Wedding Photography - Why do you love/hate it?

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Carmel Nikon

Carmel Nikon

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Marketplace
Member's gallery
While enjoying the thread about Steve in Spain, I was struck by deep feeling expressed about wedding photography. I've never done it, so feel I'm missing something.

What makes it difficult for many photographers to enjoy shooting weddings? Does it require a certain personality to thrive doing this? Can you share a war story or two to illustrate the joys and/or pains of doing wedding photography?

I appreciate gaining insight here, especially since a friend may be asking me to shoot their child's wedding later this year (should I embrace - or run away - from this "opportunity"?).
Thank you!
 
Member's gallery
There can be a lot of stress about getting the shot. It is more pressure because it’s not like you can say ”sorry i missed that moment, can you do it again?” There is also a lot of emotions from the wedding party that can turn from happy to ugly. For me, the worst part is the posed photos. It just isn’t my thing anyway so add chasing people around who keep running off to socialize makes it worse. The other hassle of meeting with people ahead of time to discuss why they should hire you wouldn’t apply if it’s for a friend. Lastly, it ends up being a lot of photos that you need to process thoroughly so it is a lot of post work.

My advice to you about doing this for your friends child would be to set the expectations up front that this isn’t something you have done and you may not get everything perfect, you may miss a few photos, and give them a timeline for when they should expect you to get through the photos (Roughly 1500-2500 to go through from the day).

I personally enjoy shooting them, with the exception of the posed group shots. I look at all the things they picked for decorations, the venue, all the small details and try to get those in photos. Remember to shoot key guest during the ceremony as well, capture the emotion. It’s all about capturing the moment, memories, emotions so they look back at the photos and relive the day.
 
Member's gallery
I've done one wedding and a couple corporate and church events (think wedding reception only without the drunk uncle Charlie wanting to tell you he is also a photographer). I don't like doing it. One reason I gravitate toward nature and wildlife photography is I'm just not a people person. I had to deal with people in my career and now that I'm retired, I prefer the solitude and stress free environment of being out in nature. I can relate to the creatures of the forest and capture the moment with them. People are a different story.

No real war stories. I can see myself saying "this is a camera, it isn't a magic box. The only way this could make your mother in law look better is if she were to lose 90 pounds, shave her chin and wear a skirt that actually covers her behind." With that said, I doubt if they would give me a good reference (even if they agreed with me about the mother in law).

I guess if you really like people, enjoy being around drunks at the reception, and are good at calming down bridezilla on her most stressful day and can chat with drunk uncle Charlie about his camera gear while still capturing the important shots then wedding photography is probably not too bad and there is money to be made there. I won't get rich with nature photography but at least I won't have to listen to the DJ's playing the same 20 songs every weekend.

Just my 2 cents worth and it is, indeed, worth half what you paid for it.

Jeff
 
Member's gallery
Carmel Nikon said:
While enjoying the thread about Steve in Spain, I was struck by deep feeling expressed about wedding photography. I've never done it, so feel I'm missing something.

What makes it difficult for many photographers to enjoy shooting weddings? Does it require a certain personality to thrive doing this? Can you share a war story or two to illustrate the joys and/or pains of doing wedding photography?

I appreciate gaining insight here, especially since a friend may be asking me to shoot their child's wedding later this year (should I embrace - or run away - from this "opportunity"?).
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Just say NO.

Wedding photography is stressful, even after a decades of being in the business. Starting from the first consultation with the couple/clients, we go through the details from flowers to tables to ceremonies, banquets, dance floor, flower girls, cousins and 3rd or 4th cousines ... six months in advance. On the big day, we always have at least two photographers, 4 cameras with 2 ~ 3 sets of strobes, backup & backup, double check & triple check all the gears. At end of the night, no matter how exchausted we are, we always download, backup & save the files.

Clients do not take kindly of missed shots, distorted expressions, spilled wines... the church or temple is often dimly lit, often I shoot with very high ISO and noisy kids; in wedding photography business, we spend 60% ~ of our time marketing ourselves, 10% ~ 15% doing tax, going back and forth with clients, 10% ~ 15% time working on the actual photos.

I hope this helps.

Oliver
 
Member's gallery
Carmel Nikon said:
While enjoying the thread about Steve in Spain, I was struck by deep feeling expressed about wedding photography. I've never done it, so feel I'm missing something.

What makes it difficult for many photographers to enjoy shooting weddings? Does it require a certain personality to thrive doing this? Can you share a war story or two to illustrate the joys and/or pains of doing wedding photography?

I appreciate gaining insight here, especially since a friend may be asking me to shoot their child's wedding later this year (should I embrace - or run away - from this "opportunity"?).
Thank you!
Click to expand...
It does help to have the right personality….and patience. It’s like herding cats sometimes. Some churches or venues have limitations that you need to work around. There is some element of organised chaos so you need to adapt quickly. Pre-planning is a must, scope out the location/s, look at the light at event time. Go to the rehearsals , take test photos. Look at the lighting, the angles and make some lens choices.
I shot everything pre digital so we shot less frames and didn’t have the advantage of instant review.
I stopped because I wasn’t enjoying it any more. I got tired of the numerous people with kit cameras crowding around you, sometimes actually hindering, trying to get what you are being paid to do.
By all means, have a go but just be sure to manage your friends expectations.
 
Member's gallery
Wedding photography is just too hard work and I always turn it down. Pre big day shoot to get to know each other, groom and best man and bride getting ready, bride arrival and ceremony, the gathering after the ceremony, the wedding breakfast, cutting the cake, first dance, evening celebration.......

Then there is the constant backing up as often as you can, public liability insurance and the processing. No thanks.
 
Member's gallery
Stress! I've been in the middle of gun battles (even took a round), covered major plane crashes, was a dying declaration witness in a capital murder last year, shot in the middle of an active ice covered freeway, hung out of helicopters, been in a squad car in chase going the wrong way on a freeway with the trooper shooting out the window and the list goes on. All were easier than the handful of weddings I've shot!

The nicest people in the world go crazy when they're involved in a wedding. You literally couldn't pay me enough to shoot a wedding. Good luck!
 
Member's gallery
Carmel Nikon said:
While enjoying the thread about Steve in Spain, I was struck by deep feeling expressed about wedding photography. I've never done it, so feel I'm missing something.

What makes it difficult for many photographers to enjoy shooting weddings? Does it require a certain personality to thrive doing this? Can you share a war story or two to illustrate the joys and/or pains of doing wedding photography?

I appreciate gaining insight here, especially since a friend may be asking me to shoot their child's wedding later this year (should I embrace - or run away - from this "opportunity"?).
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Just some thinking out loud......

Is the friend a close one?
If so are you willing to risk the friendship 'going south' if things go wrong even if you are not to blame?
Were you likely to be invited as a guest to the wedding, as guest & photographer IMO are incompatible!
Is this a paying job?
Do you have back up kit in case of failure leading up to and during the wedding?
Are you insured for public liability if, for example if anyone trips over your camera bag and injures themselves?
Even if you did it as a favour, some of the above are still important to consider.
Plus as you have never done a wedding (nor have I) you need to be able to manage their expectations......best in writing rather than verbally.
 
Member's gallery
I have done a couple dozen weddings., but I'm I concert photographer first and foremost. People reach out to me because they like my concert photos, so the expectations are pretty clear upfront. Set clear expectations upfront. Know that after the meetings, the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, finding cool places to get photos between the ceremony and the banquet, the day of shoot and all the editing, even if you charge $2500, you will still be barely making above federal minimum wage. Ask the couple to show you photos of weddings they like, that will help with locations, poses and editing. I won't say that I enjoy doing them, but my experience has not been what has been reflected above.

As this is predominantly a wildlife photography site, I would imagine most of the responses will be from well meaning folks who enjoy the quiet solitude of nature, which is the polar opposite of wedding shoots. I'm a people person, outgoing and can be chatty if I have to, so that helps. I love photography, like to challenge myself by doing things outside my comfort zone, so I just try to have fun with wedding shoots and go with the flow. I have several friends that do this for a living, pull in six figures a year, and have mad respect for them!
 
Member's gallery
I‘ve shot about 6 weddings from smaller ones to very large ones. I don’t care for it because it’s an all day commitment and you don’t have any choice in dealing with “personalities” involved. It’s also a discipline where you need to have go-to portrait poses locked into your mind and you need to have clever go-to tricks to deal with what is almost always bad lighting. An assistant is of immense help but I only had that once. So after all that I decided that I didn’t need to try every area of photography.

To this day I discovered that I actually only have interest in a few areas: wildlife, portraits (simpler ones, not complicated ones), closeup, and sometimes landscape. The rest I’ll take if it’s right in front of me but otherwise it’s smartphone material.
 
Member's gallery
There are all some very good points here, but I think @Box Brownie has a great one - are you willing to risk the friendship 'going south' if things go wrong even if you are not to blame?

I actually shot weddings for a studio many years ago, and it can be very stressful. Whether it's trying to round up the wedding party after the ceremony that just wants to go barhopping (usually it was with the couple that didn't want to see each other before the ceremony...that just happened to live together... :rolleyes:), trying to be in multiple places at the same time (believe it or not, we didn't use a second shooter!), hoping you got your exposures right (yes, film!), or any other myriad of possibilities that could go wrong. I do know the owner of the studio had to pay for basically a complete redo (hair, makeup, tuxes, flowers, venue...you get the picture, pun fully intended) when the film from another shooter was unusable. He didn't disclose if he had insurance to cover such a possibility, one would hope so. Honestly, I don't think I would ever want to photograph another wedding!

Sorry for the long read, but I do have one mildly amusing story. For reference, we were required to dress up, men in tuxes, women in nice dresses or pants suits. Also, we carried two Hasselblad 220 film cameras, and a 35mm for "insurance" shots, along with strobes (Vivitar 283s, if memory serves), film, batteries, etc. To carry all that, I bought a black roller bag and cut out a foam insert. I usually set that on my passenger seat with my primary camera on top, ready to go. I had a wedding on a military base right after 9/11. The base had staggered concrete barriers, so you couldn't drive straight through, you had to weave between them. In between these barriers were checkpoints - first one, pop your trunk and hood. Second, mirrors examining the undercarriage of your car. Can't remember the third, but the officer at that station ducked his head down to my driver-side window and told me I was free to go on. I looked right at him and said, "Funny no one thought to check this big black bag right here." The look on his face was priceless!
 
Member's gallery
Carmel Nikon said:
While enjoying the thread about Steve in Spain, I was struck by deep feeling expressed about wedding photography. I've never done it, so feel I'm missing something.

What makes it difficult for many photographers to enjoy shooting weddings? Does it require a certain personality to thrive doing this? Can you share a war story or two to illustrate the joys and/or pains of doing wedding photography?

I appreciate gaining insight here, especially since a friend may be asking me to shoot their child's wedding later this year (should I embrace - or run away - from this "opportunity"?).
Thank you!
Click to expand...
I think it’s a combo of stress…the bride will rarely be happy with what you do…and the fact they expect to pay you cheap and expect 2 hours of processing on every shot and then want original high res files after processing to print a million copies at Walgreens or whatever. Unless you have experience or are a second photographer in addition to the experienced one they hire…I would politely decline as ’not what I do and it is a once in a lifetime moment and I won’t want to risk our friendship on my wedding lack of experience’. Too much chance of losing a friend and since he’s a friend he’s gonna want free or cheaper than a pro wedding person. They couldn’t pay me enough to do one…and I don’t have all the strobes or shortish fast lenses anyway so my kit isn’t what a wedding needs.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
jeffnles1 said:
I can see myself saying "this is a camera, it isn't a magic box. The only way this could make your mother in law look better is if she were to lose 90 pounds, shave her chin and wear a skirt that actually covers her behind."
Click to expand...
As a guy who worked for a company named Reality Based IT Services…we told the truth, not what you wanted to hear…and as a guy that hid under the bed when they were passing out tact…that sounds *exactly* like something I would say.
 
Member's gallery
Viathelens said:
I thought this was a wildlife and landscape forum? I guess a wedding can get fairly wild as can the attendees so maybe it does qualify! Not something I've ever shot.
Click to expand...
Of course this is a wildlife and landscape forum! I assume you're critiquing my thread's existence...to repeat my rationale, I was struck by the many comments in the "Steve in Spain" thread about the pains of wedding photography, so I asked. I'm grateful for the many insights offered over the past day. I was also struck by how many wildlife photographers posting here have done wedding shoots in their past - a real lesson there as well!

Based on comments and insights generously offered here, I think I will defer on this opportunity, both to preserve the friendship and be realistic about my lack of experience in the genre (given the high stakes involved). I will bring a camera and take cameo shots - but to complement whatever photographer solution is chosen, not take the place of it. To echo @Viathelens' comment, I suspect wildlife will end up in some of the photos... :)

Thank you, all!
 
Member's gallery
I took some candids for a friend's wedding once and wound up getting better shots than the guy they paid to do it. But no, I've never had any interest in people photography at all, other than photographing my kids' sports teams.
 
Member's gallery
I have professionally photographed over 400 weddings. All of which were on film except I did one for a cousin last year.

To me photographing a wedding is very easy, it’s not stressful as some claim and being it had been many years since I shot my last wedding until last year it’s like riding a bike.

Having a good personality is key. It’s also important to be organized and communicate the flow and how things will go throughout the day to your clients.

I don’t do it anymore as I don’t shoot people except for collegiate sports when I have time. The one thing about the film days is once I was done I dropped the film off to a pro lab and was done until I delivered proofs. With digital I had to spend about 30 hours editing and it was HORRIBLE!!! I’ve recently seen some AI tools that can post process a wedding in minutes. This would be a must if I was to ever do it again.
 
Member's gallery
The professional is someone who will get the shots needed regardless of the circumstances but they are competing with people shooting on the weekend for a few extra bucks and who do not even process the images much less craft an album. Brides as a whole will budget for an expensive venue and their wedding dress and for food and for a limo and for a DJ and then with what money is left they will start to look for a photographer and a videographer.

It is by far the most demanding work I have done with the need to be on top of everything for a 10-12 hour stretch. The photographer is monitoring the timeline before the ceremony and for the posed shots after the ceremony. They need to work around the guests with their P&S cameras and videographers who will stand in the way and avoid the lghts of the DJ during the reception.

It also requires a $15,000 or more investment in the two pro cameras and 3 pro lenses and speedlight and backup equipment (third body and second speedlight) and RF flash control and tripod with rotating head and other items. After the wedding I process more than 2400 image files and sort them and get enough on a website for guest to order prints the following week. I would put 30 hours into designing and producing a wedding album for the couple as well as having created an engagement album to use as a guestbook for the reception.

In a manner similar to a wildlife photographer needing to understand and anticipate animal behavior, I needed to do the same with the members of the bridal party and important friends and relatives of their families. I needed to work and establish a connection with strangers in seconds to get the pictures I wanted for the bride. I needed to be focused on the situation and work without a break for 8 or more hours and it was physically demanding. To avoid clutter backgrounds I would often get down on one knee to photograph people and doing that a couple hundred times during the day is taxing.
 
Member's gallery
Carmel Nikon said:
Of course this is a wildlife and landscape forum! I assume you're critiquing my thread's existence...to repeat my rationale, I was struck by the many comments in the "Steve in Spain" thread about the pains of wedding photography, so I asked. I'm grateful for the many insights offered over the past day. I was also struck by how many wildlife photographers posting here have done wedding shoots in their past - a real lesson there as well!

Based on comments and insights generously offered here, I think I will defer on this opportunity, both to preserve the friendship and be realistic about my lack of experience in the genre (given the high stakes involved). I will bring a camera and take cameo shots - but to complement whatever photographer solution is chosen, not take the place of it. To echo @Viathelens' comment, I suspect wildlife will end up in some of the photos... :)

Thank you, all!
Click to expand...

Good decision!
 
Member's gallery
Carmel Nikon said:
While enjoying the thread about Steve in Spain, I was struck by deep feeling expressed about wedding photography. I've never done it, so feel I'm missing something.

What makes it difficult for many photographers to enjoy shooting weddings? Does it require a certain personality to thrive doing this? Can you share a war story or two to illustrate the joys and/or pains of doing wedding photography?

I appreciate gaining insight here, especially since a friend may be asking me to shoot their child's wedding later this year (should I embrace - or run away - from this "opportunity"?).
Thank you!
Click to expand...
You don’t get to kiss the bride or get slobbery drunk and make a fool of yourself on the dance floor. 🕺🏻🕺🏻
 
Member's gallery
I did weddings as a side job for a few years. It can be very stressful and very rewarding. I made up for my lack of experience by over preparing so it always went well enough and I never missed an important shot. But it requires you to be ever-alert and always "on" for the whole time.

I think there are several big challenges: (1) Lots of emotions and hormones meaning people aren't always behaving well or rationally. (2) You've got to tell the story of the day so you have to be alert to all of the action and be prepared to quickly shoot in a variety of lighting conditions over which you have no control (inside, outside, flash, no flash). (3) Lots of work in post and follow-up to get things wrapped up. (3) You will be looked upon to guide a lot of things and pose people etc., so really understanding weddings is important. I don't think you can wing it.

What I found most important were a detailed contract and a pre-wedding meeting to develop a timeline for the day. My contract was detailed and people told me clients would never sign it, but I never had a problem. I started by telling the clients I deliberately got detailed in my contract so as to set expectations on both sides as that is what was important to a good result. And then I walked them through each paragraph and explained it and why it was important to success. I never had a problem with the contract or the results, largely because we all had the same expectation going in. Also, on the timeline, I'd sit down with them a couple weeks before and we'd lay out a timeline. Many were surprised that they needed to get started earlier to get all of the pictures they wanted.

Upfront I told friends and family I wouldn't do weddings for them. I wanted to be a guest at those weddings and enjoy myself. I also think that with friends, it is harder to exert the authority and control over the situation that you need to. I haven't done weddings in about 15 years, but when a dear friend needed someone to do her daughter's wedding and she didn't have much money, I agreed to do it. Only charged $100 for expenses and provided digital files that they had to print. It came out well and they really appreciated it, but I would never do another one. To begin with, I didn't have all the equipment I had back then. I really need you need to have a lot of backup equipment in case something goes wrong. I was out of practice on using flash, posing, etc., so it really raised my stress level in preparing. What I did do was pull out my old contract, sit with the bride and groom, and go over every paragraph so we all had the same expectations and understanding as to what I was doing why and how. I also went to venue with them in advance of the meeting to scope things out and ask questions and make suggestions that would make it better for the pictures.

I wrote an article on wedding photography that some have found helpful. You can read it here: https://improvephotography.com/49828/24-things-wish-knew-photographing-wedding/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top