Chinese Wedding Photography in London

psybear

psybear

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I read about this phenomenon recently on the BBC news site but I'm in London with work currently and saw it for myself. One couple in pouring rain on Westminster Bridge and then another spotted a short distance away near the Eye. The costs for some of them must be huge.

If I was based in London I think it would be an interesting project to take pictures of the couples getting their pictures taken!



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psybear said:
... I think it would be an interesting project to take pictures of the couples getting their pictures taken!
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I don't know if it would be interesting, but I do know that if nothing else, it would certainly reveal a distinct lack of consideration for both the couples and their photographers.
 
Wise up. You ever hear of street photography? Interesting concept which you should maybe consider reading about. And if you're going to dress up like these couple and pose at historic London landmarks then you're going to get photographed by people other than your appointed photographer!
 
Until about a year ago I worked just round the corner from Tower Bridge and watched the phenomenon grow first hand as they usually parked outside our office and went up onto the river front of Butlers Wharf to take their photos with the bridge in the background.

From around 2004, we saw the same set of guys turn up once or twice a week all year round with a different wedding party. Usually they arrived in a large limo with the bridal couple, plus a few other guests. I got the impression they were touring round various locations in London and this was just one stop on their standard package.

Over the years, they progressed from a Canon 300D with kit lens (!) IIRC up to a 5D, L lenses and then 1D series body, then added someone else to the team, taking video.
 
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Seen a few wedding shoots around Westminster Bridge. Mainly Asian, EE and Southern Europe. BG as Houses of Parliament, London Eye or just the bridge.
 
Interesting.
I once spent some time in a very turisty place in China, everywhere I went there was wedding photography going on. It was all pretty low end stuff and very unimpressive. And every one of the Brides was wearing white, not a traditional red wedding dress to be seen anywhere...

And I also attended a wedding as a guest, again the Bride wore traditional western white, it seems that in China at least, Chinese weddings are out of fashion.
 
I saw this recently in a touristy area full of people with cameras. Many passers-by took pictures of the couple who were busy being directed by their photographer. I saw them later in another tourist hot spot, doing more shots, oblivious of what was going on around them. Some tourists even squatted briefly next to their photographer to get shots. In that situation it was not intruding.
 
I saw Chinese couples with their photography teams (the norm was two photographers plus two assistants) queuing up at the best vantage points round the Eiffel Tower in Paris this summer. Mainly very early in the morning before the normal tourist crowds arrived.
 
It's not just orientals doing this though.
I've seen western wedding couples being photographed in many London locations, including some pretty random ones (outside the US Embassy, inside a phone box in St Katherine's Dock....)
I also think that if they're not prepared to have their photo taken by "Joe Public", then they would do better to take themselves somewhere a tad more private :-)
 
viv1969 said:
I also think that if they're not prepared to have their photo taken by "Joe Public", then they would do better to take themselves somewhere a tad more private :)
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Speaking as an ex-wedding snapper who's been out and about on the streets of London town with perhaps more than his fair share of couples over the years, I'd say that you make a good point. Problem is, though, Ruth, that there's a big difference between tourists snapping away, and an enthusiast trying to do his own photo shoot.

Nobody cares a flying one about The Publics (and in fact I've incorporated them in a picture or two no end of times), but you seriously would not believe what total arseholes some Enthusiastic Photographers can be once they get the idea into their heads.
 
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Serendipitous Sid said:
Speaking as an ex-wedding snapper who's been out and about on the streets of London town with perhaps more than his fair share of couples over the years, I'd say that you make a good point. Problem is, though, Ruth, that there's a big difference between tourists or whoever taking pictures of the goings-on on their phones, and an enthusiastic snapper trying to do his own photo shoot.

Nobody cares a flying one about The Publics (and in fact I've incorporated them in picture or two no end of times), but you seriously would not believe what total arseholes some Enthusiastic Photographers can be once they get the idea into their heads.
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Fair do's, I can totally see how that can be a PITA, but given the public arena, it's an inherent "risk" with no real recourse.
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
but you seriously would not believe what total arseholes some Enthusiastic Photographers can be once they get the idea into their heads.
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mmm Pembroke lodge is particularly good for that. I have had other photographers turn up & pose members of the bridal party
 
boyfalldown said:
mmm Pembroke lodge is particularly good for that. I have had other photographers turn up & pose members of the bridal party
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Gosh, I know a lot of folk like Pembroke Lodge, but I hated the place ...
 
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