Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I was thinking of doing something like this, but probably not until next year. It could probably be approached 2 ways.

1. Hire models, rent the dress and get a MUA.
2. Find women about to be married or who just got married, ask them to pose in their already purchased gowns. We would just have to hire a MUA.


1: You have professional models, so the photos will be easier to extract and have a better chance of looking great in your portfolio.

2: Considerably cheaper, as close to an actual wedding shoot as you can get. Women will not be models, you will have to make them comfortable, tell them how to pose, etc. Slightly less chance of getting great photos for your portfolio.


I was leaning more towards 2. because its realistic, it's cheaper, and it teaches you a lot more about shooting weddings. All 1. does is help you get great photos for your portfolio, you still have next to no experience in a wedding environment.

I should be able to scrounge up at least 2 women with dresses who would be close if not better looking than some of the current models used.

I have a female friend who recently got married. She still has her dress. I could ask?

Let me ask. I'm thinking she may just do it for free. The photogs she hired at her wedding was ballz. She was complaining about 'em.

just my two cents. A pretty girl is not a model.

Hiring a good model has a lot of benefits - most of all posing and lots of patience to adjust poses while people take pictures of her. A normal person can get antsy and bored, tired, etc. especially if there are multiple shooters taking similar poses. Just imagine having your photo taken for 4 hours. UUugh, not comfortable to those who aren't used to it.

Also, a lot of models like to have bridal shots in their port so you might get one for free for some decent pics. Or almost free.

What I'm saying is that you will get some shots for your wedding portfolio, and learn about shooting a model (no matter what she is wearing). If the purpouse of this event is a fashion shoot with a wedding dress being the fashion; then thats fine. If the purpose of the event is to help people get experience shooting weddings and hopefully get some portfolio shots in, then I would go with 2.

The event I was thinking of having was geared more towards people thinking of getting into wedding photography. Hopefully helping them get some experience dealing with brides, the stresses of keeping their attention, posing them, and making them feel comfortable; As opposed to a fashion shoot with a wedding dress. They would get some experience and hopefuly knowledge about dealing with people in these sorts of situations. It's as much of a social exercise as it is a photographic one.

Chopper's post above is re-inforcing exactly what I'm saying. "A pretty girl is not a model". If you want to learn how to shoot weddings, you have to learn how to deal with people who get antsy, people who get tired, people who get confused by many cameras around them. Because guess what, thats exactly what you are going to be dealing with when you're actually shooting a wedding. Family around you with flashing cameras, a stressed out and antsy bride, etc. Unless you only shoot weddings for experienced models, it's not going to reflect a real life situation and it's not going to teach you anything about wedding photography. You'll just be shooting fashion, with a wedding dress.

It's not a matter of finding free models, its a matter of helping people learn about wedding photography and making the experience as close as possible to the real thing. If you're an established wedding photographer who just wants to get some portfolio shots, then a model situation would be perfect. But many people on this forum are not in that position.

Either or is good with me. Whether it is a bridal fashion shoot or the chance to actually take photos in a real wedding (as a 2nd/3rd photog) is experience alone. In RPG games, we have a saying, "XP is XP".

My first impression on this already was more of a bridal photography shoot. Not a mock-up wedding.

Controlled environment NE Real Wedding Scenario

Sorry guys, didn't mean to confuse things. I guess I just don't see the aesthetic value of doing set-up/mock wedding related shoots; and only see them as a means of education/practice. Maybe cause I hate weddings! lol

Uh...the orig post was clear to me. That was the impression that I got. A bridal shoot. Like stuff they put on Canadian Bride. Did I just confuse the confused? Now I'm confuzzled... Sorry...

Sir, you are reading my mind and I am thankful for it!
I can't go organize anything like that at the moment (although I love event management), but I was thinking about similar idea for quite some time now,
as a "safe and controlled" approach to teach and experience wedding photography. Hopefully a lot of people register for it to drive a cost down and we all can have a great time.

Hahah, there's someone getting the wrong idea.

Eh, I would say 50%/50%, bridal photography is a part of wedding photography and not less important then covering a "wedding in action"
Although to get most of the wedding as a mock up session would be pretty interesting.

On the other hand I can see a good subject for some reality show episode - "how I invited 50 photographers to my wedding", so there will be no need to do a fake one

Uh... Everything you said above is correct. I was suggesting the idea of not using models to make it a bit more educational. All of the photographers above (I'm guessing), have set-up shots in their portfolio with non models.

I'm not trying to diss this event at all, I think its a great event. I just wanted to understand what can be gained from shooting a professional model in a wedding dress. And you told me, advertising and wedding magazines. Perfect, no point in arguing about it. My appologies for seeming rude about it.

I am in if you can set it up I am aspiring to start shooting weddings. I think a workshop could be a good place to step back and critique. Can I suggest a post-processing piece to the workshop maybe at a later date.My neice works for a photo production house I will speak to her if I can source a good model for shoot.

so I want to get into wedding photography

will this shoot help me with wedding photography in any way?! or is it a really expensive fashion shoot with white dresses?

If the latter, at $100/person at 10 people thats $1000 (look at me go ... Im a math wiz ... take that calculator!)

That said, Im guessing we're hiring an agency model ... and not one from Joe's Model Talent ... Im talking one of the more reputable agencies ... or where is that $1000 going?!

so I want to get into wedding photography

will this shoot help me with wedding photography in any way?! or is it a really expensive fashion shoot with white dresses?

If the latter, at $100/person at 10 people thats $1000 (look at me go ... Im a math wiz ... take that calculator!)

That said, Im guessing we're hiring an agency model ... and not one from Joe's Model Talent ... Im talking one of the more reputable agencies ... or where is that $1000 going?!

I believe Rhommel broke it down at a high level in his initial post:

"Bridal Gown rental, makeup, model, location"

Topic will be locked at members request.
Maureen