Been asked to shoot sister's wedding

So, my step-sister is getting married (2nd time) in March and has asked that I "be the photographer". I said sure. But I really want to impress upon them what my limits are and that they really should consider this when confirming me as the photographer. I will see them Thanksgiving and I would like to talk with them. I don't want to come off like I don't want to help out, but I want to make it clear that I am not a professional. I have some experience with receptions, but no experience with formals or group shots. Do you all have some suggestions about how I should approach this? Also, as I am doing this for free, what do you think my responsibilities should be regarding delivering the product? I know nothing about putting together an album and I really can't afford making prints for them - let alone the album. Is giving them a disc with full rez pictures good enough?

I know this is mainly stuff I should ask them. But I figured this type of situation has happened before.

Stefan

You're right to be worried about it. As long as you are clear from the outset with them that you are not a pro and they shouldn't expect amazing results then your conscience would be clear on that count. Tell them that your experience is zero. Maybe suggest to them that they hire a pro and have you as a second shooter?
You have the right lens in the 17-55 so shoot with that and keep your 430ex attached for bounce and fill flash.
As for the final product, a disc with all the images on will be fine as they're not paying you.
Also, read through the stuff here: https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=5999915&p​ostcount=2

Stefan,
This is a sore subject for us working pros. You don't realize how many family members come out of the wood work. However, when there is money available, as in the non related person, or family assuming the cost, you are usually not included in the running for the job. Anyway that is not your question... You shouldn't expect to come off as anything than what you are, a non working pro that may do a great job, but may screw up. No one understands that if I do a family wedding, I don't approach it as a family wedding. I work just as hard as if I had been paid. A good friend of mine says "I double my normal price and then give them a 50% discount."

I personally charge family no matter how close. For siblings kids however, I tell them I will do your wedding, if it is not on a Saturday. I will give you this set package which includes no albums. I tell them the gift to you is my experience, this is what I charge for this package, and I will give it to you for 60% off, which covers my cost. If you want something fancier, like albums, then it is xxxxx amount. I will only work 4 hours. Hey, I want to party also, and I don't want to give them a more expensive gift than probably all the guests combined.

I learned a long time ago, free never is. There is more that is expected of you the cheaper you charge. There is little or no gratitude, and a couple of times I have said to myself "I don't get treated like that, by paying customers, let alone a cousin's kid who I never even met before." Above all else, before you take the job, this Thanksgiving when you see, them let them know, if you assume this responsiblilty, then you MUST be treated as the photographer, and not the brother. No matter how little you know, you do know more than they do. Your word must GO. Anyway, So much for my rant, just take what applies to you and throw out the rest.

michaelgreen78 wrote in post #6716619
..... As for the final product, a disc with all the images on will be fine as they're not paying you.
Also, read through the stuff here: https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=5999915&p​ostcount=2

Michael,
After I posted a reply to the OP, I clicked on you link to continue the chain of thought in your responce, and I see my own words looking back at me. It is very gratifying to know that someone actually read my "Novel", let alone passing my rant on to someone else as interesting. You should tell my wife I am interesting, you'll have an argument on your hands.... Thanks

David

He he, no worries!
I'm always willing to read what other people advise and am always learning from everyone else. Things I find interesting and informative I like to add to that post and then link others to it. I like to think it helps some people out.

I have done these friends & relatives weddings before, my advise; find a way out of it.

Ed - can you expand on your message? What happened when you did these weddings?

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. The main things I am worried about is not giving them the product they want because of my inexperience. I don't want them to see the shots and be mad at me that they are not at a certain level. I should say that although I am inexperienced, I think I can do most of the shots. Like I said, formals and groups are my weakness.

Stefan

Stefan,
It seems that no matter how much you do, or how good you do it, it is never good enough when it comes to family & friends. I did a wedding for a good friend a long time ago, I thought everything came out great, the B & G were happy with what I did (at least they said so) but it was the rest of the family that did all of the complaining. You forgot to get pictures of this one or that one, why didn't you get pictures of this or that.
I spent a lot of extra time with these people, making sure they had exactly what they wanted. I listened to complaints that I know for a fact that they have made to someone ythey were actually paying, (did I mention this was all done for free)
Doing weddings for relatives goes pretty much the same way. You hire a professional, pay them and you get what you want. If you get someone doing it for free you should be happy to get what you get, not complain about every litte detail.
These have just been my experiences,I'm sure others have had better luck, and I hope yoy do too.
Ed

I have been your position recently, my good friend asked all her guests to take photos at her wedding at the end of September, as she wasn't having a photographer.

Firstly she couldn't afford it and secondly it wasn't overly important to her. She hinted I was the only one with a real camera (meaning SLR), so I offered - stressing my experience was MINIMAL, and that this would be my wedding present to her.

She stated she was not fussy and only wanted a couple of good photos of her and new husband and their two boys.

Well I got probably a dozen or so really great shots and a couple of hundred of pretty good shots. It was way more than she expected and is now happily sporting several enlargements in her home. I edited, resized and sent them to a pro lab and she paid for them.

The only real problems I faced were that everyone was taking ceremony, formal shots so it was not always possible to be in the right position and the wedding party weren't always looking in the right direction. Although I wasn't the official photographer everyone was told by the B&G I would be taking photos for them.

I also way under estimated the time I would spend on PP, she has no idea the days and nights I spent on them. I'm not complaining as I really wanted the experience and I enjoyed it.

Her main comments was that I was being way to picky and to stop being a perfectionist. Just goes to show that the average person doesn't really care about PP, however it comes out of the camera seems fine to them.

Maybe I was just lucky! But I think if they accept your limitations and if you know they are not picky people, then you should be fine.

I certainly now have great admiration for the work that goes into being a Wedding Photographer. I would be happy to do some part time work as a second shooter (when I have gained more experience) down the track and earn some pocket money to spend on camera equipment, but wouldn't want to be in charge. So many people have this perception (non photographers) that wedding photography is a licence to print money - boy are they mistaken!

I found threads from the Wedding section on this forum offered lots of ideas for shots etc as well as providing a wealth of other info.

I found Wedding magazines a good aid as well as wedding photography books from the library. I just researched, absorbed, try out ideas with the camera and got more confident with off camera flash.

However when it came to the day I just started by playing it safe and stuck with what I was confident doing and once the main shots were in the bag I then started to experiment.

Good Luck!

This is how I started shooting weddings, a friend asked and I've never turned back. But I shoot for gifts and therefore, no pressure. Depending on the B&G, how close they are to me, I can just give them the full-res or processed 100 or so images and say goodbye. For former students of mine, I do a whole album with 20 8x10's and 2 5x7 albums for parents and don't charge a thing and give them all the images.

People I shoot for that I know realize I've done this professionally and could make a ton of money doing it, but I don't. If you are not a pro, let them know. If you are good at PP, I'd throw in about 50 images that you've cleaned up and let them deal with them. The only bad thing here really is you don't want your work represented in a bad way, that's why we like to control what gets printed or presented on line. If that is a concern of yours, let them know.

Good luck, and really, practice, play with your camera and settings. If your gear isn't up to speed, save for it. Don't make deals of "If you want me to shoot your wedding, buy me a good lens." I've seen those kinds of deals fall apart as the friend messes up the wedding shots and the two never speak again.

Thanks again. She informed me that they were having a pro do just the formals - so that takes the pressure off of that concern. I cleary let them know that I wasn't a pro and that I would do the best I can. It wasn't a very long conversation and I get the feeling that whatever they get they will be happy with. I am thinking that once I do it, I will just identify the most important/best pictures and do a little PP. I don't want to spend weeks processing these images - but I also don't want them to see poor shots. I figure delete the bad ones, process the good ones, and just put the leftovers in a separate folder for them to do whatever with. This is not a huge wedding - less than 50 - so hopefully I can keep the shot count under control.


Stefan