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I occasionally agree to photograph weddings (I enjoy them and so far people like the work I have done...) Anyway I find it really frustrating when the (happy) bride mentions who I missed from the photos.
Having thought i had done a good job I now feel awful that I missed out some people, although i did point out that in fact these people were very difficult to find as they kept disappearing (her mum was one)and short of pursuing her pap style I got very few of her. In fact the bride was heard to lament frequently where is Mum now?!!
Is this typical of feedback from other wedding photographers in their experience, that no matter how many guests you endeavour to photograph you never get everyone? Or should I re-think my wedding photography policy?
I would be interested to hear your thoughts
Thanks
T
Hi Tina ... when I used to do weddings, I asked the best man to make sure that whoever should be on a photo was on it, then blamed him if it went wrong ...
Dave
The thing is though, if you're the 'official' photographer, surely you have to do what it takes to get photos of certain people - and the bride's mother is a pretty important guest!!! It's a case of exerting your 'authority' on the situation.
I've shot weddings where I may have missed a few guests from the candid shots, but these were only 'mates from the groom's work' or whatever!
Sometimes, especially if there are a lot of guests, you might not get pics of everyone - but, like I say, there are certain guests who you *must* get. And the bride's mother is one of them!
I did get photos of brides mum but there is a higher proportion of photos of dad and/or other rellies.(he was around more)- in my defence (and i agree i should have got more of mum btw) she was left behind at the church and arrived at the reception two hours later then promptly disappeared!
However, Other guests mentioned to the bride that they couldn't find photos of themselves etc and I just feel a bit deflated and cross with myself for missing them. I like the idea of blaming the best man!! I did have a guide but they ended up outside a number of glasses and enjoying themsleves (quite right really!) I had also done masses of prep and research on the family beforehand as well. Maybe I need to try harder next time or hire an assistant.
T
Tina,
I have just recently been working as 2nd camera for a friend who does weddings and he has said that he has heard this from other people which is why now when we do a wedding we take somewhere in the region of 3000+ shots between us, by the time you have sifted through we normally get everyone.
On the flip side I got married 8 weeks ago and although there were over 800 shots that could be viewed / purchased on the companies website there was over 2000 more shots that weren't included, thankfully, cause I work for him I was given copies of all the images and was able to pick and crop another 80+ shots that we wanted.
It is very difficult unless you are lucky enough to get a wish list and whos who to get shots of everyone, particularly if someone is avoiding you like the plague.
At most weddings there is soemone who doesn't want there photo taken, this is always a challenge, but they are always overjoyed when we captured that one shot.
God bless the Canon 35-350mm !!
Carl
I attended a wedding yesterday, and besides the photographer inside there was someone at the door who took photos of every single guest entering the hall. Not sure who recruited him, but I thought it was a smart way of ensuring no one was left out.
Conrad
Tina
This problem came up at my last two weddings and it will always come up. My advice is to advise the couple before hand of the importance of letting you know what the must have photographs are and even then advise them both verbally and in writing (i.e. your contract) that you cannot be responsible for guests that arent available.
My second piece advice is never rely on the best men, ushers, bridesmaids etc the best thing I have found is a checklist and a loud voice. Also if you cannot find someone note it down and advise the bride and groom after the formals and definitely before you leave. Blaming someone else is not the solution if you are being paid to be the professional photographer
It also helps if you style is more reportage rather than a traditional wedding photographer I recommend to the bride and groom that the formals are limited to 6-8 groups and I try to keep the time for formals down to half an hour. Once you start photographing all the different family groups, couples etc you increase the problem of missing someone.
The most complaints I ever hear about wedding photography is how the formals took forever i.e. 1.5 to 2.0hrs. By keeping the formals to 30 minutes it allows me to take informal candid shots of guests, groups as well as little detail photographs. If a couple want lots of formals then a second photographer is useful for instance I have worked as a second photographer photographing all guests as they arrive.
If the couple want a record of everyone that attended then another option is to do table shots during the reception with a wide angle lens. Even then you will never get everyone because guys are at the bar buying drinks, kids are playing up or folk just plain disappear always explain this to the bride and groom before hand.
Martin
Martin
Thank you for your sound advice. I too do more reportage style and keep the formals to a minimum. I think what i have learnt from this is to have a photographic asst. (my asst on the day was my digital backup not a photographer - she handled the cards and laptop) Prioritise better who i must get photos of - I knew the wish list but in reality didn't know one or two people and only got them by fluke.
As this is a new possibly expanding avenue for me I need to tread carefully as i never underestimate the importance of getting it right for the couple. The bride rang me when she got back from honeymoon to say the photos were fantastic - i think what has then happened is that people are now complaining to the poor girl about not being in many photos - she is delighted with her pictures but feels she needs to tell me all this.
As an aside if anyone can recommend a good course to go on to try and improve my wedding skills that would be great.
Carl
This was sucha relaxed wedding that they didn't have line!
T
Carl - good point about the receiving line. Tina - one problem with doing a good job and taking some great moments. I had a mother of the groom call to say what a great job of her son's wedding I did but did I have any of the son's sisters by themselves. What I had to explain was 1) they were not on the b&g's list, 2) I had made myself available for impromptu informals requested by the b&g during the wedding breakfast but they weren't requested and 3) one daughter wasn't present during the civil ceremony and the other was busy breast feeding her new born son.
The problem was triggered by some nice candids of one of the daughter 3yr old boy up to mischief during the wedding breakfast - i.e. great shots of the boy did you get a nice one of his mum and a nice one of her sister. I was also asked if I had any more than the 300 images presented on my web site - I had to explain that a lot were repeats, blinks, eyes semi closed, odd expressions, folk walking into my shot, ruined by guest flash etc.
Again agree with Carl how it's important to take plenty of photographs - but equally when you edit down be careful not to include too many photographs of certain groups - I always pick the best otherwise folk question that you took lots of so and so - did you take any of x and y. In my case I posted three shots of the young lad when maybe I should have just posted the one. Same thing with the dad perhaps you could have edited down the number with the dad so the ommission of the mum wasn't so obvious.
Also, they make you feel as though you haven't done your job properly and question your choice of subjects. I guess I just wanted to know if this was a common thread in weddings or whether I was missing an essential skill.
I think the answer is a bit of both - thank you I have learnt a lot this morning and feel a lot better now!!
T
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