Taking pictures is easy..... Photography is hard.

[Stradawhovious]

Alright. I had the good fortune to be asked to shoot a Wedding annversary party the other day, and I have to say that taking pictures is easy........ but photography is hard.

First off, I had 4 family members approach me to let me know exactly how to do my job during the "formal" portrait shoot. In great detail.

"No, don't put the lights there, it would be better to have it flashing straight at us." "Are you sure you want to use that lens?" "Do you really need to use a tripod? Really? [eyes rolling]" "You should wait until the sun comes out. It's really bright today" etc. etc. etc.

Next, I was asked to stay after a few hours and do a grip and grin/meet and greet type session. Just grab some candids. The sun was torture. Luckily If I timed it right, I could get a dozen or so shots in when a cloud was in front of the sun. Took a bit of the edge off, but not completely. In lieu of that, I had to make creative use of shade. It was an interesting experiment in experimenting.

After that, I was far from done....... Honestly, I don't know how you wedding photograhers do it. I had about 300 pitures to leaf through, and 20 portraits to touch up. The portraits alone were at least an hour each in post, and the 300 pics (that I pared down to 200) in total took about 5 hours to polish up. Partly because I'm not as quick or as well versed in PS as I should be, and partly because there were a lot of freaking pictures.

The worst is that after delivering the "product" to the "customer" I didn't get ANY feedback. None. Not a peep. I would at least expect to hear whether or not they like them. I guess no news is good news, but its pretty disheartening to say the least.


At any rate, I learned a couple of things.

A camera gets heavy after a few hours. Really ****ing heavy. A grip is a really nice thing to have...... for two hours or less.

Drunk people get really angsty about having their picture taken. If you're going to take their picture, make sure you are outside of swinging distance.

People are genetically pre-disposed to duckface. If they see a camera, they instantly go into duckface. Its almost like a defense mechanism. Also, once Duckface has been deployed, it is almost impossible to get rid of. PS needs a "DuckFace removal tool".

When someone says "Hey, I'm a photographer too!" Don't engage them in conversation. Nothing good can come of it. Period. A real photographer would stay the hell out of your way, and let you do your job. This person that won't leave you alone doesn't fit that description. The easiest way to get away from these people is to glance over their right shoulder, and say "what the hell is that?!?!?" When they turn to look, walk away. Quickly.

Drunk people do really stupid things. Try not to make a big deal out of them..... because many times the ones who do stupid things are really beligerent about being photographed doing them.

And lastly, no matter how much you're prodded, don't follow the older, homlier, unmarried sister of the Bride when she says "Come here, I want to show you something."

It's a trap.

Trust me.

 

[DiskoJoe]

People can really impede the process a lot. Trying doing a wedding where the mother and mother-in-law are both in a pissy mood. I should post the picture I got of them together. Priceless.

 

[ghache]

this was pretty much my first wedding gig experience...without the trap. poor you.

 

[Stradawhovious]

this was pretty much my first wedding gig experience...without the trap. poor you.

I want to be clear that this was an anniversary party, not a wedding........ I don't want this to turn into a standard "shooting my first wedding........ Is my Fuji finepix good enough?" Thread.

I'm not sure I will ever be wedding photographer caliber.

 

[12sndsgood]

I have yet to shoot a wedding/anniversary type event and hope i dont ever have to heck taking a family portrait of the family all together is a bit much for my patience. but i can understand how you feel. for me editing 50 pics takes me a few hours and couldnt beging to imagine how much time id take to edit 2-300. and agree about the people coming up to you and wanting to tell you what to do and get in on the action. at my nieces wedding the dads girlfriend was a picture buff and was complaining to me how the paid photographer was pissing her off and wouldnt let them shoot pics at certain points. i just nodded my head as she talked. when in reality i just wanted to remind her that the paid photographer is the one being paid to take great pics and she'd prefer you not getting in the way and making her life more hell then it allready is lol.

 

[pgriz]

Yer a brave man, Strad... On the other hand, if you're so inclined your gig could be giving you lots of material for a comedy routine.

 

[Foxx]

what's a duckface?

 

[Stradawhovious]

what's a duckface?

Well Hi there! You must be new here.

Welcome to the photo forum!

Here is duckface.

http://dailyfun.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/why-the-duckface-8.jpg

 

[bennielou]

Hehe. I loved what you had to say. Priceless! And dead on.

We get the same types of things as well. You gotta love:

1. The bridesmaid who wants you to recreate all her fav photos from HER wedding, no matter how dorky and outdated. (She really doesn't care if the bride wants it or not, but we normally shoot a quicky, just to shut her up).

2. The cousins who decide the event is a good time for family portraits.

3. The MOB/MOG/Friend, who repeated says, "You need to get that!" even when you already got that shot way before being instructed to.

4. The really drunk gals that dance like hookers hoping you will take 10 zillions shots of them.

5. Photo "bombs". Those people who insist in jumping in front of every informal group shots.

6. Guests who want to talk photography ALL NIGHT.

7. Guests who insist you are doing it ALL wrong.

8. Guests that want to "help" you with every formal shot.

9. The drunk that wants to grab your camera.

10. The drunks that step on your toes, falls into you, and want to have a detailed conversation about how much "they love you man!"

11. The guests who will practically knock you over to "get the shot".

LOL. Anyhoo, I COMPLETELY understand!

 

[MissCream]

If I don't receive feedback from a client I email or call them to check in to make sure the pictures were to their liking

Like a follow up email, I usually ask about how everyone is doing and let them know how much fun I had at the shoot, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[subscuck]

I should post the picture I got of them together. Priceless.

Once you let the cat out of the bag, it becomes mandatory. I await your post.

 

[subscuck]

And lastly, no matter how much you're prodded, don't follow the older, homlier, unmarried sister of the Bride when she says "Come here, I want to show you something."

It's a trap.

Trust me.

:smileys:

 

[spacefuzz]

I shot a teen event once and then spent the next week removing acne in photoshop

But nothing on your level, sorry about the trap!

 

[christian.rudman]

Ahahaha. Yes. I must be too homely myself for traps, never had that encounter.

 

[wannabephotog]

And lastly, no matter how much you're prodded, don't follow the older, homlier, unmarried sister of the Bride when she says "Come here, I want to show you something."

It's a trap.

Trust me.

LMAO!!!!!