First time at a wedding as a guest in a long time.....

And what do I see? A COMPLETE amateur doing the photos for a good friend of mine. I knew my friend was on a budget, so I told her long ago that I would shoot her wedding at my cost. At the time she said Ok.... but then I later found out that she had secured a photographer. I thought "great! then I can just enjoy her wedding as a guest and let the hired gun do his thing!" I get there and I see a guy with a 20d, a kit lens, and a 420ex snapping photos only to find out later that this guy was the hired photographer. He was very distracting during the ceremony as he ran up and down the isles trying to get different angles. He missed the exchanging of the rings because he was in the back of the church and couldn't get up front quick enough (naturally, his lens wouldn't reach), and he almost missed the kiss.

There were a couple of hours between the ceremony and the reception, and I ALMOST went home to get my gear. I didn't want my friend to suffer with bad photos of her beautiful day! But I decided to keep my mouth shut. During the reception, I decided to talk to the "photographer" about what he was shooting with.... he showed me his 20D and kit lens, and his 420EX flash.... the 20D was on the green box, and he was shooting JPG and I just thought to myself "oh dear!" Now, I know that some people prefer shooting in JPG (and I have no problem with it), but when he was showing me some of his "best shots of the night" I saw a TON of shots where the exposure and/or white balance was just completely off (things that could be fixed with RAW). I continued to observe him during the reception, and I noticed that he never once put the camera in the vertical position.... all of his shots were done "landscape"... and the more I thought about it, I realized that he did the ceremony that way too... Halfway through the reception was the bride and father dance. I watch the photog frantically switch CF cards, take two shots, switch again, take 1 shot, switch again, take 2 or 3 shots, etc... he was obviously at the end of his CF cards and was trying to squeeze as many more shots on as he could. After that, he put the camera away (obviously out of CF space)... ugh... I felt so bad for my friend. I just hope that she got some shots that she'll enjoy.

Anyway.... I'm done ranting... I just hope that I did the right thing by keeping my nose out of it...

Maybe he is a wizz at PP and you will be eating your words !!!

Or more likely the bride will be a little miffed. I hope it turns out ok for her.

Oh how I certainly hope so! This is one time where I hope I do eat my words! But I have a stong feeling I won't be...

just me, but I would reserve judgment till the pix are posted. If, at that time, they are inferior, then rant away at your hearts delight. I hope he/she did nail some shots, but it was 100% your friends decision and she must have been impressed with what she saw in the portfolio.

Maybe you can post a couple of shots when you have access to them.

Your friend might have more taking YOU into consideration, letting you and guest come solely as a guest who could enjoy themselves rather than making you work 'on the cheap'. It is unfortunate for her, perhaps (fingers crossed for her), that she got what she apparently paid for.

If I get access to them, I MAY post a couple. I'm not sure though, since I don't think it would be too appropriate to post someone elses work.

But I did review some of his shots when he was showing me his camera, and I certainly was not impressed....

You know Wilt, I thought about that too. And I was grateful that she allowed me to just be a guest. But I'm the kind of person that would bend over backwards for a dear friend, so after seeing what I saw, I would have rather shot her wedding. During the whole thing the photog was carrying on with a couple of the guests, so I was thinking that he was a friend of someone the bride knew... but I don't know for sure... so hopefully she didn't pay too much. I guess we'll see how things pan out once he delivers the photos.

until the pics are posted, theres not much you can really do.

I went to a wedding where they couple had already secured a photog before finding out I did them. He showed up, looked professional, had 2 d2x's and decent glass, so I thought great, this will be good.

The I watched how he shot, no change in perspective, backgrounds, use of DOF, lighting etc. And when I saw the prints, all looked like they were shot in 1mp mode, poorly color balanced and post processed. I felt bad for them, but kept my mouth shut. Theres nothing like telling them you think they are awful unless they bring it up first.

The same thing happened to a friend of mine a while back...there remains not a single usable 4X6 of her wedding...

Don't post any here unless you have the rights to the image...meaning he gave her a CD of photos which are now hers to do what she wants with them.

IF you have the same expierence I did than the best you can hope for is some that you can work on PS and do some nice post processing...Despite not being able to produce a single photo, the photographer that took the photos would not even give her the CD full or RAW images unless she was paid an additional 200.00. The reality is you get what you pay for...my friend learned that the hard way, despite my warnings...now I have tried to work on a couple and so have the kind people of this form. we got some useful photos that semi turned out as 4X6's...that was only again thanks to the kind PP experts on this forum....

Wait and see...hopefully he gets her some good shots...

Cheers,

I don't disagree with you at all...my own approach is 'just be a guest who brings a camera'! Gives you the opportunity to take shots as they present themselves, rather than actively working to get the shots. If you miss something, "C'est la vie!"
Then if the hired gun is a dill pickle (or even if they're terrific!), you can sweeten up the photographic memories provided to B&G. I have gone to about 3 weddings of friend's kids within the past year, and at each I have brought my camera along, and the result has always been "(daughter/son) was thrilled to get your CD of photos...you got a lot of things the pro didn't!" It always makes for 'something extra' that is appreciated more than just another wedding gift!

That's a good approach Wilt... I'll definately have to keep that in mind!

I think this is all pretty funny! But I do feel bad for everyone involved, the hired gun for working so hard without the necessary experience, Tom for having to watch, and the wedding couple who may very well be happy with what they get at the price they most likely paid.

I watched "Judge something or other" on the Television and some lady had a camera and thought this passed her off as a professional so she was charging like 2500.00 to shoot a wedding with absolutely no experience. Her camera was stolen a few weeks before but she went forward with collecting the remaining amount owed and bought disposable cameras to shoot the wedding with. Didn't even file a police report when her camera was stolen and didn't back off from the wedding.

The bride was suing this wanna-be photographer, but funny thing was that this dodo-brain wanna-be photographer actually thought she was doing the bride a favor by just showing up to take photo's!

I was just at a wedding like this last week, althought the guy had some gear and generally I thought the guy probably did alright, but then the formal shots came. Here we are in a beautiful 200 year old cathedral and he wants to shoot on the front steps with the church doors open (blackish background). I thought to myself, hmm, that's an odd background for formal shots, I would have chosen the gorgeous garden or the steps to the alter with all the sculptures in the background. Got to the reception and the guy whips out his laptop and starts editing the photos on the spot, talking to everyone that asked. Never approached me as I had my gear, as a guest. Then looked surprised when I approached him at his laptop. He was like "oh, just checking I got everything on her list" and I said oh, 'with levels in cs2, some checklist'. He jumped up and said he had to keep shooting, I was like "ya sure, don't want to interrupt, you're getting paid".

I really feel bad for some people....all that money and well...I could never take that liability on just because I have a nice camera...

Tom,

You are absolutely right......I wouldnt post without permission. Once you do look at the whole wedding online, come back and let us know your thoughts. Sounds like youre a great person just looking out for a friend, as im sure most of us here would/could come to the same conclusion if we were put in the same situation.

That's absurd... who the hell does PP at the event?