Ok, hold the laughter ...ME a wedding photographer!???

[clemmb]

Denise,
It may be too late for me to respond but here goes.
Yes, take it.
I agree if you are going to rent another camera rent a 7D and lense you are familier with.
The first two weddings I did I charged only my cost. I made it clear that I had never done it so I would not charge them anthing but the cost of the film/processing. This was before digital.
As mentioned before if you are ever going to be a wedding photographer you have to start with a wedding at some point. You will probably never think you are ready. Ask any profesional and you'll find they make mistakes all the time. I recently did a wedding and forgot to shoot the rings. My wife woke up at 3 in the morning with that revalation. We had the couple bring their rings by later and did them.
I feel you will do a great job. I know you have the skill. Looking at much of your work you also have the artistic eye for it. I have to draw on my wife to help with that side of the business.
If it is not too late, take the job and just charge what it takes to rent the equipement you need. Once she shares here wedding photos with your watermark on her facebook, you'll be getting calls from lots of future brides. Then you start charging reasonable rates and make enough to buy that 5D you want.

[Jayson]

Denise, I would have to agree with everyone that you have the skills to be a successful wedding photographer, but there are a lot of other things that are involved in doing a wedding besides just the shooting. First wedding situation I was in, I was asked by the FOG to just shoot the reception as they had hired a pro for the formals and the wedding itself. After that, he asked me to photograph his next three children's weddings, but he did the formal portraits because he was comfortable with that and he had all of the equipment because he did that also. I did everything for a friends wedding last year and it went off well. Being the only source of photography for the event is a lot to shoulder and I would recommend renting a backup for that situation if you do decide to do it. Your 7D will be perfectly fine for shooting the wedding, so don't worry about upgrading gear.

I would definitely let the couple know of your shooting experience regarding weddings and portraits in general. Have a time which you can set up a engagement shoot with them and see if it is your cup of tea. If it is not what you were expecting judging by what you get at the engagement session, then I would decline. If it goes well and you are happy with what you shot, then I think you should go for it. I would just set up the engagement session sooner than later so if it doesn't workout, then they still have time to find someone else.

I haven't continued taking wedding jobs because I didn't want the liability since I didn't have a business LLC or Corp set up. If you do take the job, make sure you have a contract to cover yourself. I am sure others here have more knowledge about that then I do.

One last thing, make sure you know what kind of service it is going to be (judge, catholic, lutheran, etc.) because they are all different.

[ddt0725]

Well, I just got off the phone with the bride-to-be and ...OMG! It looks like I have a wedding gig!!!!!

I could not stress it anymore to her that I have absolutely NO EXPERIENCE in doing weddings whatsoever in the slightest! She said that she has looked at numerous wedding photographers websites, etc. and has a gut feeling about using me and she always goes with her gut feeling! She absolutely fell in love with all of my photos I have posted online and wants me to do it!

Other info I found out ...the wedding and reception is at the Women's Club which is a very large historic house down by Lake Michigan and she of course wants photos after the ceremony by the lake. I had to remind her that the sun rises on the lake, it doesn't set on the lake so she won't be able to get the sunset photos she was hoping for. I suggested to her if she wants, we could do an early morning shoot prior to the wedding day if she likes. Also, the ceremony isn't until 4:00, so I will be faced with some really difficult outdoor lighting challenges down there in the fall!

She said she is going to talk to her future mother-in-law about her desire to use me and find out from her how many hours she will want me there for. So, unless her mother-in-law tells her she is crazy, looks like I have it.

Anyone and everyone, please feel free to post any and all suggestions to help me pull this off in the best possible way!! I need all the advice I can get on this as I study up on wedding photography!

[HDNitehawk]

Glad to hear this. Just have fun with it. Probably by the time you get to the actual wedding you will have put so much research in to this you might make minimum wage if you’re lucky. But have fun. You can do it.

[Joel Eade]

Excellent news, have you read the pitfalls of wedding photographers on Lensrentals.com.....it's meant to be humorous and I am not trying disuade you but you could use it as a tool to know what mistakes to avoid. Extreme preparation is the key, you already know how to get images....you will just need to meet with client, go see the venue(s) and develope a detailed plan of the images they wants and what it will take to get them. You will need a relatively wide angle lens that can shoot in low light as well as a medium telephoto. You might be able to build the equipment rental cost into the contract as well as the cost of an assistant. Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Richard Lane]

Congrats!

U CAN DO IT!!!

We'll all be there with you in spirit!

Rich

[ddt0725]

Denise,
It may be too late for me to respond but here goes.
Yes, take it.
I agree if you are going to rent another camera rent a 7D and lense you are familier with.
The first two weddings I did I charged only my cost. I made it clear that I had never done it so I would not charge them anthing but the cost of the film/processing. This was before digital.
As mentioned before if you are ever going to be a wedding photographer you have to start with a wedding at some point. You will probably never think you are ready. Ask any profesional and you'll find they make mistakes all the time. I recently did a wedding and forgot to shoot the rings. My wife woke up at 3 in the morning with that revalation. We had the couple bring their rings by later and did them.
I feel you will do a great job. I know you have the skill. Looking at much of your work you also have the artistic eye for it. I have to draw on my wife to help with that side of the business.
If it is not too late, take the job and just charge what it takes to rent the equipement you need. Once she shares here wedding photos with your watermark on her facebook, you'll be getting calls from lots of future brides. Then you start charging reasonable rates and make enough to buy that 5D you want.

Oh, I so wish I would have read this before I spoke with her! Many things wrong right off the bat! First off, I told her that I would put the photos on a DVD for her to print where she wants or post online so I guess the watermark is out )-: I also told her that I would post a gallery on my website for her to have the photos printed professionally (stressing the difference between an professional print and a print from Walgreens) and she said she would also be getting the professional prints. I also gave her an hourly price that I pulled out of thin air!

For humor purposes envision this ...I am talking to her on the phone outside as I sit in my gazebo. A hummingbird flies up to me and starts feeding from the butterfly bush right in front of me ...a shot I have waited 2 years for! It has never fed from any of my flowers before so I look at this as a good sign ...we all have our beliefs! But then, after it flew away ...a mouse decided to crawl along the fence that I was sitting next to and run under the bush right next to me! I am completely TERRIFIED of mice! Only I could get mixed signs all within 10 minutes ...LOL!!!

[ddt0725]

Glad to hear this. Just have fun with it. Probably by the time you get to the actual wedding you will have put so much research in to this you might make minimum wage if you’re lucky. But have fun. You can do it.

Minimum wage ...heck, that's more than I am making now and that is why I even considered the thought of taking it!

[Kayaker72]

Ha...Hummingbirds trump mice.....that simple.

Congrats Denise. You'll do a great job.

As usual, TDP is an excellent resource, a two threads I liked:

http://community.the-digital-picture...ead.php?t=6203
http://community.the-digital-picture.com/showthread.php?t=3726

[Joel Eade]

PS: I would also consider a couple off camera, remote flashes....at the reception you could set these in the corners and bounce 'em off the ceiling for a fill flash that could work anywhere in the room. If you rent gear, get it early and check it all out so you know how to use it. You will want extra memory cards and batteries for sure. You can't afford to stop shooting. You may even have to consider a 2nd shooter, especially before the ceremony it's hard to get the bride and bridesmaids preparing and also the groom/groomsmen....they may not even be at the same place. An assistant can be valuable too to help organize everyone for posed pictures, hold flashes or reflectors, carry gear, run errands etc etc.. Don't know if the budget allows all this stuff but you should consider it. My son-in-law does this work frequently and my youngest daughter was married last summer so these are some things that I have recently been through.