Disastrous Wedding Photos

RobHD

Senior Member
I know I'm rubbish, I know I don't have the kit or skills , hence I don't do portraits or family shots or anything really with people, no need to apologies to a bug or a flower for your pathetic photos :)
 

kevy73

Senior Member
Ouch... blame on both sides from what I can see...

1) B&G shouldnt have been so stupid.
2) Photographer shouldnt have been so stupid.
 

aroy

Senior Member
Most of wedding shoots go beyond 800 photos, but very few make the grade and still fewer passed on to the client. I would blame both the sides - Bride for choosing what seems to be the least cost option, the photographer for passing all the shots without screening them first.

Moral of the story - chose your wedding photographer with care and do due diligence. As they say, if you pay peanuts, you can afford only monkeys.
 

SteveL54

Senior Member
I was asked last week to do my first wedding. Not something that I had planned, but it's my son's best friend. It will be only a very small backyard affair, with only 20 people in attendance. I did their engagement announcement photos, and they were very happy with them. I'm not getting paid for this, as we have been friends with the family for nearly 30 years. There is very little $$ for them to spend on formal photos, and everyone there will only have phones to photograph with. I'm confident that the photos will not turn out like the ones here.
 

BillieG

New member
I was asked to photograph a wedding. I said I would take shots, but they needed to hire someone because I was an amateur. Good thing, because a lot of my shots didn't turn out well. I had trouble with the external flash not flashing at times. I will never do a wedding because when the moment is past there is no redo.
 
Re paul and careen in post 9 .The only way you can cover yourself as a wedding photographer is to put In the contract " Conversations may be recorded to ensure compliance with your requirements" and then go wired ..even if you cannot play it in court there is nothing to stop you making a transcript to refresh your memory
 

kkchan

Senior Member
A wedding photography session usually will take 200-300 shots (8-10hrs).
Most of the shots basically just pose the people, gather the group, some pictures of the decorations, location and surroundings..etc. Pretty much everything has to be plan ahead.
In my case, I just run the entire session with a formula; sort of like doing a family potrait, with some editorial style stuff at the end.
 

aroy

Senior Member
I have taken photographs at a few of my friend's children's weddings, but that was on my own for the fun of it. All of them had paid professionals to do the whole wedding.

What I was surprised at, is that the professionals took inordinate time to deliver albums, and in two cases the albums are still awaited (after 6 months).

Most of my shots came off very well, and I used was D3300 and 35mm F1.8. Speaks volumes for the modern DSLR and lenses.
 

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
What I was surprised at, is that the professionals took inordinate time to deliver albums, and in two cases the albums are still awaited (after 6 months).

That does seem to be excessive. I know one local pro who shoots about 80-90 beach weddings a year, and he gets most of his clients orders back to them within 30-90 days after they place their order. The 30-90 day delay is predicated upon how busy the lab he uses is; during busy times, the labs can be running at full capacity for quite a while. A lot of labs will work on the photos, cosmetic and exposure retouching, before they print them, as well.

One of the issues he deals with is people taking a long time to place their order, and then changing the order after it is sent to the lab. Since the clients often want this done at no charge, a prudent photographer and lab might drag their feet on getting the job started.

There are some exceptions to this. Last year, he shot a wedding where the father of the bride had advanced cancer, and he expedited his workflow on the project and asked the labs to do the same, and they got the photos back very quickly.

WM
 

aroy

Senior Member
Yes, a lot of clients drag their feet while approving images to be printed, as once the wedding is over they just have "no time" to review the images on CD and approve prints.

Well at least one photographer solved it by printing all the images that in his opinion were good enough for large print in the 3"x5", with serial numbers binding them in a loose leaf binder and presenting it to the client. He receives fast response. In his contract he gives only the 3x5 prints as a part of the fees. The rest is to be paid separately.
 
KKCHAN.........only 300 shots ...I think you mean 1500...I could easy do 100 in the service alone....though they would get about 800 all different ..no repeats... I finish all my weddings at 7.30pm

Wedding albums are a pain in the butt ....can take 6-8 weeks to come from Italy......In the UK albums are getting less popular ...have not done one for 2-3 years ...just fancy USBs...They all do those $50 coffee table things themselves from Photobox or similar.
 

kkchan

Senior Member
KKCHAN.........only 300 shots ...I think you mean 1500...I could easy do 100 in the service alone....though they would get about 800 all different ..no repeats... I finish all my weddings at 7.30pm

Wedding albums are a pain in the butt ....can take 6-8 weeks to come from Italy......In the UK albums are getting less popular ...have not done one for 2-3 years ...just fancy USBs...They all do those $50 coffee table things themselves from Photobox or similar.

I can finish everything with 300 shots, no kidding.
I do everything in a formula, since all weddings are basically the same. Like what I said before, line up the people, divide them in groups and do some protrait shots. Just make sure everyone look in their best, and they will buy it.
Add up a several of editorial, random pictures, and your wedding pix is done.
Don't have the crowd to control you. you as a photographer, lead your way to have it done and collect the $.
 

aroy

Senior Member
KKCHAN.........only 300 shots ...I think you mean 1500...I could easy do 100 in the service alone....though they would get about 800 all different ..no repeats... I finish all my weddings at 7.30pm

........

Actually if you know what you want to print and have an eye for it, 300 is quite a lot. Most of us take upwards of 1000 shots in a wedding, but how many can be printed 8x10 or bigger? In my case I have seen that most of shots are candid, but you have to crop a lot. These shots are good enough for Facebook and WhatsApp, but no good beyond 5x3 in print.

If you really start with the limit of 300 in mind, then you can really pace the photography and enjoy the wedding, rather than frantically rushing about trying to catch the "Perfect Moment".
 
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