Friend and wedding guest wants to be our wedding photographer
OK, my fiance's friend has degrees in graphic art and photography. He has agreed to be one of my fiance's groomsmen AND do the photography at our wedding. He was recently married a few months ago and my fiance was one out of his two groomsmen.
This friend and my fiance got into a HUGE fight the other day over a video game, but it turns out that this friend has been angry with my fiance ever since his wedding because he feels that my fiance "half-assed" his wedding and his speech wasn't any good. The reasoning for this was because my fiance was not told he was the best man until the morning of the wedding, he was never told what he was supposed to do, and my fiance has only been to one other wedding in his life. I feel that it is unfair to not tell someone what is expected of them, and expect them to do things they did not even know were supposed to be done.
But here is the problem I have now. I am deathly afraid that because he feels that my fiance didn't care about his wedding and "messed it up", that he will purposely mess up our wedding by taking bad pictures. The pictures are one of the most important parts of my wedding, because these pictures are our memories of our special day. We have not budgeted for a professional photographer, and there is no way we could get one in time. We have another friend who has offered us help in any way, and I feel that he will do the best job possible in taking our pictures, but he isn't trained in photography. Either friend would be using a digital camera, and it isn't all that difficult to point and shoot, but do we risk having the proffessional do it and possibly give us crummy pictures on purpose (most likely destroying the friendship)? Or, do we ask the other friend and get the best pictures an amateur is capable of? I'm really nervous about either choice.
(This post was
edited by TWQadmin on Jul 31, 2006, 8:37 AM)
TWQadmin
FORUM EXPERT
/ Moderator
Jan 30, 2006, 3:14 PM
Post #2 of 4
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Re: [pookabee] This is pretty complicated...
[In reply to]
When your fiance accepted his friend's request to be his best man it was your fiance's responsibility to find out what this role entailed and what reponsiiblities the job carries.
Just chalk it up to experience and ask your groom to apologize to his friend. Perhaps all will be well then. Top Wedding Questions Forum Moderator - "Write your sorrows in the sand, your blessings in stone".
Etiquette Now
WEDDING ETIQUETTE EXPERT
Jan 30, 2006, 3:47 PM
Post #3 of 4
(2258 views)
Re: [pookabee] This is pretty complicated...
[In reply to]
I completely agree. He at least knew that he was a groomsman. There are so many books and websites such as this for information. He really was responsible for learning what he should do.
As for your photos, there is nothing wrong with asking a few friends and family to send you digital copies of their photos. You will more than likely have enough good ones to save the day.
Your best man won't be able to take good pictures of you walking down the aisle and getting married if he is standing with your fiance. It is doubtful that this would work anyway. Rebecca Black, Etiquette Now
(This post was
edited by Et.byRebecca on Jan 30, 2006, 3:48 PM)
The Video Pros
Video Forum Moderator
Jan 30, 2006, 3:57 PM
Post #4 of 4
(2255 views)
Re: [pookabee] This is pretty complicated...
[In reply to]
How can a person be a groomsman AND properly shoot a wedding at the same time? Many brides hire photo studios that supply two or three photographers just to make sure nothing is missed.
There is a lot more to photography than pointing and shooting. People think with digital cameras that good pictures just happen by themselves, like what you said...."it isn't all that difficult to point and shoot". Many amateur photographers and individuals tend to forget to set the resolution of the image and ruin many a photo. Once the image is taken as a low resolution jpg instead of taken in raw file format (the best there is), you can never recapture the moment. All you have left is a compressed jpg image that will not output to print that well. It may look good on screen, but that is where it will stay if taken at low resolution.
Your groomsman should be able to enjoy the wedding and do what has been asked of him .... be a groomsman.
If you're worried about the pictures turning out bad, then you might consider investing in a lot of throw away cameras and ask your guests to take as many pictures as possible.
If your other friend has a digital camera, you may have to invest in some gigabyte memory cards for his camera. If he shoots anything less than RAW file format or jpg at no compression, then don't waste your time. The extra memory cards will enable him/her to shoot at the best possible image size ensuring that you will get some good prints later. Good images = LARGE file size.
We work with images from 6 megs to 120 megs each when designing our custom photo books. Do yourself a favor and make sure that the "other" friend has the proper equipment. Otherwise, consider cutting back somewhere and hiring a photographer. The average cost is $1,500 to $2,500. Your memories should be your priority.
Remember: You get what you pay for. Copen Cabana DJ Audio Visual Production providing Custom Wedding Coffee Table Photo Book with DVD Services http://www.knowareland.com
Friend and wedding guest wants to be our wedding photographer
