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 p.6 #7 · Being asked to shoot a wedding when you aren't a wedding photographer | |
jamesmorophoto wrote:
I've heard all sorts of arguments why someone in your shoes should and should not take a job like this. Zack Arias will tell you that there's a photography market for every income level and demographic and that letting an untrained hobbyist photograph a wedding just reinforces the value of a trained professional (i.e. b/c they'll realize that their photos suck compared to a real wedding pro).
And that's probably truly the case. Makes the most sense.
I'm on the side that will you tell to not shoot it b/c it's no different than letting someone that's never done auto repair to fix your transmission--the results are going to be ugly.
I understand that no analogy is perfect, but nothing about this situation resembles this analogy without being removed by like 5 degrees.
Some people are profoundly cheap and will skimp on anything they can, including events that cannot be redone (i.e. a wedding). If you stuck to your gut instincts and deferred to a professional, then you would be doing your part to eliminate this bogus 'market' by forcing the budget brides to hire a professional. The only reason i'm even bothering to post my response is this: In a way, you are taking a job from someone.
I wouldn't be forcing her to do anything. Also, taking a job from someone? Come on man. I get that a lot of professionals look down upon newbies, but you're losing me with your logic here.
Granted, this would be a low-paying job, but it's still the job of a wedding photographer.
It's the job of anyone that accepts the job.
The reason auto mechanics, architects and doctors dont suffer the same fate of some asshat insisting they have a friend of a friend do the job so that they dont have to pay professional prices is that you need a license (and training), and people are terrified of the repercussions of a job gone bad.
Yeah, terrified of things like death and serious bodily injury. You don't really compare your self to a doctor do you?
If you were to insist that she hire a professional, no matter how low her expectations for quality are, you would be doing this industry a great favor. Instead, your actions are continuing to perpetuate the student-wedding photographer market.
I'm getting the sense of severe elitism here. And I'm more than positive, the decision I make will not only not have an effect on the industry, but it will also not effect of the student-wedding photographer market. You're putting too much weight on this.
Ultimately, most (cheap) brides' thoughts are that as long as they have photos that don't look like P&S crap, then they'll have something to remember the day by and will be 'ok'. I doubt your photos are going to suck bad enough for them to take issue with them. Instead, they'll probably tell you they 'love' them, and then their friends will tell their friends to not hire 'expensive' professional photographers when you can get talented students to photograph their weddings for practically nothing.
Oh good, more if/else logic. So which is it, the turn out will be ugly? Or I'll probably do OK and they'll tell me that they love them?
Your ego will love this, and you'll soon find yourself fast-tracked into wedding photography and over-saturating an already over-saturated market. Unless this is something you must do out of necessity, or unless you actually are genuinely interested in a career as a wedding photographer, then you're making the wrong decision.
My ego will love it? I might feel good about making someone happy but, unlike many people in this industry, I'm as down to Earth as you could possibly imagine. These people tell me how much they love my photos, my answer to that is they probably are more familiar with facebook photos from iphones, so when they look at my semi-composed novice shots, it looks good to them.
It looks like you've already committed to doing this before you started this post (you just wanted reassurance that you were making the right decision).
People just hear what they want to hear. I can only say "I haven't decided to do it" so many times.
If this 'experience' somehow turns out to be enjoyable and you do decide that wedding photography is a career you want to look into, you will eventually find yourself in our shoes reading a similar post and will be able to understand why all the professionals here are telling you to not bother.
Oh no! Not that!
Look, I'm almost 30. I've experienced many different occupations. There are beginners in every field, and there are bitter veterans turning their nose up because they hate new blood. The market is flooded because photography is not what it used to be. It's very easy to come by, easy to learn, and even easier to afford more than ever. Me shooting this wedding, or not shooting the wedding will not change the market. It will not have an effect on the industry. And if I shot it and didn't post here no one here would have a clue. Stop placing the weight of the universe on this decision. It will make you feel a lot better about it.
For the eleventeenth time, if I can't meet her expectations, I will walk. Until I find out what they are, I will be researching what goes into shooting a wedding.
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