guests taking photos during formals ?

[Phyllisva]

I worked a wedding yesterday and during the formals i had several of the guests taking photos behind me . I had asked the Bride BEFORE the wedding to ask them not to and the Mother asked them not to when it was happening . Well it seems that there was a young lady that continued to snap away -- I was busy trying to get done --( we only had 20 minutes before the next wedding was going to kick us out . ) So I did not notice her . At the recpetion I saw her showing all of the family her ( MY ) shots on her Nikon D70. And then told her that she would make CDs for the entire family.
so my question is .... since there is really nothing I could do short of wrestling her to the ground -- how do YOU handle this ?? I just lost a lot of reprint sales . People would rather take a mediocre photo for free than pay for it . (I did't want to come off as a complete jerk and ruin the day by stopping and demanding her to put away her camera . )

[m.b.]

Anymore it seems there is nothing you can do about this sort of thing. During the formals I remind everyone out loud to look at me and hopefully they do.

[Uncle Frank]

Originally Posted by Phyllisva

I worked a wedding yesterday and during the formals i had several of the guests taking photos behind me . I had asked the Bride BEFORE the wedding to ask them not to and the Mother asked them not to when it was happening . Well it seems that there was a young lady that continued to snap away -- I was busy trying to get done --( we only had 20 minutes before the next wedding was going to kick us out . ) So I did not notice her . At the recpetion I saw her showing all of the family her ( MY ) shots on her Nikon D70. And then told her that she would make CDs for the entire family.
so my question is .... since there is really nothing I could do short of wrestling her to the ground -- how do YOU handle this ?? I just lost a lot of reprint sales . People would rather take a mediocre photo for free than pay for it . (I did't want to come off as a complete jerk and ruin the day by stopping and demanding her to put away her camera . )

I schedule the formals away from the guests, and if one of them follows, I'll address it on the spot. I won't be shy about telling them that it is a private session, and explain that their presence is unwelcome as it would distract the principals and lengthen the amount of time it would take to complete the set of pictures. If you're the prime photographer, you have to be prepared and willing to take charge of situations like this.

[Phyllisva]

Originally Posted by Uncle Frank

I schedule the formals away from the guests, and if one of them follows, I'll address it on the spot. .

I could not ask them to leave the area because these were family members that the B&G wanted in the photos . There were about 25 people in the series of photos , so there were lots of folks in the church . I try to do all of the family first then nicely remind them that they can go to the reception now -- but I had a few straglers that insisted on taking my shots .

[Mr. Pickles]

Bring along a rookie and give them a flash unit. All they have to do is look for the offenders. When they see an offender getting ready to take a shot, and if they have a P&S camera, even better, have your rookie put the flash. Overexposure for sure.

Or tell the B&G several times before the event, and give them a print discount if they are successful in getting the "message" to their guests.

[PavelOlavich]

Insist that the formals be private session. Get this understood before hand with the B&G.

If a guest hangs on, ask him/her to leave. Gently at first.

Better if YOU be the bad guy then expecting the B&G to mitigate this. That way you free them up to just experience their day, and not have to worry about the darker side of administrating a shoot.

In my experience, I never had to be the "heavy"...a simple request for the guest to vacate has been enough, and I think the B&G appreciate this.

[Padre]

I read about an idea, I tried it, and it has worked for me on various occasions. When you get ready to shoot, stop and turn around to the snappers and tell them they are now official wedding paparazzi. Tell them the rules are that they shoot when you call on them. So you take your shots and then turn and say, "paparazzi get your photos". They are usually amused and gladly enter into the agreement.

[bill8131]

I had a formal session basically ruined by the grooms mother last year.
I now make it quite clear during consultation and the day of, NO photos during the formals, and if there are any rebels that pop in, I will take their camera's away from them if they shoot at the same time I do, family or not.
I'm polite about it, I explain that I've enough images ruined by side shooters and that it's not fair to the B&G because their paying me to get them quality as well as quantity images. and if I have to wait for them all the time we won't get what we have planned finished.
As well, there are to many people in the wedding group who will look at the side shooter instead of me, or at least my direction.

In the case of the grooms mother last year there was hardly a picture where the groom wasn't looking at his mother instead of my way.

I came to the conclusion afterwards, that, that session was, and or,got out of control, and it was my responsibilty to keep it under control and I failed to do so.
As the photographer your being paid to get the shots and control the shoot and if something or someone is disrupting the shoot you need to take care of the problem.
In this particular case we were shorted shooting time because the church decided they had to practice a play prior to the wedding, which eat up an hour of our session time, so I was trying to push everyone along and keep track of where the G's mother was.

She constantly seemed to shot at the same time I would, there was a reflective polished stone wall in the background, I had mt lights set so there would be no glare from the lights, but she didn't, what a nightmare.
After that I no longer have a hard time telling people NO. Better off to be a bad guy during the shoot,then face the B&G afterwards.

As for the gal with the give away program hopefully nobody was looking her way during the shots.

An interesting question is: Since it is your set-up, your posing,etc,etc. is she stealing your copyright?

Good luck with this one.

Bill

[deluco]

Originally Posted by Phyllisva

I worked a wedding yesterday and during the formals i had several of the guests taking photos behind me . I had asked the Bride BEFORE the wedding to ask them not to and the Mother asked them not to when it was happening . Well it seems that there was a young lady that continued to snap away -- I was busy trying to get done --( we only had 20 minutes before the next wedding was going to kick us out . ) So I did not notice her . At the recpetion I saw her showing all of the family her ( MY ) shots on her Nikon D70. And then told her that she would make CDs for the entire family.
so my question is .... since there is really nothing I could do short of wrestling her to the ground -- how do YOU handle this ?? I just lost a lot of reprint sales . People would rather take a mediocre photo for free than pay for it . (I did't want to come off as a complete jerk and ruin the day by stopping and demanding her to put away her camera . )

I suggest that you change your perspective. If you continue this strategy, you will look bad to the guests, no matter how polite you try to be. In addition it is more aggravation than it's worth.

Get your money up front. Full package price one week before the wedding date. That way you won't be too concerned about a couple of follow up print orders that you may lose. Believe me, if you charge what your work is worth, anyone who will accept a point and shoot image will not pay you for a 5x7, even if the image is ONLY available from you.

Here's what I do: I let the snappers shoot BEFORE I shoot. That embarrasses them just a bit because they are now the center of attention and I am waiting for them to shoot. It makes me look like a hero because the last photographer who photograhed their neice's wedding (that would be Bill above), told them that they could not photograph the groups that they were lining up.

If I have to worry about a couple of 5x7's then my pricing structure is all wrong. Try not to depend on follow up orders. Be as wonderful to everyone as you can be. The only people who will give you follow up orders are the parents of the bride or groom. Everyone else is of little consequence.

[Phyllisva]

I do get my payment in full up front .... but I also like to make MORE $$ after the fact and if she is posting MY set-ups for the whole family to have for free - then that cuts into my $$$ . . A good percentage of reprints are usually the formals with the familys all together . I would not care if it was a snap or two -- I even ask if anyone wants a shot or two .....I am mad because she took the ENTIRE formal session and is making CDs for everyone. The church was very large and I did not notice her behind me because I was focused on the task at hand . I am not the type to stop and demand that she put down her camera either . I guess it is just lesson learned . Oh the days when they would show up with the throw away Kodak snappers . I let them take photos all day long .

[joshranwest]

Oh the bain of my existence! I have it detailed in the contract, that I have the right to leave if this happens. Before I got frustrated enough to put it in my contract I had a family member with enough gall to ask me to shoot formals with HER CAMERA! WHAAAT! I didnt do it, I was extremely offended. Now, no more. If there is even a single click behind me when I am doing formals, I pack up (start to) and that usually sends the offender away rather quickly.

I get all funds a week before the wedding. Its explained to the BG. They are usually like "ok ok, thats fine, we hired you, you are the pro." But every single time there is at least one person who wants to take pictures with me. I tell them my flash will overexpose their pictures, no to waste their time. And I also mention the contract, and tell them the BG hired me to get professional results, AND if I have to sit around and wait for them to take MY shots, it eats into the alloted time we have for formals.

Gotta love it when this stuff cuts into your extra sales. <-Sarcasm!

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by deluco

If you continue this strategy, you will look bad to the guests, no matter how polite you try to be. In addition it is more aggravation than it's worth.

Get your money up front. Full package price one week before the wedding date.

I let the snappers shoot BEFORE I shoot. That embarrasses them just a bit because they are now the center of attention and I am waiting for them to shoot.

Dead on Jim.

Most guest will never see the finished album...only your behavior at the wedding.
Let 'em shoot first. It's amazing how long it takes for everyone to focus or get into position.
After 3 or 4 shots, the bride will take care of this little problem for you, without your ever saying a word.

[Battlepanda]

I wonder if this issue is why my cousin's photographer decided to take the bride and groom far away from the wedding party for the formals at the last minute after the wedding even though they had decided that there wasn't enough time previously. There were so many guests packing big cameras, including one bridesmaid (not me) who had experience shooting professionally, and her camera showed. "Do you ever do this for money?" he asked and at the time we thought he was just making conversation, but in retrospect he could have been thinking -- have to bet the B&G out of there.

It's too bad he did so though because it was a sunset wedding and he missed a lot of beautiful light by insisting they go away to a (frankly just OK) setting 20 minutes by car away. As a result, by the time he came back to get the group shots, the sky was almost dark.

[jfrancho]

I think some are missing the point - its the family and wedding party that are the offenders during the formals.

Originally Posted by Big Bad Mark McCall :)

Let 'em shoot first...After 3 or 4 shots, the bride will take care of this little problem for you, without your ever saying a word.

I figured this little tidbit out myself. The bride got so pissed, she made everyone wait in hall until they were ready to be posed.

[Unkl Buck]

Mark is dead right. Let the bride take care of it. If I see a host of "photographers" behind me, I will position everyone but not make final corrections. Let everyone get the pictures out of their system and then sit down. The bride will tell everyone to put their cameras away and let the "pro" do their job. It works.

However, I kinda like the approach Padre mentioned.

Originally Posted by Padre

I read about an idea, I tried it, and it has worked for me on various occasions. When you get ready to shoot, stop and turn around to the snappers and tell them they are now official wedding paparazzi. Tell them the rules are that they shoot when you call on them. So you take your shots and then turn and say, "paparazzi get your photos". They are usually amused and gladly enter into the agreement.