Everyone's favorite guy was there. lol

Christie Photo · Aug 30, 2007

JimmyJaceyMom said:
...the bride looked at me and said "I don't even care about these f#$king pictures, can we just do the s#*t inside?"

I give them 3 years.... MAX. It's more likely to be less than 2.

I would have given them 15 more minutes and left. Friends or not... when I agree to make photos at a wedding, I do it on my terms. Some folks act as if they've bought your soul for the day. I'm really not arrogant, but I won't subject myself to that sort of mistreatment.

I'm truly sorry it went this way for you. It really has NOTHING to do with shooting weddings.... really! You were working with an egocentric, selfish, inconsiderate person. People like her can show up anywhere... not just at weddings.

-Pete

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 30, 2007

Christie Photo said:
I give them 3 years.... MAX. It's more likely to be less than 2.

I would have given them 15 more minutes and left. Friends or not... when I agree to make photos at a wedding, I do it on my terms. Some folks act as if they've bought your soul for the day. I'm really not arrogant, but I won't subject myself to that sort of mistreatment.

I'm truly sorry it went this way for you. It really has NOTHING to do with shooting weddings.... really! You were working with an egocentric, selfish, inconsiderate person. People like her can show up anywhere... not just at weddings.

-Pete

You're right, I know for sure there are people like that everywhere. I don't not want to do weddings anymore just because people suck (lol) but also because I'm just plain not good at it. Not yet anyway and it's hard to tell if I just hated it because of the above mentioned things or if its because I dont know what I'm doing, but I think it's a lot to do with the pressure of messing up too.
A wedding is an important day and there are so many shots you BETTER get and get right. Then after its over if something happens or you didn't get it right, God, too much responsibility for me!

AprilRamone · Aug 30, 2007

Kathi,
I think you are such a sweet person for doing both of these weddings for those ungrateful people. I think what you're discovering is that more often than not, the clients who want everything for free or for really cheap are usually the worst clients to have. I've discovered that the more people spend on me and my services, the more they respect what I'm doing and they try harder to help me out because they realize that in the end, they are only helping themselves. (I'm thinking of a certain Jerry Maguire quote here

)

As far as family members wanting to take shots of the couple that I've posed, I'm still trying to find a happy medium. With the more expensive weddings, most family members don't even try to shoot over my shoulder. And with the cheaper ones, they tend to do it more. Rather than try to get them to stop and possibly making things uncomfortable, I've been telling them to wait until I get my shots in and then they can take theirs. When I explain that they'll be able to get them to look right at their camera instead of looking all over the place, they are usually willing to wait. Plus, if I go first, then the Bride and Groom and whoever else is in the shot will give me all of their fresh smiles

In any case. Bravo for trying. Although, I bet if you charged more then you might get some less annoying circumstances. Although, I'm sure some of the higher priced wedding photogs will tell you that you'll gain some new annoying habits/circumstances with the higher priced clients. But at least you'll be getting paid for it

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 30, 2007

AprilRamone said:
Kathi,
I think you are such a sweet person for doing both of these weddings for those ungrateful people. I think what you're discovering is that more often than not, the clients who want everything for free or for really cheap are usually the worst clients to have. I've discovered that the more people spend on me and my services, the more they respect what I'm doing and they try harder to help me out because they realize that in the end, they are only helping themselves. (I'm thinking of a certain Jerry Maguire quote here)

As far as family members wanting to take shots of the couple that I've posed, I'm still trying to find a happy medium. With the more expensive weddings, most family members don't even try to shoot over my shoulder. And with the cheaper ones, they tend to do it more. Rather than try to get them to stop and possibly making things uncomfortable, I've been telling them to wait until I get my shots in and then they can take theirs. When I explain that they'll be able to get them to look right at their camera instead of looking all over the place, they are usually willing to wait. Plus, if I go first, then the Bride and Groom and whoever else is in the shot will give me all of their fresh smiles

In any case. Bravo for trying. Although, I bet if you charged more then you might get some less annoying circumstances. Although, I'm sure some of the higher priced wedding photogs will tell you that you'll gain some new annoying habits/circumstances with the higher priced clients. But at least you'll be getting paid for it

Thanks April for the nice words.

I am a major pushover in most instances I have to admit. The thing for me is, I can't really charge a fee for something that I'm not that good at! :lol:

Maybe after I learn some more I'll try again. It does just make me nuts too, to think that i could mess up and ruin the memories for that entire day! you know. Lots of pressure there.
In this instance I did okay but only because it was free. I guess the bride crying over them is a good sign, especially since she thought she didn't even care about the pictures in the first place. But if I had charged for this I would be dissapointed even more in what I got for them.
Well... you know what they say... practice makes perfect, however, if it keeps going the way it shas so far I might get beat up by the next wedding party!!!

AdamZx3 · Aug 30, 2007

Wow ungrateful is the understatement of the day!! she should be doing cartwheels for having you take your time to do that for her.

I checked out the pics in your Flickr stream and they are very very good for your 2nd wedding, you should be proud!

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 31, 2007

AdamZx3 said:
Wow ungrateful is the understatement of the day!! she should be doing cartwheels for having you take your time to do that for her.

I checked out the pics in your Flickr stream and they are very very good for your 2nd wedding, you should be proud!

Oh, thanks for the comments. I think for being a free photographer I did okay but I never could have charged for those, in fact, I can't wait to take most of them off of my flickr but that's how her family is viewing them right now, through flickr. I think a lot of them are ok to view in small sizes ont he computer but wouldn't print too well y'know?
There were a few shots I was proud of but you know most if those ones I got the ideas directly from you guys.

Thanks for taking the time to check em' out.

emogirl · Aug 31, 2007

oh my gosh, i cant believe he was RIGHT in there...what an ass!!! we have all had our fill of guys like that...but he might just take the cake!

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 31, 2007

emogirl said:
oh my gosh, i cant believe he was RIGHT in there...what an ass!!! we have all had our fill of guys like that...but he might just take the cake!

HAHA! you know at first I was like, DUDE! You're in my shot! But then I was like, Hey! You aren't just in my way, you're in everyone else's way too! Who stands right there in a bright ass yellow shirt!!!!!

The Phototron · Aug 31, 2007

Well...it's overly biased here, so er...give the guy a break? The world isn't center around you. You got to remember that they didn't hire you, your mom ask you to do it. If you're not a professional wedding photographer, you should be grateful for the experience their wedding provides.

Other than that...cut the excessive whining and just try.

littlesandra · Aug 31, 2007

^ well aren't you just a ray of sunshine.

She did the photos FOR them, as a favor for her mother and the brides mother. She didn't say she wasn't grateful, she just said it was an annoyance!

The Phototron · Aug 31, 2007

littlesandra said:
^ well aren't you just a ray of sunshine.

She did the photos FOR them, as a favor for her mother and the brides mother.

That doesn't mean they owe her a lot. If you're known as the camera person in a family or a small social network, you know people are going to come to you for that kind of thing when the occasion arises. And most of the time they don't give much consideration as how good you actually are, it's like a "duh" decision.

And it's nice, that they consider you to be that camera person. It's an encouragement.

She didn't say she wasn't grateful, she just said it was an annoyance!

Of course she didn't say he wasn't grateful...why would you need to say that when you're whining about it?

nabero · Aug 31, 2007

Well it sounds like you handled it with class.

Kudos JJM!! :goodvibe:

[Oh, and per "the phototron"...I see nothing wrong with venting to a group who understand your frustration....but enough thread jacking]

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 31, 2007

The Phototron said:
Well...it's overly biased here, so er...give the guy a break? The world isn't center around you. You got to remember that they didn't hire you, your mom ask you to do it. If you're not a professional wedding photographer, you should be grateful for the experience their wedding provides.

Other than that...cut the excessive whining and just try.

Haha you crack me up! No I wasn't paid, my mom asked me because the bride's mother wanted me to do it, not because my mom wanted me to do them.
I would never dream to think that the world revolves around me but it was very understood that I was there not as a guest, but as the person whose only reason for being there was to take pictures. DUH.

Excessive whining... I don't know if I was whining really more just sharing my experience and if you paid attention you can see that I did try,,, even after being mistreated.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, have a lovely day there. :sexywink:

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 31, 2007

littlesandra said:
^ well aren't you just a ray of sunshine.

She did the photos FOR them, as a favor for her mother and the brides mother. She didn't say she wasn't grateful, she just said it was an annoyance!

Big hugs to for standing up for me, but it's really no big deal. People are entitled to say what they feel, even if it only benefits their own sense of self importance.

JimmyJaceyMom · Aug 31, 2007

nabero said:
Well it sounds like you handled it with class.

Kudos JJM!! :goodvibe:

[Oh, and per "the phototron"...I see nothing wrong with venting to a group who understand your frustration....but enough thread jacking]

Thanks I'm glad you thought so. And originally I didn't even think of it as a vent but more an 'inside joke' as I've heard this story here quite a few times. But yes, a vent it became when I told more of the story.

Just for the record I want to mention to anyone that is interested in wedding photography that I am not trying to tell you that it is bad or that you shouldn't do it. Just FOR ME, I like one on one photoshoots that you can plan out and take your time wiht. It's a personal thing.
There were some lovely times at that wedding that actually made me almost teary and I'm not very emotional at all, like when the bride danced with her dad. I was happy to capture that dance.

Thanks for the kudos Nabero!