RE: Funeral

[Azzure_7]

I am just wondering if any of you work as a funeral photographer.
How will it be different?

I was just curious.

[alexclc]

I am just wondering if any of you work as a funeral photographer. How will it be different?


Rule #1: Leave out the "SAY CHEESE" part.



;)

Alex

[crazyskillz07]

A photographer at a funeral? I have not been to any funerals but I did not think any one would hire someone to photograph a funeral. It doesn't seem like something people will want to remember. I could be wrong.

[eeeksNYC]

Actually, I have seen a photographer at funerals. Usually, they are there to capture images if the bulk of the family lives overseas or some other reason (such as infirmity or advanced age).

[ilmk]

I've only seen one funeral that had a professional photographer.
:( It's pretty sad. I'm not sure what you would take pictures of (or why).

[jpwone]

Ok, I have actually done this for a family.

First thing is to find out who the funeral director will be and go and visit him/her. Discuss what the family wants and ask that he/she watches out for you and gives you a signal if he/she thinks you are being intrusive. Find out the plan, locations and times.

At the church. Images taken included general shot of church exterior and people waiting,funeral car arriving at church, family members arriving at church, coffin going into church, flowers on/in cars. I also took a shot of the church the day before the funeral so I could include a shot without people in it. You probably wont be allowed in the church to photograph (didn't even try - I was happy that I would capture the day without going in).

Once coffin was in church I drove to the crematorium.

At crematorium I took shots of funeral cars arriving and coffin going into service. As soon as coffin was in I went round to the Garden of Remembrance and got pictures of the flowers and took pictures of all the flower inscription labels. As soon as the family came out to the garden I moved off. I had arranged with the funeral director that he would let me know when the family was coming out , he gave me about 20seconds notice that they were on there way. I took some unobtrusive shots of the family at the flowers but I had arranged with a family member for him to indicate if this was ok before hand. If he felt that it was not he would signal me a no.

I then went to the reception (?) afterwards and took some images of the family (some had travelled in from overseas).

Be very aware of the tone of the occasion and dress accordingly. I avoided shots of people obviously distressed but did take shots of people from the side or back. Look for the kindness shots. If you have no or little experience of candid event photography then pass on doing the photography. You have to be unobtrusive and calm, it will test your mental prep fully. Be very prepared and totally avoid using flash if you can. At the reception afterwards I did use the flash for the family group shots.

Hope this helps.

[monkeyjuice5150]

freaky ^

[totalphoto]

I did one, for a fire-fighter, a little different, as they had a large parade. Shot nothing inside the church and did not go to the grave.
If I could add one thing from jpwone's great advice, I had a personal escort (uniformed fire-fighter) with me the whole time, so everyone knew why I was there.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/2089690571_27e33fccec.jpg

[jgogums]

I've done two. My grandmother at the request of my mother and a dear mentor of mine at the request of his family. Why? Why not? It's just emotion. Just because it's commonly associated with sadness shouldn't mean it's freaky or wierd or bizzarre. It's very personal how we deal with life and death. If you're ok, and the family is ok, go through some of the expectations, etc...common sense stuff and then decide if it is for you or not, but blanket judgements of it being negative is severely limiting.
Again it is 100% personal.

I'm glad I didn't take the advice of the majority on this board and not shoot these two celebrations of life. Yeah it was tough and emotional, and I'm not looking to make a career out of it, but I felt I challenged myself and provided something to my family and to my friends family that in turn helped me out tremendously.

[totalphoto]

Well, this gentelman had 2 young kids, 9 & 10. I thought it will be nice to have these pictures for when they have kids, so they can see the parade they had for their grandfather.

[Lightchaser]

The last funeral I went to was a wonderful send off for an equally wonderful man. A gazillion people turned up and shared stories - funny ones mostly and we all felt blessed to have known him. For the upsetting occasion that it could have been, it was actually a very beautiful day in it's own way. I've often thought a photo of select moments through that day would be a real treasure to have now.

I guess it depends on how everyone's handing things though. I can see that it's not for everyone, but the tricky thing is that with emotions running like they do at these things, you might not know until someone gets upset and by then the damage is done.

[laurielozano]

I have been to many funerals, mostly my family or my husbands family and I have only once seen people take pictures, but they were not pro's. It was my cousin who was electrocuted when he touched a power line and it was his friends with their disposible cameras taking the pictures.
I have only photographed one funeral and I felt creepy doing it, but it was my nephew's funeral. He died shortly after birth and I took the photographs for my sister-n-law at her request. I only took pictures of the inside of the church, the coffin, and my nephew but nothing else.
If someone requests that you take pictures at a funeral for them, I say do it. Everyone deals with death differently and the pictures may help bring closure to the family members. Just be as descreet and un-obtrusive as possible.

[totalphoto]

Agree 100%!