We all remember this cute kid trying to get his point across to his mom “Linda” right?
Well today I am going to borrow his words… In the past, photographers had to contend with the “Uncle Bob’s” of the world.
As a photographer
I have had my fair share of run ins with guests at weddings and I just try to keep them out of my shots. It definitely makes my life as the hired professional photographer more difficult. It has gotten so bad that I have actually had guests with iPads block my framing to get their own “great pic”. To treasure forever.
I have even seen someone step into the aisle to get an iPhone photo of the first kiss and then walk to the front of the church to get closer, which completely prevents both photographers from getting a photo of the first kiss.
How wedding professionals cope
Other wedding professionals like DJs, musicians, event planners and even officiants have started making announcements before the ceremony begins asking people to please not photograph the event, and those announcements usually explicitly say that there are paid professional photographers that are there to capture the moment.
Still guests persist. Usually if the guest is respectful and photographs out of the way I don’t worry about it too much. It’s certainly rude but I am not going to make a fuss over bad manners – usually.
The wedding is an important occasion – not a photo shoot
How many of us remember this incident with a wedding photographer?
My own personal promise as a professional photographer
I will NEVER be this photographer. I always ask the officiant before the wedding what rules they have and tell them where I will be photographing from (usually the sides and back of the guests ( I do not want to intrude on the experience for any guests). The officiant and I work together to make this a beautiful photo. Usually the officiant will step back to avoid having extra heads in the frame.
Recently I had another Uncle Bob situation – This time I am calling the person “Linda”. The DJ clearly made the wishes of the Bride and Groom known: they noted that the photographers were paid to be there, and that they asked that all guests be present and not impede the photographer.
Together the officiant and photographers and officiant came up with a plan for the all important first kiss photos. The officiant would carefully step out of the way for the photos.
Regrettably every frame of the first kiss looks like this
I was poised and waiting, I started to photograph as you “Linda” entered the frame – hoping in vain that once you were satisfied you would quickly retreat. To my dismay you stood there clicking away and once you felt content you lowered your camera to gaze at the couple.
Professional Photographers are not the same as a person with a good camera
Photographers invest in large, expensive and heavy lenses so we can capture photos like these without intruding on the guests experience at the wedding. We carry these cumbersome lenses so we can capture the very best images we can for our clients. At the end of a wedding our bodies ache from the weight but the reality is this is our job. That is why we are there. We work to document the day for our clients knowing that the day is so busy and full that they cannot see or remember all that is happening. Sure we pose some portraits too, but our primary role is that of a historian.
You, “Linda,” are actually making our job much harder. Why? Surely you got the best photo of this kiss. No doubt you bragged about getting a better photo than the photographers who were paid to be there, but at what cost? You cost your friends a first-kiss photo in their wedding album. Your desire to be the best upstaged your friend’s photographic memories. I simply cannot grasp why you would do this.
