OT - Bad experience with a Wedding Photographer

John222 wrote on 8/3/2014, 7:08 PM
I was helping out my sister in law this weekend with her daughters wedding. She hired a photographer, but nobody to do video. I wasn't planing to do the whole event (since I was a guest along with my wife), just capture whatever scenes I could without getting in the photographers way. No post production work or anything. Just see if I could get the vows and toast and such. Well this dullard and his assistant wife would stand in front of me whenever they could. Not to take a picture! They would just wander in front of me and stay there. He didn't even wear a suit, just a black outfit with gear hung all over him. Couldn't get the vows or anything important in church since he went down front and stood up right in front of the bride blocking everyone view. He did this throughout the mass. Several other guest came up to me and stated they thought he was doing it on purpose. I think I have about 30 minutes of footage of his ass.

Funny thing, today my sister in law called and said they hated the photographer. She said he refused to take any picture she (the paying customer) requested. The bridesmaids asked for a picture together, he refused. The mother of the bride ask for a simple backlighted picture of the bride and groom in front of a stained glass door, he refused. He didn't even take family group pictures. I can't imagine this guy gets any referral work.

Comments

PeterDuke wrote on 8/3/2014, 9:50 PM
It makes your blood boil, the way some people behave.

My stepson and his (then) fiancee hired a husband and wife team to photo and video their wedding. They demanded (most?) payment in advance.

As the wedding day approached, they heard on the grapevine that the couple had split and that the wife was no longer doing videos. When they contacted her, she confirmed that she was not going to do it. She also could not refund the money because she had already spent it.

They then had to get another videographer at short notice and worry about getting their money back.
Grazie wrote on 8/3/2014, 11:51 PM
Oh yes. Been there, had that. I could cite 3 occasions where photographers get the "Big I am" attitude. But then, we'd get some real gents too. Kinda averages out. At the end of the day it's about business and professional behaviour and winning new clients.

You'll get over it. When it happens, nah not good.

Grazie
GeeBax wrote on 8/4/2014, 1:38 AM
Similar story here. We are members of the Irish Setter Club of Victoria, and it became our turn to organise the annual specialty show. We hired a photographer and videographer separately. The photographer was great, the videographer turned out to be a woman who had never done it before.

She turned up with very professional looking equipment but we soon noticed her actions and wondered if she knew what she was doing - turns out she didn't.

After it was over, and several months later when we asked about the video coverage, she admitted she was completely out of her depth. I asked her to send the tapes to me and I would see what I could do with them. The answer was - not much. She had waved the camera around like a hose and very little of the footage was usable.

I eventually managed to get about 8 minutes of usable material to cobble together the program - out of about 3 hours of footage she shot. And the most successful material was when she locked the camera off and walked away.
PhillB wrote on 8/4/2014, 2:49 AM
Totally unacceptable behaviour.

If we all name and shame these individuals with a couple of short clips on youtube it might make them think twice before behaving in this way.
Grazie wrote on 8/4/2014, 3:15 AM
I doubt it very much.

G

Arthur.S wrote on 8/4/2014, 3:36 AM
This argument has been going on for what seem like forever. Most togs these days are fine, but you do get the odd one pop up who thinks the day is all about the photography. As it happens, I had one such guy last week. I won't bother going into details, but after he'd bowled on through my shot for the second time I had my usual polite chat. "I will never deliberately walk into your shots, and I DO expect the same courtesy back". It's usually (but not always) enough. Later in the day, even the couple were complaining that he'd not left them alone. Dragged them out for more photos before they'd finished their meal, and before they'd had a chance to chat and thank their guests at the tables - which is a tradition here. They actually said to me "we've messed it up". I just said, "well, you could have said no, but HE is the experienced person, and should have known better". I then 'suggested' that they take their time before the first dance and wander around chatting to their guests then instead. The fact that this made the photographer have to stay on an hour later (contracted to first dance) was a bonus. ;-)
Stringer wrote on 8/4/2014, 8:20 AM
Did the photographer get paid?

If he did, sounds like he has a good thing going.. Getting paid to not take pictures...
riredale wrote on 8/4/2014, 10:53 AM
The solution is to only hire people after checking references--just like hiring anyone else. Or were all these folks recommended by others?
John222 wrote on 8/4/2014, 11:12 AM
The brides mother checked everyone out, except the photographer. He was the dad of one of the grooms friends. And the groom absolutely insisted on having him do the wedding even thought the groom wasn't the one with the check book. As far as I know he was paid at least half up front.

BTW, some of these wedding contractors are getting pretty cocky. When looking for a DJ, I was shocked at how many of them refused to play even a few requested songs.

This whole process surprised me. I always knew there were a lot of irrational customers, didn't know there were so many sub par professionals.
Chienworks wrote on 8/4/2014, 12:09 PM
I've DJ'd quite a few wedding receptions over the years. Every single one of them the bride has given me the playlist (thankfully far in advance). I've never had a one yet that expected me to pick music for them.

I have encountered a few still photographers who haven't quite gotten through their heads the fundamental difference with video, which is that the camera is ALWAYS running. Multiple still photographers don't get in each others' way quite so badly because you can usually wait a second or two to take your own shot, or move a bit to one side or the other. With video there isn't down time between shots, and moving the camera looks awful.

The few i've videoed i've usually talked to the still photographer before the wedding and made sure there was awareness of this. The few i've photographed i've talked to the videographer beforehand and assured them that i was aware of their needs and would do my best to stay out of their picture. After all, pros should be considerate and help each other.
Arthur.S wrote on 8/4/2014, 1:11 PM
Amen to that Chienworks. If you have a look around the togs forums, you'll find just as many complaints about videographers getting in the way. My 'ethos' is that we should work as a team to provide the client with a fantastic record of their day.