Guests posting photos before yours...does it bother you?

So.... My brother just got married over the weekend. There was a paid photog and the usual camera phones and even a friend with a dslr. People were standing next to the photog and taking the same photos of the wedding party during the posed shots. Before the end of the night, the wedding party shots that people took with their phones were up on facebook. Even the bride was posting some (she had given her phone to a friend and told her to take pics).

First off...this doesn't really bother me much. I just see it as them providing contrast between their photos and mine. Kind of helps show the reason for paying someone to do it. When the bride does it, I just think "It's her wedding, she can do what she wants." When guests do it, I think "Is the bride & groom okay with this?" This is the reason I inform the bride & groom before the wedding that they have the option of asking for an unplugged wedding or for people to wait until AFTER they post the paid photogs pics.

The reason I bring this up is because my wife saw the pics on facebook and asked me if it would bother me. She is not a photographer herself but she felt it was rude to the paid photographer. She said her phone pics looked like crap and she should wait and lead with the good photos she paid for.

Thought this might be a good subject for conversation. How do YOU feel about it? How do you handle it? How do your clients handle it? Any interesting stories related to this? We already know about cameras/phones/tablets being in the way during the ceremony and whatnot. But lets talk about the actual photos that are taken by these guests.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Anyway I upload some myself during the wedding quite often. Camera > NFC > Phone > PS Touch > Add Watermark > Facebook. And if I haven't done that I still upload a heap within 3 hours of getting home.

If you can't beat them... join them and do it better.

I agree with your statement "I just see it as them providing contrast between their photos and mine." Their snaps provide the drum roll and mine, the symbols.

Nope. Their photos are usually subpar and only serve to highlight the fact that if you want professional photos, hire someone to take them.

Wouldn't bother me at all.. The iPhone's clicking around my head while doing group shots would really bug me however

i think that crowding around the photographer while he is posing the wedding party is lame. When I am in a nice restaurant i don't go back to the kitchen and watch them prepare my food either.

as for posting before the pro gets a chance, if i am shooting an event I often post up a few before, during and after. 6D wifi is awesome.

When I go over the process with the B&G during the consultation stage, I always inform them that during pre/post ceremony group shots, it would be to their best interest that other friends and family don't try to take pictures while I am taking them. The main reason is that either themselves or their wedding party will be looking at one of those other cameras instead of looking at the paid photographer's. This is natural because they see someone behind/beside me that they know or care about, so they look at them. The B&G will end up with a nice group shot but the subjects are looking at six different directions.

My solution is to inform them that I will take the shot and then allow other people to take their pictures within the next few seconds before I switch the pose/people. I sometimes take the group away from the church to avoid this if there is a great location near by. The best is when the B&G tells their friends and family to put their cameras down

In the post social media world uou you cant worry about guests posting before you. Most weddings are practically live blogged on facebook thses days. You just have to do your job, control your domain (as mentioned above dont let the group get distracted during formals) and most importantly setting expectations with the clients. Tell them your timeline to deliver the product, meet it, and offer them a few interim shots for them to share in a timely fashion.

Posting before me doesn't bother me, because as stated before they make my pictures look 100 times better. What bothers me is that one person, hovering around me getting in my way. That same person is usually telling the posed group to look or maybe their spouse is in the shot and that person will not be looking. It seems like everyone wants to make a collage and say how much fun it was to be there, and that's fine, just don't get in the way.

Ilovemycam wrote in post #17619086
There should be a difference in quality between a pros work and a snapshot shooter. It would be nice if the pro could bang them out as fast as the snapshot shooter. But it is just not ho it is. Just gotta suck it up and do the best you can.

I just read about one of the great ones in this world, actually entering a wedding he shot entirely on his iphone in a contest in Vegas and he placed 4th. I think it was one of those tutorials on BH or Adorama web site about catching the great shot.

Buckeye1 wrote in post #17619058
When I go over the process with the B&G during the consultation stage, I always inform them that during pre/post ceremony group shots, it would be to their best interest that other friends and family don't try to take pictures while I am taking them. The main reason is that either themselves or their wedding party will be looking at one of those other cameras instead of looking at the paid photographer's. This is natural because they see someone behind/beside me that they know or care about, so they look at them. The B&G will end up with a nice group shot but the subjects are looking at six different directions.

My solution is to inform them that I will take the shot and then allow other people to take their pictures within the next few seconds before I switch the pose/people. I sometimes take the group away from the church to avoid this if there is a great location near by. The best is when the B&G tells their friends and family to put their cameras down

This is the only problem I have with other people taking photos...even if they aren't intentionally asking the subjects to look their way...eyes will wander when you more cameras/phones show up. I almost always allow everyone else an opportunity to get their shot...except for a time cruch, or unless they're being especially uncooperative or obtrusive...then I won't extend that courtesy. Maybe that's juvenile...but if you aren't going to respect me when I'm working, I think going out of my way to help you out is pretty low on my priority list.

Same thing problem when kids are in the photos. Either everyone in the photo is looking at the kid trying to get them to look at the camera...or the person trying to get the kid's attention is WAYYYYYYY off to the side and is no more help than the child aimlessly looking around.

If I can't get seclusion from everyone, I at least try to get bystanders to stand directly behind me as much as possible, but I'm not going to spend more time addressing them than my group of subjects.


But as far as posting the pictures...it doesn't really bother me. Like others have said...it usually only affirms the reason you were being paid to be there.

LucasCK wrote in post #17618922
Wouldn't bother me at all.. The iPhone's clicking around my head while doing group shots would really bug me however

Agreed

Then people look all over the place and you have to be like "hey everyone look right at ME"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am the paid photographer and the bride and groom paid good money for their images which I am about to create. Please understand that I do not mind you taking photos but please let me set up my people and get the shots THAT THEY PAID FOR, you will then have the ability to take your shots between sets. Thank you."

I love when you tell them that and they do it anyways

"Oh just let me sneak in really quick"

at a bat mitzwah (spelling?) for my niece the photographer got up right before the event and asked everybody not to shoot photos when he's doing the staged shots of family members, mentioning that it distracts the subjects and they don't know into which camera to smile right now. I thought that was a smart approach, sounds reasonable and makes sense. At other times he didn't care if people shot along (tables, casual groups, etc).
Personally I'd ask my guests to keep their cameras stashed away and enjoy the event and I'd ask them not to post anything to FB or any other such site. I never post images of me or my family online anywhere, if I want to share with friends and relatives I set up a hidden flickr or use dropbox. Luckily when I got married 20+ years ago there were no such things, we had a photographer because it's a thing to have. I might have looked at that album 3 times since then, LOL.

I'd think if a photographer politely asks guests not to shoot while he's doing the staged group shots so they come out as intended (and paid for) most will understand and refrain? I'd hope so at least...