I've got one coming up in August and I'm REALLY nervous!!! Oh and what was your hourly rate too? I shot my first one about 30 years ago, for the daughter of a friend, for free. (They paid for the film and the cost of having the prints made)
Things went fine, it was a casual outdoor wedding. I had never attended a wedding other than my own courthouse affair, and basically did no research on them at all. I had a Canon AE-1, Vivitar flash, and a 50mm lens. No backup equipment. I was there a couple of hours, and shot two 36 exposure rolls. I was pleased with the resulting images, and so were they. I handed over the negatives and never dealt with making prints from them again. Our friendship survived (and grew) and I have shot other events for the same family since then, including an anniversary, birthday, and another wedding. I was in the mother's place of business a while back, and hanging on the wall was a formal from that wedding. I won't say I cringed.
I have shot many weddings since then, some for free, some for pay. I have had a mentor since then, and learned a lot. I am way better prepared, have lots more equipment, experience and skill and still get hyped before shooting a wedding. (The feeling ain't exactly nervous for me, but I do feel the excitement preceeding the event and the desire to shoot well.)
Be nervous, it will keep you on your toes. Be prepared. Make a list and check it. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes you can move in. Take lots of batteries and memory. Shoot a lot, and edit brutally until you present only the best selection from the day. I am assuming you are a student or a talented amateur. Prepare yourself better than I did. It is easier to prepare in this age of Google. Here is a link to get you started.
http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-pa...
Good luck, hope it all goes well. No one can tell you not to be nervous... you WILL be, it is totally natural, and really, if you ever get to the point where you are never just the least bit nervous, then you will not be trying your best any longer.
The nerves are only worse before the event. Once you get into it, you will relax and flow with it all and can actually have a good time, though it IS work and IS tiring.
I shot weddings a few years but have since stopped.
I never charged by the hour, and I think you will find no professionals that do that either. The charge is for entire coverage for a certain amount of hours, though I always charged a flat rate for the entire event if it lasted two hour or ten hours... and I DID have one last that long.
I charged $400 for my first wedding that included the entire ceremony and reception and 4 x 6 photos.
By the time I stopped doing weddings my rates began at $2200 up to about $5000 depending on what was chosen as far as albums, DVD slideshows, proof books etc.
I could go on all day about how you need to have a contract in place spelling out in no uncertain terms EXACTLY what you will and will not do before, during, and after the wedding... signed by you and the couple.
You need to set a price before the wedding and get your money BEFORE the wedding.
You really should also have liability insurance. In fact, some venues will not even allow you to work if you do not have the insurance. Anybody can try to sue you over anything today, and this will protect you.
You also should have backup equipment for your camera body, key lenses, and flash. Equipment can and does fail, or you may drop something. You don't want to be in a position to have to say, "sorry, I can't take any more photos because of equipment failure". This would NEVER happen with a pro.
I realize you are not some high priced pro and this may just be a one time thing you are doing for a friend, but if you do have any aspirations to do weddings long term as a professional, you MUST have the items I mentioned in order or you will suffer the consequencies somewhere down the road.
Good luck... you will do fine.
steve my hourly rate was $55. don't be nervous. i just photographed anything and everything. it's your passion, show it. I'm only a couple years into wedding photography. When I first started out, I shot for nothing. I was not confident with my ability nor my equipment to charge someone. I went from Northeast Pa all the way up to the Finger lake in NY. I used the most basic camera and flashes. I didn't know any better. I didn't know about bouncing the flash. What would be the optimum setting for a particular location or lighting situation.
It was the bride's second wedding and she didn't want to hire a photographer. I was just starting out so it provided me with the opportunity to get my feet wet and get some photos for my book. All in all, it went quite well. I got some very nice pictures from it. Not charging relieved the pressure of failing if it didn't come out as expected.
My recommendation...try to be as prepared as possible. Have a list of necessary shots on hand. You need shots of the bride along, broom along, them together, family, bride side, groom side, detail shots, creative shots of them in the park connecting together. Don't forget the ring shot. Go to the rehearsal so you know what to expect. (I have one this Thurs.) A Friday wedding.
You still have some time to prepare. Here's some sights that might be interesting to you. For inpiration and to get some posing idea.
http://www.pbase.com/grig/weddings_2006
I love this guy. It's a guy okay? He's Russian.
www.planetneil.com - read up on this guy. I went to his seminar in Philadelphia last year. He was there with Walter Van Dusen
http://waltervandusen.com/weddings/
his least expensive "collection" is $7K, $10K and $15K. I kid you not. Oh the couple kissing between the grape vine...if you seen the original shot, you'd be surprised. The cloud wasn't in the original shot. :)
ssphotostudio.smugmug.com - still working on it. (the site)
Nicole&Joe- password is goodluck (I shot this last month)
Good luck with your wedding. It's okay to look at the LCD. ;) Don't let them see you sweat!!! |
