AboutJohn Wilson Expertise Over 25 years specializing exclusively in professional wedding photography. I can answer most questions relating directly to wedding photography concerning the business, film, digital, traditional & digital labs, marketing, effects, pricing & packaging, shooting outdoors and in-studio with multiple flash, color management and creating magazine style wedding albums. I can't answer questions regarding other fields of photography. I am a full-time self-employed wedding/portrait photographer. I can comprehensively answer most questions regarding portrait and wedding photography. I've operated a custom color and black & white photo lab processing films and photographic prints. I now shoot digital exclusively and process in Photoshop CS3.
Experience I have over 25 years experience working as a portrait/wedding photographer.
Education/Credentials School of hard knocks. Self-study. Purchasing all books I can find about portrait and wedding photography and attending photography seminars over the years.
Expert: John Wilson Date: 3/14/2008 Subject: Wedding Photography
Question Hi John
I have always been interested in photography and have my camera out on every occasion. A little while ago I took photographs of a wedding on a beach. I was happy with the results and so were a few friends who were looking through the photographs. As it happens these friends are getting married and have asked me to bring my camera along. They will have a professional photographer at the wedding but said they wouldn't mind if I took some photos as well. The problem I have is low light. The ceremony is in a church and no flash is allowed and the reception will have low lighting as well. I do not have high end photography equipment. I use a Minolta X-700 for which I do not have a fast lens. I was considering renting some digital equipment with fast lenses but the price tag is HIGH. So my next though is to get the 58mm f/1.2 MC Rokkor. If combined with fast film do you think this will help me take photographs in a low light setting? Also, I love to take black and white photos, could you recommend a good quality fast black and white film that won't result in too much noise? Any other suggestions are very welcome!!!
Thanks in advance,
Julia
Answer Hi Julie,
Thanks for your photography questions.
It sounds like you are very excited, flattered and probably feel honored they would ask you to "bring your camera along".
To be perfectly honest with you, when you mentioned that you are even willing to rent digital equipment and to get another lens it sounds like you are getting yourself more involved than you need to . . . especially when they are paying out money for a professional wedding photographer. If they have a competent and professionally equipped photographer, he or she will be able to handle all the low light shooting the couple is paying for. The low light situation is the pro photographers problem, not yours.
Many couples don't know that pro photographers don't allow others to take pics (even though that is often stipulated in the wedding photography contract) and you have to be sure if the church location would allow you or any other photographer (including the pro) to even take pictures inside the church ceremony location. Even if they did which it sounds like is ok, would the church allow another person to be moving around here and there during the ceremony besides the pro? If the pro has another associate there to take shots from a balcony or some other specific location for an overall shot of the ceremony, do you know where you should be at that point in time to avoid being in the photo? Should the pro be expected to spend his or her time working with you to make sure you stay out of each others way?
I'm sorry Julia for not providing you answers more like what you were wanting. But you told me they are already paying for a professional photographer.
I was at a wedding about 6 months ago where an amateur even wanted to use my tripod and he also started running up to the front of the church DURING THE CEREMONY to get close-up shots when I was expected by the bride to get shots from behind. He was so close that he was in the pics I was taking. He also was told it was ok by the couple for him to take pics - but they sure did not expect him to act like he was one of my staff! Many of the people in the congregation later at the reception were talking about what a distraction he was during the ceremony. Needless to say, I had to make sure everyone knew he was NOT one of my associates! That would have given me a bad name. The church coordinator considered his actions rude and disrespectful to the church since he did all that without asking her about anything. Of course, I thought he was also disrespectful to me and the job that the bride was paying me to do. I'm not saying you would do all that. But what I am saying is that the pro photographer is the ONE who is being paid to worry about low light etc., and your photography you do on their wedding day will be a lot simpler if you let their pro photographer worry about that.
I've also seen amateur photographers take people away to various areas around the church location - WHEN I HAD THEM IN LINE WAITING THEIR TURN FOR THEIR FORMAL PORTRAITS AT THE ALTER. Needless to say, I then had to wait for someone to hunt them down so we could get the formals done. The longer it takes at the church to get pictures done before going to the reception often irritates a lot of reception guests. It is especially important to expedite formals in the church sanctuary when the reception venue charges $500 PLUS PER HOUR if people run late to the reception and the venue is needed longer to compensate for this.
I've also heard couples complaining about having to smile so much for so many friends that they actually got tired of smiling. Well, sometimes this shows up in their professional photographs. I've also seen couple get irritated by being asked to pose and smile by so many people. This irration can effect better expressions from them when their pro is shooting.
I would recommend a medium speed film, use flash with all your shooting you do at their reception only and always be aware not to get in their professional photographers way. If you ever decide to pursue photography professionally yourself, I know you will appreciate amateurs who show you this respect and courtesy.
