"W.Boyce" wrote in message
...
A friend is going to shoot a wedding for his buddy and asked me (an
experienced photographer, but not weddings) about how many images did I
think he should shoot "to be sure he got everything". He says he doesn't
know when to quit shooting and "start to enjoy myself".

I think he'll do the usual editing of his output to find the "keepers" and
have an album made up, but mostly he wants to put them into a documentary
a'la Ken Burns, put to music. Video to be about 7-10 minutes long.
Probably about 250 images?? (Pre-ceremony, ceremony, "standard" shots and
candids at the reception)

What sort of ratio do you think he should aim for? Shooting digital.

Thanks for your expert opinions.

Bill

Insuffient information.
Do they just want "coverage" of the wedding and/or reception or do they want
"artsy" stuff too?
Are there family portraits involved?
Are there 'split' families (divorced requiring separate photos)?
Want sort of reception is it?
Does the venue of the wedding or reception have interesting/unusual settings
that will provide interesting portraits?

Are you (or your friend) starting to get the idea? To provide quality,
memorable wedding photography, you don't just get up one day and say "I
think I'll start shooting weddings". You need practice. Practice best
attained by studying other wedding photographer's work, either by looking at
their finished product or apprenticing with them.

As for the "start to enjoy myself" part, I always enjoyed myself shooting
weddings, but then, I liked what I was doing. On the other hand, if I was
hired, I NEVER drank, ate, smoked, or fraternized with the guests at the
wedding or reception. That's one of the reasons why I called myself a
professional- I was hired to do a job.

My shooting ratio for candids was 100% keepers. For posed group photos, I
based it on the number of people: one frame for every four people in the
group. BUt then, I shoot film, so I am careful to make sure everything is
correct before firing.