Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hi,

So...I have a wedding to go to this weekend. It's one of my best friends' wedding. I was wondering, would it be intrusive of me to go around taking pictures if they have two wedding photographers moving around? My friend says go take all the shots I want. I'm just concerned about "placement" and intrusion into the other photographers' "zones".

The reason I'm asking is because I want to learn how to take wedding shots.

I know being "timid" gets me no shots, but what's the limit, how far can I go?

Thanks,
Toolz

The first thing, that you want to do, is find out what limitations the church puts on photography. You also want to get a look at the place during a rehearsal, if possible.

One thing that really bothers pro wedding shooters, who I've spoken to, is if the 'friend' photographer follows them around and 'steals' their set-ups by shooting immediately after them, on staged shots.

Keep an eye on the guys who they're paying to shoot for them, and avoid being in-shot with your gear.

Having shot weddings for a few years; I would say, go nuts, just stay out of the way. The only thing I would advise against is shooting flash and out of your seat in a church. Priests are usually picky about where and when you can step up to the altar. Having a third photographer out of his seat might get the priest pissed off especially with another flash going off.

I've come to the realization that if it's not you, with your camera, it will just be some other relative with their POS point and shoot or their iPhone or something getting in the way. One time, I was about to take a shot of a cake cutting, and a relative put his cell phone camera in front of my face, because thats the best angle he could find. A good photographer will assert themselves and ensure that all eyes are on their camera, not the 10-30 point and shoots going off around him/her. Ideally, you should take photos in a photojournalistic style, as unintrusive as possible. You might not get those stock kissing, cake cutting, etc type shots; but you'll get some good, unique ones.

As for someone "stealing" my set-ups. I don't really care. Some bozo pointing his or her camera in the same general direction that I had pointed mine in doesen't mean they'll get the same photo.

Bottom line is, whether its a point and shoot or a dslr, there will always be other cameras there to distract the wedidng parties. The hired photographer should know how to take control of the situation and get the shots needed. This "friend photographer (you)" is not someone who is experienced in wedding photgraphy. As a wedding photographer who has been paid X amount of dollars to do your job, there is no reason to be afraid of someone "stealing" your shot. Unless that is, you're a crappy photographer, and some newb can take a better photo than your from framing the scene to taking the photo and working on it in post.

i think rob is referring to the fact that some twit is hovering over you like a bee that just won't go away.

Exactly right. Everywhere you turn, he's a half step behind you.

good advice above.

But maybe another thought. This is one of your best friend's wedding? Maybe just take a point and shoot and instead of worrying about shots, just enjoy the wedding and your friend's big day?!

Practice on a wedding of someone else you dont know as well so you wont actually miss out of being part of the actual event?

I love it when the groom and bride tells the guests not to bring any cameras with them and not to take any pictures with their cellphones.

Like I said, it's gonna happen. Give the wedding photographer space, but if it's not you hovering around them, it'll be someone else. It's one of the many annoyances of the job.

This is good advice. Enjoy the wedding.

If there is a second wedding after your buddies, stay behind and shoot that wedding. You can most likely walking around and get great pictures before they kick you out!

+1 to chopper

I lock my DSLR in the car trunk during the wedding, and take it out for the reception.

Why? The wedding is supposed to be about the bride and groom, and not time for me to play with the camera. They've paid someone to capture their wedding (who's already giving them a few hundred shots), and I don't want to be a distraction in any way. Moreover, I'd rather enjoy watching the ceremony than worrying about camera angles and wiping tears off my viewfinder.

I've also been asked to photograph three receptions by friends who paid for a wedding photog to cover the wedding but not the reception. I get quite annoyed when I have to assert my dominance over the P&S masses, and I wouldn't want to do the same to the photog that the bride/groom have chosen to capture their special day.

Great advice guys. Thanks! I think I will keep the lens on during the ceremony...or maybe steal one or two shots. I'm just too afraid I may get in the way during the most important part of their lives. I'll go nuts during the reception.

So the wedding was great!!! I was up at 6:30am and didn't get home 'til 12:30am last night. I finished off half a bottle of Crown Royal and a quarter bottle of the Johnny Walker. Yeah...I'm wrecked at work right now. hahaha!!

Anyway, I took your advice guys. I enjoyed the wedding for sure. However, that didn't stop me from stealing a few shots and tips from the hired photographers. I haven't done the post processing yet...yeah...no way I could do that after that much celebration but my previews look pretty cool. On some of them, I may have to do some post-processing to adjust maybe the hue or tone or even the lighting. I'll try to post some during the week.

It was definitely a great experience for me. I was learning how to bounce and tilt/swivel my new flash unit. Never used one before 'til yesterday. I was a little scared of doing what the other photographer was doing. She was like Spiderman (a hot sexy Asian female version of course) that was just everywhere taking shots. What I didn't see is the storyboard process though. Like how she took the shots with the bride/groom getting dressed, the rings/guestbook and all the other nifty little things that make a wedding album just stand out.

Toolz

Oh by the way, the parents apparently hired another photographer and a videographer. Total noobs. They were so intrusive during the ceremony...actually, the entire day!! The videographer must've been on crack or something 'coz he kept pointing his camera upwards. During the ceremony, he stepped on the bride's dress to get a clip of the rings being put on...this is in front of the audience!! During the kiss, he and his photographer was in front of the audience. We couldn't see the bloody kiss!!! The officiate had to ask them to do it again 'coz "there's so many cameras around" but the idiots got in the way again. OMG!!

Wanna know something else? The videographer has absolutely no spacial awareness whatsoever. He kept hitting the hired photographer (the good one) on the head with his boom mic and lens. This happened about 4 times during the ceremony and at least 5 other times during the reception during the cake cutting.

I'm just glad the pro, was able to compose herself and keep her smile on. It didn't look like she was annoyed but you can sort of tell deep down inside. Good grief I wanted to knock the videographer on the head. He also took out this massive floodlight attached to his cam and gave everyone the "deer headlight eyes" during the reception. The bride was so pissed after.

I had a chat with the professional and she was cool. She didn't want to say anything about the other two but she did thank me for being aware of my surroundings. I told her I'm just learning.

Hahaha, great story. Glad to hear the pro photographer kept her composure. Like is said, if it's not you, its somone else in the way, what a classic example hahaha.

Excellent suggestion!
One of my friends insured that I will not be running around with the camera on her wedding... by making me a host
(they had four other friends to run with the cameras instead)

lol ... that was actually fun to read!!

So anyway, I finally got around to the images. I've only uploaded a few select images. I suppose I can start here if I ever build a wedding portfolio.

Please take a look and tell me what you think. Remember, I was neither the primary or secondary photographer. Most of the shots are "stolen" set ups. I just happen to catch an open angle. Some are my set ups.

I took the rings and the invitations with a Rebel T2i...not mine. The rest are taken with my 10D.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wanderingw ... 513060586/

Got to be careful, when hiring so-called professional wedding photographers. A friend was having a quiet little ceremony in Canada, before heading back to New Zealand for the family ceremony, and hired a 'pro.' Said 'pro' was asked, up front, to take a few candid shots of the crowd, after the ceremony was done. The day of the wedding she showed up with one body and what looked like a Canon kit lens. she said, I don't do that", then left. Apparently the bride liked the three shots, that I snapped off, better than the majority of the 'pro's' stuff.

+1 That's why looking at an individual photographers portfolio is important. I wouldn't necessarily compare the gear to the quality of the images though. A friend of mine hired a photographer for their wedding, she showed up with a D700/24-70/SB-900 and proceeded to take some of the worst wedding photos I have ever seen.

I mentioned the gear primarily because she only had one body, lens, and flash, so what was she going to do in the event of a failure? Ask them to reschedule the wedding?

Terrible!! Still...I think nothing beats the videographer and the 2nd photographer that was hired in this wedding. Terribad group!!

Unfortunately I have very little respect for most videographers...The level of UNprofessionalism seems to be getting higher and higher every year. I've worked with a number of "professional" videographers who would bring new equipment and practice on the day of the wedding!!

To answer the OP question, Yes I would mind any camera work around me.
I am there to do a job and I don't have time to follow the steps of all the Uncle Bobs who think they know best. They end up being in a lot of shots or ruin my photographs with their flashes.

A few weeks ago I had a "Bob" shooting over my shoulder at 5 frames per second(with flash). That's pretty crazy! Not only it was disturbing me, a few of my shots were ruined as my flash was set at 1/128 power...

^ I agree with the article above. I was at my friend's wedding on the weekend, and left the camera at home and my cell phone switched off in my pocket. I was there for them, to enjoy their ceremony (since it only happens once!) and to have a good time. Sadly, I had to watch half of the ceremony on the LCD screens of the people in front of me because they were too busy trying to snap multiple shots of the b&g, and weren't noticing that they were blocking our view. It was driving me crazy!

There were two hired photographers who were great; they circled around the venue, stayed out of everyone's way, and were really only noticeable when getting the important events. The videographer was another story though: he had his camera two feet from the bride's face the entire time, and with a spotlight turned on that could've outshone the sun!

But anyway... what I don't understand is this desperation for guests at events to get their own pictures and immediately upload them to Facebook. People clamor for their poorly-lit, badly-composed shots instead of just enjoying the event. They spend more time looking at their LCD screens than the focus of the day, and it seems pointless to me.

/rant

Funny what is being mentioned about videographers. Don't the bride and groom find them intrusive? When I got married we had hired a photographer as that's a far less intrusive art. We had absolutely no desire to hire a videographer and deal with the constant intrusive lights, etc, etc.

Hahaha this happens all the time. I was going through some World Youth Day photos the other day and came across this one, I counted only about half a dozen people in this frame who arent staring at their camera's. Weird how this is the norm now, but hard to judge, being a photographer

I also agree. Before digital cameras, ill bet more people enjoyed weddings. They would snap a pic on their film 35mm and not be able to see it on the back of the camera or upload it to facebook that night. They had only 24 or 36 shots so didn't go crazy taking snaps of everything multiple times and enjoyed the event!

lol...have done that in the past too. Because I was a close friend, the couple didn't want me working at their wedding, but enjoying it instead. But as a shooter, you just can't help it. So, I shot. Good thing too as it turned out the couple liked my shots better than the hired gun. I probably had the advantage though, cause everyone there knew me and were used to me shooting them, so I got more natural/relevant pics.

The other perspective you can take on something like this is that the couple didn't select the right photographer for their wedding. As a friend, you likely knew what the couple liked. It's likely that the couple either didn't communicate what they wanted or they hired a photographer with a style that's not quite what they liked.

Only 12 to 15?