Has anyone ever had this happen?

[mbyrne]

I was shooting a wedding this past Saturday at a church and about 10 minutes after the ceremony started I

notice a guy towards the back shooting with pro level equipment. He caught my eye because he was

sitting one row behind where my bags were, a friend of mine had his stuff ripped of during a reception

recently so now I'm paranoid about it. When I noticed him I told my assistant to stay near the bags, just in

case. I then walked back to the entrance and talked to the church coordinator to see if she knew if he was

with the couple as a guest and she said that she didn't think so. Right about then, he got in the middle of

the aisle and started firing away. The coordinator went up to him and asked if he was hired, he replied

with "it's ok, I'm a pro". She said thats not what I asked you and he said "no" he wasn't hired. So basically

this guy came in off the street and started shooting and nobody knew him.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them? I'm thinking he might have been doing it for his portfolio. The

whole thing seems really odd to me.

[wedding-photography-denver]

I have seen this at a few weddings. More so recently.

 

At first I thought it was a friend that they said could do it to learn. More and more (if you ask your B&G after the day it would be better) I am learning these people are not related to the couple. I just think there are people who think they will build a portfolio this way.

 

Take their pic. next time and make it obvious you are doing so, then post things on you blog under the 'rouge shooters abound' segment ;-).

[michelle a.]

Wow.... bizarre. I can only imagine what a couple would think or what could happen to said unknown photographer, if they found their wedding pics online at a place other than the hired photographers website!

[Matt Laur]

I think your instinct to keep an eye on your gear was a VERY good one.

[BrianS1664879711]

It is really odd, and we had a similar problem at our church. During infant baptisms we had a guy (a pro) come in uninvited. He would shoot and then solicit the families. He got away with it for a couple of times, then he started to lie and would say the families hired him. The only way to get rid of him was to ban him and threaten to get a restraining order. The shame of it is that he provided very low cost photographic products to families who often had little money to spend on photography.

[mreul]

that seems so unethical to me and creepy...

[john_h.1]

Would these brazen wedding crashers have done this in the film only days where some expense of consuming, developing and printing would have been incurred? Not blaming digital for anything here, just wondering if it happened then.

 

Another question comes to mind too. Is there anyone who actuallly paid for pictures shot by a "pro" who showed up unannounced and uninvited?

[jenacolson]

We had this happen at our session between the ceremony and the reception when the couple wanted to go into town to take pictures in an urban area. We were shooting on a side street out of the eye of the public and some guy walked up and started shooting alongside me and the videographer with his pro equipment. Just shooting our poses like it was no big deal! We just made sure that we were getting the shots we needed, didn't step out of the way for him, and worked quickly. At the time, it didn't seem worth getting "into it" with him in front of the couple since we were only there for about 3 minutes. But it sure was weird...

 

In retrospect, I would have kindly asked him to respect the privacy of the couple and respect our contract by leaving us alone.

[amy cupp]

When I called a country club a few weeks ago to see when a good time to come by and check out the place before the wedding, they invited me to come by that Sat during a wedding and take some test shots. She said if anyone asked what I was doing there then to tell them that she said it was okay. I thought "yeah right" I would not want some uninvited person taking pics at my event. I was shocked that she would even invite me to do that. I did not even think of going like they suggested.

[brooke_moore]

I had a mystery photographer at a wedding last year. The bride was totally freaked about it and we finally had to have the priest escort her out of the church. During the ceremony I was too busy to notice here but she was less than subtle as we started the family and formal shots.

 

It is really annoying because it throws off the rythm of working and also does make some people very uneasy. There are a lot of magazine articles and net postings that suggest that the starting photog just show up at events and shoot to get practice. Seems like a mild suggestion but really does not take into acount that for most couples this is a private event not a public event like a parade.

 

I love the suggestion of photographing the offender and making the image known.

 

Brooke

[BrianS1664879711]

"Is there anyone who actuallly paid for pictures shot by a "pro" who showed up unannounced and uninvited?"

 

In the situation I mentioned earlier, the answer is YES. The photographer seemed to do well selling photo buttons more than anything else. He had a button machine in his car and would produce them on-the-spot. I can't recall how much he sold them for, but he always seemed to sell a few. I don't recall if he had any capability for generating prints or not.

[ned1]

Yeah, although the photographer claimed to be a stringer with the local paper. She's approached the bride's mother as things were about to start and gotten her blessing. Then she tripped me as I was backing up shooting the processional. Slime.

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

There was an event i shot where there were photographers and videographers with pro equipment waiting in the foyer. I think they were just trying their luck in case the official photographer didn't turn up or something. I saw the red lines on their Canon lenses and they sure didn't dress like guests. So the official videographer i was working with actually went up to them and asked what they were doing there. If i remember correctly, the rogue videographer actually admitted he was the official one. Obviously he didn't know my friend was the hired videographer. HAHAHA.

[emeryfoto]

This is the WEIRDEST and most unethical thing I've heard of in a long time! My husband

almost died laughing at the sheer rude audacity of it! We can't stop talking about it. Next

time I shoot a wedding, if see one of these people, I am taking their photo and circulating

it, as well as dressing them down in public. My husband suggests pepper spray.

 

Have people no shame?

 

On a side note, I have a clause in my wedding contract excluding people from taking shots

while I'm shooting my formal posed pictures of the family - however, it doesn't help

much, as the families are the worst offenders! I was 8 mos. pregnant at the last wedding I

did, and this one aunt kept hovering over my shoulder, trying to take the EXACT same

shot I'd set up, with her crappy point & shoot. My assistant kept shooing her away, but

she just ignored her - and actually tripped me when I was coming down off the stepladder

I was using. I almost fell - and she didn't care, as long as she got her stolen images!