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Anonymous
I got suckered into photographing my uncles wedding in July. I don't really want to, but I have to. Have any of you photographed a wedding before? What are some pointers et cetera. I mean I've done portrait photography before but I think a wedding may be different. What lens should I bring along, or filters and other shit.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
Maybe try doing a really, extraordinarily shitty job so none of your relatives will ask you again?
>> Anonymous
>>173676

I would, but these are the last of the family to get married. It's supposed to be a wedding present to them too. Blah.

I'm thinking of taking a 70-200 and a 50 lens, that way I can shoot both from a distance for more candid photos, but also get up in peoples faces with a 50.
>> Anonymous
>>173674
That's why there's a whole field called wedding photography and it's not a subset of portrait photography. But honestly, I think you'll do a poor job. The lenses you need to take will be both on the wide and tele end so you can be more versatile. A wedding is not only the coming together of two people but also their families. It's important to emphasize this. If their families aren't present, then you'll have less to work with.

>>173683
Seconded.

Honestly, I think you're going to do a shitty job since you have no idea what you're doing. You should go through books and sites instead of posting on 4chan. And why are you focusing on candids? Protip: A lot of wedding photography is posed and done before the actual ceremony. Also, if this is a present, then there's no point in giving a bad one. Give them money so they can hire a decent photog.
>> Anonymous
OP here. I should have mentioned that they're a blue collar, working class couple. They don't exactly have the money to hire a commercial photographer. On top of that I don't think they'd even want to. That's where I came in. I do want to back out, though, it's too much fucking work, but then they have no alternative.

I mean, I know what I'm doing. I've been photographing for at least 10 years, I've just never done wedding photos and I don't want to fuck it up. I should hire somebody myself.
>> Liska !!LIVFOETqL8j
>>173703

I understand that they're in a tough spot for money- but the best thing your family can do is GIVE them a gift of money so that they can hire a wedding photographer. They may not be happy with you, but they'll live, you don't have to live with any guilt, and it will still be better
>> Anonymous
>>173703
What camera, lenses, and flashes do you have?
>> angrylittleboy !wrJcGUHncE
Tell them politely that it would be wiser for them to invest in a pro photographer. As a consolation, you can be the backup photographer for free.

IMHO, wedding photography is a whole lot different from portraiture and if you don't even know what equipment to bring, the chances for you to pull this off is low.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
At the very least, make them sign some sort of "I promise not to whine if [your name] screws up" agreement. The only thing worse than being forced by relatives to work for free is getting bitched at for not performing to their exacting expectations when working for free.
>> Jesus !1EQ.kCAg9c
I'm actually in a somewhat similar situation. My cousin's getting married this summer, and they have a professional for the ceremony/reception, but want me to shoot the rehearsal dinner. A lot less pressure, but I still want to do well.

Got a 17-50mm f/2.8, a 50mm f/1.8, a 100mm f/2.8 macro, and a 28-105mm f/4-5.6.
>> Anonymous
if you dont have the balls to tell them you dont want to do it (at least tell me they are paying you!) go to a bookstore (BN, Borders, whatever) and pick up the MYRIAD of books about wedding photography. just think of it as lurking moar IRL
>> Anonymous
Are these the people who care greatly about great photography and would hire a professional if they had the money, or just want someone to take halfway decent pictures? I mean, I'm sure very few people actually hire a professional wedding photographer to attend the wedding. My parents didn't. They just went to a studio.
>> hatefag
>Tell them politely that it would be wiser for them to invest in a pro photographer. As a consolation, you can be the backup photographer for free.

AC is right.
Not because it's too hard, or because you suck at photographs, but because people at weddings tend to FREAK THE FUCK OUT if anything goes wrong.

At the very least what I'd suggest doing is finding a friend or local amateur photographer to also document the wedding so that you have two or more sets of cameras going and you don't miss anything.

What you might want to do is get a relative with a P&S camera and have them document the living fuck out of everything so that you can have a bunch of snapshots in addition to the more formal portraits.

When it comes to weddings the more the better since it's something that most people only do once.
>> Anonymous
OP here. I told them to just get somebody else. I'm going to keep a D80 on me to act as a second photographer, but anything else is gunna be done by somebody else.
>> OPFOR !8vKpfCqy8A
>>173891
With lust and an inability to conceal an erection?
:)

>>173674
It's your choice, either shoot the wedding or not. If you change your mind, begin reading as much as you can about photography in general. Something about ten years of photography experience and you wanna rock with nothing less than a 50mm on a crop sensor just doesn't make sense in my head.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>173905
>>173906
TIME PARADOX
>> Anonymous
>>173905
>>173906
wtf
>> OPFOR !8vKpfCqy8A
>>173917
Removed and resubmitted post.
>> Anonymous
>>173923
please stop messing with my head, kthx