I need help...

[salujan]

Hello all! I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

I registered with DPS a long time ago but didn't really have the opportunity to use it due to various boring circumstances no one wants to hear about. With, of course, the good intentions to take part in little assignments, etc. Well, anyway since then, I daresay that even without doing that, just taking a LOT of pictures as a hobbyist has helped me out quite a bit. So much so that someone asked me to do their wedding. For pay, even! Imagine that!

Now mind, this girl is in my field techniques class (I'm a college student - and I mean biology field techniques, not photography) and she thinks my wildlife/plants and sneaky portraits of class members are great. That is NOT the same thing as a wedding. Now I would really love to do it, and I have confidence in my ability to pull it off...but that is quite a bit of pressure.

I'm kind of at a loss. I recently upgraded from a Sony Cybershot to a Lumix LX5, and I have neither the resources nor the desire to get a DSLR by October. I might be able to swing borrowing a Canon, but I wouldn't be terribly familiar with it so I'm not sure that would be a good idea. Not to mention that my poor little self can't be in all places at once. I can't take pictures of her getting ready, and her fiancée getting ready at the same time, obviously. I haven't told her no, but I haven't said yes either...I emailed her today and offered to do an engagement shoot for free and if she really likes the results we'll talk more about doing the wedding.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated. I want the challenge, I know I can get some beautiful shots, and the idea of getting paid for it isn't too shabby either. Just...the notion makes me incredibly nervous in a variety of ways.

TIA!

[Niresangwa]

Oh lordy.

A wedding with a point & shoot?

My thoughts are that this is a terrible idea.

Spend some time reading similar threads here, and you'll get the gist of what everyone is going to say. Bear in mind that advice is usually given to people at least using a DSLR with a smidge of experience doing portrait work.

Really... do some snaps for them by all means for their engagement, have fun with it, but weddings are incredibly complicated and challenging, even in the best of circumstances. Doing them with no experience and a P&S... ouch. It'll be like showing up to the Daytona 500 on your mountain bike.

[OsmosisStudios]

Dude. Seriously...

NO.

[Durnik20]

Yeah, politely tell them youre touched but would not be able to do them justice. Salvage the friendship before you ruin the wedding memories.

[NicolaB]

+1 on all above.

We hated our wedding photos and he was a long term professional. Wedding photos are so important to remember one of the most important days of your life. You are too busy to take everything in at the time and my wedding day went by soooooooo fast I don't remember half of it - and have no images to help .

I personally would be honest and say you don't have the equipment or experience and the photos they get from the day should be displayed for a life time. Remember the saying - buy cheap, pay twice? Well they won't get a second chance (we hope!)

Offer to take photos as their wedding present (as second camera - if they decide to go just with you on the ground of cost at least you have told them). This gets you off the hook and takes all pressure away.

See it as an ego boost that they think your images are good enough to want you to do it, but imo - no more.

It could also save your friendship and save a difficult year in field!

[Biomech]

A wedding with a point & shoot?

My thoughts are that this is a terrible idea.

:O :O So far that is all I read of this entire thread :P Better go start at the beginning

[Biomech]

OK, read some more.

The good news is that your LX5 has Shutter, Aperture and full Manual modes. It also drops to an f/2.0 aperture at its lowest/shortest? focal length AND shoots RAW AND has a hotshoe! - so as far as a point and shoot goes, it is very very good (and actually has all the features I want in my next p&s ...hrrrmmm)

But the trouble you'll have is not so much the technical aspects, it will be the rushing around, knowing when to shoot, where to shoot, what to shoot and what you're not allowed to shoot etc. On top of that you'd really want a flash for that camera, the on camera would be pretty much fail. Give that camera to a 40 year wedding pro, and they'd probably pull it off. But for a first timer, you'll have a whole plethora of problems and things to contend with. Of course, if you have the brain of Stephen Hawking and can problem solve in 1/4000th - it wouldn't be so bad :P But I think you'd be overwhelmed. Plus after shooting RAW you'd still need to invest in some kind of software to process it.

I'd be inclined to turn down the offer and insist that she gets a "pro" to shoot the wedding, but say you'll shoot as a second shooter / special guest. That way you get to see what is involved with that type of camera and she gets the wedding covered with the kit required. Lets not forget, there's a reason wedding photographers don't shoot with hybrid/bridge cameras.

But make it unbelievably clear - to the point where she starts to hate you - NOT to rely on your photos.

Now if only Sony would make a camera with that kind of spec in a P&S :P Meh, need a new lens first anyway :P

[salujan]

lol Thanks for defending my poor camera, Biomech. I do have Lightroom 2 and I was planning on upgrading to 3 this summer, so that's not a big deal. Also, I can get an external flash for the Lumix which is also not a big deal (and a wide-angle lens, if necessary). That having been said, I was leaning towards no for the reasons above. However...

From what I understand, the person that is doing it as of now (for free) is her cousin who has some kind of Nikon (unspecified which model) who has evidently never shot out of auto. I'm not sure if she was joking, but I wouldn't be surprised - there are a lot of people that have entry-level DSLR's and no idea what to do with them. I grilled her a bit about this and it comes down to this cousin being the only person in the family with a swanky camera. Which frankly, makes me frown about as much as the idea of me doing it. So it's da*ned if you do, da*ned if you don't.

I was thinking that the best thing would be to tell her to let her cousin and myself both have at it, and after the wedding she can take a look at my photos and buy what she wants individually rather than paying me a lump sum. That makes me feel better in the sense that I'm not leaving her hanging, she'd getting exactly what she pays for, and I'm not the only person responsible for this.

How does that notion sound?

[Brian Mullins]

Frankly? It sounds like a recipe for disaster. Two photographers make it harder, not easier, to get decent shots as you now have to work around someone doing the same thing you are trying. I certainly want your friend to have good photos but you are halving, not doubling, her chance with two inexperienced photographers.

If you really want to help, then either you, or her cousin, be an assistant to the other and help find photo opportunities, plan out locations, get the flow and timing of the wedding down, etc.

One question I have about the lumix, how is the delay? When you press the shutter button, does it fire immediately? If not, there is no way I would even consider shooting a wedding.

[Durnik20]

Its their wedding day. Tell them to take whatever money they have and get a pro, this isn't a soccer game or business meeting, it is their wedding why even risk that it might turn out horribly just cause you want to shoot a wedding.

Say no. Even if htey get angry theyll thank you later.