[Closed] Been asked to be photographer at friend's wedding - I'm not a photographer

You're in a loose loose situation if you do it. Nobody really looks at their wedding photos that much HOWEVER, balls it up, and they'll not get to find that little pearl of wisdom for themselves, and blame you forever.

honestly, don't do it!

What he said ,it wont be relaxed for you

It's b. I've got a mate who's a professional photographer (Sunday supplements etc, not weddings). He hates getting invited to weddings and being asked 'oh and if you could take a few pics, that would be great.' He declines those invitations. Alternatively, go, get slaughtered and come back with blurry snaps of the bridesmaids.

Get your girlfriend to come along and take auto compact shots of the same thing over your shoulder, cheats backup so if you do go wrong at least you'll have something to give!

Also ask them what they want photos of.... Lots of weddings do all the groups under the sun, others just do bride and groom, at least that would tell you how stressful it's likely to end up!

A friend did ours, we were really happy. Other than the male friends photo which was over exposed we had some really great shots, still great friends. Some other friends asked a different friend and she had a mare and lost the photos (computer crash and no backup we think, although it is never talked about). So it could go great, or you could be walking into b be walking into a nightmare.

Take the pictures, but only the groups outside the church and perhaps cutting the cake, rather than you having to spend the whole thing looking through a viewfinder.
And ask them to get someone else (one of the ushers?) to be responsible for marshalling the right people for the right groups.

I could be wrong here, but don't you know a very good photographer that could give you advice 😉

Taken a few for friends and provided expectations are low, then you'll be fine. Standard few groups, shot of the dress from behind, and generally people mingling. Get someone else to order people around. Have a second camera. Don't keep checking the images, process in black and white so everyone matches.

I used to shoot Manual, B&W FP4 with a 24mm lens, with the odd 135mm telephoto portrait.

Unless you are really chuffing good I would not. My godfather took some really lovely photos of our wedding (his hobby for the last 40 odd years). There was still a noticeable difference to the ones by our paid photographer though. We were always going to have the pro photos so no pressure on him.

*skip to the end*

Don't do it.

We got married on a budget one of our friends a very talented artistic photographer agreed to do the pics but borrowed a camera she had never used before from another photographer mate. She ignored his advise to leave it on auto played with the settings and mannaged to mess up every shot .
We still made a good collection of images from other peoples shots including one very special image that we have on the wall .
We are still good friends with the disaster photographer and thought the whole thing was very funny .
I imagine not every bride would be as cool about things as crankygirl was and it may have been significant that the photographer was primarily her mate rather than mine.

Don't do it. A non-photographer friend of mine did another friend's wedding that I went to (I tried to help him out by rounding up relatives, finding spots for shooting and whatnot). It did not work out well, they pretty much ended up with no photos of their big day. They're really nice people so they didn't blame him or anything, but it was a real shame.

Honestly, tell your mates not to scrimp on the pictures - people will forget if the cake or food or DJ or venue is a bit crap, but the photos are something you keep afterwards, hopefully forever, and they'll always regret it if they come out rubbish.

On a selfish level, from what I saw, as a guest/photographer you'll almost certainly have a pretty crap time too.

Bribe Laurence to do it!!!

I said yes to one.. By 10 years later, I'd said yes to 5 more. All friends and family. I enjoyed doing them, but they were all a bit stressful.. Remember if you're part of the crowd, that by the time you want to put the camera down and party, a professional photographer would be done and gone. You'll have met everyone there by then, so have fun.

The last one grew in grandeur until it ended up being conducted in a cathedral. There was no way I was going to be held responsible for that! I suggested they get a pro for the formal stuff (and they turned out to know one anyway) and that I take some social shots for facebook. Being the FB photographer was much less stress and much more fun.. Just smile at people, say hi and snap a couple of shots and you're bound to get people looking nice. Then you'll not be noticed so much, and get some relaxed looking guests. Those photos turned out to be far more fun, and suddenly I was everyone's favourite profile pic photographer. Much more fun.

Haha how funny

I was asked a few months ago to do exactly the same.

A very good mate was getting married at a registry office and he wanted me to be in the room - but there was only enough room for family.

I was quite touched.

On the day and with all the family arriving - I seriously started to feel uncomfortable with the prospect. The registrar announced me as the official wedding photographer and my bottom nearly fell out.

I'm very laid back and have in my 43 years 'got away with it' ...managing to blag most situations. But this was different..the camera I'd borrowed that morning was non zoom, but this didn't really dawn on me until I found myself at the front taking pictures !

The day was beautiful and more family arrived for the wedding photos.

Taking the odd travel photo is one thing but organising a family unknown to me was beginning to get stressful - blokes wandering round with 'expensive cameras' were giving me tips and I feared that my cover ( if I had any to start with) was getting blown.

At the evening do and with alcohol flowing one of the by now drunk family members sauntered up to my and whispered in my ear...

'you didn't have an f'ing clue did you'

The photos were actually bloody superb - if a tad abstract and Ive been assured that they were well received by all.

My advice..?

Get to know your camera, the venue, the wedding couples desires from your shots...

Oh and don't do it :^))

Depends what they want really. If they're expecting 'posey' shots, don't do it. If they want informal/fun/candid shots then you've got little to lose (& maybe a bit to gain). My eldest son took nearly all of the photo's at our wedding & he's just a 'snapper', great photo's though & he did us proud.
PS, it was the 2nd wedding for both of us so we weren't too arsed about the posey stuff.

Absolutely go for it, you've got time and are up for learning so why not. I would be tempted to take a 'test' pic of them now though so they can decide themselves if that is really what they want. And what esselgruntfuttock said, you won't be able to compete with a pro on lots of posed shots so don't try

I think this is about the third thread in the past three weeks in which someone has been asked to be a wedding photographer for a friend!

I was a keen photographer (not of weddings) and assisted on a couple of weddings. A lot of pros don't produce remarkable shots, but they are able to produce the goods under difficult circumstances. Plus, they'll have insurance for the times things go wrong.

Managing groups is part of the required skill set (the photographer I assisted was a retired policeman). Also, it helps to have a good knowledge of weddings (I'd never been to one before). On the technical side, you need to be able to get great shots under all lighting conditions etc.

I took some B&W shots when I was best man for a relative, and was able to produce a slightly more quirky album than the pro. However, there wasn't any pressure on me, and the album was an afterthought when I saw the developed and printed images.

I think you need to be realistic about your skills, and whether or not they match your friends' (and their families') expectations. If you only have a compact camera then you might struggle to take some of the more traditional shots (which often require tripod and external lighting/flash etc).

^^Oh, and what Brack said.. Be very familiar with your camera, and don't try anything with it on the day that you haven't done before. The second one I did, I ****ed up the film speed by forgetting a +2 was set on the exposure dial and had to get a few films push-processed.

I've done a couple. Get a fast normal prime and shoot without a flash. You might want to practice a bit first just to understand what iso settings to run in the evening etc. Take lots of candids. Don't do staged group shots. Just keep expectations low and put some effort into doing a nice photo book.

It's very hard to be worse than a traditional wedding photgapher.

We had a non-pro enthusiast friend take pics on the day. However, we also had a pro take posed pics the day before (of just bride and groom) to make sure we had proper smart ones for the relatives' mantelpieces, and to take the pressure off the friend. Worked perfectly.

There's nothing like a pro photographer organising people interminably into multiple groups of different types to spoil a wedding (based on one we attended, which motivated our decision).

I've done it for my cousin. Piece of piss. Ask for as many guests photos as possible and put all the best of yours and theirs in a photobox type photo book. Do it.

Say no- but pay a pro as your gift

I guess as long as you manage expectations it will probably be ok. I doubt you'll enjoy it that much though - it can be quite stressful.

I don't really think a Lumix GM1 is up to the job. Good camera - but in a dark church?

Full frame bodies with f1.4 or faster primes and f2.8 zooms are the standard, and even then sometimes you are pushing them. Or you have to use flash and it will probably look crap.

I've done it for my cousin. Piece of piss.

Can we see the photos please?

Honestly, tell your mates not to scrimp on the pictures - people will forget if the cake or food or DJ or venue is a bit crap, but the photos are something you keep afterwards, hopefully forever, and they'll always regret it if they come out rubbish.

Big +1 to this but I'm biased of course. 🙂

Are you primarily his friend or hers? All I would add is that when you make your decision, do not underestimate just how important the day is to her.

Thomthumb.
£1000+ for wedding photo's. It would be a generous wedding present from a friend 😯

Can we see the photos please?

IMHO of course.

Seriously do a crash course in photography otherwise just don't do it.

I wouldn't touch it. Working for friends or having friends work for you is awkward enough, add in the added pressure of it being a wedding and I wouldn't even consider it.

I'd get polarisandy to do it. His shots are consisstantly good.

I've done it a couple of times. Been slightly uncomfortable about it both times, but if they want to be cheap... An paying a pro won't necessarily equate to better quality.

Reading some of the stories in here though... Borrowing cameras on the day... Christ, I went in with two cameras both times, a fistful of memory cards, spare batteries....

Hah.
I've refused twice and not regretted it.
And i've done it once and enjoyed it.

If it's even remotely formal and your really considering doing it, go and spend a day with a wedding photographer.

If it's totally informal and you know them well then have a go..but practice first.

I recently went to a friend's wedding where they had asked a friend who did a LOT of photography to be their photographer. As he was so inexperienced in taking wedding photos, he didn't have the character to start marshalling the family and friends needed for all the photos, or getting the composition of the photo correct (ushers and bridesmaids balanced, stood in similar poses). As a result, the whole process took frickin' ages, annoyed a lot of people and finished with a lot of unbalanced & mediocre photos.

As a back up, the bride had asked a few of us who had a bit of experience in photography to take some as well. If I was the official photographer, I'd have run a mile. As it was, knowing that there was no pressure meant it was really relaxed and fun, and resulted in loads of great photos from all of us. That said, we all had SLRs and range of lenses. Plus the weather, light and locations were great so didn't demand a great deal of skill to get good shots.

If they don't want to pay for a photographer, maybe suggest approaching a local arts college to see if there are any trainee photographers who could do with the experience for a nominal fee?

Okay, here's what to do. Tell them you are sorry but you can't do it. Admit that you're just not confident enough, you don't have spare batteries, memory cards, bodies, lenses.....thousands of pounds worth of equipment necessary to do the job[b] [i]but[/i] [/b]you will bring your camera and you'll give them all your shots, along with whatever the pro they hire gives them. So they'll get loads of extra pics for free, and they can hire someone cheaper as they'll have the safety net of your shots.

I shot some pics at my sisters wedding (rudely stepping on a pro's toes). Glad I did though as mine were much, much better. I was quickly asked to do a couple of weddings after that for friends of friends. Money was offered, I was tempted. When the possibility of losing the shots and maybe getting sued dawned on me I wasn't so tempted.

I would say no way.

Being a good photographer is one thing but a large part of it seems to be rounding people up, forcing them into photos, generally taking charge. It seems tedious and thankless and there is a lot of pressure. No matter what they say, if they don't like the photos it will always bother them.

Alternatively, have you thought about just photo-shopping all the guests heads onto some Indian or Caribbean wedding shots that you find on Google image search?

Should save you some time and then you can just get pissed on the day.

**Like Jamie,also skips to the end*

I can help with this one. If you give the slightest toss about remembering your wedding
then prepare to pay for a decent photographer. If not, hire the local ****wit

If you go for it get 5x 128gb memory cards and take 60,000 photos 🙂 got to be 30 good ones in there no?

Absolutely do it. As long as you've got an eye for composition (you don't put people's heads in the middle of the shot like most idiots do) your digital camera will sort it out for you and unlike the four or five I've done in the past with film, you can shoot as many pics as you like and delete the bad ones.

Some hints:

Always respect the 1/3 - 2/3 rule when composing unless you're going for an edgey shot.

Always leave space in front of your subject when shooting from the side.

Avoid sunlight as it washes out the bride's dress and makes people squint.

Gen up on those formal shots that MIL will expect to see in the album. Don't be afraid to push people around to get the groups you need - they expect it as part of the ritual.

Practice keeping the camera still in low light shots, consider a tripod for really sharp results.

Fill the frame.

Crop, crop, crop afterwards to get good close shots and tight compositions.

Buy an expensive Italian paper album, not some naff thing with padded vinyl covers.

Take lots of shots of every scene because somebody will be distracted or will have their eyes shut. Be sure to get the subjects' attention.

Probably the most important skill is composition. You really need to gen up on that.

With digital you have far less to worry about where lighting is concerned, you might need flash for the indoor shots but even with film I used to try to avoid it because of the way it washes everything out. I preferred to use a tripod and a long exposure but then you've got the worry about people moving and blurring.

Take your time, be positive and methodical. It is stressful but rewarding, especially in future years when you get the album out and you can't believe you took those pictures!

I do photography as a hobby and I have been asked a number of times to do friends/family weddings. I always refuse mainly because:

1. I usually want to enjoy the wedding.
2. If it goes right no problem, if it goes wrong you will have ruined their special day forever. Most Professional photographers have liability insurance against that.
3. People usually want something for free, do it for one and you will be inundated.
4. Most professionals have spare camera bodies, spare lenses, spare batteries in case of a technical failure.
5. Can't be doing with pushy bride, groom, family, guests who know what they want and expect you to deliver it.

Don't get me wrong I have taken pic's at weddings and the bride & groom have been more than impressed with them. One couple even chose my photo over the professionals to enlarge and put over the mantelpiece. However I took these when I was relaxed, with no pressure or expectation from others to provide the goods.

Best thing as jimjam says, say no but take your camera, don't tread on the Pro's toes (they get a little upset with that) and get different shots, people relaxed and not in Formal (forced) photo poses.

When I got married a friend of my wife offered to photo ours as was a keen amateur and had been on courses. Wife was keen so I figured OK but just before the wedding she was hit on the head by a bit of her bedroom ceiling and had to go to hospital. So she gave her camera to her friend and he took the photos and they weren't great but a few good ones in there. My Mum did all the group organizing so he just had to take the pics.

So I would do it with a helper, as long as they understand the quality isn't going to be close to what a pro's would be - you get what you pay for and I'm a monkey.

Okay, here's what to do. Tell them you are sorry but you can't do it. Admit that you're just not confident enough, you don't have spare batteries, memory cards, bodies, lenses.....thousands of pounds worth of equipment necessary to do the job but you will bring your camera and you'll give them all your shots, along with whatever the pro they hire gives them. So they'll get loads of extra pics for free, and they can hire someone cheaper as they'll have the safety net of your shots.

... is the right answer.

As others have said, there's a world of difference between "can you bring your camera?" and "will you be our official photographer," and at the very least you need to manage your friend's expectations. Tell them your skill level, equipment level, and what a pro usually carries (two cameras for a start - what if you drop yours on the day and smash it?), then if you want to do it let them make the decision with their eyes open.

What I'd do in their situation is, in addition to any "photographer", buy a dozen disposable pocket cameras and scatter them about the place, then collect them in at the end of the night.

Do it.

Turn up in a black poloneck and beret, chain smoking with a cigarette holder, then proceed to ignore all the people and instead take a dozen out of focus close-ups of leaves, bark, cutlery, and door hinges, and if engaged in conversation immediately start waffling about heroine. 😆

Do it.

Turn up in a black poloneck and beret, chain smoking with a cigarette holder, then proceed to ignore all the people and instead take a dozen out of focus close-ups of leaves, bark, cutlery, and door hinges, and if engaged in conversation immediately start waffling about heroine.

We had a few friends taking pics at our wedding. One was just setting up as a pro and did a 1 hour session doing the 'official' group photos and a few of the two of us. That was their gift to us, they offered rather than us asking. Another was also a pro and was the partner of a friend. We didn't ask them to, but they took lots of nice casual pics. I think being a partner meant they were probably happy to have something to do rather than the the socialising thing. A third friend, a hobbyist, did a session where we set up a blackboard and few funny hats so people could write a message and pose for a fun photo. This was a great way to get group photos of people who aren't in the official group pics and are great fun to look back on.

In your position I'd be happy to do it but discuss with them what their expectations are. I wouldn't expect you to spend the whole day behind the camera. Probably a few of the ceremony, a few group shots (not every possible combination) and a few candid ones during the evening.

I did it this past weekend for friends who had a registry ceremony and a reception at a local village hall, but it was definitely more on the "will you bring your camera and take some photos" end rather than "will you be the official photographer", and both sides were happy with that - the bride and groom didn't want endless posed photographs and I didn't want the responsibility. I also quite frankly don't have the gear or expertise - I shot everything with a cheap SLR (Canon 500d), kit lens (18-55) and a flash with diffuser. I know I'd have got better results using natural lighting but I don't have an f1.4 lens and I can't afford to buy one.

I took so many photos that there are bound to be a few reasonable ones. I haven't even looked through them all to be honest - I looked through the pics from the ceremony and posted a few online to give people something to look at then bunged the lot on a memory stick and gave it to the bride and groom so that they can choose the best and edit them where appropriate (I did shoot raw 🙂 )

As an aside, we had a pro at our wedding who we paid a huge sum, the film didn't capture the colours of the dresses - brown not green, the composition was poor and exposure off due to bad processing. We have a box of those pictures in the loft, and a nice casual B&W photo in a frame from my step father on the mantelpiece. Endless posed photos don't capture a wedding.

I used to shoot about 5/6 films of B&W and hope to get 36 in a really nice album as a present. I've shot about 10 weddings for family and friends. Always informal and always stated upfront so it is understood. I've then had to order multiple albums for the bride and groom's relatives because they like the informality.

If they are precious about photos of the wedding, don't do it. If they are more laid back, or really have no other options, I'd say why not?

Do it (probably)! Give me a shout on Facebook if you want some advice, I do two or three a year.

Do it maybe. I did, was a hectic stressful day, but I loved it.

Bride and groom loved the photos and I was really happy how they turned out. I even managed to make the bride cry when a couple weeks later they were just expecting files turned up with an album of my favourite pics in.. She still regularly gets it out to show anyone and everyone.

So if you're confident in your own ability so it, they obviously are otherwise they wouldn't ask. I managed to scope out the venue before hand and did some mock photos beforehand so prepared as best I could.

Oh and it gave me an excuse to buy some additional camera kit..