asked to do photos for wedding

[steve m smith]

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<p>I think with our equipment, you can be and can make good photos, but if you don't have contract even for this "FREE" work, something may get wrong.</p>

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<p>If you are working for free then it is not a contract as a contract details an exchange of product or service for consideration. i.e payment.</p>

<p>You could write up an agreement but as Lex says:</p>

 

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<p> If you feel that you need some sort of document to absolve you of liability for offering a gift - your services, free of charge, to take some snapshots - it's time to reconsider that gift.</p>

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<p>None of the other guests at the wedding will have contracts or agreements and some of those will probably also give photos as gifts. I'm surprised no one has suggested the importance of liability insurance so far!</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Do you need liability insurance if you are merely a guest at a wedding taking some pictures (but not getting paid for that work), or perhaps not even taking pictures? Potentially, you could just be standing inside a church or restaurant (not taking pictures); somehow someone may trip over you foot and fall, hit his/her head on the floor and die. By all means that is not a likely scenario but can potentially happen.</p>

<p>I agree with Lex: this discussion is getting unnecessarily complicated. If there are indeed so many concerns, the OP might as well decline the whole thing.</p>

[matthew_tyler]

<p>I used to get into these conversations with friends all the time when we initially explored the concept of shooting a wedding. Most successful businesses appear to get out, get the job done, and they seem to manage liability if they can, and if the risk is substantial enough to cause financial damage.</p>

<p>If there is a history of fatal injuries and accidents surrounding the photographer, then I would assume liability insurance would be a wise choice.</p>

<p>Chances are, that Chuck was asked by a friend or friendly acquaintance who ultimately invited him to the wedding on the contingency that he will attempt to take photographs, with the understanding that there is no promise of any product or output. I'd suggest getting all the equipment you can together. Keep it somewhere secure and accessible at the wedding. Keep your most useable lens on the camera along side the flash, with a bunch of goodies in your pocket. Think ahead, but don't freak out. Then simply go to the wedding - as your equipment is adequate - crash the event, and have a great time shooting!</p>

<p>Heck - if you're worried about equipment, throw a point and shoot in your pocket in the event of any disasters. =0)</p>

[marvin_israel]

<p>A good friend, knowing that I was into photography as a hobby, asked me to photograph his wedding. Having done lots of reading on the pitfalls of wedding photography plus looking at some really good photos of weddings on the internet, I told him that he would get snapshots; that's all I was capable of. I told him that if he wanted nice photos he should hire a pro. He said they only wanted a record; snapshots were okay. Anyway, I used his request as an excuse to buy ReallyRightStuff's flash extension for my SB900. Then I bought Nikon's extension cord. I already had RRS's L brackets for both cameras (D300, D700) plus a 70-200 2.8 and a 17-35 2.8. (After taking Neil van Niekerk's flash workshop a year ago, I understood the importance of pro lenses which I did not own at the time.) So this wedding was already costing me over $200 for additional gear, but I had another wedding request coming up for next year, so I was able to rationalize the purchase. (More about that in a moment.)<br>

I can tell you that even though this was a relatively informal and small wedding held in the community room of a condo, the pressure I felt was so intense that despite the air conditioning and a short-sleeved shirt, my wife had to wipe the sweat running down my face with a towel, like a nurse aiding a surgeon during surgery. So I did not enjoy myself at all and I only got three keepers (my evaluation), even though they demanded all the shots. (Of course, I deleted the out-of-focus and otherwise impossibly crappy shots.) Bride and groom declared themselves happy with the shots (they also had a few taken by another guest) and that ended that.<br>

Now I've been told by my wife that I must fly down to Colombia next February to photograph the wedding of my stepson and his Colombian bride. They have already been married here in the U.S. at City Hall, but she wants a church wedding with her Colombian relatives present. From what she says, there will be a priest but no actual church. It will all take place outdoors. I gave them the same warning as I had given my friend, but since they have little money and since they were happy with some shots I took of them for a calendar, I can't get out of it. This one is even worse because now I have to worry about being robbed of my equipment. Of course, it will stay packed away until the wedding and afterwards, but it can't be left in the hotel room and I will have to wear it in a backpack when going out for meals. I know that Colombia is much improved as far as crime, but I'm hardly going to walk around with two Nikons as I did without fear in Thailand and Vietnam.<br>

My point is that unless your motive is to broaden your experience of photography or you need an excuse to buy equipment, wedding photography can be a nightmare, at least for a perfectionist like myself.</p>

[marc_henry1]

<p>I have read the whole post and no one seems to have mentioned the thing that scares me most about wedding photography - what do I do with the flimsy bits of silicon when they are all full up ? As someone gradually entering the wedding pro market I am absolutely paranoid about what to do with memory cards when they start to fill up. A 2GB CF will give me about 80 images - so that is the whole ceremony on one card if I fill it up and I would rather have many smaller capacity cards rather than a few higher capacity ones just in case. For your own peace of mind you may want to have a way of backing up your photographs then and there. It is all very well getting the keepers you know you are capable of getting but safely handling the data is another adventure. <br>

If you decide to do it - keep it simple. Only do it of they give you a reasonable list of definite shots. Also, make sure you make it worth your while - get the time guaranteed to shoot some stuff you want to remember.</p>

<p>Hope this helps,</p>

<p>Marc</p>