Re: [Leica] 1st Wedding assignment --- should I ?

[Marc Attinasi <marc@attinasi.org>]

I shot a wedding for a friend - I thought it would be easy, but it was 
a disaster. I brought an OM-2 and an OM-3 (this was when a 35mm was my 
only Leica lens), TTL-flash setup on both. Camera batteries went dead 
after the first formal shot so the flash was useless. Bring lots of 
spare batteries. I set the ISO wrong for the B&W rolls, dropped and 
broke the winder, and, finally, I ended up using a P&S that I had in my 
pocket for snaps on some of the family shots - talk about instilling 
confidence in the newlyweds!

In the end, they came out almost OK - worth twice the price as it was 
free. My biggest lesson came from the fact that I pretty much forgot to 
shoot pictures of the groom and his buddies, the ladies looked so much 
nicer :-)  Don't make that mistake. Not a very balanced wedding book in 
the end...

I'd take Ted's advice - run away, or hire a seasoned photog as a gift 
to your friends.


On Monday, November 18, 2002, at 10:04  PM, Ted Grant wrote:

> Henry Ting wondered:
>
>> A good friend's son is getting married and he
>> requested me to be the photographer.<<<
>
> Henry quickly leave the country, defect, go anywhere, escape while you
> can!!! If not you may regret it for the rest of your life! :-) You 
> could
> also loose the friendship of a good friend! :-(
>
>> I'm not a pro and quite frankly taking pictures of
>> these "once-in-a-lifetime" event comes with a lot of
>> responsibility. While it certainly would be a
>> challenge, but the thought of screwing it up is beyond
>> comprehension.<<<<
>
> Henry you are asking all the wrong things... leave now!  Death is 
> easier
> than getting a wedding assignment like this! And if you don't need the 
> money
> hire somebody to shoot it that's done them before and you just shoot 
> happy
> snaps without the responsibility of all the important stuff. :-)
>
>> How do you guys prep yourself for the very 1st wedding
>> assignment, both mentally and emotionally.<<<<
>
> I didn't know any better or I'd have drank a bottle of single malt 
> scotch as
> fast as I could! ;-) Quite frankly I've been mentally and emotionally
> disturbed ever since the first one. That's why I keep throwing myself 
> into
> harms way type assignments, like wars and reckless things as sky 
> diving with
> camera in hand in case my last pictures could be my best.:-)
>
>> By the way, such an assignment dictates that flash
>> will be needed on some occasions, how do you guys/gals
>> handle the big difference between the bride's "white
>> gown" and the groom's "black tux".\?<<<<<
>
> Oh mother of  whom-ever.... hire someone experienced to shoot it if 
> you are
> asking questions like this, plead insanity, anything, maybe you just 
> caught
> the black plague of Europe, the measles, anything contagious as they 
> wont
> want you to be there. :-)
>
> Or you could just take the bullet in your teeth, do it and get over 
> one of
> the worst type of mentally disturbing photo assignments you can do. 
> :-) You
> are going to worry yourself sick and have a horrible day of worry and
> concern, god you'll be miserable until you se the finished film and 
> prints.
> And nothing is as bad as waiting and worrying after shooting a "first 
> time
> ever" wedding of a friend's son!
>
> Damn go into hiding right away! :-)
> ted
>
> PS: the worst part of this post is.... I'm serious!  :-(
>
>
>
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