OK- So I am an old grouch! Well- not really- I'm a genuinely nice guy, HOWEVER, armature photographers, guests, bridal party members and the Paparazzi ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE PHOTOGRAPHS WHEN I AM DOING MY FORMAL SESSIONS.
This is in the contract, it is fully discussed long before the wedding day. it is agreed upon and initialed and totally understood by all parties. IT WORKS!
It's OK for everyone to have fun with their cameras during the reception but they are not allowed to pop in front of us while we are working the candids.
All the family "photographers" are advised, by the bride, of this policy. This works because I convince the couple to protect their investment in me by not allowing well meaning but distracting guests to sabotage their "expensive" photographer. If they are paying their photographer a couple of hundred bucks- he or she becomes disposable- heck- the flowers cost more than that. When 5 grand or more is involved, their gonna listen up! Sad but true.
Some folks think that as soon as they purchase a camera, it comes with a license to do anything they please at weddings and events. Most folks are logical and nice but the same folks who would never think of telling the clergy person how to conduct a ceremony, walk in the kitchen and whip up their favorite dish in front of the caterer, sit in with band or set up his own DJ system in a corner of the ballroom will interfere with the professional photographer's work by distracting the bride, groom and their wedding party during the formal session. There is no sense or logic to this.
I am so tired of hearing about the "rude and obtrusive" photographer. I have been doing wedding photography for 50 years and I have never been rude or obtrusive at a wedding. I know hundreds of professional photographers who do the same. People who complain about all those awful photographers probably did not hire a real professional who knows how to get his or job done in a highly professional, efficient, swift and dignified manner.
Regardless of all my rules and policies, if someone brakes them in the middle of a wedding, I will not engage them in an embarrassing manner or start a argument and spoil the mood of the wedding. There are polite and diplomatic ways of handling such matters and every now and again we have to work around them. We will NEVER walk off a job or have a tantrum or temperamental episode in the middle of an event- that would just exacerbate the problem. If the proper and through kind of pre-planing takes place none of that will be necessary.
A consummate wedding photographer realizes that the wedding is not staged for his or her benefit, however, some cooperation is needed in order to do a decent job, especially where formal portraits are involved. In wedding photography, people skills are just as important as technical and aesthetic prowess.
Business wise, I always sell a complete package and do not depend of add on sales or guest orders after the fact. If relatives and friends want photographs, I ask them to contact the couple- all orders must come through them. I do not offer on line proofs for the purpose of taking speculative orders. This all may be old school but it works for me. My average wedding sale is around $7,500. I am doing big jobs with long hours- there is no room for speculation with such ever offer the negatives up for sale.
If you think this is unfair in inequitable, just take a look at how the new copyright laws are going to protect big money music and the mega-budget motion picture industry. Where's our protection? Our stock in trade is our skills in posing and lighting- why should anyone be allowed to "shoot over our shoulders"? Part of our livings come from exclusivity in making prints from our files and negatives- why should we relinquish those rights?
A person can be arrested for bring a palm-corder into a movie theater and selling the sub standard results to a bunch of idiots who will put up with low quality illegal copies to save what?- The cost of admission to a movie house- a few bucks for a top quality legitimate DVD? Big deal- they broadcast a film on U-tube! How childish can they be, not to mention petty and stupid?
Think about it! Ed
