What should you know before you tackle you first wedding.

Hi There!

For those of you who don’t know me, I have been a portrait, wedding and commercial photography for nearly 50 years.  I am still actively shooting and I am enjoying every moment when I am creating images.  I have written numerous articles and posted on some of the more popular on-line forums.  I have a passion for teaching other photographers about our craft and believe in a straightforward no-nonsense yet fun way of teaching and critiquing. 

I am very pleased that Ed Farmer and Ryan Nutt have invited me to be a moderator on their new forum.  I hope to help them, along with the other enthused moderators, to build a very special forum in terms of great content and enormous potential as an interactive learning tool for all who participate.  Without any further ado, here is my very first PAF article- I hope you enjoy it.

What you should know before you tackle you first wedding.  PART I

This article is not intended for the working professional wedding photographer or photographers in training with a mentor who is an experienced shooter and who is well on his or her way to a pro career.  On the job training is the best experience because there are so many aspects, nuances and assorted but not necessarily or strictly photographic skills but rather people skills that make up the consummate wedding photographer.

If you are known as the photographic expert, camera guy or photo maven in you family, your circle of friends or the gang at work, it is just a matter of time that someone is gonna ask you the big question; “will you photograph my wedding”?  This question is usually accompanied by a number of flattering remarks such as “I saw those beautiful pictures of flowers and landscapes you took” or “you really have some great equipment.  Your reaction my be something like “no way Jose”, “over my dead body”, “not anytime soon”  or probably a kinder approach where you explain the expertise need to cover such an important event and recommend a good pro to do the job.

But let’s face it folks, enthusiastic photographers at all levels of skill are up for a good challenge, have enough chutzpa (unmitigated gall) to venture into just about anything that is not outright life threatening and enjoy trying out new things to photograph.  Some of you may have heard that wedding photography is all kinds of good fun because you get to go to lots of parties and besides there is lots of money to be made.  Others of you may be thinking, in the back of your minds, that the would really like to get into the wedding photography business and are just hankering to create a portfolio to show off their work and get something going- certainly a practical idea. 

Many good photographers are good people persons and have kind hearts.  They want to perhaps help out “poor” couple who are having a modest wedding and just don’t have the extra bucks to hire a pro.  So they will do a freebee or a job at cost in hopes of getting a little portfolio together and help some deserving folks out at the same time!  Sounds like a plan.   Hay!  Maybe!   Some wealthy patron of the arts will pay you well to do the job because he or she thinks you are a nice guy or gal and figures that you can pull it off OK! 

NOW!  I am not here to tell you not to accept the job or to discourage you in any way bet rather to give you some straight talk about some things you may not know about in order to help you make the right decision. 

This is not a religious discussion but I’ll quote a passage from the Roman Catholic wedding ceremony.  The priest addresses the bride and groom; “You are about to enter into a covenant which is most sacred and most serious…”  The funny thing about this is that I am Jewish but still believe that philosophy is a great way to start off a marriage and perhaps every responsible wedding photographer should feel that way towards each and every couple they photograph.  Wedding photography is a serious business and even for couples who are not very traditional or religious, the images you make will become rather sacred to them, perhaps more so somewhat later when the fun of the wedding day is over and the body of work that the photographer has created will hold many treasured images of life as it is, as it was and how they would like to remember it.   

From a less philosophical view point; there is nothing worse than a disappointed bride whose wedding photographs do not meet with her expectations.  Well OK, there are worse things like your house burning down, being murdered in your sleep or a nuclear holocaust. Still, when I come to think about it, the insurance will cover the house, if I am dead or reduced to ash at least I won’t be around to face the music- loss of friends, banished by the family or even a big nasty lawsuit!  Yup! - All those things can happen.

OK!  Now it’s time to be positive!  You have to adopt certain policies- you must at all times adhere to MURPHT’S LAW, that is, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong!  This way you will always practice preventative measures and avoid many unmitigated disasters.  I am sure every one of you reading this article already has this important philosophy deeply embedded in your soul, namely “HONESTLY IS THE BEST POLICY”!

If you are going to accept the assignment it is important that you inform your client where your skill level is at and what they can expect and what they should not expect.  If you slightly underrate yourself you will become a hero when you present a kick-butt job.  If you inadvertently overate yourself or allow the client to do that in his or her mind, the least little problem will be blown out of proportion and you will become the village ogre with a camera.  Whether money changes hands or not, draw up a simple agreement so that everyone knows what they are getting in terms of merchandise and services.  If you intend making a portfolio of the images from that particular wedding, make sure you have written permission to display and advertise with all of your images. Specify that you own the copyright and all media, negatives, files and proofs.  Believe it or not- most misunderstandings arise from the client’s misconceptions of what to expect from their photographer- it is your job to educate- it always pays off. 

The clients should also be well informed as to how much time you will require to do a formal session in order that you have an ample opportunity to produce some nicely arraigned images of the bride and groom, the wedding party and the families.

Let’s talk required basic skills.  Job one is to bring back a good selections of images which tell the story of the wedding day in a logical sequence of events.  Some of theses images will be posed and portrait-like in style and many will be candid photographs of the events as they occur- you will need to be a good grab shooter- like a photojournalist or a news photographer.  You will have to have a good command of you cameras and basic lighting tools so that you can make good clean evenly lighted photographs.  Even if you just start out with a decent high end consumer camera or entry level pro model and a reliable flash unit attached to the camera with an overhead bracket you are taking steps in the right direction.  Unless you are somewhat familiar with portrait lighting techniques, you are better off starting with a simple flash set up and a few available light methods under your belt.  Remember you have no time to fiddle with the equipment or experiment in the midst of a wedding assignment.  Simple gear will allow you to concentrate a capturing the “must haves” and good expressions which count heavily when it comes to customer satisfaction.  Many clients are not aficionados of advanced lighting methods but will get very bent out of shape if Grandma is accidentally excluded from the family shots or if you miss the ring exchange or the cutting of the wedding cake.   

You gotta always be in the right place at the right time and be able to anticipate action and events as the wedding day progresses.  With experience, you will get to know all the sequences and procedures involved in weddings of various cultures, religions and traditions.  On the fort one, you will want to sit down with the bride and groom and make a list of the important highlights of the ceremony and reception and at the same time list all of the bridal party individuals and groups that have to be included.   

Most importantly, you need to posses patience and a love of working with people, sometimes under somewhat stressful conditions.  You have to realize that the wedding is not staged for the photographer’s convenience and that there are oftentimes regulations in houses of worship which may prohibit flash usage or may even restrict you movements during the ceremony.  You need to be able to roll with the punches and improvise when those talents are needed.  If you are not a patient, compassionate and flexible person, wedding photography can be the fast track to a nervous breakdown or at least a lot of frustration.  Balance is an important factor.  There are times where you need to be a “fly on the wall” and other times where you will have to step in and direct people with a firm but gentle hand!  When you act with kindness- people will respond well!

SOOOOOO… If you are still interested after reading all of this, stay tuned for Part II where we will get into cameras, lights and a whole bunch of neat stuff! 

Ed Shapiro   

Thanks.

Im still interested!

Corey

(But nervous)