer would be handy, but I don't think it's a must. If you're organized, know your equipment, and are confident in yourself, I think you'll do a fine job.
Lally

[Ronald S. Jr.]

I try to have an assistant whenever possible. Just makes me feel more comfortable that I'll get everything, especially if there's lots of people. Also, it's quite handy in my position to have a "gopher". ;-)

[PIXI_666]

My husband "helps" with equipment etc. and did shoot one wedding with a compact digital once beside me, but i don't think it's necessary, just have 2 camera's, and if you can't afford that just make sure and MAKE SURE AGAIN everything is good with your camera, batteries and equipment.
I feel it's best with digital because your not waiting a few days to see if it worked or not, at least with the digital it's there and you know so if a shot doesn't work you can try again!

You have to be on the ball, i generally wouldn't use an fancy schmancy methods, id stick to what i knew, use automatic a lot etc.

When i shot my first wedding it was for my cousin, everyone encouraged me to shoot it...just show your friend your work and tell her it's your first so if she genuinly trusts in you that you can do it...i say go for it - it's the best experience you can get!

Del

[CyberPet]

I was asked last fall (2004) to shoot a wedding in july of 2005. I said I'm not a pro and I didn't think it was such a good idea. The bride and groom were stubborn and said "we want you!" I asked a friend of mine, who's a wedding photographer if he thought I'd be up for the job. He's seen what I get out of my camera many times. He said I was ready, but he wanted me to be more than ready, so I went with him and assisted and were his second shooter to get my feet wet. That was the best thing that could happen to me, I was ready and I did fairly good for doing it on my own. I now have 4-5 more weddings booked (so far) for 2006 and a wedding in 2007.

So my advice is: Practice with a pro and make sure you're ready! If you have the nerve, the equipment and all that, you should be able to do it. You have one go at it, but sometimes we need to go into deep water to find a new passion. My new passion is wedding photgraphy (only 6 under my belt so far).

[Maureen Souza]

I was asked last fall (2004) to shoot a wedding in july of 2005. I said I'm not a pro and I didn't think it was such a good idea. The bride and groom were stubborn and said "we want you!" I asked a friend of mine, who's a wedding photographer if he thought I'd be up for the job. He's seen what I get out of my camera many times. He said I was ready, but he wanted me to be more than ready, so I went with him and assisted and were his second shooter to get my feet wet. That was the best thing that could happen to me, I was ready and I did fairly good for doing it on my own. I now have 4-5 more weddings booked (so far) for 2006 and a wedding in 2007.

So my advice is: Practice with a pro and make sure you're ready! If you have the nerve, the equipment and all that, you should be able to do it. You have one go at it, but sometimes we need to go into deep water to find a new passion. My new passion is wedding photgraphy (only 6 under my belt so far).

Wow, I am impressed, Petra. Both by your work and your skills. Looking forward to seeing photos from your gigs!

[RandyMN]

Two are always better than one but I never had an assistant and did fine through ten years of weddings. If I had a choice I'd now hire my wife to help but I hadn't met her yet.

My sister hired a husband and wife team and through most shots the husband screwed up the settings. She caught it and bitched but as the shots were all taken over again I was no longer so smiley and at least one shot used in the album had my eyes totally shut!

It's tough to get your pictures taken 50 times over... I think the through all the weddings I shot the wedding parties always were always as drained as I was.

[CyberPet]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that mostly my hubby helps me carry stuff (I wish he would dare to pick up the camera more, but maybe this year - great to have someone in the back to shoot in the church for instance). If hubby can't help I have my mom to help... both of them know me so well that we hardly communicate at all, which made it almost impossible to shoot with a stranger on my last shoot. We were not on the same page at all.