A few wedding shots, as an attendee

Great photos! I shoot a few paid weddings a year. If a guest can shoot while staying out of the way and not distracting the B&G, I'm all for it. It's when they try to stand next to me or get the B&G's attention for a photo. Stick to candid shots at a distance and we will all get along.

Sorry for stirring the pot so much in this thread. I knew what you meant by "crash". Getting cranky in my old age. Sorry for upsetting you.

jebrady03 wrote in post #17930394
Thanks everyone for the positive comments. I really appreciate them! I'm not going to let the clearly assumptive, incorrect opinions of one person ruin the "atta-boy's" from the rest of you. Sincerely... THANK YOU! It means a lot to me!

As I stated in my other posting, you can do whatever you wish. Clearly just my opinion. Its a forum board where opinion is welcome. I stated mine. Most of my posts are very positive on this site so don't try to spin it to lump yourself in with everyone else that states the shots are nice. I even said they were. I am sure I am not the only one that has the same opinion. Your first wedding as a pro, I hope I am invited. As you stop them coming down the aisle for the great shot or when you are posing them and I am clicking away, I promise, I will not get in your way.

I attended my second wedding this year that asked guests specifically to not take photos. I think this is a new trend, and one that I welcome. Personally I usually have my gear available, but if I'm a guest I plan to enjoy the wedding as a guest. Just an opinion.

Amadauss wrote in post #17931443
As I stated in my other posting, you can do whatever you wish. Clearly just my opinion. Its a forum board where opinion is welcome. I stated mine. Most of my posts are very positive on this site so don't try to spin it to lump yourself in with everyone else that states the shots are nice. I even said they were. I am sure I am not the only one that has the same opinion. Your first wedding as a pro, I hope I am invited. As you stop them coming down the aisle for the great shot or when you are posing them and I am clicking away, I promise, I will not get in your way.

Not sure it's for me. But if I did, I wouldn't mind that you were clicking away, as long as you were as respectful of my space and the job I had to do, as I was to the hired photographer at this wedding. CLEARLY the screenshot I posted from the drone shows that I did exactly what I said I did - stay out of their way.

I could understand your hostility at the beginning of the thread when it wasn't 100% clear what I was doing. But I very clearly explained what I did, what I didn't do, and even posted supporting evidence, yet you cling to your hostility. That's on you man. It's no reflection on me.

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #17931491
I attended my second wedding this year that asked guests specifically to not take photos. I think this is a new trend, and one that I welcome. Personally I usually have my gear available, but if I'm a guest I plan to enjoy the wedding as a guest. Just an opinion.

Yeah, I've seen that more and more as well. For me, part of the enjoyment of a wedding is capturing memories for myself, so my appreciation for a wedding is enhanced by the ability to take a few pictures. However, if asked, or even implied, that no pictures be taken, I would ABSOLUTELY abide by that request!!! I am DEFINITELY not more important than the B/G's wishes.

I'm not a professional wedding photographer. I've shot some weddings and many events. I know what it's like to have Uncle Ned shout "Look here!" when you're trying to set up a shot. However, if I'm the official photographer and another photographer is respectful of my role, I say the more photos the merrier. The ones that I have a problem with are those with point-and-shoots and smart phones who have absolutely no clue. And there are more of those.

jebrady03 wrote in post #17931504
Not sure it's for me. But if I did, I wouldn't mind that you were clicking away, as long as you were as respectful of my space and the job I had to do, as I was to the hired photographer at this wedding. CLEARLY the screenshot I posted from the drone shows that I did exactly what I said I did - stay out of their way.

I could understand your hostility at the beginning of the thread when it wasn't 100% clear what I was doing. But I very clearly explained what I did, what I didn't do, and even posted supporting evidence, yet you cling to your hostility. That's on you man. It's no reflection on me.

Yeah, I've seen that more and more as well. For me, part of the enjoyment of a wedding is capturing memories for myself, so my appreciation for a wedding is enhanced by the ability to take a few pictures. However, if asked, or even implied, that no pictures be taken, I would ABSOLUTELY abide by that request!!! I am DEFINITELY not more important than the B/G's wishes.

I think I was stating all of this. Sorry if came off hostile, was not the intent. Looking back if you would have posted you were a wedding photographer and these are some shots from the wedding, I would have been a lot more upbeat, the photos are very nice. Just not a fan of anyone taking photos during a wedding we are photographing. The client has paid a great deal of money for us to capture her moments and our focus is completely on them and what we are doing. If one of us is standing at the end of the aisle as shown in your drone photo and caught you out of the corner of our eye, it might bother us a bit. But again, that is just us. And it is not a fear of someone else doing it better which some might think, just a complete focus on the task. I think if you become a wedding photographer, and experience it, you might feel a little differently.

We put in our agreement a request that no photography is taken during the ceremony by anyone, even cell phones. Just the ceremony. Most of our clients want it this way anyway. We even share some examples with our clients to make our point. When you see a photo with a beautiful bride coming down the aisle and 5 people with cell phones in the background trying to take a photo they are going to just throw away, it kills the shot. Would be great if they were all looking at the bride with smiles and happiness. One of our brides actually came up with this statement and we now share it with everyone. They give it out before the wedding on a card or have it on a tastefully done board walking into the event or the officiant will read it right before the wedding. Works like a charm.

“Good evening and welcome! As we will be beginning shortly our Bride and Groom have expressed their desire for you to be truly present with them at this special time. They ask that you turn off your cell phones, put down your cameras and please refrain from taking pictures during their ceremony. The photographer will capture how this moment looks but it is you they encourage to capture how it feels with your hearts, without the distraction of technology.

And now without further delay we will begin!”

Well done images and you are a true professional.

When I first started shooting weddings professionally it would really bother me if a guest had a DSLR and was snapping away during the ceremony. Even if they were respectful and didn't block me it was an added factor that I had to be aware of... 'is this guy going to possibly get in the way during the ring exchange or kiss?', that kind of thing.

But the more weddings I shot the more I realized that it was just something I'd have to get used to. There are almost always 1-2 guests shooting. Unless they block me directly I don't let it get to me and in the rare occasion when I do get blocked I'll just politely say something like, "excuse me, if I miss this shot the B&G won't be very happy with me," and that's the end of it.

These shots are really good and it looks like you were out of the way. I wouldn't have minded you shooting at all but having said that, when I attend a wedding where I'm NOT the photographer, I don't bring my camera... I'm just not capable of relaxing and taking photos at the same time.