Worst Photography experience

[rlcphotos]

Well its technically his building and his rules - but your the employee of the family. If you have problems speak to them about it - be fair and calm (treat it as just a misunderstanding). Chances are when the people paying him start talking his tune might change - it can often be the case

That said he just sounds bitter - chalk it up and move on with things. Can't let one guy stop you in your tracks! Chances are you will meet similar people as you go on - learn to work with or around them and try to be accomodating - if they start with totally unreasonable requests/demands be firm and calm again in outlining your position. You have a job to do as well.

first of all its not HIS church it is God's church and that of the people the people is the reason that church is there in the first place after all they pay for every thing in it,,now with that said he could have done it a lot nicer if he had wanted to, If it was my family involved I would take it up with the leaders and if there was no resolution to the rudeness involved I would change church

 

[table1349]

Well its technically his building and his rules - but your the employee of the family. If you have problems speak to them about it - be fair and calm (treat it as just a misunderstanding). Chances are when the people paying him start talking his tune might change - it can often be the case

That said he just sounds bitter - chalk it up and move on with things. Can't let one guy stop you in your tracks! Chances are you will meet similar people as you go on - learn to work with or around them and try to be accomodating - if they start with totally unreasonable requests/demands be firm and calm again in outlining your position. You have a job to do as well.

first of all its not HIS church it is God's church and that of the people the people is the reason that church is there in the first place after all they pay for every thing in it,,now with that said he could have done it a lot nicer if he had wanted to, If it was my family involved I would take it up with the leaders and if there was no resolution to the rudeness involved I would change church

Spoken like a true protestant. :lmao:

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't defending the priest in my first post, but having been raised in the catholic church I understand the dogma. In that church the priest is the leader of that church, he is the voice for the church in his parish and the church as a whole is the voice of god on earth.

I think if you ask most seasoned wedding photographers they will tell you that there are probably more rules about shooting weddings in a catholic church than most other churches.

 

[table1349]

[INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS REMOVED]

Always late to the good stuff. . .

PM me, I can give you the jist of the post. :mrgreen:

 

[UUilliam]

Just curious if anyone has ever experienced anything like this, maybe it will help cheer me up, oh and i should also add this is my *first time ever being hired to do my photography.
So today i arrived at the catholic chuch to photograph for my parents friends baby babtizing, so far everything was going great i used the extra time i had by arriving early for photographing the entire church as well as its arriving guests. I decided in that time it would be proper etiquete to introduce myself to the priest and explain to him that i had been hired for the afternoon to photograph the babtizing.
After locating the priest i described my intentions for the afternoon to him only to receieve a "i greatly disslike photographers" response from him. I quickly tried to smooth things over by describing the church had enough windows to allow for me to not have to use a flash that he would probably find distracting. He then turned to me and said, "i disslike photographers, they seem to try and make everything about themselves and are incredibly distracting, and if i find you in any way distracting dont think for a second i wont stop the ceremony and have you escorted out with a lawsuit.....". The entire babtizing i was to scared to move out of my seat to take any pictures, at the very begining another family member used a camera with flash, and he literally stopped in mid sentance just to stare her down.... i never did get any of the pictures i wanted, i almost want to quit photography from this experience!!! Im still crying this second over this , is this what i should expect to happen in photography...

I tell everyone but noone believes me...
Priests, ministers and all holy men alike, they are EVIL every single one of them, they all have a subdue dark hidden secret, christanity is a cult, it has a dark evil past, the side of the stories that you think are very inspiring have been sugar coated to lure people into the cult and become brain washed into following the word and doing as these evil people tell you to, they have prgrammed you so if they say "god commands you to" you will do what they say, "God" commands you to do nothing, "he" gave us free will, no catches attatched, the only thing that has power over us is another cult of Evil people, the Law and the government, Christanity is an evil brain washing cult, it will soon be like muslims (note i don't imply muslims are all bad im speaking about the few muslim Imam's that have commanded people to attack people in the form of suicide bombings.) They will have power over the people and the people will be slaves to the Pope's every word, if the pope says kill the queen, the people will kill the queen, luckily todays generation have taken it upon themselves to rebel against faith, yet some of todays generation are to blind and scared to see that christanity is a huge evil lie, the stories, yes thats what they are STORIES, are sugar coated to make a bad thing sound good, ask a Skin head why they like hitler, they can convince you hitler was a nice caring man, this is what christians are doing but these christians dont know the REAL christ, the priests and ministers try keep it a secret they dont want people to know of the power they have over us, they make their power subliminal, uh well i might document this one day instead of hijacking this thread with my preaching about religeon being evil.

i dont mean to demean anyone who is religeous, i say people are open to their own opinions, this is just mines, but i have friends who are christians but they are like leeches, they try to convert you, they are zombies to the church out to recruit new members

 

[ANDS!]

Just curious if anyone has ever experienced anything like this, maybe it will help cheer me up, oh and i should also add this is my *first time ever being hired to do my photography.
So today i arrived at the catholic chuch to photograph for my parents friends baby babtizing, so far everything was going great i used the extra time i had by arriving early for photographing the entire church as well as its arriving guests. I decided in that time it would be proper etiquete to introduce myself to the priest and explain to him that i had been hired for the afternoon to photograph the babtizing.
After locating the priest i described my intentions for the afternoon to him only to receieve a "i greatly disslike photographers" response from him. I quickly tried to smooth things over by describing the church had enough windows to allow for me to not have to use a flash that he would probably find distracting. He then turned to me and said, "i disslike photographers, they seem to try and make everything about themselves and are incredibly distracting, and if i find you in any way distracting dont think for a second i wont stop the ceremony and have you escorted out with a lawsuit.....". The entire babtizing i was to scared to move out of my seat to take any pictures, at the very begining another family member used a camera with flash, and he literally stopped in mid sentance just to stare her down.... i never did get any of the pictures i wanted, i almost want to quit photography from this experience!!! Im still crying this second over this , is this what i should expect to happen in photography...

I tell everyone but noone believes me...
Priests, ministers and all holy men alike, they are EVIL every single one of them, they all have a subdue dark hidden secret, christanity is a cult, it has a dark evil past, the side of the stories that you think are very inspiring have been sugar coated to lure people into the cult and become brain washed into following the word and doing as these evil people tell you to, they have prgrammed you so if they say "god commands you to" you will do what they say, "God" commands you to do nothing, "he" gave us free will, no catches attatched, the only thing that has power over us is another cult of Evil people, the Law and the government, Christanity is an evil brain washing cult, it will soon be like muslims (note i don't imply muslims are all bad im speaking about the few muslim Imam's that have commanded people to attack people in the form of suicide bombings.) They will have power over the people and the people will be slaves to the Pope's every word, if the pope says kill the queen, the people will kill the queen, luckily todays generation have taken it upon themselves to rebel against faith, yet some of todays generation are to blind and scared to see that christanity is a huge evil lie, the stories, yes thats what they are STORIES, are sugar coated to make a bad thing sound good, ask a Skin head why they like hitler, they can convince you hitler was a nice caring man, this is what christians are doing but these christians dont know the REAL christ, the priests and ministers try keep it a secret they dont want people to know of the power they have over us, they make their power subliminal, uh well i might document this one day instead of hijacking this thread with my preaching about religeon being evil.

i dont mean to demean anyone who is religeous, i say people are open to their own opinions, this is just mines, but i have friends who are christians but they are like leeches, they try to convert you, they are zombies to the church out to recruit new members

Takes a close minded bigot to know one I s'pose.

 

[OregonAmy]

i dont mean to demean anyone who is religeous...

almost as good as someone saying, "I'm not a racist, but.... <insert racist comment here>"


Anyway... sorry to hear about that experience.

The topic reminded me of something that occurred recently, not photo-related. I was traveling for work and doing my workout in the hotel gym. The cardio machines all faced a glass wall, which overlooked the little hotel pool. Anyway, so there I am all sweaty and gross about 1/2 hour into my run when 2 guys walk into the pool area. One gets into the pool in his clothes, and the other kneels by the side of the pool. I was wondering WTF was going on, when I realized it was a baptism.

I was raised that baptism was a private experience and to be shared with just your very close loved-ones (and not done at birth, but at one's own choosing). I felt like I was intruding! It was really weird and uncomfortable (mostly because I was all sweaty and gross and breathing heavy... not exactly proper appearance for a baptism ). I talked to a coworker of mine about it later and she told me that some churches (including hers) view baptism as a celebration - and often do baptisms (including mass baptisms) in public places like lakes. I definitely see the priest's perspective (but don't agree with his approach), as it really is a sacred event IMO.

Just a good example, I guess, of a common ritual treated so differently across the christian spectrum...

 

[ANDS!]

. . .doing my workout in the hotel gym.

 

[inTempus]

If you think this is bad, just wait until you get a few weddings under your belt. If you don't handle conflict well, and you freeze up if a priest gives you a little flak, you're going to totally freak out when you're running the show at a wedding.

Actually, one of the things that surprised me the most about photography is that just about everything is difficult to do. Shoots are difficult to arrange, models are difficult to locate and get to show up, property owners are difficult to work with, even the city/police can be a pain in the butt. Just about everyone in charge of anything at a wedding is difficult to work with once the tension mounts... Then you throw in the pressure you feel to get the shots when the event/ceremony/whatever is going down.

Yeah, being a professional photog is a very demanding occupation. I think people almost always underestimate this going in.

So, if you don't think you can handle a little stress or a difficult priest or client... professional photography might not be your gig.

As for how I would have dealt with your situation.

I would have thanked the priest for his time and comments. I would have informed my client about his comments, and asked them to speak with him and let him know you're there at their request. I would have worn something lowkey (black outfit). I would have grabbed a fast long lens like the 70-200 f/2.8 and found a place out of the priests way, and everyone elses. I would have shot from a distance and the priest would have forgotten all about me. If not, and he stopped the ceremony because of my presence, I would have excused myself. The client already knows why you're leaving and now it's all on the priest.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

May as well call a halt on this one too, just in case.