steve_newberry___northern_ Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Just let them go first. Knowing you will continue to say "Please go ahead first" and they don't know how to relax the couple they get embarrased and shrivel away.We are all getting paid around $400 per hr (on average) so we have the right to be assertive as long as it's done very politely and respectful but firm when necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurmellies Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Interesting thread... Metanoïa... "Maybe it is time to let go...and not see ourselfs as 'photographers' but as 'image-makers' or 'photo-artist' or as 'album-designers', there is where the money is.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 I've had guests printing images on their portable printer and handing them out. I've also had parents of a bar mitzvah kid and friends of a wedding couple that took pictures from behind my shoulder and then ran them in a slide show during the reception. Makes you wonder why they hire a professional to begin with. My favorite one was when, during the ceremony, the best man, who was sitting in the front pew, extended his arm and hand, with digital camera, into the aisle and kept it there almost the entire time. No one could take any pictures down the aisle (including me) without his arm and hand there. So I just took them. No other choice, since I couldn't move from the back of the church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redshutterstudios Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 i understand your frustration. My biggest irk is when all the family members who are suppose to in the formal shots brought their own cameras and they sometime even ask me to take a picture using their little digital point and shoot! To be polite, i do it, but sometimes i want to beat them with their 2.5 mexapixel camera...hahah...:P At the last wedding i did, i arrived at the church early and introduced myself to the Father, who quickly warned me to not be "obnoxious" while taking pictures. Thankfully, after the wedding he told me i was the best wedding photographer he had seen (good--i won him over!) :) So sometimes it is worth it to keep your cool and be polite to the guests... and now to offer a possible solution, at the same wedding with the skeptical Father, he announced to the audience that the bride and groom asked that if the audience wanted to take pictures, that was fine with them, but to please stay in their seats since i was the official photographer. It seemed to help. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redshutterstudios Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 oh and PS: i love the idea of the "missed shots" album...i may have to incorporate that...:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Thanks ken! I was at the rehearsal tonight and there is plenty of room for several of us. Even at the rehearsal I found the father of bride has same camera as me and is thinking of getting the lightsphere. Guess I won't stand out too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjogo Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 HEY JAMMEY --Forgot about all the other catagories-- Yes...never really visited the Leica, etc...but you are right > it is standard fair,,, in other threads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 oh, thanks Lisa H too! This is moving too fast (the thread) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjogo Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Many of the guests have much newer equipped cameras, then I bring to the event. I use a EOS 3 and a 28-70 zoom -- the whole day. As far as my gear goes ...maybe the Quantum Q looks "impressive." Certainly the hand meter draws questions...the B&G never seem to inquire much about the equipment list. Just the price :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hell, some of my Leica gear is older than the bride's parents...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin cook - stratford upo Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Nadine "Makes you wonder why they hire a professional to begin with." It's because we organise and manage artistically the photographs and that we have an eye for the opportunity, I'm not convinced it's as much the technical result these days, BUT your statement makes me think that perhaps there's a market for not a photographer but a photograph organiser! You go along to the wedding (no camera) and set up the shots and do everything as usual but let Uncle Bob and co take the picture! An extra offer might be to prints his shots and put them in album............ I think my mind is wandering!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 I thought this guest shooting with cameras started abit more when Kodapak got the Flashcube!; and when amateur strobes got available! I think this is an old problem, with just an uptick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_bain1 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 I haven't had any real bother in the past perhaps because I'm never in any doubt who's the professional but can put that over without upsetting anyone. As so many contributors have emphasised people skills are essential. At one wedding a guest turned up with Nikon gear worth twice my Nikon gear. We got chatting, I had a quick play with his kit and he didn't get in the way once. One line I will use if necessary is - "Oh, you're using digital?" used in an " oh, you poor deluded thing" tone. I'm a confirmed film user for anything other than snapshots and eBay sales! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique_grower Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 What about when you are a guest at a wedding and you see shots that are unbelievable and the photographer is to busy drinking a bud to get the shot. This just happened at a freinds wedding. I was so upset that i did not bring my camera. But I guess this was my fault they asked me to do the wedding and I declined because I wanted to enjoy their day, not work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny_c Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 GUYS THERE IS A VERY EASY SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM. Next time Bob sticks his camera into your frame, reposition so that the camera is carefully composed overlapping the bride's head. Then present that to the client. Bob would no doubt get a lashing. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned1 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Yesterday I did an all-Hasselblad wedding. Two of the guests had high-end DSLRs. Worked to my advantage 'cause the 'blad seemed to intimidate the DSLR shooters, and I swear none of the point-and-shooters realized that the thing I was lugging around was a camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary_s Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I use strobes when I do wedding formals. I used to have a huge problem when I'd set the strobes to cell and Uncle Bob would try taking a photo with his point and shoot causing my strobes to fire!!! Now I use a few wizards and don't have this problem anymore, but it used to drive me crazy!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 One advantage of having a couple hundred watt seconds of slaved flash going off when Uncle Bob is shooting is that chances are very good that his shots will be several stops overexposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffc1 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 I think another advantage I have, well at least it seems so anyway, is that people tend to get out of my way. I have been told that at 6'2", and 220 lbs, I can sometimes look "intimidating" or "serious". I don't realize any of it, well at least not until I see an image of me standing next to someone? If that's the case, I'll take it as long as it keeps guest from standing in front of me while I am photographing ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lb- Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 if you bring a confrontational or adversarial attitude with you in regard to guests and their cameras then you will create that environment. some guests will be wonderful, some will be jerks. just like any other group of people. there is no need to engage them in a negative way, regardless of their behavior. I find that if I am relaxed, friendly and polite, 99% of the time guests will do whatever I ask of them. if there is any resistance, I simply say that I am there for the couple. I use their names. it's very effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffc1 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 I agree Lucas. I am that way too. It's just my "appearance", but I am always happy and smiling and joking around. We have a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tda Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Having recently started assisting a UK photographer as second camera / assistant in the Greater Manchester area, we seem to be running into the problem of pushy camera guests more and more, and its not just the guests, even a couple of videographers have started shooting over shoulders with high level DSLR's. In troublesome situations am often deployed to ensure the brides dress is well draped, the majority of the time spent adjusting the dress is purely to spoil any other shooters shots (I'm to ugly to be in photos at the best of times) Once the boss is in place, I step out of frame, then back in for some more "adjustments" once hes taken the required shots. While out of frame I ensure to remain a few feet off shoulder of the camera for the very same reason. In days before easy cloning the judicious placement of a camera bag achieved similar results. On the upside, the presence of several high end cameras is normally indicative of the wealth of the wedding party. If families are willing to spend several hundred pounds on camera gear, they tend to value to price of a decent image as well. On a similar note, think the easiest wedding we had in regards to uncle Bob's was on the day England played their first match in the World Cup, we got down to 8 guests not firmly planted in the sports bar at one point, funnily none of them were interested in taking photos as we walked the bridal party through the gardens for formals either. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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