What would a wedding tog do?

we try our very best to let everyone get the shots of their friend/relative, the bride and groom.
but i am big and ugly enough to have a polite word if they get too persistant.
usualy along the lines of
"were being payed a lot of money to get the bride and groom, the shots they want.
could you give me a little room please."
and its been said already, a quick word with the bride/groom will get the pushy ones shifted quickly too.
theres often 20+people stood behind you at a wedding.
all part of the fun.
and as second tog, i love to get a few shots of evryone else shooting the couple.
 
oh, and i agree about poaching the shot from auntie ethel like dave does.
they set up a little group of folks to capture with the pointn shoot.
i sidle up before they wander and say, "right, i better get that shot too hadnt i"
they always smile for the bloke with the flashy camera too.
 
Lomond Lad said:
Technically correct but so far from reality.


Are you saying that in bridal prep - and I take it you mean at the parents or brides home - that she is going to restrict photography to the Pro Tog and stop Aunty Betty from taking a few snaps because she's in private property? :lol:

Same applies at Church or wherever a wedding is taking place.....photography by the guests are taken as the norm I would suspect.
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No, no, no!

Yes it IS technically correct so forgive me for being a pedant! :)

I'm all for having family take pics on the day. I've just got back from today's wedding and I've had a fab time with both families. I've had mum taking pics at bridal prep despite having to wipe a tear first, I've had uncles with cameras and I had the press corps nearly over run me at the cake cutting. None of that mattered a jot because I still got the pics I wanted. Only once did I have to jovially shout at Mum for looking the wrong way in a group pic. But, at least I spotted it straight away and made light of it, the second shot was on the money.

I also had to coordinate with the togs from a second wedding so we could all get the shots and not intrude on each other, again, a warm hello, let's see what we can do to fix it and off we go. Both parties get what they need, everyone's a winner. Especially both our clients. :D

Good grace goes a long way :)
 
People standing behind me and around me and taking the same shots never bothered me in the least as long as they didn't get in my away or start shouting for the couple's attention. A lot of wedding photographers seem to have a reputation for being surly and rubbing people up the wrogn way.I always liked to keep it light and pleasant. I did suggest that they's be better off taking different shots which would be something different to give the couple, but it was usually a waste of time.

Guests with high end kit were seldom any problem, often introducing themslves and assuring me they'd keep out of my way, which they invariably did.

I can only really recall a couple of incidents that were any real problem.

Once I came out of the church with the wedding party to find the bride had disappeared! Looking round I saw her about 50 yards away being posed and directed by a guy with a load of Nikon kit. It turned out he was a press tog and a friend of the couple, but he said he wouldn't do a wedding if his life depended on it. I assured him that his life depended more on keeping out of my way for the rest of the day, which to be fair he did.

The other one was a guy with a video camera - a top end one at that - offering a pro service, he was constantly in my way and stepping in front of me - even when I was setting up the group shots. I asked him several times as politely as I could manage, to keep out of my way, but in the end we had quite a flare up, and the groom intervened and told him pack it in or b****r off! The same guy eventually presented the couple with 3 hours of totally unedited video footage, so bad, I don't think they sat through it all!
 
You're charging them £500+ for the finished work
You've taken a deposit
They are depending on you for best results
The guests are THIER guests
It's not your place to belittle, cudgeon or upset guests, it's the job of the Bridegroom or the Brides father .... or whoever else is settling the bill.

You are being paid to take photographs and present them as a finished work that compliments thier memory of the day, you have no right at all to speak to anyone in anything other than a polite manner - unless they start fiddling with your equipment and then you must kill them.
 
I was at a friends wedding yesterday and was very impressed by the pro tog they had.

Throughout hes was polite and friendly with everyone, including the large number with cameras.

One thing that stood out was the way he handled the group photos at the church.

Unlike previous weddings I have attended, he did the big group photo (with everyone in it) first, then the shot with all the women in, then all the men, then moved on to gradualy smaller groups.

Asside from the 'everyone' shot, in addition to organising the guests for the photo, he also marshalled the guests with cameras; and with several other photograhers to either side of him he directd the guests to look first one way, then the other, so each could get a photo withe people looking their way.

The 'side effect' of this is that everyone did what he asked, and when it was time for him to shoot there were no distractions.

Also, once the big guest shots were done (and he was to concentrate on the smaller formal pics) guests were directed to head off to the reception venus for a drink, again keepign distractions for him to a minimum.

Later, a the reception, in the spare half hour before the wedding breakfast, he was busy putting together a slideshow on a laptop of some of his shots so far that day - which clearly showed his photography was as good as his people skills:)

I'm guessing my frineds will be very pleased with the results when he has the final set done - the only problem is likely to be too many good shots to pick from:thumbs:
 
feeb said:
what is this issue with students! If you had of heard your friend speaking about hiring someone who had spent the last year self studying hard to achieve good results in photography, you wouldnt bat an eyelid but somehow us lot that have gone to get a degree in our field are shunned i think its ridiculous

what breeds this contempt for people who have given their life to photography?
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people fresh from uni/still there are useless wastes of space in all fields

It's exactly the same for engineering ;)

takes a bit of experience and work to ground people after
 
david1701 said:
people fresh from uni/still there are useless wastes of space in all fields
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Perhaps a tad strong but I know what you mean. Degrees prove a level of education has been achieved but very often lack experience. As a countryside warden we have volunteers with degrees in Environmental Conservation that really have to start with the basics when it comes to practical habitat management.
 
OneTen said:
Perhaps a tad strong but I know what you mean. Degrees prove a level of education has been achieved but very often lack experience. As a countryside warden we have volunteers with degrees in Environmental Conservation that really have to start with the basics when it comes to practical habitat management.
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and it's the same in the business I'm in... real world experience counts for more than qualifications. I personally think it's down to the individual but generalizations don't work like that!
 
Bit off topic, but i live right opposite a church and had to get the photographer to move his gear so i could get my car out of the drive
I do try and let them get on as a rule, but needed to be somewhere.

Had another one nearly in my front garden the other week pressed right in the hedge and caught one cheeky b****r opening the gate to stand on my path (he was evicted, might have been ok if he had asked)

Most are fine, but one or two are very thoughtless and also block the narrow pavement with their tripods
Suppose its like all things and the minority give the vast majority a bad name
 
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