On 5/13/08 10:29 AM, in article
e9d3ddaa-a75e-4ebc-bbb3-4f8bec9b11f2@24g2000hsh.googlegroups.com, "Barb"
<sleibo@corecomm.net> wrote:

Most churches will not allow such lighting equipment. Pro photogs use
available. Tell her to bring a tripod since the exposure can be lengthily.

There was a very long thread on this about a year ago. You might check
Google Groups and see if you can find it.
Allen

You can use google to find many guides to wedding photography tips and
tricks. But one cannot expect to absorb all the tips and tricks just by
reading them. It takes practices.

Whenever I'm asked to shoot a wedding, I always tell the couple I'm not a
pro and they *need* to get at least one other photographer, amateur or pro.
The last thing I want is to ruin a friendship because I screw up, got sick,
or my equipment fail on the day.

If there is a wedding rehearsal at about the same time of day, it would be a
good practice opportunity.

The photographer needs to know her equipment very well because there is no
time to think when shooting a wedding. If she rents studio strobes, she may
not even have time to set them up. She needs to have on-camera flash ready
at all times (probably need a flash bracket and an external battery pack).
An assistant to carry stuff, set up lighting, locate missing relatives, tear
down lighting, watch her gear, ... is very very useful.

Do the couple want posed group shots or posed couple shots? Posing people in
a pleasing manner is a whole new topic and something most amateur
photographers have trouble with. Some photographers skirt the issue by
declaring themselves photojournalist-style wedding photographers :)

In all due respect, no one is really prepared to do this the first time,
unless they have been trained by a professional at real weddings.

   There are so many things that can and do go wrong. The last person you
really want to have this happen to would be a close friend or family member.
There are a lot of  tricks to the trade.  For example, no matter how good
your equipment is, it can and will fail right at the worse moment.  No real
professional is going to try and do a wedding with just one camera or flash
etc.

   I worked at a photo studio and even with experienced professionals we
had some real problems.  I also worked at a large Department  Store.  I was
in the photo retail end, not the studio at the time.  The President's
daughter's wedding was being done by the store.  Guess what... That *&$%
professional decided to do that wedding drunk.  No photos.   The Mother of
the bride knew me and asked what I might do.  In that case it did not turn
out totally bad.  We got the negatives (this was 40 years ago) that anyone
attending the wedding had.  From those we ended up with a good, memorable,
if not traditional, album.

   However don't send your sister away.  She has something that no
professional has.  She know the people there.  Like those photos in the
album from all those guest, she will have photos that not professional would
know to take.   For example, if Uncle Fred is seen dancing with his cousin
Alma who he has not spoken to since that time 20 years ago when she ...
Well that would be a tremendous photo.  She also can back up that
professional just encase he does the same thing that happened 40 years ago.

In article
<e9d3ddaa-a75e-4ebc-bbb3-4f8bec9b11f2@24g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>,

My advise. Don't do it! A professional photographer will get much better
results. Your sister needs to realize she is offering to undertake a
real job with a lot of responsibility and it is a hell of a lot of work.
The bulk of the work occurs after the photo shooting is done, when she
has to sit down at her computer and post-process the photos she wants to
give the newlyweds.

I did this for my sister, and all I can say is, never again. Doing
wedding photography when you are also attending the wedding as a guest
is a real drudge. My sister loved the results, as did my parents and her
in-laws, but I spent at least 200 hours AFTER the wedding working on the
wedding album. I also didn't get to enjoy the wedding festivities at all
because I was working.

If your sister must do this, she needs the help of at least one other
photographer who has a good camera because there is no way one person
can get all the shots that a wedding typically involves. Your sister
also needs to rent lighting, and she needs to see the wedding venue
before the wedding takes place and make a list of the photos the bride
and groom want. There are numerous books on wedding photography. Your
sister should read at least one of them.

    I have taken wedding photographs for friends who did not have the means
to hire a professional and in each situation I got no criticism and a
lot of praise! I must say that this was in the 60's and they were all
film cameras then. I did not have a very good camera, a Japanese
"Echoflex" which was a Rollei copy but it produced some really good
photographs.
    My main issues were:

1) I did not always know how to set up the group photographs because it
was rare that I knew everyone in the wedding group. I would suggest that
the groups and the relative positions of the various family members is
agreed before the day.

2) Another problem I encountered was that when I had a group composed
and I was about to take a photograph, I was hindered by people among the
guests who would wait until I was ready and start taking their own
photographs. This was eventually overcome by the simple act of leaving
an old wooden tripod in front of the group until the last minute. Nobody
wants a tripod in their photograph! After taking all the photographs you
want, it is a good idea to invite the guests to take their own
photographs. Once they get the idea it is sometimes possible to forget
about the tripod.

3) I always took at least four photographs of groups because there is
always someone making a funny face, looking the wrong way or with their
eyes closed! I always used to warn the group that I was going to take a
lot of photographs and sometimes I faked the first few to get attention
and natural expressions.

4) If there are children to be photographed in a group, do those groups
first and if there are individual or groups of children, try to do the
photographs before the adult groups and preferably away from the guests.

5) Photographs taken in the church were always taken with flash, a slave
flash near and to one side adds a bit of shadow and helps to bring out
the details of the brides dress. I used to calculate my exposures from
light readings taken from the bride because the first thing that the
bride will look for is the detail of the dress!

6) Lastly, it is a good idea to have someone to help get the groups set
up and give you time to think about the next move. The faster the
photography is done, the more successful the shoot will be and the
happier everyone will be.

    Hope this helps, Oh by the way look out for wine glasses, they can
spoil a photograph, either in the hand of a group member or just sitting
innocently on a table nearby.

DD

Please post the results/experience of your sister shooting her first
wedding.

In all due respect, no one is really prepared to do this the first time,
unless they have been trained by a professional at real weddings.

   There are so many things that can and do go wrong. The last person you
really want to have this happen to would be a close friend or family member.
There are a lot of  tricks to the trade.  For example, no matter how good
your equipment is, it can and will fail right at the worse moment.  No real
professional is going to try and do a wedding with just one camera or flash
etc.

   I worked at a photo studio and even with experienced professionals we
had some real problems.  I also worked at a large Department  Store.  I was
in the photo retail end, not the studio at the time.  The President's
daughter's wedding was being done by the store.  Guess what... That *&$%
professional decided to do that wedding drunk.  No photos.   The Mother of
the bride knew me and asked what I might do.  In that case it did not turn
out totally bad.  We got the negatives (this was 40 years ago) that anyone
attending the wedding had.  From those we ended up with a good, memorable,
if not traditional, album.

   However don't send your sister away.  She has something that no
professional has.  She know the people there.  Like those photos in the
album from all those guest, she will have photos that not professional would
know to take.   For example, if Uncle Fred is seen dancing with his cousin
Alma who he has not spoken to since that time 20 years ago when she ...
Well that would be a tremendous photo.  She also can back up that
professional just encase he does the same thing that happened 40 years ago.

My advice would be to check with the venue and see if any lighting
equipment is even allowed. Some churches attempt to prohibit
photography entirely.

There are reasons wedding photographers charge several thousand dollars
for an event. Event photography represents an enormous expenditure of
time, not only at the event itself, but in preparing for it. Experience
is worth a lot, too. Your sister is attempting to do something for
which a pro would require at least one assistant, a great deal more
equipment than your sister has, several days of preparation, and
extensive interviews with the couple.

Well, okay. Most pros have to admit they started out like your sister.
Robert T. Williams is one of the most highly paid wedding photographers
in the country. It wasn't that many years ago he charged $100 for his
first wedding. It didn't even pay for his film and the cost of
development. He learned his lessons the hard way.

Your sister will need an assistant, preferably one who has a camera of
her own. The assistant, when not doing the thousands of chores needing
to be done so that the photographer can actually take pictures, will be
taking detail shots and secondary views, backing up the photographer in
case anything goes wrong. If the photographer misses it, maybe the
assistant will get it.

Your sister should plan the shots she wants to take as far in advance
of the wedding as possible, scouting the venue for good locations as
well as familiarizing herself with the local area for unusual settings,
quickest routes to and from the church, etc.

She should plan on arriving early to get set up and to take test shots.
If she wants that shot from the choir seats looking over the audience
she needs to get into position before people start coming into the
chapel -- and the assistant needs to be posted at the door to cover the
doors and aisles.

What is she going to do with the pictures? Burn them to a CD and hand
them to the bride? Do you know what happens when you do that? The bride
usually has no idea what to do with the CD. She ends up taking it to
Costco and having a few of the pictures printed to 5x7. No album, no
real mementos, and no real clear idea of how to create them.