The anatomy of how a wedding shoot turns into a train wreck.

[Bercy]

Invite comes for a Wedding. Bride says she does not have a professinoal coming but would like me to take some photos. I go through the pro forma of permission and that whilst discrete would not just be shooting from the congregation -etc.

Cool.

Turn up with kit - there are about 4 "photographers" there - and a big industrial sized video photographer. I get wife and kits in side pew so I can move off as needed.

Take some test shots for white balance. All good. Wedding starts Get camera to take shot and take shot of brides' maid. Wife gently explains (kick in back of leg I think) that it's inappropriate "With that big lens", children squirming already. Have to settle them down. I look around - wondered if indeed bride had got a pro after all. I put my camera away, pointless and decided to just enjoy the wedding, thinking that capable photographers were on hand anyway,

After Wedding, kiss bride..."Did you take some good pictres..." Oh ****.

I looked at the other photographers a bit more closely - modest kit but that's not the problem. But doing the set shots whilst a couple of the young boys were holding kebab sticks and drink, and staring in any which direction and I thought it best to walk away.

Lessons:

1. If you go to an important shoot (amateur or not) you're there as a photographer and not an Uncle Barry with a camera.
2. Meet before hand and plan
3. Have authority
4. Have no other purpose for being there - you definitely can't be two things at once.

Any other lessons - I'll accept with due humility!

[fabian628]

I dont understand. Were you getting paid or what was going on?
Did the bride want a free job and also asked other people to take photos?

Your lessons look good, if the bride wants one photographer you should be able to tell other people to stop taking photos. Group shots with 1/2 the crowd looking a different way is bad :(

[kiwi]

I'm speechless :eek:

[ElectricImages]

Oooh dear. :( I have no advice that could possibly exceed your experience - only the greatest sympathy. :(

[James T]

:/ I'm confused, is the only lesson really that if you say you'll do something... do it?

[Bercy]

Thanks Fabian - the bride and groom are a wonderful couple, but did not secure a professional photographer. I pointedly asked if a professional was secured and if so I would not have bothered to bring the kit. The lesson is that if you are doing Weddings, Christenings or events, it needs to be made clear, even as an unpaid amateur doing it for the sheer joy, that there is mandated authority to be the photographer. If more than one photographer may be involved, they should meet and plan before hand, and I have done this with other photographers and mapped out who does what.

And Kiwi - I'm not knocking the bride and groom, but I was fuming and more kicking myself. Its all about homework. Thanks for the sympathy but I ultimately agree with James T as well - and for any one contemplating a an occasion like this, it has to be handled with considerable assertion from the beginning, and if it is fluffy - well you don't have to accept the brief.

Cheers - I'll get over it - besides the shots for a school formal were a real blast - you can have good days as well.

[fess67]

Been there done that and I have to say it is why I steer away from weddings 'as a friend'. Want me to be the photographer? Fine, I am a novice and you need to know that. Want to take my images and print them (poorly by the way) and not even say thanks m8!!!

Weddings... own it or spectate IMO

[kiwi]

Berni. I'm speechless as the way i read your story was that the bride asked YOU to take photos, you agreed, but then because of your family you didn't ?

I think I'd be very disappointed too if I were them ?

Sorry if I'm wrong but I think you've made a major error in judgement, not them :confused013

[Bercy]

You are quite correct Kiwi. This is the quintessential point - the reason people engage professionals is that they are disengaged from the family and friends and are there to do a job. In fairness to the other photographers they could move about and God willing got some good shots. I hope you don't mind me airing a sad sack story but should a novitiate happen to read this it might give them pause for thought as to how they approach similar occasions; not only weddings but even by measure more modest events like Christenings or anniversaries. Heck even landscape photography - the difference between "Alright get out of the car and take your shot" and having the afternoon, hiking to the best vantage and waiting for the light to be right.

So don't be sorry about being wrong - I know you're right - it was a grand error in judgement.

He but it gets better. I put my car in for a service, and they crashed it. Sure they fixed it, and on the first day I got back I got totally rear-ended - its a good week, but I can but laugh. :lol::lol::lol:

[Wayne]

My one and only wedding experience was similarly annoying. I was asked at last minute by friends to do the job, gratis, and they couldn't even be bothered to participate after I brought all the gear etc.

Never again.....

Hope your week improves, jst look both ways before you cross the road!!

[OzzieTraveller]

Oh geez Bercy

wedding, personal judgements - then the car ........................ surely it can't get any worse??
OKay mate - full marks for your 100% as to the experience and coming out with your inner feelings regarding the event
In years to come you'll look back on this event as 'a matter of experience' ... we all have photographic bad-hair-days, and we all learn from them

The beauty of AP is that we can share these experiences [like you are doing now] and others can hopefully, learn from those experiences

Regards, Phil

[reaction]

train wreck? you enjoyed the wedding right?

a B&G who don't pay for photos expect to get what they paid for, they had 4 backups so they can't be angry or anything

[crf529]

I'd tend to agree with reaction, if you had been contracted and/or paid to do the work then they could rightly be disappointed. But they have, as many seem to do, tried to save their money and use as many 'free' photographers as they could expecting results that would normally cost $4k +.

It is understandable they may be upset, but they should be with themselves for poor planning, not at you. If I ask a favour from a friend, and it's not executed as I would have wanted, that's my fault for not taking appropriate action on an important task to ensure the end result is exact. They can only try to help in the best way they think relevant.

[kiwi]

I dunno, I would be upset if I'd asked a friend to pick me up after the movies and they didn't, should I have ordered a cab

[crf529]

You might be upset, but if it was really important to you to get home, you might call ahead and pre book a cab?

There's most definitely 2 valid sides. IMHO friends are fantastic, but if something is vitally important and they don't for whatever reason pull through for you, you may be upset however the blame is squarely on you for lacking real organisation/preparation (especially on something like wedding photography where no money is involved). Just my opinion :) feel free to flame lol.

[kiwi]

I agree with that

If they valued photos they would have hired a pro.

[jim]

If they valued photos they would have hired a pro.

Well not quite. We didn't hire a pro for our wedding and mave a mass of amateurish photos taken by selves and friends. They are terribly important to us though.

Still, in relation to this thread the point might be fair.

[lay-z]

I think the real error here is a matter of miscommunication, and this is going by the information you have supplied thus far. Had the B&G informed you that you were exclusively selected to shoot the wedding then all lines of authority and seperation from guests would have been defined and all the other "photographers" were just guests who happened to be more interested in putting their photos on facebook.

But because you weren't informed of this, how were you to know they those other "photograhers" were approached in the same way you were? I'd say full blame can't be appointed to either party because of unclear details however, the difference is this is something you can take on board as experience for the future where as they won't have the opportunity.

I was in a similar position where a couple (friends) asked me to shoot their wedding where I reluctantly agreed (unpaid) - turns out they already hired a pro to do the shoot so I backed down and let the pro do their job - After the ceremoney etc, the bride asked me if I had taken any good shots and was stuck in a sought of awkward situation trying to explain what I did.

[kiwi]

Of course, we look through things with a bias, its much more important to us that theyhire a pro than to the couple I would suggest, especially if you are a pro :)

[Bercy]

Alan is quite right - this was destined to go haywire. Bride indicated on three separate occasions that she wanted me to take photos. But, I didn't confront her with the exact proceedings; and that is definitely my fault not her's. Communication with other photographers - I don't even know who they were and I should have if it was going to be a shared effort. The bride would have innocently thought that photography was just turning up with your camera. Most of all, communication with with family and friends - it is imperative that if they are coming along that they are aware you are going to be doing something else. Reality bites; "Sure take a few pictures but your not running off!" So communication, planning, double checking and execution of what you have planned and the authority to do so - ....next time.

[zollo]

exactly right bercy - this is why those who photo weddings have all the contracts, discussions, terms and conditions etc etc of who shoots and why, yet some people still downplay the importance of a photographer being the photographer. its not about the shooter being a "pro" but rather who is actually getting the important shots. you may have 19 uncle bobs snapping away at your wedding and not one shot of the bride and groom between them

[jjphoto]

People often don't hire pro's, and that's perfectly OK, but then they have no right to complain either.

JJ

[mechawombat]

I had a similar experience.

I was asked to take pics of my Mother in laws nuptials.

I have a prosumer camera and do not claim to have a grasp on photography etc Hoewever because I am the only one of the family with a DSLR I was thrown in to take Pics
I did my best and did manage a few great shots but I honestly was ill equipped to photograph in poor lighting.
I wanted to do a walkthrough as a minimum but they said just shoot like all those beautiful pics you have on your flickr account ( massive facepalm ) so I had no help from the "client" and no experience
I did protest that I wont be able to get a pro job on the pics but what I did give back was OK.
at the end of it I was having such a hard time trying to be something I am not and really did not like the experience.

on the flip side
I had my BEST friend photograph my wedding, he had a Nikon D80 with a 18-200 lens and was more advanced than me
however we walked through shots we wanted( a week in advanced and had a lappy with the "test shots"), asked if he was comfortable to do so and made sure he was accomodated in anyway he needed. he ended up bringing his brother ( a canon user :confused013 HEHEHEH I joke I joke )along because his brother needed to build his portfolio
His experience (well so he tells me) was that he had a GREAT time.
I gave him and his brother both $250 gift cards so that might of swayed him a bit :p

I think the points from the OP are so valid wish I had joined 6 months ago and this was posted up

[Bercy]

Give yourself credit Mechawombat - at least you did make plain the capabilities of your equipment and you as the operator. Low light shots and low kelvins make for difficult shots. Ergo why professionals spend a mozza on their gear. The last wedding I did was great, because I was the second photographer and we did a full walk through and mapped out exactly where we were going to be. It was pretty much choreographed, which lenses, where from. This was s great experience! The family where delighted with the shots. They made their own album by uploading the pictures they selected to one of the album creators, so it ended up cost not more than maybe a couple of hundred max. It is possible to get it right (we had Nikon and Canon).

[ricstew]

lack of communication.....by all parties i think :(

[crf529]

True. But that's why you pay a pro, they are expected to communicate and consequently be responsible for their performance. If you ask a friend in passing or 'just do this' then the onus is much more on the B&G and communicating to their friends how it should all occur. We aren't all mind readers, and if your not the official wedding photog or haven't even been identified as the 'head' photog, then it's not exactly appropriate to act like one.

[Jimbo]

Oops! I have great sympathy for you, because it's hard to say no when people you know and love ask you to do this for them. You feel like you're letting them down by saying no.

Simple rule: either go as the photographer, or go as a guest. if you're a guest, leave the camera at home. If you're the photographer, approach it like a pro (regardless of whether you're paid) - planning, prep, gear, knowing what shots you're taking and where in advance, etc etc. It was never going to work with wife + kids there.

[Bercy]

That sums it up perfectly Jimbo.

[smallfooties]

I had a similar experience too when i was asked to be photographer and also a guest for a friend's engagement party.
There were also a few other photographers there and it was quite confusing because there was no planning involved.
It was simply, bring my camera gear and just shoot anything i thought was worth shooting.
It was quite the frustrating experience for me in a sense. I had told my friend that i was a novice at doing portraits because i just simply don't do them. But, she was like i'm sure you'll be fine.
But after awhile i pulled her aside and said i wouldn't take anymore photos because there were a few other people doing it and we were just bumping into each other.
Apologies and all i just decided to be a guest...

[MarkChap]

Well I don't know, some people here must have, and be, very poor friends.

If I was asked to do something for a friend, and agreed to do what was asked, I would do it, end of story. Just as I would expect that a friend, who had agreed to do something for me, would do it.

Whether the couple should have hired a professional is of absolutely no consequence, they chose not to, they asked a friend to take some photos for them, and ON THE DAY that friend bailed and didn't deliver.
I really fail to see how anyone can put blame on the Bride and Groom.

Sorry if this seems harsh, but that is how I see it,

Society in general would be a much better place if people took responsibility for their own actions instead of trying to shift blame to someone else all the time

[Bercy]

Harsh but very fair. Lesson - moreso for Weddings - with Christenings etc not far behind. The photographer's onus is to make crystal clear that the client knows what they are asking for. Then if they don't get it for what ever reason - just decline. It appears is that many people see amateurs as indistinct from anyone else holding a camera. Which gets back to points made earlier on - communication - and for that matter education. In several cases, when I have been asked to do a Wedding and I have explained the process and how much can be involved, they have gone off and thought about it and - wait for it - gone and hired a professional. I do not feel at all chided - I think I've done them a big favour!