Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

don't be so hard on yourself . and quit scrutinizing every photo like a cop looking for clues . one quick look at a photo should tell you every thing you need to know . you eaither like it or you don't , or it's ok . if your going to spend all this time trying to pin point what's wrong in a photo you will drive yourself nuts . we all been there done that . learn to look but there is no need to over look . it's like die hard wine nuts, they call themselves connosour's . there tasting all this stuff like apples , black berries , tea, maple buds, burnt toast , in there wine . bull! no one drinks more wine than me . and I find one of three things . I like it , I don't like it , it's ok I will drink it ., same as a photo . it's pointless to analyze every one like you been doing . like I said we all did that at one time , but that will fade out of your thinking with time .

amehta Loc: Boston

As the bride's father, you don't even make the top-10 list for important people, with 3 exceptions: walking her down the aisle, giving the toast, and signing the check. :-)

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Well, yeah, but the ex and I had a cease fire and had a nice evening together. :)

Nightski

It's not just about the photography, it's about managing the wedding party, and their families. If it's your own family, it makes it that much harder. AnnieGirl's rule to never shoot family weddings is a very good rule. Not everyone is as reasonable as OddJObber, and I can guarantee you that the Bride's Mom and Dad are not going to be that civil. They are already pulling my niece in 2 pieces.

Angel, I hope you are still reading. I am not trying to discourage, merely educate. You will want to go into this with your eyes wide open. The more problems you can solve before you get there, the better.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

I make it very clear in the original interiew with the B&G and family, that I can only dance to one piper, and that will be the bride. All requests and desires MUST come through her or it will be ignored. I never encounter problems after that.

Nightski

There has been so much great advice here, I hope Angel is still watching. I am reaping the rewards of this thread. Thank you, Wedding Guy, for that great tip.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

I have found that the hardest hagglers for the cost of photography are the ones who have the dinner catered at $125.00 per plate. It is all in the matter of perceived value. Some here talk about one photographer at $8,000. and that the one they hired at $3,000 was better. Me thinks we are talking under $500.00 here and that really indicates total lack of necessary skills and equipment.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

NightSki and Angel-

Tell the family, up front and right away, "I am not a pro. I will do the best job I can, but I can't guarantee the results, so if you want professional quality results, you need to hire someone. If you are going to be upset if the results are not up to your expectations, please get someone else because I don't want to disappoint you, and I don't want you to be upset with me. If you will promise me that the finished product, regardless of the quality, will not affect our relationship, I will promise you to do the best job I can."

Then, do not show them the photos until you are done editing them. Pick out the best ones only and go to Snapfish or one of the other photo saving sites and create a wedding book for them. Then wait at least 3 months before you give it to them, just like the pros do. By then they won't be expecting too much. Then give them a disk with all the decent photos you took and tell them that, if they see a few shots they like that didn't make it into the book, you will be glad to edit them and have them enlarged.

This is a little out of order from the normal way of doing things, but if they see your best shots first, edited and in a book, they will see them at their best and will be more likely to happy with them. The the quality of the rest of the shots will then be less important to them.

But most important is to make a deal with them that you'll do your best as long as they don't hold it against you.

mikeg492 Loc: WIlmington, NC

I am not a world renowned photographer like all the people giving their smart ass comments instead of trying to help with suggestions. But if you are anywhere near Wilmington, NC I would be interested in helping you as a second camera.

Let me know.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

"I am not a world renowned photographer" . . . Obvious!

" I would be interested in helping you as a second camera" . . . sounds like that would be the blind leading the blind!

Nightski

It was a very kind, generous offer, Weddingguy....

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

Actually, we didn't hire the photographer at $3,000. The fellow we hired had packages at that time that ranged from about $3500 to $6000 and we chose a $5000 package. We didn't know that he was going to give us a break because of his professional relationship with my son. That was a pleasant surprise when we got the final bill. The point, however, is that the photographer at $3,000 was better than the one asking $8,000, and that sometimes an amateur can do a great job without much equipment, and the amount a photographer charges is not necessarily indicative of how good he is. There are people out there who don't know good from bad and judge quality by price. The $8000 photographer probably doesn't get as many jobs as the $3,000 guy, but he makes $5000 more per wedding. He may work less, but he probably makes as much or more than the cheaper guy.

Here's an example of what you can do to make it easier for you when you shoot the wedding. We went to a fancy wedding in New Jersey a few months ago. The photographer had a Mark 5 and a 24-105 Canon L. He was using an LED panel instead of a flash (he did have a flash for longer distance shots during the ceremony). It was a 160 LED unit, about 6"w x 4" high and had a removable diffuser. There is a dial that turns the light dimmer or brighter. It ran off 6 AA batteries and it ran for hours, mounted on his camera. He had a second unit on a small light stand on wheels which he would quickly roll into place for set up shots like cutting the cake. He was also able to easily take the light off the camera and hand hold it, when he felt it necessary, to achieve the lighting he wanted. You can buy these units for about $30 each on Amazon (n/i the stand). Using them allowed him to shoot in a constant light so he didn't have to worry about syncing the flash to the camera and he could shoot in any mode and be more creative without worrying about changing flash settings.

By the way, I think that LED lights may replace flash units in many instances in the near future. I bought 3 of these lights for portrait work and attached them to Manfroto multi-use clamps. That allows me to position the lights on things like lamps, window ledges, curtain rods, etc. and all I have to carry for lighting is a small gadget bag. I shoot in RAW since my camera doesn't have a WB setting (I don't know of any that do) for LED's.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

Those LED lights are interesting. Can you tell me what exposure you would use with a single unit about three feet from the subject? Thanks

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

True, but most LED unit specs will tell you the color temperature. Mostly a problem with mixed lighting. E.g, if I shoot flash with LED fill light, my LED's are very blue.

This may be changing with variable color LED's.
http://www.promaster.com/products.asp?product=2437

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

But is there some kind of color filter that could go over the LED to match flash lighting?