Cool. Anyone peek at the slideshow? There are some interesting photos. Like #4 (What's that, Mommy? Oh, that's Mommy's wedding day thong!). And the quote on picture #27:

Kevin Kubota had a career epiphany a few years ago, when he put a $10,000 wedding on his price list, thinking no couple would book at that level. He quickly learned they would. "I realized I'd been limiting my perceptions about wedding photography," he says.

You too, matteo? How do you mean?

When we decided not to have an official photographer, you would have thought we had been caught murdering babies. Really, people are weird. We asked two friends attending the wedding to take tons of candids for us, and now we have so many kick ass wedding photographs, and not one is of a bunch of people standing in a line and smiling into the camera.

These were some really cool pictures. And I didn't even realize I had any perceptions about wedding photography! :-)

This is great, thank you.

Yeah, we did have a professional photographer, who also happens to be my parents-in-laws's best friend, so she did it gratis! Nice! And 95% of her photos were candids, as per our request. We have lovely photos of every single person at our wedding.

And many of the pics in the link are awesome.

My brother and sister-in-law's wedding photographer made fun of the way I was standing for a posed group photo. When I didn't smile at his ridicule, he ridiculed me for not smiling. I said, "Now your mockery will taint my memory of this blessed day forever. Thanks, sport." He didn't take another picture of me all night.

Later, when the couple were going through proofs of the reception pictures, they found that, as a suggestion, the photographer had "corrected" my father's slightly lazy eye in one of the pictures. The studio would "fix" all the pictures if they wanted. My dad has a lazy eye, and he's not self-conscious about it. My brother had surgery as a kid so he wouldn't have one. Can you imagine how annoyed my dad would've been to see an unsolicited "corrected" version of his face? The very suggestion; the gall!

They ended up with some nice pictures, but I think a non-professional would've been just fine.

I'm thinking about hiring an ex-photojournalist for my (right now purely hypothetical) wedding. They're a bit pricey, but they're generally trained to be a) unobtrusive and b) creative with candid shots.

iconomy - I know what you mean! I was talking to a guy friend of mine who likes to go to weddings and receptions. When I mentioned that I didn't want an Emcee or a live band or a (shudder) DJ, didn't want any sort of daddy-daughter dance, and didn't want a first couples dance or honeymoon dance either, he almost completely flipped.

I had a pro photographer for my wedding, very traditional pictures, but he knew how to pose me to make me look nice.

"And they avoid auxiliary light, shooting almost entirely wide-open with prime lenses..."

um... yeah. that's how i shoot 90% of the time anyway.

iconomy:
When we decided not to have an official photographer, you would have thought we had been caught murdering babies. Really, people are weird.

ya, what iconomy said. the crew on IRC the other night were ready to lynch me for thinking it'd be a good idea for me to DIY if and when the topic ever surfaces.

pfeh.

All we said was that it was probably a little strange for the BRIDE to photograph her own wedding- you'll probably already have enough to do on your wedding day. Geesh.

the crew on IRC the other night were ready to lynch me for thinking it'd be a good idea for me to DIY if and when the topic ever surfaces.

Knowing the people in IRC (esp. the those planning weddings), I find that highly unlikely. They probably interpreted what you said as your attempt to lynch them for not doing it DIY.

Some of my favorite wedding photos are from my friends' wedding in South Africa. They booked everything last minute for their small ceremony, so the golf club they were using supplied the photographer and the chapel and food and hall etc.

Photo 1: The photographer took them to a small, older bar near the chapel - nice lighting, beautiful, dark wood. The bartender went somewhere else and the bride got behind the bar to make the groom a drink. Then the photographer tells the groom to lean over the bar and whisper something sweet into the bride's ear. The groom whispers, "I can't wait to get you home and rip this fucking dress off you." The look of surprise on the bride's face is PRICELESS!

Photo 2: Bride and groom are riding from the chapel to the reception hall in a golf cart. The photographer was riding in front of them, taking their pictures. Groom pretends to push bride out of moving golf cart.

Photo 3: Taken along the ruffage at the golf course, so the bride and groom are sanding under a tree. The picture is taken of their backs, the bride's arm around the groom's waist. The groom is holding an old-fashoned leather suitcase that says 'just married'. Taken in color and black and white.

I want pictures like that. Goofy, candid, and all around non-traditional.

These are great.

One of my pals from Flickr and photography class is considering becoming a professional wedding photographer. I passed the article along to her.

For my best friend's wedding, he is hiring a friend of a friend who has been a pro photographer for 25 years. When my friend told me the other day that he'd asked the photographer to do their pictures in B&W film, I was thrilled! (I don't know whether he has been influenced by me or by all the film noir he's watching, but I'm proud of him anyway.)

I have not great wedding pictures and I regret it. Every bride and groom decides what's important to them, and pictures were important to me.

They can be done and good a million ways to Sunday, but. . .dang.

We did just have couples pictures made by a semi-pro in conjunction with another shoot, and I like them much better than the wedding ones. I'm glad I did that.

the crew on IRC the other night were ready to lynch me for thinking it'd be a good idea for me to DIY if and when the topic ever surfaces.

I can't believe you're coloring it like that. Or wait...

Anyway, I believe all I said was that if it works for you, good. I just want to be able to sit back and enjoy the day. I don't think anyone came anywhere near reaming you. Please don't misconstrue or exaggerate things.

The best wedding pictures I ever saw were taken for a friend's nuptials by a young professional sports photographer they'd hired on the cheap, this being his first try at being a wedding snapper. These were some exquisite pictures, though then again they were a good-looking pair, and this was in Paris.

y'know, i think it's a good idea for me to just avoid IRC altogether from this point on. too many people have taken things i said with (admittedly probably lame) attempted humour *waaaaaay* too seriously lately.

that is all.

The channel is open to one and all at all times, and if people get offended, they say so in a nice way, and I think that open dialogue about things like that is healthy. The door is always open.

We had a friend who is a photographer take our pictures. We also had disposable cameras on every table, and yes, the bride (me!) had her own camera. We have tons of great, candid, not so candid, shots. And it didn't cost a fortune. (Though since the photographer and his wife (a bridesmaid) have been friends of mine since childhood, you'd think the pictures would have been a gift. But no.)