Best of... Uncle Bobs

[jowensphoto]

I just think we should get to the root of the issue and ban all weddings.

Yeah, I'm trading in weddings for boudoir... so, personally banned, at least

 

[runnah]

Yeah, I'm trading in weddings for boudoir... so, personally banned, at least

God, I'd much rather take photos women in their unmentionables than Aunt Marge doing the chicken dance.

 

[jowensphoto]

I think trying to be the only one with a camera at a wedding is pretty ridiculous in the year 2014. People have cameras. Lotta' cameras out there in the world today. If one's work isn't way better than what an Uncle Bob can produce, it might be time to re-think the whole wedding game. The whole, "I am the only personal allowed to have a camera at this wedding," level of exclusionary behavior is something I just cannot agree with. It's just unrealistic in the year 2014.

Besides, if ONLY the official photographer of record has a camera at a wedding, that kills the potential for amazing Uncle Bob stories! And as we know, Uncle Bob stories are like, "The biggest fish of the trip!" stories, or "The royal flush that won me the '67 Mustang in a poker game!" stories.

I don't disagree with you. There were TONS of people with cameras and phones (fortunately, I did not spot an iPad lol). but this guy got in the way of me doing my job. There has to be a certain level of behavior expectations and this "gentleman" completely disregarded me and the need to perform my job.

My contract protects me, and I'm happy to show the client the photo of their lower bodies/grooms elbow with this shitheads head in the way of the actual kiss, but that doesn't really change the fact that people just don't give a **** about anyone other than themselves.

 

[Braineack]

I have no problem with other folks taking photos during a wedding I've been hired to shoot. I have a problem when they get in my way. I have a problem when the guest watermarks his/her images and uses for marketing in any form.

It's classless.

I make friends/contacts and specifically tell them to push me out of the way if I'm ever in.

 

[Derrel]

This reminds me of news photography and NOT getting blocked out of a shot. If a person is standing behind 10 or 15 others with cameras and is then somehow surprised that a shooter in the front pops up in the viewfinder, it's a case of not being aware of the realities of the way event shooting works. If you don't want to get boxed out, you need to have taken control and put yourself in a position where YOU are the one who gets the shot. If you want to be in charge of the situation, you'll need to actually "OWN it", and be aware of how human nature works. If you're 25 feet back, and there are four,five, six rows of people in front of you, you were too far back and too timid, or too inexperienced, or not considering of the way events ACTUALLY go down, to have put yourself right up front. It's more a case of being prepared, and anticipating what might happen.

Oh...and I've actually shot news events, press events, sports events, and weddings...I know how it feels to be the person right down in front, blocking the view of everybody, or side-by-side with six to ten other people with cameras right behind a cordon. Again...I bet you saw Uncle Bob there, earlier, right? You wanna stop him? STAND in the aisle, right beside him, and pin him in, in the seats. If he was sitting at an end seat, and experience tells me he probably was, you should have been right there, next to him, so when he stood up, he had nowhere to go except right through your shooting position.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I know of a photographer who bills for extra time he spends waiting (obviously not during the ceremony, although maybe stopping the ceremony til uncle Bob sits back down isn't such a bad idea!! LOL). But he found that when they notice him waiting for guests to stop flailing their phones around and get out of his way, they get things moving along quick enough - they don't want to get billed for extra time!

The couple can't necessarily control all the behavior of all their guests but can give guidelines and do some friendly yet firm enforcement of the guidelines. Probably the contract should address you not being held responsible for missing key moments due to guests interfering with you doing your job. They wouldn't put up with a guest in the kitchen interfering with the caterers would they?

 

[jowensphoto]

I have no problem with other folks taking photos during a wedding I've been hired to shoot. I have a problem when they get in my way. I have a problem when the guest watermarks his/her images and uses for marketing in any form.

It's classless.

I make friends/contacts and specifically tell them to push me out of the way if I'm ever in.

You are welcome to be a professional guest at any wedding I'm hired to do. I may use you as a human shield, to push others out of my way

This reminds me of news photography and NOT getting blocked out of a shot. If a person is standing behind 10 or 15 others with cameras and is then somehow surprised that a shooter in the front pops up in the viewfinder, it's a case of not being aware of the realities of the way event shooting works. If you don't want to get boxed out, you need to have taken control and put yourself in a position where YOU are the one who gets the shot. If you want to be in charge of the situation, you'll need to actually "OWN it", and be aware of how human nature works. If you're 25 feet back, and there are four,five, six rows of people in front of you, you were too far back and too timid, or too inexperienced, or not considering of the way events ACTUALLY go down, to have put yourself right up front. It's more a case of being prepared, and anticipating what might happen.

Oh...and I've actually shot news events, press events, sports events, and weddings...I know how it feels to be the person right down in front, blocking the view of everybody, or side-by-side with six to ten other people with cameras right behind a cordon. Again...I bet you saw Uncle Bob there, earlier, right? You wanna stop him? STAND in the aisle, right beside him, and pin him in, in the seats. If he was sitting at an end seat, and experience tells me he probably was, you should have been right there, next to him, so when he stood up, he had nowhere to go except right through your shooting position.

The guy was behind me. I was IN the MIDDLE of the isle. He did some stealth sideways turn and jump and got in front of me. If I wasn't so pissed off, I'd be impressed with his agility. He was moving around the entire ceremony. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have guessed he was part of the hired photography team.

 

[Braineack]

This reminds me of news photography and NOT getting blocked out of a shot.

 

[Braineack]

You are welcome to be a professional guest at any wedding I'm hired to do. I may use you as a human shield, to push others out of my way

I'd absolutely take you up on that offer.

This wedding photog took a picture of me taking a picture of him...

 

[Derrel]

A few comments on Uncle Bobs. Spot them early, and talk to them to size them up. Tell them a few things. Go over the ground rules. Let them know your expectations. If they are a nuisance pre-ceremony, have the best man or one of the parents speak to them and tell them they need to back off, or put the camera away. It's a matter of knowing how people "are" and how events are actually run. So, this guy who was there was moving around the entire ceremony. And somehow he got in front of you and blocked the shot. You needed to have a discussion and a plan way before the kiss happened. He was obviously a "factor" in the overall event, and yet it seems that his presence wasn't really "factored in" in terms of the kiss shot at the end of the ceremony.

Did you even talk to this guy at all, before the ceremony? My guess is that that discussion did not occur. I could be wrong about that and if so, I apologize in advance, but if you didn't "own the room" from the start, then that says you're willing to let him do what he wants.

Did you talk to this guy before the ceremony? Did the best man or the bride's father talk to this guy? If he walked in front of you, why didn't you walk right up to his side? I'm mentioning this because this issue has been going on for decades, and there are some things that can be done about the Uncle Bob issues. So he cut in front of you at the kiss...not sure why that was an issue if you knew he was a PITA, you needed to be ready with a plan for that shot, even if it happened to be walking up right to his side and shooting it with the 16-35 with him right there beside you.

Have you ever asked an Uncle Bob to "assist you" by shooting the "reaction shots"? Or given him some other type of basically frivolous assignment? I mean he's there...why not make use of him by asking him to do you a favor and ,"Handle the ___________ shots while I _______." this involves actually talking to the guy before hand.

This is really about being a professional in the sense of managing the event for YOUR photographic coverage of the event. My mentor was old-school; the photographer ran the wedding, and determined a lot of how things would be paced, and done. One of the primary directives is to establish that the guests are just that, guests, before the event,and to establish control over the photography and how it is done.

How was the cake cutting? Did you pre-plan that and in fact, sort of run it, and set it up so you had an absolutely unassailable position to shoot it from, the exact way you wanted to shoot it?

These are the things my mentor taught me, after he'd hit about 70 years old and had shot so many weddings he'd lost count. We're getting only the "last straw" in your recounting of this annoying action. How was the rest of the event handled? Was this the only time he walked past you?

 

[Nevermore1]

I have a problem when they get in my way. I have a problem when the guest watermarks his/her images and uses for marketing in any form.

It's classless.

I don't understand why you would have a problem with someone doing what they have every right to do with the photos they took. So long as they don't say they were the "paid" photographer I don't see any issue with them using their photos for a portfolio.

As for the Uncle Bob's - they will often times get the shots the paid photographer doesn't even bother with. So long as they don't disrupt formal photos or the ceremony photos it shouldn't be a big deal. I had my camera with me at my wedding (I had a professional husband and wife team with an assistant as well) and got tons of shots that they probably never thought of getting but I love. I also had disposable cameras for the guests to get snapshots during the reception as well (our photographer though this was a great idea since they had no way to be everywhere at once). We got some great photos from these cameras (and some not so great once the open bar hit the guests but they sure are great to laugh at) that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

 

[jowensphoto]

You are welcome to be a professional guest at any wedding I'm hired to do. I may use you as a human shield, to push others out of my way

I'd absolutely take you up on that offer.

This wedding photog took a picture of me taking a picture of him...

Haha, that's a fun shot.

 

[jowensphoto]

I have a problem when they get in my way. I have a problem when the guest watermarks his/her images and uses for marketing in any form.

It's classless.

I don't understand why you would have a problem with someone doing what they have every right to do with the photos they took. So long as they don't say they were the "paid" photographer I don't see any issue with them using their photos for a portfolio.

As for the Uncle Bob's - they will often times get the shots the paid photographer doesn't even bother with. So long as they don't disrupt formal photos or the ceremony photos it shouldn't be a big deal. I had my camera with me at my wedding (I had a professional husband and wife team with an assistant as well) and got tons of shots that they probably never thought of getting but I love. I also had disposable cameras for the guests to get snapshots during the reception as well (our photographer though this was a great idea since they had no way to be everywhere at once). We got some great photos from these cameras (and some not so great once the open bar hit the guests but they sure are great to laugh at) that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

I have a thought out response, will add she. I'm not typing with my thumbs

 

[jowensphoto]

I have a problem when they get in my way. I have a problem when the guest watermarks his/her images and uses for marketing in any form.

It's classless.

I don't understand why you would have a problem with someone doing what they have every right to do with the photos they took. So long as they don't say they were the "paid" photographer I don't see any issue with them using their photos for a portfolio.

As for the Uncle Bob's - they will often times get the shots the paid photographer doesn't even bother with. So long as they don't disrupt formal photos or the ceremony photos it shouldn't be a big deal. I had my camera with me at my wedding (I had a professional husband and wife team with an assistant as well) and got tons of shots that they probably never thought of getting but I love. I also had disposable cameras for the guests to get snapshots during the reception as well (our photographer though this was a great idea since they had no way to be everywhere at once). We got some great photos from these cameras (and some not so great once the open bar hit the guests but they sure are great to laugh at) that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

I have a thought out response, will add she. I'm not typing with my thumbs

Exactly. Lol

 

[snowbear]

I haven't seen you post in a while, so I just wanted to say "hi."

I can't really relate, other than I do my best to NOT be Uncle Bob! At my niece's wedding, I went where the real photographer was not, I stayed out if the way.