Forums >
Photography Talk >
Weddings
Those of you on here that shoot weddings, how do you handle guests who are taking pictures with their phone while you are trying to capture your images? Apr 21 23 05:08 am Link That is part of the negotiations before the wedding. Require the guests be informed what your shooing comes first or no deal. Otherwise, good luck getting paid. A lawyer and bill collection service are also a good idea. Apr 21 23 07:43 am Link Lachance Photography wrote: Having shot weddings for 15 years back in the Dark Ages of film, this is not a new dilemma for the photographer who has already been contracted to shoot the wedding day. Apr 21 23 08:48 am Link Rick brings up all valid points from the film days, when the big deliverable was the wedding album and enlargements. No one seems to care about a printed wedding album anymore - they're happy with a landing page on the web and a "Digital album"...and if you can make it so everyone e can share the pics easily on Social media, so much the better. Enlargements, you might get a few, maybe...but very few compared to the olden days. So, simple, adjust your rates to cover the actual shoot, and the fact that you won't probably see any orders for wedding albums. If it's not enough for the stress and liability of doing weddings....don't do them. anymore or figure out how to make up the gap.I branched out to offer a Photo Booth for weddings that can automagically do the social media thing for guests, and deliver prints on the spot...it's turning into a money maker. Generally, I'll tolerate the guests with their phones up to a point, but if they are getting in the way or distracting from my rhythm, "Hey, taking the formal portraits will only take a few minutes and you can shoot them afterwards, OK?", has worked the only time it got to be a thing. You DON'T want to antagonize anybody as the wedding photographer - the shoot is not about you at all. It's supposed to be a happy event and a pro keeps it that way. Now, are my formals usually done with location lighting that is only triggered by my camera and without the lighting the images are going to mostly be silhouettes? Sometimes.... May 27 23 11:58 am Link Lachance Photography wrote: I manage the Media Department of one of the largest and most prestigious wedding chapels in Las Vegas. We average about 20 full weddings every single day. On an average Saturday in Spring, Summer, and Autumn, we average about 40-50 weddings per day. Every one with recorded video and livestreaming, at least one photographer shooting the ceremony, and most with a post-ceremony photo shoot ranging from 10-45 minutes. We often joke that we're really not a wedding chapel, we're really a photography company that hosts weddings. All our photos are processed within 24 hours, regardless of the length of the shoot and prints are delivered to the couple upon arrival for their photo viewing appointment the next day. May 31 23 10:43 pm Link Pre wedding agreement. I explain to bride and groom, the first time I see a flash other than mine, I expect you to handle it. The second time, I'll put my equipment away, you'll have no no photos, and I'll still get paid. Never disrespect their guests, but you have to be firm when It comes to doing your job. If you were a denist, you wouldn't have cousin, aunts and uncles In your office with strings and door knobs. Jun 01 23 08:39 am Link Rhea Monson wrote: This is GREAT!!! Jun 01 23 12:19 pm Link Lachance Photography wrote: I tell the wedding couple up front that I don't mind people shooting the ceremony from their seats and I don't mind them shooting candids. Jun 23 23 10:59 am Link You must impress on the couple, that others must not be allowed to interfere, with the process, as it delays you in getting done, with what YOU have to do, and that delays the reception. Tell them the guests should be asked to limit their snapshots to the reception only, so that everything can go as quickly and smoothly as possible. More sophisticated people will follow your advice............others may not. The amateur problem is as old as photography. Rick Sep 09 23 07:07 am Link I always welcomed the other shooters, never saw that as competition. Mostly their pictures made it to the bin, proof that I wasn't hired for the better equipment. Oct 01 23 02:26 pm Link Las Vegas has made an industry out of wedding services. I understand that because of cellphones that the businesses that do quick weddings will insist on taking the formal wedding pictures of the couple in another room (setting) where only those to be photographed can be in .. no cellphones or others with cameras allowed. Oct 05 23 11:26 am Link Lachance Photography wrote: I'll be blunt - Unless people are just standing in your way and obviously blocking your shots, as a professional wedding photographer, you should easily be able to negotiate such. It's common, fun, and not a big deal for people to take photos at a wedding, cell phones and otherwise. If you're good at your craft - it shouldn't be a blip on your radar. Jan 10 24 10:32 pm Link Patrick Walberg wrote: It's been common for decades, for the professional photographer to shoot the formal wedding photos in a separate room, or in the main sanctuary while the guests are otherwise occupied or on their way to the reception location. If what you're saying is true for Vegas, it seems that they're merely doing what's long been done. Jan 10 24 10:51 pm Link Teila K Day Photography wrote: Obviously you haven't shot many weddings recently. When I was managing a wedding chapel, we've had photographers tripped by guests standing in the aisles, guests literally walking out of their seats up to the front of the chapel to get iphone photos, people leaning in the aisles, people standing the entire ceremony from 4 rows back, people literally narrating a facebook live broadcast of a ceremony from the 2nd row, I can go on and on and on. It's sometimes not as simple as negotiating these issues, and it happend way more often than you might think. It's actually more the norm now than the exception. And nothing makes a great wedding photo more than a couple being pronounced and 17 of the 25 people in the audience all have cell phones in the air. Jan 13 24 12:48 am Link Shot By Adam wrote: Now consider when those 17 are wearing VR headsets strapped to their skulls. Jan 13 24 09:16 am Link Teila K Day Photography wrote: Before cellphones, I could shoot through out the church services without arms up in the air recording or shooting the wedding ceremony too. I'd have a few occasional additional film shooters at the church, but usually they were polite enough to let me do my job. Then after the wedding vows, I'd bring back the most important people, being the wedding party, the parents, etc .. while everyone else is told to head to the reception venue. I'd have the time and place to shoot the larger groups together first then letting them go as I worked my way down to just the husband and wife shots. It was always the best way to handle the timing as they would then be able to make their grand entrance at the reception. I'd have the couple give me a few minutes to set up, and let the DJ know that the newlyweds were about ready to enter. Things were pretty good back in those days. After the Bridezilla TV show .. I had brides making ridiculous demands of me that I just would not deal with .. even had one bride try to have some hoodlums break my legs, but I talked them out of it. I felt terrible for the groom. He was so beat down .. they call him patient .. I have another name for it that I wont say. Jan 13 24 08:14 pm Link fotopfw wrote: My problem with it, (as a photographer,) is all those arms, hands, phones and flashes blocking my own captures. It is hard to get the "beautiful shot" if someone is standing in between you and the bride, while they capture their own shot. OR, even more frustrating for me is, when the subjects is aiming at their friends phone and not looking at my lens as I sit there, ready... Jan 15 24 01:34 pm Link Lachance Photography wrote: Personally, as long as they don’t get in the way I don’t mind. I’ll even have some fun and take a picture of their picture they’re taking on their phone and include that in the edits. Mar 14 24 10:45 am Link |