guests taking photos during formals ?

[lkphoto]

I agree with Bill. I've only been doing weddings for a few years now, but let me be the first to tell you explaining the potential of this kind of situation to the B&G at the consultation is KEY! I actually had the sister of a groom push me out of HER way while I was doing formals a few months back! It was also at that same wedding that the Father of the Groom over exposed several key photos during the ceremony with his flash. I explained to the B&G that there were to be no one else but me shooting during the post ceremony formals. I told them that doing so could over expose my photos as well as having the wedding party looking in all different directions. I explained that if I could not gain control of the situation (because sometimes no matter how polite or aggressive you are, people do what they want to do with no regard to official photos) I would then give them the option of stepping in or they would agree to accept the quality of that set of photos, blown out and all. If I cannot preform my job that I am hired for because some rude guest is not listening, I will not be held responsible for the outcome of that specific set of photos. When I asked 3 times for the shooters to please be seated or leave and was ignored, I put on my mean face and told those specific people that not only were they disrespecting me as a hired professional, but because of their selfishness, they were ruining the offical photos of the Bride & Groom, to whom the photos are most important. The Brides mother (who was a gem and sooo embarrassed by the Grooms family) threw her hands up and walked out. She later appologized to me to let me know how disgusted she was with the Grooms family and said that she understood that I did everything in power to control the situation.
I guess the point is this, its going to happen to every photog somewhere along the line, and for me the best way to handle it is to tell the B&G what the outcome could be if they did not allow me the freedom to "excuse" guests from the formals as a last resort.
Good luck & sorry I'm long winded!

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by lkphoto

I explained to the B&G that there were to be no one else but me shooting during the post ceremony formals.

If I cannot preform my job that I am hired for because some rude guest is not listening, I will not be held responsible for the outcome of that specific set of photos.

When I asked 3 times for the shooters to please be seated or leave and was ignored, I put on my mean face and told those specific people that not only were they disrespecting me as a hired professional, but because of their selfishness, they were ruining the offical photos of the Bride & Groom, to whom the photos are most important.

Your behavior at the wedding overshadows any beautiful image you capture. That guest may be rude, but they're also family. Snapping at them doesn't do you an ounce of good.

Your reputation takes a shot every time blow a gasket. Everybody is watching.

There's a saying...
"If they like the photographer, they like the photos".
The reverse is also true.

[lkphoto]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

Your behavior at the wedding overshadows any beautiful image you capture. That guest may be rude, but they're also family. Snapping at them doesn't do you an ounce of good.

Your reputation takes a shot every time blow a gasket. Everybody is watching.

There's a saying...
"If they like the photographer, they like the photos".
The reverse is also true.

Although I absolutely agree with you, I think you've misunderstood. I did not in anyway what so ever "snap" at the family. I was very polite, even after I was pushed by the sister of the groom (and yes, it was intentional because I was in her way i guess). It was only after looking at my LCD screen time after time and having blown images because there were 3-5 other flashes going off when mine was that I confronted the problem more aggressivly. When I say "i put on my mean face" I don't mean I went crazy, I just took my tone of voice and body language to a more serious level (while still maintaining some bit of professionalism & sanity ).

My reputation certainly means everything to me so I would never loose it or "blow a gasket," because in general I tend to let things roll off my back, probably too much sometimes lol Hope this explains things better.

[Pony]

Originally Posted by SyCo

I absolutely disagree. Unless the situation is way, way out of hand, it's your job for which you've been paid handsomely to handle all aspects of the photography, this includes crowd control. The Bride's 'job' that day is to say I do, smile a lot and feel like she's in a fairy tale. It's certainly not her job to do yours.

Let's get something clear.As a working pro-at the time-I knew and did my job.When I say "if the situation became to troublesome" that don't mean that action wasn't taken.It does mean that "the situation is out of hand" w/an indivdual. At that point,the B or G,who are in overall charge that day,can-and would- expediently put the matter to rest.Otherwise,it may be best to explain the situation again and sit down ONLY if you must, until the offender gets a clue.That too,isn't the favored choice.I've never had to sit.The pro must keep his composure and not risk offending guests.For me,the need to have the B or G step in was rare,but it does happen.My post refers MAINLY to formals and images where the B&G are the center of attention.Here,I got my shots first and encouraged photography otherwise.I did get compliments about this from the people,so that tells me I did it right.

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by lkphoto

It was only after looking at my LCD screen time after time and having blown images because there were 3-5 other flashes going off when mine was that I confronted the problem more aggressivly.

You were using shutter speeds so long that other flashes appeared on your images?
I dunno, that sounds like a stretch to me. Even at 15th or 30th of a second, it's hard to believe you repetitively picked up other flashes in such a small window of time.

While you may feel your actions were professional, how your inferred (how the family takes it) is what matters.

If either family leaves the wedding with hard feelings, any after wedding print sales went right out the window.
We'll make more money by keeping our mouths shut. Alot more.

It's never appropriate to tell grandma, or any other family member, to put down their cardboard camera, to respect you, stay out of your way, or allow you room to work.
We should be able to handle this professionally.

Doing all formals before the wedding helps tremendously.
Most of the extended family hasn't arrived yet, less people to manage, easier work environment.

This isn't as hard as we're making it.

[julieharnage]

Wow, pretty balsy of the d70 owner to offer a CD of the pictures basically you were taking. While of course your pictures are going to be much better, you are right... free always wins. I had a case while shooting just the bridal portraits (weeks before the ceremony) where the aunt, who actually paid for the session asked me if she could take pictures while I was shooting... I had just been burned by a model shoot weeks before where a model and her boyfriend came in and did the same thing cept he wound up ADVERTISING all of his shots as his own (all over my shoulder) and then started doing a business based off of them. So, I simply told the aunt, I am sorry, I do not allow photographs to be taken while I am shooting, for a few reasons. I need all of the focus on me and sometimes your camera will interfere with my lights (which isn't a lie if I am using CLS).

This is however why I bring an assistant with me everytime... to "handle" these issues for me since I am less than nice about it. I try to be as I view everyone as potential future customers but .. wow, if I saw the whole CD interchange as in the OP, I don't know how I would've handled that.