Asked to shoot a wedding..again.

[Karebear98]

I need advice about the best way to approach this situation. I have been asked to shoot a friend's wedding and how much I charge. I am not officially in business so I want to do it for free. I believe I can give good quality photos but obviously not top notch because I am still learning. I want it to be my practice wedding so that I can gain some experience.

What do you believe I should say/do? I am nervous because I understand the importance of the day, but I also need to start somewhere. Any advice would be greatly appreciated in how to respond to her request.

[BenE]

Originally Posted by Karebear98

I need advice about the best way to approach this situation. I have been asked to shoot a friend's wedding and how much I charge. I am not officially in business so I want to do it for free. I believe I can give good quality photos but obviously not top notch because I am still learning. I want it to be my practice wedding so that I can gain some experience.

What do you believe I should say/do? I am nervous because I understand the importance of the day, but I also need to start somewhere. Any advice would be greatly appreciated in how to respond to her request.

I say use your friend's wedding as your practice wedding. Worst thing that can happen is they are not happy and you loose a friend.


Sorry, I honestly do not understand this thinking. If you plan to shoot weddings, why in the world do you not get some experience by assisting another photographer? Even if you have to drive to another city.

An actual wedding is not a place to practice.

Oh.. and for Pete's sake, get all the necessary paperwork done, if you ever have any plans to do work for money. I don't think the sales tax permit even cost anything.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by BenE

I say use your friend's wedding as your practice wedding. Worst thing that can happen is they are not happy and you loose a friend.


Sorry, I honestly do not understand this thinking. If you plan to shoot weddings, why in the world do you not get some experience by assisting another photographer? Even if you have to drive to another city.

An actual wedding is not a place to practice.

+1

Lose a friend, and maybe they sue you.

A wedding is not a place to practice photography. Do that on your own time with things that can be replicated. You cannot replicate the most important day in their life.

Tell them you aren't experienced and don't want to take on that type of responsibility. You would rather share in their joy as a friend. And then offer her some references of people that can handle a wedding.

[Karebear98]

Ok...maybe I shouldn't have termed it "my practice wedding." LOL Forgive me...but I do want to shoot it. I highly doubt they can sue me Thomas if I am doing it for free and telling them I am still learning and if they are ok with that and accepting then I will do it.

What are the grounds? "I saw her work and thought it was good, so I asked her to do my wedding. She told me it would be her first and she was doing it for free as long as I didn't expect the work to be top notch photography." "Now I want to sue her because her work doesn't look like Thomas Campbell's or ______ and I am out zero dollars."

[Karebear98]

Ok...here's another question. Say I refer her to one of you, as an example or someone ya'll know and she hires you. Would you be willing to let me come and participate and assist? I haven't found anyone as of yet that will.

[Tom]

I highly doubt they can sue me Thomas if I am doing it for free and telling them I am still learning and if they are ok with that and accepting then I will do it.

They can sue you. They may not win, but that doesn't mean it won't cost you thousands of dollars in legal fees. A couple years ago, a photographer in San Antonio was sued because a bride's tierra was on crooked and she blamed him for not telling her and fixing it and he wouldn't photoshop it right in all the pics. The photographer won, but it drained a year or two out of his life. Not to mention lawyer fees, time in court, etc.

You termed it practice wedding because it would be. And you should assist or second shoot for experienced photographers. It isn't like you have years and years of experience and equipment good enough for weddings. A few weeks ago, you couldn't tell pictures were out of focus.

Don't ruin someone's wedding because you want practice and are sorta in business.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by Karebear98

Ok...here's another question. Say I refer her to one of you, as an example or someone ya'll know and she hires you. Would you be willing to let me come and participate and assist? I haven't found anyone as of yet that will.

Some people do, and some people don't. Ask around. It probably depends on the situation and how nicely you act and how they think you will act at the wedding, because you would be representing them.

I have two second shooters that I use almost exclusively and trust a great deal, a third one that I have third shoot some and a full-time assistant/office manager/photoshoppist/designer that doesn't shoot at all. So I personally wouldn't have any need. Unless I want to groom someone to work for me in a larger capacity, I wouldn't want to bring anyone more to a wedding. But everyone has a different situation. A lot of photographers would love to have a voice-activated light stand. And a lot of photographers don't want to share any of their 'secrets' to people that want to be their future competition.

I'm sure you could find someone that would let you. A lot of people are hurting for weddings and need the business. It is a crazy competitive market out there.

[surlynkid]

i wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole. there is almost no upside. the downside is huge. you unintentionally end up with no good photos and lose a friend forever. i would try to work to find her a TPF member that will do her wedding with the caveat that you get to be the second shooter to learn from the pro. secondly, wouldn't you rather attend your friend's wedding than work? one thought is to work some arrangement that for every X dollars that the friend spends on said primary photographer, you will be allowed to give her X number of additional RAW images for free. get creative, but give it to a pro.

as a follow up to thomas on equipment, an eos rebel does probably mean that this will likely not go well.

[KenJulio]

The advice given may not be the advice you want to hear, but it's good advice. As more of my friends get married, I realize how much work the photographers go through on that day to get things right for the bride and groom. The various shots they MUST get and you are on THEIR schedule, you're not driving their schedule for the day. Just because you're dealing with the bride, you havent met the mothers who havent provided their input.

In regards as to what you should say, "thanks for the compliments and offer, but I would recommend a professional photographer, <insert name here>", or that you would be better suited assisting the main photographer as long as they agree with you assisting/2nd shooting.

This is based on how confident you are in your ability, "I'm still learning", "practice wedding", *I* would never being a primary shooter for a wedding and consider it a practice wedding knowing that my images will be subpar even for free, but that's just me.

[ChristopherCoy]

If you use the forums search feature, this topic has been discussed at length, numerous, multiple, thousands of times...

[BenE]

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

They can sue you. They may not win, but that doesn't mean it won't cost you thousands of dollars in legal fees. ============
Don't ruin someone's wedding because you want practice and are sorta in business.

If they are wanting a wedding photographer for free, for some strange reason I doubt if they would sue her, because this would require them to pay an attorney. Unless they have an "brand new" attorney friend that is willing to take on a case to practice suing people.

Wait... I just realized there us such a term as... "practicing attorney".

[Flea77]

I will second all the advice. Find a photographer that will do it and allow you to "tag along". If this is your first wedding you have no business even being a second. I have had friends of the couple tag along before, it is not a big deal for me (I get a free assistant!) as long as they understand and abide by my rules.

Allan

[Karebear98]

Surly and Ken: I like your points....I am sure the scope of orchestrating everything is just too overwhelming for me. I understand what all of your are saying and I agree. They did not ask for a "free" photog to clarify, they simply asked me and what were my rates, not understanding that I am not officially in business yet and haven't shot a wedding.

Maybe I can get someone from TPF to agree with those terms and see where it goes from there. First I will talk to my friend....I use "friend" loosely. This is a girl I have known since junior high (i'm 30 now) but only reconnected with on FB.

[Karebear98]

There is no need for snarky comments on the chat featured in TPF. You should know better. Learn to be helpful without the added verbage. I came here for advice and asked a question. If I didn't care, I wouldn't have asked and would just "do what I want anyway."

No need to ruin TPF for those of us newer to the industry and create an atmosphere on the forums where people WON'T actually ask. Please consider this when you add unnecessary comments on the chat window.

[KenJulio]

If you're referring to the "voice activated lightstand" I wouldnt consider it insulting. I only referenced it in Thomas' post due to me seeing it for the 2nd time and thought he picked it up from Joe McNally's facebook/tweet about needing volunteers/assistance to help setup lights for their upcoming flash class. It was not directed at your or anyone specific.

Also, I considered by a 'voice activated lightstand' to learn. I'd consider not taking comments/opinions personally, especially if you want to make photography a business. Learn to take it with a grain of salt, if you find the info useful, great, if not, move on. I'm not a pro photographer by any means, just enough to get new tools to use.