Had a wedding yesterday in a beautiful park in KC. It is a large public park, but the Rose Garden can be reserved for weddings. During this wedding I had to work to keep the paparazzi from being in the background. There were no less than 4 people on that terrace in the background shooting with pro model cameras. They had nothing to do with the wedding. They didn't know any of the people in the wedding. When I approached one of them after the wedding to inquire as to what he was doing, he said he was just practicing his wedding photography. He had a Nikon D2X with a big lens. I thanked him for making sure he made me work to keep him out of my backgrounds. He retorted with "it is a public place". I said "yes it is, but I sure hope I don't find any pictures on your website from this wedding claiming it was your wedding to shoot." The other guys overheard this conversation and all quietly packed up and left. I know it is a public place, but the least they could have done was not get directly behind the minister where I had to keep moving to keep them out of the shot. Even if these guys were newbies just practicing, they should know better than that. Falls under common courtesy. Did get some good stuff without background distractions, so all was not lost.
You should have seen if you could get his name and (if applicable) photography affiliation prior to telling him how jacked up his actions were. That way you could put him on blast with the rest of us. Common courtesy is not a hard trait to figure out!
It may be a public place, but people in general need to REfind this thing called respect. I am beginning to hate everyone until they prove themselves to the contrary, and I blame those whom do not spank their kids!
I feel ya, John. Honestly, how does it not occur to people that this is not ok?
I do also get pretty steamed up when someone posts their pics from one of these situations here for attaboys or crits.
The most amazing thing to me is they truly don't see they have stepped over a line. At least Uncle Bobs are invited guests, know the couple (usually), and often have good intentions.
VPell, you may be getting tired of it, but it can be an issue. At the wedding I shot yesterday, I didn't have anyone I would classify as a UB at ALL, but the proliferation of P&S cameras was so great during the formals, it a) severely extended the time taken to do the formals, and b) (and most importantly), I am editing the formals as we speak and there are quite a few shots where eyes are EVERYWHERE despite my asking for eyes on me before every single shot. (Luckily I have at least one good shot from each setup.) I am good natured about it, I make everyone laugh, but still people get distracted. And I am way too nice. I did have a few people try to direct their own formal shots, but I asked them to wait until I was done.
Honestly, part of the issue is just having a bunch of people congregating where you do formals. Even without cameras, the folks being photograph just get distracted.
I'm sorry that happened to you. I have not shot in Loose Park before - do you need a photo permit to shoot weddings there, just out of curiousity? Might have been a little something you could have pointed out if so.
Sarah Dickerso wrote:
I'm sorry that happened to you. I have not shot in Loose Park before - do you need a photo permit to shoot weddings there, just out of curiousity? Might have been a little something you could have pointed out if so.
You don't need a permit to photograph, but the area of the Rose Garden can be reserved for weddings. Each couple gets a two hour window. I have shot there before without having any problems, but Saturday seemed like the day to be in the park with a camera. Thing is, these people were not really Uncle Bobs. They were not invited guests. They had nothing whatsoever to do with the wedding. They just knew that weddings happen there on weekends so they came to practice. I can only guess that they have been doing this for awhile, and I was the first to confront one. And, the only reason I confronted him was the groom asked me after the wedding if they were with me, because he was distracted by them running around behind the minister.
Sarah Dickerso wrote:
...I am editing the formals as we speak and there are quite a few shots where eyes are EVERYWHERE despite my asking for eyes on me before every single shot. (Luckily I have at least one good shot from each setup.) I am good natured about it, I make everyone laugh, but still people get distracted. And I am way too nice. I did have a few people try to direct their own formal shots, but I asked them to wait until I was done.
Honestly, part of the issue is just having a bunch of people congregating where you do formals. Even without cameras, the folks being photograph just get distracted........Show more →
and THIS is exactly why PRIOR to shooting formals I make a big announcement that 'if you are not in the formal pictures you must clear the area so that we can finish this quickly.' I also state 'if you are in the formals and you have a camera please wait to take pictures after we have finished our work.' This is all discussed during consultation. I make sure to inform my clients that this is to their benefit because they will be tired, the guest will be waiting at the reception location, and this is the fastest and best way to get the formals over with.....not to mention that it helps reduce my editing time because I have a greater selection of A+ images to work with (everyone's eyes are on me).
I shot in a public park several years back where the wedding party was in a gazebo. No matter which way I stepped, there was one bozo who kept getting behind the wedding party (directly in my view) but about 8-10 feet in the grass. I would step to one side to 'hide' him behind the wedding party and then he'd move. Finally I lined him up at the end of the wedding party, got everybody's attention, then took a quick step to hide him from view. He kept it up for the 20 minutes or so I was shooting. I shot almost wide open to blur the background, which made it easier to erase him in post processing. I guess when some people are bored, they try to ruin wedding shots!
Best,
Andy
sealsphoto, I was just curious as if you needed a photo permit to shoot an event there as a pro (I'm shooting at a park in Topeka next month where you do), you could have kindly pointed that out to your "observers" and probably gotten rid of them very quickly. Oh well, sounds like you did ok. I bet those same folks show up there all the time, you are right. But they will have a portfolio full of the same venue...
I find no fault with the passersby standing wherever and taking pictures.
The couple knew their venue was a public park and that folk would be walking through. A professional wedding planner may have foreseen the problem with onlookers and suggested an alternate site or made some arrangement.
The hired wedding photographer has a myriad of options to frame a compelling photo without any distracting elements in the foreground or background. Unfortunately in the consideration of many circumstances - the world rotates about the slightly skewed axis passing through the center of mass beneath our feet.
The hired photographer also has opportunity to adjust the apoapsis as necessary to coincide with the periapsis of the passerby.
Oh well, sounds like you did ok. I bet those same folks show up there all the time, you are right. But they will have a portfolio full of the same venue...