Ok so I was going to make this a rant that if you are going to shoot a wedding you should know what the heck you are doing…and point out all the basic photography things that seem to be lacking with the wedding / event photographers I have seen of late...
Rather I am going to ask…
When you are the client / model and you hire a pro and during the shot it becomes clear the photog is in over their heads or they clearly do not know what they are doing… do you say anything, step in to help, bust out your DSLR prosumer camera and try and prove you are better, or sit back and snicker…?
Hi Jordan! The "professional" photographer that my daughter hired for her wedding was not good (and that is being nice). Thank goodness there were guests at the wedding who took photos and those turned out to be some of the best photos we have. I did end up and compensate one guest because I was pleased that she had gotten so many good shots. Soooooooo, I say, snap away if it becomes obvious that the professional is not so great!
@paulaag glad to hear it happens to other people... and you were able to fix it by finding other photos.
as a general rule I don't bring a DSLR to events where there will be pros. I pocket a little Yak-ME rangefinder and that covers what I want shots of and just enjoy the evening out.
@beautifulthing uncle bob is one thing... knowing their equipment better than they do just means I am a gear head and I can predict things like NICL batteries do not work in sub-freezing temps... a 12" softbox is too small for a group of 10 and if you spend only 20 mins of a 2 hour shoot shooting you are either spending too much time playing with your rented 'pro' canon equipment which you clearly have never used before today or you don't know how to set the camera for the effect you saw in someone else's wedding photos and you wanted to do today....
It's painful for me, hell, it was before I even did photography. But much worse now. I have a friend getting married in May, I told her flat out that I will bring my equipment for back up to the photog she hired, just in case...
I have a friend who hired a cheap HORRIBLE photog for her wedding and then asked me (a pro) to bring my camera to get all the good shots. I'm still undecided if I will bother. It's not really my problem that she didn't want to spend money on me or another pro. I will happily take my p&s, but its my day off. I don't think I will work for free. She had her chance at hiring me and burnt that bridge.
@ariananeala don't bother. they wanted to play cheap, expecting you to save the day.
-(not single directed)- i charge a cheap price of shooting a wedding ($2500 minimum) add cost if possible bridezilla. i have also had some not understand it is a lot more than just snapping photos, and at the same time flown across the country several times to shoot weddings. this is one point that is a killer for photogs, the 'my friend has a camera and will charge $200' mentality. *shudder*
if a 'friend' wanted me to shoot, pay up, or suck it up is my cold bitter attitude :)
My wife and I went freebie and had my brother, who is a landscape photographer, and an old family friend who used to be a police photographer (!), do all our pics. As well as random shots from guests with their own cameras, we ended up having a great album.
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as a general rule I don't bring a DSLR to events where there will be pros. I pocket a little Yak-ME rangefinder and that covers what I want shots of and just enjoy the evening out.
a.) They did not do their due diligence (referrals, review of prior work, etc.)
b.) They were cheap.
c.) All of the above.
I would never jump in front of a person that was hired for it. They did not hire me. If the job sucked, let the courts decide.
Did you know that elaborate forms of prothoracic and cephalic armature are a well known feature of beetles in the family Scarabaeidae?
Damn autocorrect ;)
P.S. Oh look, armature photography, right here on 365
or your models are perfect...
-(not single directed)- i charge a cheap price of shooting a wedding ($2500 minimum) add cost if possible bridezilla. i have also had some not understand it is a lot more than just snapping photos, and at the same time flown across the country several times to shoot weddings. this is one point that is a killer for photogs, the 'my friend has a camera and will charge $200' mentality. *shudder*
if a 'friend' wanted me to shoot, pay up, or suck it up is my cold bitter attitude :)
The saying "You get what you pay for" is very true...