Appreciated this from a wedding photog.

So, we had a family wedding over the weekend (my wife's nephew). Not small, probably 500 guests at ceremony and 400+ at dinner reception. I had my gear bag with me, just looking to get some decent shots during the ceremony, candid and details shots during the reception. I also had my 2 year old son, who is like a weasel on Red Bull, with me, so that significantly cut down on the chances to shoot much. I only got one good shot during the ceremony before I had to take him out (making too much noise), and a few good shots during the reception.

Toward the end of the reception, my son fell asleep in my brother-in-law's arms. We were packing up to leave at the time, but my wife wanted a pic of it, so I quickly threw my 420EX speedlite on my 50D to just grab a snapshot. No time to mess with metering/chimping for bounce or anything like that (the ceiling was quite high anyway, prob. 40 or 50 feet tall), so I just threw my Stofen omnibounce on the flash.

Right after I took the shot, started packing up, the official photographer taps me on the shoulder. She says, hey, let me show you something cool real quick. She then proceeds to give me a quick lesson on how I can tilt the head of the speedlite to bounce it off the ceiling.

At first it almost caught me off guard, and I had to silently chuckle a little, because the advice she was giving was so elementary. I also didn't want to take time to explain that it was a quick shot, we were getting ready to leave, I didn't want to have to chimp or meter to compensate for the really high ceiling, etc.

BUT, the longer I thought about it, I really appreciated what she did. It was the end of the night, she was probably tired, ready to pack her gear and get out of there, and yet she took a couple of minutes to give me some advice (and, other than assuming from my gear, she really didn't have any way of knowing that bounce flash was something simple to me).

I have dealt with photogs at weddings who were a little less than personable (just like any other profession) and the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated her little gesture.

It's a nice gesture I once gave a skyport transmitter to a brides grandad when I didn't need it as I was having dinner, and set his camera up for him.

Sometimes, people come up to me at weddings to seek advice about how to take better photos, etc. If I am not terribly busy, I'll have a chat with that person. No problem. You'd have to be a real jerk to dismiss people who just want some tips. Of course there are many jerks out there.

A very nice gesture.

I had a similar experience a couple years ago: I was at a friend's wedding, I had owned my XTi and kit lens for about three months, and was still in the "fumble around with it and chimp" novice mode. During the dimly lit reception, the hired pro saw me messing around, trying to get some shots without using the pop-up flash. She came over, gave me a two-minute lesson on settings, and and briefly loaned me her 50mm f/1.2. I got some great shots with the little XTi that night. (well, better than anything else I had ever taken, a little mediocre by my current standards)

That's the one defining moment that I can think of that really kick-started me on my path to understanding what I was doing and getting better. It's also the defining moment on the path to emptying my bank account on camera gear, but ... take the bad with the good, I guess.

It's only the insecure ones who act defensive or secretive

smorter wrote in post #14632583
It's only the insecure ones who act defensive or secretive

i agree

like its some big competition and being nice/or giving away tips would somehow cost them business

many many years ago, the photog at a wedding where I was a guest let me play with some of his gear

months later, I started shooting for him as his 2nd... and that was my 1st step into wedding photography...

I've let guest photogs use PWs and lenses at some weddings - you can tell when they appreciate the gesture!

Kudos to him. I'm not sure every guest would welcome unsolicited photography advice.

Whenever I see a guest working that on-camera flash *really* hard but doing their absolute best, I tend to lend them a speedlight and see if they can't get some better stuff. Would you believe - half the time I offer people decline? "Hey, want to take better pics for the next 4 hrs?" "Nah, that's ok." LOL

mattantonino wrote in post #14637342
Whenever I see a guest working that on-camera flash *really* hard but doing their absolute best, I tend to lend them a speedlight and see if they can't get some better stuff. Would you believe - half the time I offer people decline? "Hey, want to take better pics for the next 4 hrs?" "Nah, that's ok." LOL

If the little pop-up flash makes things look bad, a bigger flash is just going to make things look even worse!

If I have the time, and don't think they would be offended, I would be happy to offer guests some photo advice. Although most of the time it would be to put their camera away and enjoy the reception

mattantonino wrote in post #14637342
Whenever I see a guest working that on-camera flash *really* hard but doing their absolute best, I tend to lend them a speedlight and see if they can't get some better stuff. Would you believe - half the time I offer people decline? "Hey, want to take better pics for the next 4 hrs?" "Nah, that's ok." LOL

I don't know about most people, but I would decline. Not knowing you, how you took care of your equipment, or what it would cost me if it broke while in my posession, whether my fault or not. I'd rather take decent photos with my own stuff than worry about someone else's stuff and maybe get a few better ones.

I think I would be unlikely to just borrow gear for any length of time from someone I didn't know well. Using it for a minute or two while they're right there and we're discussing it is one thing, but having them walk off and leave me with it is rather different.

At my brother's wedding about 9 or 10 years ago, the photographer was great about being patient with me interfering with his lighting with my pop up flash. Of course, I thought I was every bit as good as he was with that 35mm SLR on full auto, LOL! Anyway, looking back, I realize what a pain in his rear I must have been, but even still he took the time to tell me hat my hand needed to be under the lens instead of on top of it, or I would block the flash when it fired. I didn't appreciate that really until I read this thread. I hadn't even thought about it since that day!