I'm a wedding guest. A few picture recommendations please where I can be out of they way.

[tholte]

<p>I uncle Bob at weddings all the time if the bride and groom want me to. I stay out of the way of the wedding photographer(s) and introduce myself to them beforehand to explain what I am doing. If someone like Booray got snotty with me, I would tell him to take a flying hike. Most wedding photographers are easy and reasonable to deal with and I have never had a complaint. I concentrate on relatives of the bride and groom that I know have flown in from all over the country and that the bride and groom don't see that often. There are tons of photo ops that the wedding photographer can not get to so I try to get some of them. It's fun and it is good practice for when I am the main guy shooting a wedding. </p>

[justinweiss]

<p>When my wife and I got married, we had a photographer provided as part of the package deal at the reception hall, which we supplemented with (1) a professional portrait photographer for posed shots AND also (2) a skilled amateur looking to go pro who offered to work for free. On top of that, we got a bunch of photos from guests taking their own shots. None of the pros objected to other people shooting the same event, since they were getting paid up front.</p>

<p>A lot of the best photos came from the amateur who was working for free! But we got at least a few "keepers" for our wedding album from everyone, the paid pros right down to the guests. Sure, the the guests' point-and-shoot snapshots weren't "professional quality", but we were glad to have them. Everyone takes a good shot once in a while, and a pro can't be everywhere at once. More importantly, we could see different "styles" in the photos, instead of all of them looking like they reflected the same artistic vision.</p>

<p>So my suggestion to the original poster is, use your eye and shoot what looks compelling to you. You'll get better shots that way than if you're trying to check off shots from someone else's list.</p>

[gabriella_lucia]

<p>I'm not a professional bartender and have nothing but respect for the bartender who will be at the wedding. Can someone give me some tips on where I should stand because I don't want to bother the bartender while I'm giving away free beer..."<br>

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Booray<br>

Really an insane assertion and it sounds like you may have an identity crisis if you are a photographer. The guests with the camera should stay clearly out of the way but other than that it's perfectly fine.</p>

[dave404]

<p>As long as you do not interfere with the paid photographer I see no problems. Don't get in the way. A longer lens would allow you to snipe certain moments in the distance that will probably not be captured. If you know the people, unlike the paid photographer you have the advantage of knowing who is who and capture moments that they would otherwise let slip by. Just be friendly with the paid photographers and let them do their thing.</p>

[markonestudios]

Douglas, back to the question at hand, I would say just carry your D300 perhaps with the 85 mounted and the 50mm in your pocket and capture those subtle/fleeting moments. Basically, I would go for no posed shots, no flash either. Fast lens + D300 high ISO performance should stand you in good stead.

<p>Some ideas for shots: Little nieces and nephews of the couple playing, groom's parents glancing at each other. Maybe some close-up shots of your table arrangement at the reception. Or during the reception, head over to the couple's car, capture the 'Just Married' creatively. In other words, look for those moments the hired pro isn't likely to capture either due to lack of time or difference in style, to help fill in the nuances of their wedding day story...That's just my 2 cents :)

[aimee_pieters]

<p>What's prompting the negative responses here is that many professional photographers enter into a contract at a low dollar amount with the hope of getting a large order. Any photograph that's given to the bride and groom by anyone other than the photographer will satisfy a need, thus resulting in a smaller order. Besides, why is the groom asking you to do this? Because he wants some cheap pictures. If they've done their research, they've found someone whose work they like. They should have all the selection they want. <br>

I contract for the bride and groom for what I feel is a reasonal starting point. The quality of my work and variety of products typically brings me a nice order.<br>

I never discourage anyone else from taking photos, as a matter of fact, I let them go first so they're not shooting over my shoulder and distrating my subjects. This is something that really goes back to film when you could never see your results until days later. I never want to put myself in a situation where I prohibited a guest from taking photographs and I wasn't able to produce an acceptable result. This would be a double whammy.<br>

That being said, a few casual shots of the processional and recessional of the bride and groom. Perhaps some candid moments with a long lens from far away and the typical reception events (blessing, toasts, cake cutting, formal dance, dance with parents) might make a nice mix.<br>

If you're at all concerned about offending the hired photographer, bring a point and shoot and you'll look like any other guest....-Aimee</p>

 

[tholte]

<p>"Besides, why is the groom asking you to do this? Because he wants some cheap pictures." I don't think that is the case most of the time. I think the groom knows Douglass is a good photographer and wants to get some shots the real wedding photographer probably won't get, ie more casual shots of guests etc. </p>

[douglasely]

<p>Tim, I know this family very well and I am more than confident that the groom is trying to make me feel good and make sure that I have fun. You assumption, like most assumptions is simply wrong.</p>

[douglasely]

<p>A warm thank you to all that have made suggestions, Doug</p>

 

[joe_kr]

<p>Hi Doug,<br>

I'm sure you've heard this from someone but if you feel that you might be in the way, speak to the photographer ONLY b/c his lights might be set to an electric eye and your flash will set his/hers lights of during the portraits. Most likely he'll tell you to have a great time with your camera and get as much as you want (I know we do at weddings)!<br>

As for kind of pictures. Avoid redundency, if other guy took the shot then why mimick it standing 2 feet away from him. PERSONALLY, I love pictures where I can see how wedding photographer shoots them (<em>behind the scene stuff)</em> . I hate the term "photojournalism" only b/c many people & photographers don't truly understand what photojournalism is while costumer hears a "pretty picture" and goes for it. But basicly capture what other photographer can't capture b/c he is shooting portraits.<br>

If this helps: at my wedding we have one photographer for portraits and ceremony while second one was for dancing and was only concentrating on the guests. However, for our album we ended up using picture from about 5-6 cameras - they were all <em>special </em> and there was no redundancy.<br>

good luck, Joe</p>

[throughmyshutter]

<p>I recently attended the wedding of friends in Key West. They were doing a package wedding which included a photographer. They asked that I take some photos as well. I actually had the opportunity to talk to the package photographer beforehand and he was very welcoming. I was very careful to stay out of his way which meant that I moved around as much as he did. I had no problem with this because I was very aware that I was not the main shooter. In the end, he somehow took a photo of me with my camera that I was not aware of! He included that photo in their wedding photos and the bride and groom thought it was hilarious. </p>