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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bob Blaylock" data-source="post: 555457" data-attributes="member: 16749">Not really a wedding, but I think the issues involved here are likely to be very similar to those of a wedding, so I figure this is the closest to appropriate category available on this forum.  A friend has asked me, on short notice, to photograph his daughter's Quinceañera.  I should point out, I'm not a professional photographer, I'm not Catholic, I'm not Mexican, and up 'til now, I was only vaguely familiar with the whole Quinceañera tradition.  I just knew that among those of Mexican heritage, it's a very, very big deal when a girl reaches the age of fifteen.  I have a sense, so far, of about three phases that I am to photograph:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The girl being prepared for the day's festivities, at her home.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A religious ceremony at a Catholic church.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A dinner reception.</li> </ol>  I'm assuming that is is going to follow, more or less, the Mexican tradition described here…  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincea%C3%B1era#Mexico" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinceañera#Mexico</a>  My main concern is about how to strike an appropriate balance between moving around as I think I need to to get the best pictures, while avoiding becoming a distraction or a disruption to the proceedings.  And I am mostly concerned about this in regard to the second phase, at the church.  As I've said, I'm not Catholic, and I don't think I've ever before even set foot inside a Catholic church, much less attended a Catholic religious ceremony.  I have to admit that I am not entirely certain how to conduct myself in that setting.  If I was there as a regular guest, I'd be safe just sitting quietly in a pew, watching the proceedings, but I expect that doing so would give me a very poor vantage for taking the sort of photographs that they'd want me to take.  I'm not sure what to expect, as far as how the location will be laid out, how other people will be positioned and moving, and where and how I can move without creating a disruption.  Hopefully, it will be more clear when I am there, but I could certainly use any advice and guidance from anyone who is familiar with this sort of ceremony, at this sort of church.  I'm much less concerned about the two other phases.  I imagine the first will be pretty informal, with the girl having her hair done, makeup applied, and whatever; and that the reception, while somewhat structured, will not be so structured that I can as easily imagine it being nearly as subject to being disrupted by a photographer moving around taking pictures, as I can a formal religious ceremony.[ATTACH]210774[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

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