Formal Photos After Ceremony & The Camera Phone Nightmare!!!

Me too. I was trying to figure out a nice way to say I'm not putting up with any BS from guests with point & shoots and Funsavers

I agree, it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. The contract signing is a good place for that. Someone else posted an article about how one photographer shows the client "uncle Bob" pictures where a well-meaning relative has ruined potentially good shots with his point & shoot. Maybe that's something to think about to drive the point home.

nicksan wrote in post #12712662
Comes with the territory unfortunately.

Some of you guys are really making a mountain out of a mole hill. This happens at every single wedding i photograph. You should relax and just be in charge and handle the situation.

Its not that hard to say

"Ladies and gentleman. Please give me about 2 minutes to get the shots i need and i will gladly let you step up and get some shots for your personal use. The tell the biidal party, " i need all eyes on me for the next 2 minutes. "

Its really that simple

End of conversation. It always works. people always comply and everyone wins. No need to make this into something bigger than it really is. WE are going to shoot 20 wedding this season. Every single one will have this situation happen. Be a pro and handle it like a pro. Cant believe some of you would actually consider addressing this stuff in a contract. Part of the game.

A little sugar make the lemon water taste wonderful.

When you're doing 25 - 30 formal portraits with family and the wedding party... every 2 minutes turns into a 2 hour formal shoot and I know the bride & groom don't want to do that. They want to get the photos done and go to the party.

I'm all for other people taking pictures but not if they're going to trip over me and make my subjects look away from me. I'm being paid to take nice pictures and everyone behind me is screwing that up. I have sent an email to the planner letting her know of this fiasco and what is expected when I'm doing formals. If they don't mind my subjects not looking into their cameras then that's too bad. They need to focus on me.

Alright, I'm a little perturbed about this but it just makes me look bad. I'm not a pushy type of person but if I can get someone to step in and get things to go the way I need them to then that's the way it needs to be. I believe a family member is better at crowd control than I would be in this situation.

CameraMan wrote in post #12713514
I usually don't do the booking myself. Basically, I have an agreement with an event/wedding planner that if I take the gig I am responsible for showing up the night of the gig. I never meet the bride and groom until rehearsal night (which is the day before the wedding). I know that's probably counter productive but that's the way it works. They come in to the place they want to do their event at, they sign the contract, they choose their photographer and that's that. They only see my portfolio. They don't see me until the rehearsal.

Hmm, that is a fairly novel approach. Seems strange that couples would even consider hiring a photographer without at least meeting them.

Good on you though!

CameraMan wrote in post #12715301
When you're doing 25 - 30 formal portraits with family and the wedding party... every 2 minutes turns into a 2 hour formal shoot and I know the bride & groom don't want to do that. They want to get the photos done and go to the party.

I'm all for other people taking pictures but not if they're going to trip over me and make my subjects look away from me. I'm being paid to take nice pictures and everyone behind me is screwing that up. I have sent an email to the planner letting her know of this fiasco and what is expected when I'm doing formals. If they don't mind my subjects not looking into their cameras then that's too bad. They need to focus on me.

Alright, I'm a little perturbed about this but it just makes me look bad. I'm not a pushy type of person but if I can get someone to step in and get things to go the way I need them to then that's the way it needs to be. I believe a family member is better at crowd control than I would be in this situation.

Honestly
The best way to address this is at the meetings with your clients. I have pictures that i show clients what its going to look like when someone is looking elsewhere. I tell them, we dont want to spend unnecessary time photoshopping eyes into your pictures, so talk to everyone and lets get them on the same page so we can get the portraits done properly. your clients will do more to prevent that than anyone else. I also take the opportunity to explain why i take 5-6 shots of the same look. someone always blinks, looks away, ect, ect. Nothing new really. its been going on for the last 30 years that i know of.

Trust me your clients will solve your problem for you. just be tactful.I like to make games out of it when im shooting. I will say something like,,OK, lets see who was looking at uncle Tom. Then i will look at the shots that i just took to be sure i have at least one with all eyes open and make dam sure my clients expressions are good. Always, never fails,,im gonna go,, uh oh,,janet blinked, jim had his eyes closed,,Cmon mom, i know you can smile bettter than that......it just works, they relax, people start laughing about it and problems are solved.

I think you should relax some more and enjoy the fact that your makiing a bunch of money to take some pictures. You job is to do the best you can for your clients, and part of that is to not sweat the small stuff and get great expressions from the people you are photoraphing. turn your negative into a positive

scorpio_e wrote in post #12712142
You would tell them at your initial meeting and note it in your contract.

This.

I tell them upfront as well. I advise them at the pre wedding consult that we are not responsible for missed shots because of other people taking photos. We are very clear on this point (among others lol).

I usually try to go somewhere out of the way, but if I notice people starting to shoot over my shoulder I usually stop, stand up, and say "you guys are going to be upset if the only pictures we get have somebody looking at some other photographer. I'll tell you what, you guys go first, then you leave and let me finish."
Then I'll actually stand at the end of the row of amateurs, hold my hand over the head of one guy, and say "look here'. I tap him on the head and he shoots. Then I move down the line that way, giving them all one good shot with the bridal party looking at them. Then I say OK, it's my turn.
I haven't had any problems doing that....they sense some frustration at first, but once I give them the first shot, they seem to be happy, then I get the party all to myself.

umphotography wrote in post #12715848
Honestly
The best way to address this is at the meetings with your clients. I have pictures that i show clients what its going to look like when someone is looking elsewhere. I tell them, we dont want to spend unnecessary time photoshopping eyes into your pictures, so talk to everyone and lets get them on the same page so we can get the portraits done properly. your clients will do more to prevent that than anyone else. I also take the opportunity to explain why i take 5-6 shots of the same look. someone always blinks, looks away, ect, ect. Nothing new really. its been going on for the last 30 years that i know of.

Trust me your clients will solve your problem for you. just be tactful.I like to make games out of it when im shooting. I will say something like,,OK, lets see who was looking at uncle Tom. Then i will look at the shots that i just took to be sure i have at least one with all eyes open and make dam sure my clients expressions are good. Always, never fails,,im gonna go,, uh oh,,janet blinked, jim had his eyes closed,,Cmon mom, i know you can smile bettter than that......it just works, they relax, people start laughing about it and problems are solved.

I think you should relax some more and enjoy the fact that your makiing a bunch of money to take some pictures. You job is to do the best you can for your clients, and part of that is to not sweat the small stuff and get great expressions from the people you are photoraphing. turn your negative into a positive

I couldn't agree more. But I strive to get the best shots I can. Although, I usually don't see the clients at the contract signing, I have emailed a few to try and set up an engagement session to no avail. Some of these weddings, I believe, are the result of the bride "accidently" getting pregnant so they have to have an inexpensive wedding put together rather quickly. They don't have 12 - 18 months to plan things like this so a budget wedding planner is the way to go for most of them.

I like the idea of the pictures with people not looking at the camera. This might be something I work on to bring to the rehearsal. "This is what your photos will look like if your whole family tries to take pictures while I'm taking pictures".

I had a thought of possibly setting up a tripod so I can get 3 or 4 of the same shots. This way if I have 1 or 2 people not looking at me in one of those shots I can maybe Photoshop the shots where they were perfect.

I love taking photos and this will not deter me. I will find a way to fix this if it ever happens again. I have gotten some great insight just with this post and it it is greatly appreciated. Hopefully not just by me but others who experience the same issues.

I'm loud. I bark orders in a non-@sshole, way. I command respect and almost always get it.

The contract is great for the bride, but it doesn't help with the guests themselves. I would rather do the yelling than have the bride do it for me. She shouldn't have to raise her voice on her wedding day just so I can do my job.

when I meet a potential couple, I bring "samples" of shots where the subjects (B&G, family, etc...) are posed but their eyes are everywhere but at me... and samples of what's happening behind me (i.e. cameras, cellphones, people mingling, etc...) that's stealing their attention from me...
and I explained that during this time, I strongly ask that you let your guests know this is my time to shoot, and their time to be elsewhere... but I'm not going to enforce or ask anyone to leave or move.... and that I'm not going to be responsible for what those pictures look like... I hate to ask everyone else to not take shots or watch this portion of the wedding - afterall guests are made up of friends and family, people that have a huge interest in this couple, and I hate to tell them they can't be part of it, but I really want B&G to know this portion is negatively impacted by the guests

The Bride usually gives me a contact as well, someone that's 'in charge' of rounding up photo subjects for the various shots, and I usually let that person see those samples as well, so that they understand what needs to be done... those that 'get it' will get the room/area cleared... those that don't will just look at those samples and say 'wow, I hope this doesn't happen here'...