Monday 28 March 2011

Don't Blame The Wedding Photographer

The Sun newspaper recently published an article detailing how a couple successfully sued the wedding photographer & videographer for dodgy shots.
But it’s not always the photographer’s fault. Yes the bridal party does have there part to play, it’s a two way street. Here’s the top 5 pain in the arse things bridal party’s do when your trying to photograph there very special day.

1.Bride just won’t stop talking when you’re taking their pic so you end up with shots looking like they’ve just had a stroke.

2. Despite a detailed photo plan clearly communicated people turn up late and say Chevy Chase things like.. “Sorry mate got a bit pissed last night”

3. The registrar fails to tell everyone no pictures until the official photographer has got his. The photographer then ends up having to battle his way through a paparazzi scrum.

4. When the bride walks up the aisle with her entourage they all bunch up and with no spaces in between the bridesmaids she’s totally blocked out so you can forget getting the classic walking up the aisle pic.

5. The best man doesn’t look up during his speech. With his script firmly glued to his nose he’s convinced himself if he meets eye contact with anyone he’ll spontaneously combust.

So if your booking a wedding photographer remember you’ve got a part to play too and if you attempt to sue make sure you didn’t ignore the brief the photographer eMailed you else you might find your self on the wrong end of the court bill.

Author: the anonymous York wedding photographer

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Church Vergers don’t like wedding photographers...

Job duties of the Church Verger:
  • Opening up and locking of church premises
  • Preparation for various weekday services where applicable
  • Telling the wedding photographer to naff off because you need to go home early to catch BBC's Countryfile

Picture the scene; I’m photographing the bridal party in front of a well-known North Yorkshire Church. I finish photographing the bridal party and invite the Bride and Groom to go back inside the church for the classic mantle piece shots.
As I turn round to enter the church the Verger is closing the door and within ear shot of the Bride directs this at me...
“We’ve got homes to go to you know we cant hang around here all day”
It takes a moment to take in what you’ve just heard but just as I was cooling from my blushes the Bride wadded in.
“Excuse me we’ve paid over £2000 to hire this church now let us in”
Suffice to say we did get back into the church but the atmosphere was anything but saintly and without a doubt this was the most embarrassing incident I’ve ever had to deal with as a  wedding photographer.
This was the first time this had ever happened but not the last. It happened again at another North Yorkshire Church. As I was photographing a family inside the Church due to bad weather the Vicar hurriedly started switching all the lights off. It would seam that despite paying a Church for the privilege of using their sanctified stage extended opening hours is not guaranteed. A bit like the over keen bouncer telling you to drink up and go home 2 seconds after last orders bad manners it appears is not exclusive to bouncers.
Church Vergers are not all bad tempered however, in fact the majority will help out as much as possible but beware Vergers can bite and whilst you may spend most of your time buttering up the Vicar to get free roam during the ceremony make sure you spare a little Lurpak for the Verger.
My solution is to never assume a Church Verger would pass an NVQ level 1 examination instead write a letter to the Church explaining amongst other things you’ll need access back into the church after the ceremony. Forget trying to ring, visit or eMail you’ll get no answer just a long silence giving you a rare moment to contemplate whether God really cares about wedding photographers.
Author: Anonymous York wedding photographer 

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Church Vergers don’t like wedding photographers


Job duties of the Church Verger:
  • Opening up and locking of church premises
  • Preparation for various weekday services where applicable
  • Telling the wedding photographer to naff off when they want to go home early.

Picture the scene; I’m photographing the bridal party in front of a well-known North Yorkshire Church. I finish photographing the bridal party and invite the bride and groom to go back inside the church for the classic mantle piece shots.
As I turn round to enter the church the Verger is closing the door and within ear shot of the Bride directs this at me –
“We’ve got homes to go to you know we cant hang around here all day”
It takes a moment to take in what you’ve just heard but just as I was cooling from my blushes the Bride wadded in.
“Excuse me we’ve paid over £2000 to hire this church now let us in”
Suffice to say we did get back into the church but the atmosphere was anything but saintly and without a doubt this was the most embarrassing incident I’ve ever had to deal with as a  wedding photographer.
This was the first time this had ever happened but not the last. It happened again at another North Yorkshire Church. As I was photographing a family inside the Church due to bad weather the Vicar hurriedly started switching all the lights off. It would seam that despite paying a Church for the privilege of using their sanctified stage extended opening hours is not guaranteed. A bit like the over keen bouncer telling you to drink up and go home 2 seconds after last orders bad manners it appears is not exclusive to bouncers.
Church Vergers are not all bad tempered however, in fact the majority will help out as much as possible but beware Vergers can bite and whilst you may spend most of your time buttering up the Vicar to get free roam during the ceremony make sure you spare a little Lurpak for the Verger.
My solution is to never assume a Church Verger would pass an NVQ level 1 examination instead write a letter to the Church explaining amongst other things you’ll need access back into the church after the ceremony. Forget trying to ring, visit or eMail you’ll get no answer just a long silence giving you a rare moment to contemplate whether God really cares about wedding photographers.
Author York wedding photographer davidclick.com