guest/photographer

peanutbuttervibes

Is it appropriate to ask one of our guests to be our photographer?  

[Deleted User]

braybee said:

Is it appropriate to ask one of our guests to be our photographer?  

It depends.

Ok.  Uncle Carl, You know how much I love your photography.  I was wondering if I could book you to take some of our formal photos at our wedding.  We would of course pay you your fair rate, and I'd insist on having a contract with all this written out.  I love you and Aunt Mildred and if you'd rather just enjoy the wedding as a guest, I'd completely understand if you didn't want to be the photographer.

Not ok.  Uncle Carl, instead of giving us a wedding gift, can you take pictures at our wedding?

Viczaesar

braybee said:

Is it appropriate to ask one of our guests to be our photographer?  

Ask?  No.  Hire?  Okay, but I don't recommend it.

Jen4948

braybee said:

Is it appropriate to ask one of our guests to be our photographer?  

No.  Guests should not be asked to work the wedding.  They should be allowed to enjoy themselves without having to worry about whether or not they captured the bride going down the aisle or whether they were eating when the couple did their first dance or cut the cake.

SP29

I agree- Ask= No. Hire= Yes. But I would also caution against it.

I prefer to keep business and personal stuff separate. You don't want to have to worry that your friend/family member is taking all the pictures you want vs. hanging out and visiting with friends and family. You also want to make sure you get the photo quality you want and get it on time. I think sometimes with family/friends these lines get crossed.

My cousin asked her brother's then gf to be their photographer. She started art in school and while not a "professional" photographer, knew how to work a camera. For the most part it was fine, but during the reception the gf (photographer) had guests from the bride's family asking if she could take a family photos of them while she was trying to get photos of things like the first dance and cake cutting. She (photog) let me know she was getting pretty frustrated because it happened several times. Then, my cousin mentioned that it took awhile to get the edited photos back. The concept of "I'm doing this for family/a friend" put it on the back burner, and, gf had a "real" job and life to prioritize first.

ETA: I did hire a coworker of mine who also does photography on the side (but she is a professional) to do an engagement type session for us. We didn't sign a contract (she was pretty relaxed about it), but we did discuss before hand what we wanted, she quoted us a price,  and we agreed upon a date, time, and location. She also let us know when we would receive our photos by. Mind you, a session like that, involving only the 3 of us for an hour or two is much different than having a friend at a wedding not allowed to socialize much with other friends (and those people potentially being the distractors).

TheCheeseWench

I asked a friend/co-worker which role he would rather have, guest or Photog. Since he is my cameraman for my show he has spent countless hours pointing a camera at me, so I am comfortable with him. I told him that while I would love to hire him to shoot the wedding, I would totally understand if he preferred just to be a guest and have fun. He said he would love to do the shoot, and then join us for the post-reception party as a guest.

I agree with the PPs. It is fine to ask a friend or relative to be your vendor for the photos, but not ask them to be responsible for snapping your photos for free.

randomslove

No. I agree with quote a bit of the above.

I was recently at a wedding where the bride assumed, once she heard I'd brought my very nice professional-grade camera, that I would be taking pictures at her wedding. She didn't hire a pro because she relied on telling everyone to take photos. To include shoving her camera into the hands of one of her guests to ask them to take pictures with it.

I ended up taking pictures after the ceremony (which I was in) only because I felt bad that her bad planning had made her wedding a really stressful affair. And because it was less comfortable behind the camera than as her wedding party.

As it was, before the wedding was over she was begging me for photos ASAP.

photokitty

As a photog, I never recommend hiring a friend or family member to shoot your wedding. If anything goes wrong, it can ruin your relationship. There have been several brides on here that have shared their horror stories.

Also it really sucks when someone asks you, bc you either have to give up being a guests and getting to hang out with friends and family, you miss the cocktail hour, you have to stay completely sober - you are working, not having fun. OR you have to be the bad guy and tell them no. I have told no less than 8 friends no, who have asked me to shoot their wedding. However, I always bring my camera and shoot as I please and send them an addition wedding gift a few weeks after the wedding - a DVD with all my images form the wedding.

MyNameIsNot

I agree hiring is ok, but I would still be very cautious about it. Even if one of your guests is a professional photographer, you are still blurring the lines between business and social relationship. If you have a disagreement with your photographer, you should be comfortable addressing the issue. With a friend or family member, you may not be able to do that. 

If the person is not a professional, it's never a good idea.