It's Gonna Be a Tough Day

[Maureen Souza]

I traveled 325 miles yesterday to do a wedding today. The rehersal was terrible. Most of the bridesmaids didn't even show up (5 out of 6). The priest has been very firm about no flash, no cameras near the front of the church, no tripods until after the whole thing is over.......on & on. Then the bride tells me she hates having her picture taken and wants only a few shots. Everytime the camera pointed in her direction her eyes averted me and she clenched her jaw.

So...wish me luck...my day starts in 2 hours, wedding at 2:00, resception at 5:00 with 2 hours allotted for photos at the church and an outside location. I think this is going to be a toughie............:evil:

[Grace]

Oh my gosh Maureen- That sounds sooooooo awful. Good luck- at least you get two hours to work with them- it may be torture or you can toss 'em a flask and give it a few minutes to work! LOL
seriously- good luck! I'll be thinkin about you!

[Maureen Souza]

I will the one with the flask, Kathy..........and a spare jug in the car;)

[sblais]

Good luck to you! I'm also shooting in 2 hours too, but with a sprained wrist. If it hurts or if things don't go as smooth as I'd like, I'll think about you: At least, my bride is cooperative (the groom may be a bit less though), at least my wedding is outside and I can use fill flash, etc ;) You can think about me too ;) We'll exchange positive waves :D

[Woolburr]

Sounds like you could use Alyssa to be a Designated Driver by the time this gets done...You did bring the Model T...Right?

[LeesaB]

Yikes....surprise shots of the bride....that is the only way you are going to get her normal...I did a wedding once that the father of the bride was like that. Never a bride. I wish you luck...wish you all the best today,

I am shooting today at 1:30 getting ready 4:30 wedding...I hope I get 1 hour to take shots..but I kinda doubt it...we will see...she handed me a list of 24 sets of people she wants to get pictures of, not including the bridal party. Gonna be a tough one.

See you all on the other side of today

Just click away and PP later.. :-)

[Maureen Souza]

Good luck to you! I'm also shooting in 2 hours too, but with a sprained wrist. If it hurts or if things don't go as smooth as I'd like, I'll think about you: At least, my bride is cooperative (the groom may be a bit less though), at least my wedding is outside and I can use fill flash, etc ;) You can think about me too ;) We'll exchange positive waves :D
Luckily the groom is a real sweetie and very supportive. When I told him I wanted to ride from the church to the photo site with them, he said "That would be awesome!"
Yikes....surprise shots of the bride....that is the only way you are going to get her normal...I did a wedding once that the father of the bride was like that. Never a bride. I wish you luck...wish you all the best today,

I am shooting today at 1:30 getting ready 4:30 wedding...I hope I get 1 hour to take shots..but I kinda doubt it...we will see...she handed me a list of 24 sets of people she wants to get pictures of, not including the bridal party. Gonna be a tough one.

See you all on the other side of today

Just click away and PP later.. :-)
Good luck today everyone.....and try to have a little fun, too.

[JimAskew]

Maureen,

Hang in there...things have a way of working out.

I did a wedding last August for a friend and the bride's Mom thought I was a duffer and went out of her way to interfere with me :( After I delivered the photos she apoligized a dozen times or more...I managed to do a decent job in spite of the distractions.

[dpurslow]

Hey,

Welcome to our world - here in the UK thats the norm not the exception.

Most churches will not allow you to move around and photograph, NO flash inside at all !

and civil services are even worse ! - Several times they wont even let the photographer in !

you guys on the other side of the pond are really spoilt

[Maureen Souza]

Well I used my 85/1.2 and 70-200 in the church and everything else today. I shot almost 1600 photos in 14 hours so I am pooped and off to bed.

[Justleesa]

Then the bride tells me she hates having her picture taken and wants only a few shots. Everytime the camera pointed in her direction her eyes averted me and she clenched her jaw.

Makes you wonder why she want pictures....hope it went well.

[Miyagi-san]

Nice job :) It's threads like this that really make me think long and hard.....do I really want to be a wedding photog when I get out of the military?!? :D

[dgcorner]

Maureen, glad you survived it. Somehow, flying all that way to an unreceptive bride sucks... after all, a wedding is all about her...

[Maureen Souza]

Well I am home and downloading over 2000 shots. (That will teach her:))

It was definitely not a sedate, elegant affair (although she did wear a $5000 Vera Wang dress). It was a rowdy Irish Catholic meets Hispanic Catholic hoop-de-la. Actually it was very fun and much more relaxed than the formal type.

[mediamst]

How did it go as far as her posing for shots? I shot a wedding a few weeks ago and the groom and his father hated having their photo taken and they would try not to look at the camera and didn't want to smile etc. It was silly.

On a side note, I notice there is no place on here to post shots of wedding photos. Do people not post their wedding photos? I see people posting nudes, macros, sports etc. Why not a spot for wedding? There is a wedding photography forum.

[LeesaB]

You can post a few right here, with your email...just go to the botton and manage attachements...upload, but there are size requirements...and I beleive you are only allowed a few...It is at the top of the forum the rules for posting pics.

We sure do post em...there are tons here

[jrjphoto]

The only thing I don't like about weddings is having to do the "standard posed group/couple shots" -- especially moments that are supposed to be part of the event like the cake cutting. I counter this by trying to do fun, unique poses with my groups (if I have time) and trying to make the "posed moments" shots not look so posed (again, if I have time). As a journalist, of course, as soon as the pose is done I let them go about their business and do my best to cover the heck out of the spontaneous moments of the event.

I don't particularly like it when people notice the camera, when they look into the lens and fake a smile. It's so fake and posed and...expected. And it makes me feel like I'm doing a bad job of blending in. Of course, it's hard to blend in when you're carrying around a huge camera rig, even without a flash you still get noticed. It's going to be tough when I get that 70-200 f/2.8: white shows up pretty well in a dark room.

Getting back, I like weddings just fine. The romantic in me wants to capture the sparks and fireworks, the journalist in me wants to capture the candid spontanaity of the event and the businessman in me likes getting paid. And in a case like Maureen's, you just have to go with the flow, let the client acclamate to you, blend in, be polite but firm and get the job done. As far as someone who is uncomfortable with the camera, that's when I say "I know how you feel, that's why I'm a photographer." and I use a telephoto lens so I don't impede on their personal space. Pretty soon they warm up to me and I can get up close with a wide lens and shoot from the hip to get coverage. That's usually during the reception...which probably means after they've had a few drinks. :)

And I rarely, if ever, use flash. When I do, it's more than likely at the reception or during group shots at the ceremony location. When that happens I have some sweet off-camera strobes I use. To which I'll be upgrading to studio strobes with battery packs pretty soon so that should give me even more coverage. Hmm...I'd rather be shooting war zones in Iraq, but whatever. The bills are paid.

Cheers!

[SuzyView]

Maureen, what is the turnaround time for the first group of proofs for the B&G? You have 2000 images to go through. Are you doing them this week?

[Maureen Souza]

Maureen, what is the turnaround time for the first group of proofs for the B&G? You have 2000 images to go through. Are you doing them this week?
I told them 4 weeks as they want 100 or more photos. They are on a 2 week honeymoon and then moving into a new house so they told me to take my time. Whew.

[SuzyView]

Thank heavens for that! Two week honeymoon, that means they will be way too busy to care about the pictures. :) Have you sorted through any of them yet, or are you just recovering from the trip? How on earth did you get a job so far away?

[Grace]

two week honeymoon? how nice is that?!?!

[Maureen Souza]

Thank heavens for that! Two week honeymoon, that means they will be way too busy to care about the pictures. :) Have you sorted through any of them yet, or are you just recovering from the trip? How on earth did you get a job so far away?
I have looked through about 600 of them (not much sleep last night;) ) and tossed about 125 of those. Tonight I am at work (my Real Job):)

The groom is my nephew......but his fiance loved some of the other wedding photos I did for my niece last year and so she asked me to do her wedding. He didn't really have much of a say in it.

[taygull]

two week honeymoon? how nice is that?!?!

not long enough....if it were with you!:cool: