Shooting a gay wedding

dakid

dakid

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As per the title, really...

I've not even shot a wedding before, apart from snapping away lots at relatives' ones. I'm all full of wedding books, and I'm doing it for only a token amount for a friend of a friend, with the groom and groom (I guess that's what they are?) knowing that I have little experience, but having seen my candids of friends and liking them. I was wondering whether anyone had any tips for this particular type of ceremony, over and above standard wedding photography tips?

Any advice much appreciated :)
 
no advice at all - but I bet you will have the bestest time ever!!! :)
 
MagicMynx said:
I read an artical on same-sex wedding photography ages ago, it said pretty much the same as a man-woman wedding, but empahsised don't let the grooms (or brides!) look like friends, capture the love between them. Make it clear that they're a couple and not mates.
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That's a very good bit of advice! I'm straight, so that's the sort of trap I'd probably fairly easily fall into ... thank you :)
 
Try and be prepared for surprises. My brother is gay and at his wedding reception he managed to sneak in 4 scantily clad female salsa dancers. No-one else, including my brother in law, had any idea they were going to be there. Best wedding I've ever been to. You should have seen the rush when he asked if anyone wanted their photo taken with the dancers.

Not saying this will happen, but fingers crossed!
 
Never shot a same sex Wedding but it will be a fantastic day with all the emotion of an everyday Wedding.

Same rules apply I guess, you know the same amount of love for each other will be present and that is what you are trying to capture, just remember that this is a very, very special day for them.
Parents are also very important if they are around, Groom + FiL shaking hands and vice versa, Groom and Mum Dad.

Have a great time !
 
Did one last year and it's just important that you treat this as any other union between two people who love each other. Set out to capture that and the emotion of the day and you will be fine :)
 
i took the photos at my brother inlaws gay wedding( i was crapping myself cos i'm new to this and also i was wearing a kilt) and the biggest problem i had was all there mates up beside me taking photos aswell which was a bit off putting and think all there flashes messed a quite a few of mine up( i think ), but i put that down to total lack of experience. Only thing i would say is when your doing the main ones no one else takes photos.

thats my 2p worth but what a laugh it was great day, enjoy
 
take most pics of the one in the dress..........:lol:

Seriously though, I have not even contemplated shooting a wedding, as am too scared of the (was going to say C*ck up factor but may be inappropriate in this reply :nono:), messing it up.... as I am not a pro tog, so leave the serious stuff to those who know best.........

However, the advice above is 100% sound....... concentrate on them as a couple, not mates........... totally different I guess to the matey shot of groom & best man, but really engage the crowd, get some great pics....... one top tip I will always remember from our wedding day (before I really cared about what side of a lens the photographer stood.........) was get people involved in the shots......... and get them to say anything with "*y" on the end to take the pic, we had "sexy", "cheesy", "funny", happy", "groovy" - the "*y" pronounciation draws the face into a natural smile (apparantly).......... also if pageboys / bridesmaids etc.......... get plenty of candids........ they make some of the best ones!

Have fun, and if they are happy, put some pics up here and share the experience.
 
martinxr2 said:
i took the photos at my brother inlaws gay wedding( i was crapping myself cos i'm new to this and also i was wearing a kilt) and the biggest problem i had was all there mates up beside me taking photos aswell which was a bit off putting and think all there flashes messed a quite a few of mine up( i think ), but i put that down to total lack of experience. Only thing i would say is when your doing the main ones no one else takes photos.

thats my 2p worth but what a laugh it was great day, enjoy
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That's a good point Martin. The best way to deal with this is to just tell everyone (very loudly) that there will be time for them to take some pics but you need to do your job so if they could please wait just a few moments they can shoot theirs after you. Works a treat and it's actually very nice to involve others once you know you have yours.
 
Lynton said:
take most pics of the one in the dress..........:lol:

Seriously though, I have not even contemplated shooting a wedding, as am too scared of the (was going to say C*ck up factor but may be inappropriate in this reply :nono:), messing it up.... as I am not a pro tog, so leave the serious stuff to those who know best.........

However, the advice above is 100% sound....... concentrate on them as a couple, not mates........... totally different I guess to the matey shot of groom & best man, but really engage the crowd, get some great pics....... one top tip I will always remember from our wedding day (before I really cared about what side of a lens the photographer stood.........) was get people involved in the shots......... and get them to say anything with "*y" on the end to take the pic, we had "sexy", "cheesy", "funny", happy", "groovy" - the "*y" pronounciation draws the face into a natural smile (apparantly).......... also if pageboys / bridesmaids etc.......... get plenty of candids........ they make some of the best ones!

Have fun, and if they are happy, put some pics up here and share the experience.
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willy - that should do the trick
 
That's a good point Martin. The best way to deal with this is to just tell everyone (very loudly) that there will be time for them to take some pics but you need to do your job so if they could please wait just a few moments they can shoot theirs after you. Works a treat and it's actually very nice to involve others once you know you have yours.
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:thumbs::thumbs:

Great easy solution to a very distracting problem.
 
some great advicer - the only thing I'd add is to allow them to guide you a bit as well, bear in mind most same sex couples and their families didn't have the same expectations of being able to get married until a couple of years ago, as more traditional couples so they may have less expectations and be more willing to have a lot of fun.
 
As above re capturing the love and emotion and Hugh's point about letting them guide you. With only one gay couple I can call friends, their experience is hardly generalisable, but they wanted a range of different styles from their big day to cover the different audiences they are playing to - i.e. straight parents and family on one side and gay and straight friends on the other. They had the 'official' tog do the former and left the latter to their friends. Interestingly, their friends' photos were much better imo; really imaginative and gave a much better insight into the two cultures at play on the day. So yes, maybe talk to them about this to see what it is they want/need and if you can negotiate those for them. Have a great day, I'm sure it will be a blast!
 
I don't know anything about shooting weddings, but I do have a number of gay friends (male and female) over here in Germany.

What I would like to add to this discussion is that 'gay' is not necessarily a by-word for 'outrageous', 'camp' or 'wild and whacky'. A higher proportion of the gay people I know are actually very quiet and reserved - just like 80% of the world's population, really :shrug:.

So, depending on how well you know the couple (and whether they've told you what to expect or not), I'd say that you should plan to do things in a very low-key, but intimate way and just be prepared for a few surprises (if that's not a contradiction in terms :D).

Basically, being gay just means that you find people of the same sex more attractive than people of the opposite sex - it doesn't automatically make you a depraved, promiscuous, hyper-active drag queen :| - however much fun that may sound :D.

Good luck :thumbs:!
 
Naboo32 said:
I don't know anything about shooting weddings, but I do have a number of gay friends (male and female) over here in Germany.

What I would like to add to this discussion is that 'gay' is not necessarily a by-word for 'outrageous', 'camp' or 'wild and whacky'. A higher proportion of the gay people I know are actually very quiet and reserved - just like 80% of the world's population, really :shrug:.

So, depending on how well you know the couple (and whether they've told you what to expect or not), I'd say that you should plan to do things in a very low-key, but intimate way and just be prepared for a few surprises (if that's not a contradiction in terms :D).

Basically, being gay just means that you find people of the same sex more attractive than people of the opposite sex - it doesn't automatically make you a depraved, promiscuous, hyper-active drag queen :| - however much fun that may sound :D.

Good luck :thumbs:!
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Thanks for all the comments; I'm finding something to think about in almost all of them!

This is a particularly useful post. Although I don't know much about one of the people, I've met the other one several times and "camp" and "outrageous" are quite unusually apt adjectives for him. I believe his partner is much less so though, so it's still worth me being sensible about what they both decide they ultimately want.

Generally the advice about letting them tell me what they want is - along with making them look like they're in love - are the most useful things I think to remember. Thanks :)
 
dakid said:
Thanks for all the comments; I'm finding something to think about in almost all of them!

This is a particularly useful post. Although I don't know much about one of the people, I've met the other one several times and "camp" and "outrageous" are quite unusually apt adjectives for him. I believe his partner is much less so though, so it's still worth me being sensible about what they both decide they ultimately want.

Generally the advice about letting them tell me what they want is - along with making them look like they're in love - are the most useful things I think to remember. Thanks :)
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With that attitude, it's sure to be a succesful project :thumbs: (as long as you don't forget to charge your batteries, pack a spare memory card etc. etc. :D).
 
I would also advice you to ask the couple if any guests have any abnormalities (not sure if that the right word)
I was the photographer at 2 weddings, anyway I was taking some pics of the guests, luckily enough one of the weddings I did was my mums and I had new the majority of the guest. I was shooting a few shots of a couple I had new since I was a kid and the woman kept blinking but just one of her eyes. Anyway a found out the next day that she only had one real eye and that’s why she kept blinking, I couldn't believe it.

So it would probably be best to be prepared if there is any guests like there was at my one!
 
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