Film at a wedding

[RandyB]

(Number one reason family members bring their cameras? They don't want to pay the photog for prints.)

Dan, my experience as to why family members bring their cameras is because they are FAMILY and they want their own photos. I've been on both sides of this discussion, as a Pro, family snapshooters can be a hassle when you are the "official" photographer but you are being paid to deal with it, so deal with it, don't throw a hissy-fit, nobody wasts an A-hole at the wedding.
As a guest to many family weddings I always bring a camera and photograph things the Pro doesn't and I always give the prints to the family. I never get in the way of the Pro, I just let them do their thing.
To the OP: Go, have fun, snap lots of photos, give them and stay out of the way.

 

[ped]

The only thing difficult about the documentary style would be that I would probably nee dto be present at the reception, and the build up to the wedding (people getting ready etc). Don't fancy that, I'll want an in and out job!

If my friends are going (the client is a friend of a friend, really - though he has started getting into cameras so we talked a fair bit in the pub recently) then I'll go and take my camera and see what happens, otherwise I'll probably go myself and just give it a try, noting the advice above. Suppose I better get a suit or something.

 

[hipsterdufus]

This thread just reminds me of how much I hate weddings. Once you become accustomed to the the formula that every wedding goes by, they're more of a chore than anything else. This is to say nothing of doing wedding photography. I did it twice for what I would consider relatively nice people, and that was enough for me.

As to the OP's question, just do it as a gift and adjust your buddy's expectation so that he's not disappointed if you don't give him the moon and the stars. Doing it for free means that he can't get pissed if things don't go well.

 

[DNG]

I make sure to stay out of the way of the pro-photographer, in fact, I take the documentary approach of capturing the scenes the pro-photog is NOT taking. I know those pro shots will be better than mine, and I'd rather see the "behind the scenes" anyways. At a recent wedding, a couple of my images were some of the best, not because of better quality or such - in fact I had developing errors, but because I was able to capture little expressions between the bride and family members. These weren't staged images, they were the "decisive moment" type of images. I'll have to get them up onto flickr to show later. **arista premium 400 developed in rodinal, and shot on my M6 and CV 35mm f/1.4 MC.

I will point out that the wedding photographer did an AMAZING job, and was worth every penny. I captured scenes that were important to me, and fortunately the bride loved them too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fireboycreative/sets/72157625876646595/with/5427506200/

Nice Gallery. I also had the Voigtlander 35/1.4 SC for a while... it does a fine job.

 

[damien.murphy]

Do it as a wedding present. Either it's a commercial job, at commercial rates, or it isn't.

Cheers,

R.

Good point by Roger - never sell yourself cheaply. Either it's full price, or pro-bono/ gift

 

[---f]

Nice Gallery. I also had the Voigtlander 35/1.4 SC for a while... it does a fine job.

thanks, I shot those with the MC, but have since sold it. I would like to try out the SC.

 

[DNG]

thanks, I shot those with the MC, but have since sold it. I would like to try out the SC.

Not much difference... a little better tonality with B&W.. I have sold mine too, I now have a CV 28mm f/1.9 ASPH in it's place.