annoying wedding photographers!

[JoeFriday]

I attended a wedding yesterday.. the first formal wedding I've been to in many years.. I was appalled at the behavior of the photographer

I didn't see his equipment up close, but it looked like a Nikon N90 setup, replete with the huge flash apparatus held on a bracket about 2 feet above the lens.. and a lens somewhere in the 300mm range

I'm guessing that he owned the church since he had no problem positioning himself anywhere necessary to get every obviously staged or cliche shot imaginable.. someone should have advised the wedding party to wear sunglasses as not to be blinded by the near-constant flash.. and I won't even go into the sound of the shutter and the auto film rewind

and then there was the appearance of the photographer.. he obviously didn't own a clothes iron and must have lost his shaving kit a day or two ago.. and I never once saw the guy smile or engage his victims.. err, subjects through the wedding and reception

I really felt sorry for the wedding party for having to put up with him.. but I think the truly sad thing is that people have come to expect this behavior from wedding photographers.. I hope his photos are worth it.. but I can definitely say he's no Jeff Ascough

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

(imagine the voice of "Yosemite Sam")

Ah hates Wedding Photographers.

I suffered through one in my first wedding. The guy was pushy, inconsiderate and out of touch with the moment. The resultant photos were just OK.

Photos taken by friends and family were much more fun and did a better job of catching the spirit of the moment.

Besides, the twirp made me miss out on the smoked salmon.

 

[aizan]

what a jerk. if only there were more ascoughs and reids out there. 🙁

 

[nwcanonman]

Saying you hate wedding photographers (you've met them all?) is as bigoted as saying you hate blacks because you've seen a few who treated you badly.
I've done a few dozen wedding shoot's, very low-key and very economical for my customers. It's only a hobby, I make my living elsewhere.
I ALWAYS talk to the couple weeks before the wedding day and ask what THEY want. Then I talk to the pastor/priest/judge performing the ceramony, asking his/her preferences.
I do shoot the obligatory "Formals", but then have fun shooting little kids, grandparents and family/friends in informal settings.

Yes, I've been at weddings with real rude assholes doing the photography. One a female shooter, at a $10,000+ wedding was extremely rude and would have gladly socked her myself. But I don't judge ALL wedding shooters by her.
This shot is from a wedding I shot 2 weeks ago, the Groom being held by his Groomsmen. 😛

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

JoeFriday,

Perhaps you should be complaining to the bride. She is the one that viewed his work, paid him her hard earned money, and gave him the list of shots she wanted for her album.

Then he had the audacity to go about and try to fullfill her dreams, what a bastard!! Just think, he was using a flash bracket to avoid the devilish red eye look in the wedding party members, how insensitive! He probably thought he was on assignment and working a paying job. He should have stood back and let Aunt Harriet and Uncle Joe shoot all of the shots cause they know what they are doing, they once had a photo of a burning house published in the local weekly newspaper.

Ya need to get real Joe!!

Wayne

Wayne

 

[zuikologist]

I read the title and thought we were starting a list of 50 ways to annoy wedding photographers!

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Seems like a sore nerve has been hit here.

I'll retract my statement and replace it with "I loathed my wedding photog." I suppose there are individuals in any profession that are poor examples.

Comparisons of races and professions should be set aside.

No offense meant to any member that is a wedding photographer.

Seems to me that Joe Friday's lament was more about how the wedding seemed to become that photographers show.

And yep, it's true, either the bride or the brides family most likely selected the photographer. Then again, the portfolio and references don't necessarily convey that photographer's demeanor. How could she (mom or bride) have known? I can't really place blame there.

 

[FrankS]

I do weddings (on the side) too but I assummed that JoeFriday's statements were not generalized to all wedding photographers, even though he did make it sound like a general statement. Wedding photography is a tough job. Wedding photographers have to get the shots to please their clients. They can do that respectfully and skillfully, or not. Some wedding photographers are jerks. Some clergy are jerks. Every profession has its share of jerks. Even some wedding party members are jerks. 🙂

 

[nomade]

Most wedding photographers i've seen were okay, some were only idiots taking unpleasant shots in the very wrong timing...So that was the annoying part, that u got pictures better than the one who is supposed to have a carte blanche to do all he wants to get fresh pics...

 

[egpj]

Wow, Joe just had his own little rant going on. Nobody needs to get all defensive and lash out. I was kind of enjoying the "rant" as rants go.

 

[FrankS]

No lashing allowed!

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Lashing probably belongs in some other darker, kinky forum.

 

[egpj]

Lashing probably belongs in some other darker, kinky forum.

Where they show pictures of tall blonds strapped out in leather and they have deep German accents. But the whips are made out of silk and... and... ummmm, maybe I should stop now.

Anyway, I would be OK with wedding photographers kind of like that. ummm yea. 🙄

 

[TPPhotog]

I think some of us came to RFs because we were sick of carrying large noisy rigs and as such we can be a little sensitive towards others that use them. Maybe it's the same as ex-smokers that think all smokers should be burned at the stake.

Many auto-SLR users do of course become "deaf" to the sound of their cameras and don't realise just how much noise they make compared to manual focus and manual wind / unwind.

The one Joe is referring to doesn't sound very professional though by the way he dressed (or is that failed to dress) for the wedding 🙁

I agree that wedding photography is a very underestimated part of photography and the stakes are high for those that fail to deliver. I would certainly not want to be in their shoes at any price.

 

[FrankS]

I like the way this thread has taken a positive turn. 🙂

 

[TPPhotog]

Frank during my time up country when I was in the Police Force I used to kind of enjoy working strikes and riots (yep we had real riots), afterwords I loved to cover strikes, marches and demonstrations with a camera.

But wedding photography scares the proverbial out of me and it's the one thing I have always refused to do.

I do appreciate good wedding pictures though and consider it an art form a sort of cross between reportage and fashion photography, if that makes sense.

 

[doubs43]

When I did weddings, I used a 6x7 TLR with leaf shutters. Not noisy or bothersome at all.

I was never rude to anyone but I did have to ask one Bride's Parents to restrain her Grandfather who insisted on getting in the way. I offered to leave if they didn't.... but I did it nicely.

As I recall, the members of the wedding parties were all cooperative without exception. An occassional guest was inconsiderate but that was easily worked around.

Frank is correct: Wedding photography is a tough job. A point my father made - and he took hundreds of weddings - was this: You do it right the first time, every time, because you don't have a second opportunity.

Walker

 

[FrankS]

"You can hire a less expensive photographer with less experience, but you don't want to have to do it again to get it right."

Part of my wedding photography prospectus.

 

[aizan]

But the whips are made out of silk and...

i was thinking leather camera straps. :angel:

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

I guess I had a raw nerve struck on this thread. I suppose JoeFriday's photographer was a jerk and did not dress nor act professionally.

I'll agree with Frank, that there are all kinds of people, some are even jerks. I have one bride that I call Bridezilla, she got into a fight with her maid of honor just as the wedding march played. For 15 minutes no one came down the aisle, and when they finally did they were crying. This was a different kind of "red-eye" problem to photographic.

This last wedding I did I had a lot of "help" from Aunt Mae. Always in the way when trying to photograph the wedding party. No, she did not have a rangefinder camera either.

Wayne