Friend asked me to shoot her wedding - bad idea?

A

andrew00

Well-known member
Hey,

So a friend of mine wants a wedding where everyone chips in with a job and as I do music videos and know my way around a camera she asked me if I'd be the official wedding photographer.

I've never done that before and told her no as I felt it was too big a job for me to do - basically I don't want to screw up her once in a life time photos as an amateur with a bit of know how.

She's asked me to consider again and before I say no I wanted to ask people here - anyone does something like that? Do you feel it's a bad idea waiting to happen or is it actually pretty doable?

Cheers!
 
Just tell her that if she wants you then you will do the best but she will get what she paid for. fyi, there are no retake shooting a wedding like shooting music video.
 
People don't realise what a big job it is to photograph a wedding, much less film one. Don't know if it's doable because it comes down to your experience and the equipment you've got I suppose.

A friend of mine has asked if I could film his wedding but I turned him down. I told him I'd photograph it though.
 
I can't say to do it or not....but one thing going for you (other than your experience) is modern technology. You can review pics on the fly, take basically as many as you want, etc. The fact that you initially said no...says to me you'll do a good job. Because you'll take care in getting the best you can get. If you do it...just get lots of shots, at the ceremony and then with the participants in a more controlled setting. Remember that you can do a lot with the photos afterwards as well. Forgive me if I misunderstood....that she wants photographs and not video - That's a whole different game.
Also...if there's a rehearsal...that's a great way to get a feel for the ceremony. Ask to attend that for sure.
 
I did one pro bono the other day for a friend that could afford to have it done otherwise.
Aside from that, I avoid weddings like the plague. They are a ton of work (We did the stills and video), are hair pulling because it has to be right the first time and no one wants to cooperate.....and most important......I have to wear a damn suit!
 
Cool thanks for the comments, I think from reading the advice I'm right to say no. I don't fancy capturing such an important moment, it would only be stressful for me and I don't like the idea of screwing it up and dealing with the consequences!
 
If she really can't afford one, and understands that you're not going to get pro results, you could give it a shot. I wouldn't do it, though. A buddy of mine did a wedding video for his friend as their 'gift' when he was first starting out. He used cheapie DV tapes, and the footage was pretty much ruined from the get go, some of them wouldn't even play back at all. They don't speak very much anymore...
 
I would charge minimum wage for your work and offer no guarantees. You will take total creative license of the shooting and editing and they get what you give them.

:)
 
I actually did one for a friend of mine... but... I had already been shooting weddings for the last few years at the time so I had an idea of what needed to happen. Even still, its the only wedding that I ever shot that I had a cam go down, and it was the b cam close to the altar whose primary purpose was to capture the vows and audio...

Its a tough call because its a friend but I would be really hesitant if you have never shot a wedding before because they are alot of work...
 
As a rule of thumb I never do ANY work for friends unless they are also filmmakers. Too much at risk. What happens if your camera screws up and you lose part of her wedding? Easier to tell a client the bad news than your own friend
 
It's hard to enjoy a friends wedding if you're working... For some family members that asked about videotaping, I told them that I could set up two cameras on tripods and let them run and that's it, but even that requires you to constantly watch them to prevent someone from tripping over chords, etc.
 
awbacon said:
As a rule of thumb I never do ANY work for friends unless they are also filmmakers. Too much at risk. What happens if your camera screws up and you lose part of her wedding? Easier to tell a client the bad news than your own friend
Click to expand...

Bacon, please don't take offense... you're a filmmaker, not an event videographer!

But I'm going to use your quote to illustrate a point... you have a filmmaker attitude that is guaranteed to be disastrous at live events. Someone who does live events (well) knows that cameras do NOT screw up... videographers screw up. Someone capturing live events knows their equipment and its state of maintenance; has redundant capabilities; knows how to and takes the time to make everything crowd-safe, etc. Good event videographers shoot thousands of hours a year and NEVER LOSE ANYTHING. This is not the case with the way filmmakers operate. "Friends" often do not realize this world of difference in approaches, and often neither do filmmakers... but make sure before undertaking the only documentation of someone's important events that you do understand what it takes to be rock-solid reliable and NEVER LOSE ANYTHING.

You also say "easier to tell a client than a friend"... not in the event world. One screwup will often significantly impact income. In my niche (classical music audio/video recording), word of mouth in a fairly tight community is the prime factor in getting gigs... and indeed a few SECONDS of lost material could cost me a significant chunk of my client base....
 
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ullanta said:
Bacon, please don't take offense... you're a filmmaker, not an event videographer!

But I'm going to use your quote to illustrate a point... you have a filmmaker attitude that is guaranteed to be disastrous at live events. Someone who does live events (well) knows that cameras do NOT screw up... videographers screw up. Someone capturing live events knows their equipment and its state of maintenance; has redundant capabilities; knows how to and takes the time to make everything crowd-safe, etc. Good event videographers shoot thousands of hours a year and NEVER LOSE ANYTHING. This is not the case with the way filmmakers operate. "Friends" often do not realize this world of difference in approaches, and often neither do filmmakers... but make sure before undertaking the only documentation of someone's important events that you do understand what it takes to be rock-solid reliable and NEVER LOSE ANYTHING.

You also say "easier to tell a client than a friend"... not in the event world. One screwup will often significantly impact income. In my niche (classical music audio/video recording), word of mouth in a fairly tight community is the prime factor in getting gigs... and indeed a few SECONDS of lost material could cost me a significant chunk of my client base....
Click to expand...

No offense taken. I appreciate people being honest.

I do have a good amount of event coverage (US Open, X Games, ect) that was incorporated into sports documentaries, so I do understand the need to "get the shot, cause it wont happen again". I am a filmmaker in both documentary and narrative, so on the doc side things are never repeatable. Of course in narrative if a camera develops some problem, you can just reshoot.

I do appreciate your opinion on NEVER LOSE ANYTHING, but I can attest to having had / knowing people who just had a memory card "go" on them. It happens...it's rare, but it happens. Or even insane things like having a camera stolen (happened to me personally in Vegas at a trade show)

My point is...I'd never want to risk the relationship with my friends / family if that 1 in a 1000000 screw up happened. I'd rather disappoint a client (that has never happened, nor do I hope it does) and lose some income than disappoint a close friend or family member.
 
awbacon said:
I do appreciate your opinion on NEVER LOSE ANYTHING, but I can attest to having had / knowing people who just had a memory card "go" on them. It happens...it's rare, but it happens. Or even insane things like having a camera stolen (happened to me personally in Vegas at a trade show)
Click to expand...

I'm not arguing your point... but I continue to say it's a filmmakers view rather than an event shooter's view. I would feel perhaps AS BAD disappointing a friend or relative (if I had promised my full professional approach), but not worse than a client. And... if a memory card just "goes", you use your backup recording. If you have the right practices, things don't get stolen. I nor any of the people I find trustworthy have ever had a memory card just "go" on them during shooting of an important event. I have seen a very few memory card problems, but they've always shown up IN THE EXTENSIVE TESTING I DO OF THE MEDIA BEFORE PUTTING IT TO CRITICAL WORK. And, many people (especially people not from NYC!) think I'm paranoid in the way I marshall my equipment, lock it down, never leave anything unattended, even in a locked vehicle... but I've never had so much as a roll of gaffer tape stolen. I've heard all the horror stories... but they all have some neglectful lapse on the part of the person from whom things were stolen.

Its an imperfect world... with bad cards, thieves, alarm clocks that don't go off, whatever... it's the unglamorous things one does to make sure none of those things take you down that makes or breaks an event shooter...
 
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