Shooting my cousins rehearsal dinner

Hey guys -

My cousin is getting married next weekend and has asked me to shoot his rehearsal dinner. This will be the first anything I have shot that is not just for my own personal hobby. They have a pro for the wedding but did not want to pay him more for the rehearsal as they would be happy to have me do it.

It will be a great first gig because they will be happy with what they get because the other option is no photography. They are not expecting a lot and I have told them that this will be my first real shoot.

My question to you is what does one typically shoot at the dinner? When my sisters got married there were a few toasts so I plan on getting some of the speaker and candids of the couple/grandparents/im​portant folks while they are looking at the speaker. I also plan on getting shots of anything unique (place settings, cake, building, room etc.) as well as any family portrait shots.

Is there anything else that are good things to shoot at these things? I cant imagine much else going on as it is just a dinner. Also I have the gear in sig as well as backup batteries and cards.

Why would people want photos of themselves eating dinner? What's interesting or special?

You can easily get candids between courses. They don't serve every table at the same time so you can effectively walk the room shooting for nearly the entire meal. I do this every week at weddings. Loads of wedding photographers will tell you it can't be done etc but that is crap. I've been doing it for 6 years now. The guests and clients love it.

People like 1) Having photos with friends. 2) Having nice candids shots taken, you know... laughing, enjoying themselves etc. 3) People like nice shots of their loved ones (especially this one).

I always say to anyone I train (and don't take this as being morbid) but people especially value the shots of friends and family who may pass away soon. After the event these can be some of the most cherished photos of the day.

I shoot with a long zoom mainly (70-200 + 1.4x extender) and most guests I get candid shots of don't even know I'm taking their pics. Over the course of an evening I can normally get a nice shot of 95% of the guests (out of up to 200 people).

Here is a recent example set.

Peter, I only see about four images that look truly candid in that set. I find it difficult to get truly candid images.

tim wrote in post #16176877
Peter, I only see about four images that look truly candid in that set. I find it difficult to get truly candid images.

That was just an example as I posted that from my sister's wedding (I was a guest there as well hence there aren't as any in there, I was sitting down myself a large part of the time). Whether you want to believe it or not I do it week in week out. It really isn't that tough. Long zoom and walk the room all night.

I didn't say I didn't want to believe it. I've never really tried that hard.

tim wrote in post #16176959
I didn't say I didn't want to believe it. I've never really tried that hard.

It isn't hard. I'm trying to make the point that your original post "Why would people want photos of themselves eating dinner" misses the opportunities that are there during an event like that.

What is special? The people are special who are attending the event. They are special to the couple that have invited them. That is what is special about it.

Memories, You really went to your sister's wedding geared up? I would feel a little contentious about that task as a guest at a family member's wedding.

mattertea wrote in post #16181486
Memories, You really went to your sister's wedding geared up? I would feel a little contentious about that task as a guest at a family member's wedding.

Yes I went fully geared up. I shot the wedding. It was my wedding gift. What is the problem with that exactly?

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #16181545
Yes I went fully geared up. I shot the wedding. It was my wedding gift. What is the problem with that exactly?

Its not really a problem, and I didn't mean to denigrate your gift to your sister. I was just wondering if you ever felt like you were working, as opposed to being a part of the wedding party.

I was asked by my sister to take some photos before the wedding and record some video of the weekend, and I have some reservations about it, personally. I have a lot of relatives coming that I havent seen in a while and feel like I won't get a chance to hang out with them enough because I will be pre-occupied with doing a job for my sister

I practiced this weekend with my 430 ex 2 and some teddy bears and it went pretty well. Thanks for all of the pointers. I really need to get started n my photo career as my main job (accounting) is starting to bore me.

mattertea wrote in post #16181710
Its not really a problem, and I didn't mean to denigrate your gift to your sister. I was just wondering if you ever felt like you were working, as opposed to being a part of the wedding party.

I was asked by my sister to take some photos before the wedding and record some video of the weekend, and I have some reservations about it, personally. I have a lot of relatives coming that I havent seen in a while and feel like I won't get a chance to hang out with them enough because I will be pre-occupied with doing a job for my sister

Yes and no working. Whenever I shoot a wedding (even for clients) I always feel like I am just hanging out with a bunch of friends. So in that respect my sister's wedding was no different. It was more pressure than normal which I put on myself though. (I don't feel pressure at weddings generally).

I did the details shots the day before the wedding as I knew I had to get dressed etc myself. I also hired a second shooter for part of the day (I normally shoot solo) so I could kick back and relax when I wanted to in the evening. All the main parts of the wedding I shot myself though.

The key was being even more organised than normal and making sure the arrangements meant I had adequate time to relax too.