I have a dilemma to face tomorrow.

We’re guests at the wedding of a friend of my wife. We’ve known the couple for about 5 years and the 4 of us are god parents to Mikey, the son of another couple that we are friends with.

My problem is what camera(s) and gear to take – the thinking process goes something like this;

• We’re guests, taking pictures is not my job – take the compact.
• This is a great chance to test out my wedding/ portrait skills – take the DSLR, one lens and maybe the flash.
• I don’t want to lug around a load of gear all day – take the compact.
• We’re staying in the hotel where the reception (and probably photographs) will be taken so I can store stuff in the room and grab it if I need to – take the DSLR, at least two lenses, the flash (maybe remote triggers) and the Infrared (hotel has nice grounds).
• I want to enjoy the day and don’t want to be too focussed on photos – take the compact.
• While we know a few other people who are going, we certainly won’t know many of them and they are mostly my wife’s friends so I might be a bit of a spare part – don’t waste the chance, take the DSLR.

To be honest, I still don’t know which way to go so at the moment I’m planning on taking everything with me. If the weather is good I’ll probably use the DSLR for photos at the Church and reception/ meal. In the evening I’m thinking more about using the compact so I don’t have to worry about leaving the DSLR somewhere or having drinks spilled on it. I will take the IR camera too, as the grounds of the hotel do look nice and I might be able to get something good with that.

I’ll post the results next week and you can see what I decided.