Table Shots

[steve_levine]

I can't claim to enjoy table shots. But I can't say that I "hate" these either, they are simply part of my job. They take me 15 minutes, and the families want them. So who am I to even have an opinion of them?

[steve_gibbs1]

Nadine - yes, I was joking.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

So who am I to even have an opinion of them?

 

Steve, I tend to agree with you on this. I think too much of the time people offer up opinions as if it were information. For example, in my post I talked about including the B/G in the table shot, in the case of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah it can be the kid and the parents, in a Catillion (sweet 15 B-day party) it would be the birthday girl....whatever. It took me a couple of years of doing it the hard way before I discovered that by including the "guest of honor", so to speak, that it made the entire experience more enjoyable, cut the time it took to complete the job by 20-40% and that there was a side-benefit, wherein it would more than double the reprint sales of these images....but none of that is opinion, just real-world pro experience.

[discpad]

Lisa, I just emailed you a page you can upload that fixes your website by adding your phone number: It replaces the contact.html page.

 

I'll give you a buzz, since I'm just down the road in Cherry Hill; and in fact my pal lives in Jersey City, just on the other side of the Holland Tunnel in Newport.

[picturesque]

David--I don't think that's what Steve meant. I don't hate table shots either. It's an expected part of bar/bat mitzvahs in my area so I do them. I do think one's market has some influence on what works and what doesn't. Lisa is apparently on the East Coast, so Dan's and Bruce's input may be closer to her coming shooting experience than mine since I'm on the West Coast. Maybe the banquet halls do have horrible lighting, as Dan said. Most of my venues have pretty nice lighting, usually with nice, light ceilings to bounce off. Maybe she can shoot all the table shots as everyone is seated, as Bruce said. The schedules where I am don't usually allow for this.

 

I don't think opinion is different than information in these forums. There is no one true information, whether born from pro experience or not. So while your method of bringing the "star" to each table works well for you--your market, your style, it may not work well all the time in all markets. I know I wouldn't succeed with that in my market, even if I tried, for the reasons I stated above, plus the fact that I would start to get a reputation for being the demanding and annoying photographer. I've had several bar/bat mitzvah clients complain to me about their previous photographers that way, although your method is the expected method at some Filipino and Chinese weddings around here--my point being that there is more than one way to do most everything, and all of them are right if it fits the situation.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

I don't think opinion is different than information in these forums.

 

That's exactly my point. I don't buy that there is a significant difference in markets either. If you've got a different way of doing something that's fine by me, I don't care. I'd appreciate it if you would simply state your opinion without referencing mine in a negative manner. Suggesting that I'm an intrusive photographer as you just did really rubs me the wrong way. If you've got some table shot images, I'd be happy to take a look, in fact, I don't remember ever seeing any of your images.

[picturesque]

David, I never said you were an intrusive photographer. I said my clients have made complaints in the past about photographers that were "demanding and annoying". That is an exact quote, made by a client who did not like the fact that the photographer kept pulling her bat mitzvah kid away from the games and dancing to do photos. This is also not a contest. I don't post my clients' photos, especially on a public forum, unless I have their specific permission. Also especially if they are kids. And I don't have a website yet--that is coming. OK--you don't buy that there are significant differences in markets. I disagree. And as for the opinion vs. information matter, I believe I explained myself pretty clearly. How about this--all of my posts on this thread are my opinion only. Is that good enough for you?

[fotografz]

I don't know about other markets, but in this one table shots at weddings are a rare item and

almost never requested. That may be a self-selecting aspect of being hired for a certain style.

If we do them it's because my shooting partner did them, not me. I can't remember ever

shooting any.

 

However I don't do Bar or Bat-Mitzvahs either, since that's pretty locked up by some excellent

Jewish Photographers that I'd hate to have to compete with.

[picturesque]

I also meant to say that the Hail Mary shot is almost a necessity at bar and bat mitzvah receptions (at least around here) because these kids all dance in tight knots (girls with girls and boys with boys) and it is impossible to get any good shots otherwise.

 

And, bring the ladder to the pre-service photo session as well because many reading tables are built high, making any frontal shot when the bar or bat mitzvah is reading from the torah impossible unless you are standing on a ladder.