Rant: ON (Long winded post about a close friend's wedding photog)

[Nikonic1]

Well, I just wanted to make a couple comments after attending a really close friend's wedding this weekend. It was a relatively low budget wedding so take that into account when you read my rant but I am still appalled at what they received from someone who they were paying (and operates a "photography" business) to do their photography and to capture their special day.

First off, I have a few things I'd like to get off my chest: because some (or many people for that matter) tell you you're "good at taking pictures", YOU ARE NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER. Just because you have a camera, "YOU ARE NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER. Just because you've decided to charge for your half-assed ability at "taking pictures" YOU ARE NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER.

So, we get to the church and I begin to look around for the "photographer". All of us groomsmen and the groom were there, she was no where to be found. Oh, there she is! I should have known, it's the girl with a D40 walking toward us, lens cap on and on camera flash popped up. Now, some might think this was her pre-flash trigger for all of the strobes she had setup, or that she was just on her way to pickup her speedlight.....nah...that was her go to lighting source for the whole event. Excellent, I can't wait to see how that works out.

On things go and I haven't seen her lift the camera from her waist and take a single shot as the bridal party mills around, groomsmen fix each other's suits, usher folks in, etc. Nah, she's waiting for the moment of truth, no need to waste any room on you 16MB memory card with any of those crazy shots! Not that she would have been able to properly expose anything given how dark the church was. Well, maybe I'm wrong, she did have the ultra powerful and efficient on camera flash at the ready.

So, the ceremony goes off without a hitch and she decides it's time to take some formals, including family inside the church. Mind you, this church is DARK!!! (and she's only got an on camera flash:huh) Ok, whatever.......

Last gripe for this rant but certainly not all there is to say...the reception....good lord. This girl snaps a few shots as the bridal party walks in and is introduced, then proceeds to find herself a spot to sit down and eat dinner promptly. Camera gets set down for the next hour+ while she chats it up with some people at the reception she must have known while bride, groom and everyone else are dancing, having fun, etc. Oh, wait...she's getting up!! Stands up, slings the camera strap back over her shoulder and lays it on her waist. I understand, there must just not be anything going on worth shooting photos of, right? Gotcha. :scratch:scratch:scratch:scratch:scratch

Finally, the evening continues, and I finish a dance and look over to see her packing up. WAIT!!! There's still two hours of reception left!!! Where are you going!!????!!?!? Well, she must have filled her 16MB memory card with the 4 photos she shot. Not to worry though, I'm sure 3 out of 4 wall hangers anyway. That's 75% success rate. You can't argue with that.


Alright...so the point of this whole rant (sorry if I bored you) is to express some gratitude and appreciation for the top notch work all of you wedding photographers are doing. This is not an easy job I've quickly realized and it can be WAY FRIGGING SCREWED UP, really easily, by someone who is "good at taking pictures" :huh:huh:huh I can't imagine that there are people out there who are paying for this sort of work and that there are people who can make money basically stealing from people IMO. Granted, they couldn't have paid much, but if the bride and groom collected all of the images from all of the digital cameras that were there (for free), there is no doubt in my mind they would have hundreds of better shots than this girl was able to produce. I can't wait to see the final product. I'm nearly certain it will be appalling.

Needless to say, I had a light selection of my gear on hand so I snapped a few shots for them when I was able. I am in no way a wedding photog and have a serious deficiency (IMO :D) shooting people in general and simply have a lot of learning to do in that arena.

So, again, thanks to all of you wedding professionals out there who are doing such an amazing job at what you do. Keep up the good work. :clap:clap:clap

I'l post a couple shots I took in just a bit :thumb

[mmmatt]

This should be a sticky! Ha!!! Sad thing is, this is not a unique story... this happens a lot. Hopefully she got something that will remind the b&g of the beauty of the day, but as you say, most likely not much.

Matt

[Nikonic1]

This should be a sticky! Ha!!!


:D:D:D Thanks for taking the time to read. Keep up the good work Matt.

[DWS]

what?....all we have to do is push a button and everything just happens :dunno

I recently had someone tell me that I charge "top dollar" fees, even after I had discounted 40% as a favor :bash

it's really frustrating at times

[Surfdog]

I would have laughed if it wasn't so sad. Great post.

[Nikonic1]

I would have laughed if it wasn't so sad. Great post.


You and me both. I felt terrible for them....

[heatherfeather]

Such a sad story... but so common!

I work really closely with a set of wedding planners..... and they tell me that they would loove to send even more work my way but 8 times out of ten, their clients are having "uncle Bob" do the photos on the cheap. :huh
Now... last time I checked, wedding planners aren't exactly economical to hire either.

I was talking to someone else and they were just RAVING about how great their i phone's photos are. They are almost so good you could shoot a wedding with it! Reaaally!:rolleyes


There is no changing someone elses priorities for them. What can we do, but blow those i phone and Uncle Bob pics out of the water.

[Moogle Pepper]

That's terrible. :(

While it is true that person shouldn't be charging OR shooting weddings, why exactly did your close friend hire her in the first place? Regardless of being low budget?

[Nikonic1]

A couple shots I was able to grab. I'd love C&C....people (wedding especially) is not even close to my forte`.....I'd love to hear thought and critiques.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4679576878_6f900334dd.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4678937793_6dca005bb3.jpg

(Just realized I need to adjust the horizon in this one...)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4679545040_1cfc0866a7.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4678897895_fca5e2392b.jpg

One of my fiance for kicks :D
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4679494410_0fae709f28.jpg

[Nikonic1]

That's terrible. :(

While it is true that person shouldn't be charging OR shooting weddings, why exactly did your close friend hire her in the first place? Regardless of being low budget?


Well, there are a lot of variables that come into play in this scenario. First being that I'm not sure my buddy and his wife understand the difference between good photos and terrible photos/snapshots other than if they were to see them side by side. We come from a very small, blue collar town and while accomplished photographers exist, the cost is almost always thought to be over the top.

So, I'd attribute a lot of the issue to lack of understanding/appreciation for the craft and also financial considerations as well.

I just think that there needs to be a certain level of competency, correct equipment and ability to produce quality to be charging ANY money whatsoever as a hired "professional" in any line of work. I don't think everyone is on the same level and the amount each charges should dictate that, but to be charging someone for taking snapshots is just ludicrous.

[JayClark79]

Horrible story... are you sure the "photographer" wasn't just a friend or a relative?

[PhotoLasVegas]

We have to remember that most people aren't as "picky" as we are, and some people don't care the quality of their photos.. $30/hour Craigslist Photog? That will work. They're just pictures, right? We also have to remember that as long as the photog didn't mis-lead your friends as to the quality or service she's providing then whatever she did at the event was "OK'. (except leaving early).

Every day we get the following reactions to our pricing/packages;
- OMG, that's way too much (click).
- Wow, that's a good deal, let's book it!
- HOLY $%&^ that's CHEAP!

And our pricing is right in the mid-range for our market and the product we provide.

We know that the "that's way too much" people just don't value quality and you're just not going to talk them into spending money.

I'm guessing your friends didn't care as much as the average client - that budget was more important.

That said, if she really LEFT EARLY, that's completely unprofessional. Heck, we always stay 15 minutes (at least) longer than our contracted time.

If she mis-represented the quality of her photos, that's unprofessional.. but if her online portfolio (or in-person portfolio) is a fair representation of what she'll provide to her clients, then your friends made an educated decision and that's OK by me.

As for not taking the PJ type shots - you never know, maybe she was up-front with your friends and maybe she only does the "important" (ie. formals and ceremony, and cake cutting/1st dance type) photos. Maybe she wasn't hired to do PJ stuff.. or maybe her package was limited to 100 photos or whatever and she knew she had enough. Again, maybe this was what she promised to provide.

I'm not defending this photog - but IF SHE WAS HONEST WITH HER CLIENTS then there's nothing to defend.

[Sam]

Nikonic1,

First in general I agree with PhotoLasVegas.

I do understand your rant and it could be well deserved or overstated. Need to know what the contract, understanding, price, etc, was.

Also I am betting this is a shoot, and burn. The images should be available pretty soon. Lets see some of them. The proof is in the pudding.

As to your photos..........burn the first two fast! It really makes her look very large. The other Two are nice but I would try to leave more room in front of the subject. Have them walking / looking into the scene not out of it.

Harsh open sunlight is not a good place for portrait or all most any other type of photo.

Sam

[Photog4Christ]

..... The other Two are nice but I would try to leave more room in front of the subject. Have them walking / looking into the scene not out of it.



...and PS out the breakwalls in the water behind her. :D

[smurfy]

Gotta agree with the others...they probably got what they paid for. I don't remember who said it, but a quote that is so true is this:

"Good photography isn't cheap. Cheap photography isn't good."

[SCP]

A couple shots I was able to grab. I'd love C&C....people (wedding especially) is not even close to my forte`.....I'd love to hear thought and critiques.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4679576878_6f900334dd.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4678937793_6dca005bb3.jpg

(Just realized I need to adjust the horizon in this one...)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4679545040_1cfc0866a7.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4678897895_fca5e2392b.jpg

One of my fiance for kicks :D
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4679494410_0fae709f28.jpg


I am not the best people photographer either, but I might have turned the bride around so her face was lit up by the sun and not left her in the shadows.

they also seem a little bright/blown out. Lost some details on her dress and in the background of your Fiancée. Otherwise these are very nice and probably better then what the other one got and you can at least maybe salvage the wedding with them.

[mmmatt]

Matt,
As you know you need some work on your people skills... people shooting that is. First two angles are pretty awful but I assume you were off 45 deg from the wanna-be. You want to try to get faces of course... that's the rule, but like all rules that one is breakable, however it doesn't really work the way you shot it. Personally I wouldn't crop #3 because the end of the veil will get lost and that never looks right to me. It isn't a bad idea to shoot a little wide and crop in post when you have scenery around so you have options. If you are doing a tight crop than do it, but if not give yourself some breathing room both for recomposing and for 8x10ish prints. 3 and 4 would be far better with off camera lighting coming from your right to lessen some of the shadowing. Even on camera or a pop-up would probably help. Your fiance, as gorgeous is she is, isn't really giving you much to work with here. This is more of a candid shot and for a candid shot to be good you need more than a person in a frame. You need to have some sort of emotion. Her posturing says to me "oh my god he's taking MY picture! What do I do!", and that does not a good photograph make. Overall get the subjects out of the center of the frame by either focusing and recomposing or adjusting your focal point in camera. What you have here is snapshots, and if you want to kick it up a notch you would include some of the surroundings in the negative space on either side (not both) of your subject. I don't have a problem with the exposures. You only have so much dynamic range you can work with. You didn't blow details in the most visable parts of her dress and that is what it is all about on a bright sunny day. Again having some fill would have allowed you to reduce the needed dynamic range and take the hotspots off her backside.

Matt

[Nikonic1]

Thanks matt, I appreciate your comments. I agree on these shots being snapshots and I was doing my best to pop off a couple shots I'm the midst of my roles as a groomsman ;-)

I was also trying to stay out of the way of the girl they had paid to do their photos, regardless if my opinion of her, that's why the framing in a few is quite poor. There were a lit of people milling around as well which didn't help the ability to shoot any wider at all.