Angry wedding photographer posts picture of groom struggling to see bride walk down aisle in guest smartphone rant - Mirror Online (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/angry-wedding-photographer-posts-picture-6787078?ICID=FB_mirror_main)

Completely agree with the bloke! absolutely hate these guests.

Brilliant! I hope it really settles down guests from crowding out the photographer and videographer.

Smartphone is one thing, a ipad with the protection cover dangling on the bottomside is like the the size of 10 smartphones put together. I still don't understand why people bring their Ipads to a wedding.

When I used to do photography I quickly got to the point of fed up with telling the guests to give me room or get out of the way and many times I had to deal with the bride showing her photos of guests in the frame that she was quick to snarl " well you're the pro right? didn't you see them in front of you BEFORE you took the shot?" There are times that the guests are unavoidable on key shots that cannot be repeated and the best we could hope for is to crop the offending people out which makes the final composition weird. Even though one tells the bride ( grooms really don't care much anyway) many times before the wedding that guests should be mindful of the pro, it is all quickly forgotten within the din and excitement of the day. I even had the DJ announce to the guests before the couple's entrance and the cake cutting to BACK OFF. Yeah right..in one ear out the other.

Brides are slowly coming to their senses and are having "unplugged" weddings here but sadly most still have the annoying iphone rush to get a shot. I agree with Noa too ..why do you need a 10" iPad inside a stupid double sized cover and have to hold it up in the air so you don't only block the pros but also block the view for most guests. I had one wedding with a parent in the front row seat hold up her big red iPad and effectively blocked the view for the entire right of the Church. You sadly need to educate brides as the offenders are often family!!

"educate a bride" is easy before the wedding as they all agree and listen to all your requests but on their wedding day they all seem to be in la la land and are way too absorbed into their day. How many times I told the bride to look into MY lens when I take the formals and to NOT look at the other guests that are to my sides ? Gee if I had a dollar for every shot I took of her looking the other way I'd be a millionaire by now.There was one occasion that the bride had written 2 requests on the ceremony agenda. Cell phones off and no photos.
Guess what ? iPads galore during procession AND recession. Some guests either can't read or are inconsiderate. Or both !

I did a wedding in September and at the entrance stairs was a BIG sign saying "This is an unplugged wedding ..please turn off all devices until the reception. The celebrant also made sure that all the guests heard his announcement via the PA system before the bride arrived! That was a joy to shoot at !!

Yeah, the bride is always in la-la land once she arrives so this needs to be prepared earlier and at least yet the officiant tell the guests and have a sign that no-one will miss seeing! I always suggest it to the couple anyway but not many take up the idea

I have seen this happening much more in Greek and especially Italian weddings where I always have issues of guests blocking my camera's to film or take pictures with their smartphone and they even came up towards the altar to shoot the vows, worst I ever experienced was a Kurdic wedding where half of the guests was shooting video with smartphones but a lot of small handicams as well. I think it's more culture ralated.

I had similar at a Pakistani wedding a few years back - all the women were snapping away - constantly blocking me. When I delivered the video I got a request to remove all shots of women taking photographs!

as someone who will be the groom next year, this will be a big NO for guests. you take out your phone, you get booted.

sorry grandma, i know you just learned out to use the tablet, but it's time for you to leave.

I had similar at a Pakistani wedding a few years back - all the women were snapping away - constantly blocking me. When I delivered the video I got a request to remove all shots of women taking photographs!

Why should we be the one removing all the women taking photographs??
Why didn't that burden be on the bride to make sure SHE was the one to tell her photographers beforehand to be REMOVED from the front of your lens ?
Guests never listen to our commands. In one ear out the other. I myself leave them in, all in. No re-edits possible. It's in the contract as written above their signature. For all to see.

I was recently in China and I have never seen people use their iPads before.

This made national news today. I cracked up and cried at the same time.

Why should we be the one removing all the women taking photographs??
Why didn't that burden be on the bride to make sure SHE was the one to tell her photographers beforehand to be REMOVED from the front of your lens ?
Guests never listen to our commands. In one ear out the other. I myself leave them in, all in. No re-edits possible. It's in the contract as written above their signature. For all to see.

Arthur I quoted them for the edit and they were happy to pay for me to do this - It was OK to leave shots of men taking photos but they wanted all the women snappers removing - I guess it's a cultural thing but I got £XXX so was happy to do it

Pete

Ever stop to think of turning this into something fun? My guess is the attachment to these devices is going to be over in a few years and folks will look back and laugh like they do at leisure suits.

So for example, have everyone stick a phone/ipad/laptop in the aisle and people raise them as the B&G walk through. Have fun with it.

The problem is with the phones themselves. They all have a built-in camera so it's almost impossible to forget to take a camera along. Once armed with a camera and subject matter it becomes like an automatic reaction to raising it and snap away when a few are doing it and add to the flock. It's contaigous. Monkey see monkey do. Some snapshooters are itching so much to take pictures, any picture of even inanimate objects during the wedding day like decorations, flower arrangements, silverware, table settings, etc. It's the irresistible urge to push the button and snap, snap, snap. Why not, it's free, no film to purchase and no prints to develop. Cheap, convenience, and best of all the added bonus of aggravating the video person.

I think people believe they will capture moments that the photographer/videographer might have missed?

They want to be the hero that got the great shot the pro's might have missed?

Wedding planners or the wedding wrangler need to provide some general guidelines to the guests and respect the key moments in the wedding.

You can't educate the guests, how many times I have experienced being asked to turn of mobilephones during a ceremony yet each time you hear such a mobile phone go off, often more then once. It is what it is.

[QUOTE=John C. Chu;1902476]I think people believe they will capture moments that the photographer/videographer might have missed?

Nah, we don't miss anything...just the shots that them guests get in the way of.

They want to be the hero that got the great shot the pro's might have missed?


Yeah I think there's truth to this. AND they think they'll get it quicker. WTF, why wait 6-8 weeks for the photos to return when Captain Smartphone will have it uploaded onto Facebook tonight!

I always slowly circle the dancefloor at the outer edge with my steadicam during the first dance, I prefer to do in this way so I never block any guests view for longer then a few seconds, untill that one time when I was blocked in my motion by a guy who stopped me with his hand, first I thought I bumped into someone when I saw he deliberately stopped me because he was shooting the first dance with his smarthphone and he didn't want me to walk in front of him. :D

I think people believe they will capture moments that the photographer/videographer might have missed?

They want to be the hero that got the great shot the pro's might have missed?



I'm not convinced that's always the case. Many are doing it because others are and because they get caught up in the moment. You get that frenzy at other events to - I've seen it at street carnivals, parties, air shows and music festivals. When something is happening, there's just an automatic reaction to want to capture it to share with others. I don't think some of them even spare me a thought.

he deliberately stopped me because he was shooting the first dance with his smarthphone and he didn't want me to walk in front of him. :D

I just ignore such people. If the Bride and Groom trusted him to film their 1st Dance, they wouldn't have hired you. I don't like to block guests if it can be helped, but most reasonable people are understanding that I'm doing this for the Bride and Groom's benefit and give me the space I need.

I just continued my circling route after that and walked in front of him a few more times while I hear him cursing but it shows how far guests can go in their attempt to cover an event.
Here a framegrab from a locked camera from a recent wedding, both the man and woman in front of my camera are holding their smarthphone to shoot the groom/bride at the altar, you see me standing in the left corner on the other side of the room. I had to go up twice to them to point out they where blocking my unmanned camera, some people just won't learn.

This gigantic iPad thing isn't just happening at weddings. This is happening at school concerts and the like and I see people walking around Central Park with them too.

Damn you, Apple with all your creating films with iPad commercials. ;)

This is exactly why God invented squirt guns.

That is another reason I only shoot with one cam. Aside from the fact that I am lazy. No seriously, I went through all this nonsense in the past and I came to the conclusion that it ain't worth getting upset and mad about. Sure I'd love to slap the offending intrusion just above the right ear but I'lll wait for that golden opportunity on my very last wedding.

That is another reason I only shoot with one cam..

Seriously. Multi camera is the one reason I don't worry too much about guests or even vendors for thst matter getting in my way. Yeah its an irritation, but I've edited 2 Speeches today where the Photographer parked himself in front of the main camera for 10-15 seconds intervals and in all cases, another camera angle ensured the couples when receiving their videos will not be aware of the inconvenience as I was. Shooting single camera only makes the matter worse not better!

Brides are getting the message too. I booked a bride last night and she is having an unplugged ceremony and will have a large blackboard outside the ceremony venue stating so as well as having the celebrant announce that no devices can be used during the ceremony.

The good thing about this is that she attended the ceremony of a bride we did in August and was horrified by the sister sitting up front holding her bright red leatherette iPad case in the air ..blocking all guest and camera views. Maybe we need to carry around an 8x10 print of a iPad blocked ceremony when we sign up brides so they can actually see the problem.

Brides are getting the message too. I booked a bride last night and she is having an unplugged ceremony and will have a large blackboard outside the ceremony venue stating so as well as having the celebrant announce that no devices can be used during the ceremony.

The good thing about this is that she attended the ceremony of a bride we did in August and was horrified by the sister sitting up front holding her bright red leatherette iPad case in the air ..blocking all guest and camera views. Maybe we need to carry around an 8x10 print of a iPad blocked ceremony when we sign up brides so they can actually see the problem.

I might make a t-shirt and put the message on my back, right now it's my logo, but I'm tempted. I've also thought of making 1000 business cards with the message on it and put it on the end of the pews.

Do you guys think these are otherwise intelligent people whose brains just turn to pudding at certain moments in their lives (i.e. weddings/similar events) or do you think they conduct the rest of their lives with this same sort of obliviousness? Genuinely curious.

How about including a fly swatter and/or a taser as essential accessories in videographers toolkit ?

Ta·ser
ˈtāzər/
noun
a weapon firing barbs attached by wires to batteries, causing temporary paralysis.

Josh, I sometimes think they have this malicious intent to make our lives miserable. It happens so often and at the right time and place that I would rule out chance and coincidence. But yes, I absolutely am convinced that they " conduct the rest of their lives with this same sort of obliviousness."

Hi Arthur

It's simply an obsession with phones ...I think they even sleep with them, eat with them and most wedding guests cannot wait to post to Facebook "I'm at Brett and Jean's wedding" .... they have become slaves to their devices so at a wedding they are not only blocking us and taking poor photos but are also uploading during the ceremony too.

Hmmm ..how about a big basket at the entrance to the Church or Venue with a sign saying "Place your mobile devices in the basket ... no devices beyond this point" I guess that wouldn't work either as all the guests will start getting signs of withdrawal. It's hard to even see people nowdays without a phone in their hand. It's just the age we live in and most are slaves to their phones it seems.

I was doing guest comments at a wedding and one young lady declined to give a comment as her face was buried in her phone. Jokingly " I said "OK, I'm going to impound your phone and delete your Facebook page" .... she looked really worried and said "I'll say something then" and proceeded to do a very nice comment to the couple ...As I say it's OBSESSION !!

it's been a frustration for me for ages but I'm having a good deal of success with emails I send to the bride - the celebrants usually say what I want word for word and it's great to see all the women looking at each other and then putting their phones away.

here's the text from my email for interest.

"iphones & cameras
Over the last 4 years there has been a dramatic increase in mobile phones with cameras. The use of these cameras has become such a problem that we feel the need to make you aware of it. It can not only be an irritation to the bride but a real problem for us.

Recent research shows that people who take pictures of events such as weddings actually remember less of the event than the people who simple watch & enjoy the event. Unplugged weddings (strictly no phones or cameras) are becoming more popular for that very reason.

While some guests like to take photo's of your big day, you have hired professionals to record the day and both the photographer & the videographer's job is made harder by guests with iphones getting in the way as you walk down the aisle etc.

Here's a news video on the subject - "Don't be that guy"
Don't be that guy Sacramento Wedding Videography on Vimeo


We do our best to cope with this if that's something you want but if you don't - you need to let your guests know.


There are 2 things you can do to minimise the problem:

1. Ask the celebrant to speak to the guests before you arrive. I've prepared a script that most celebrant's are happy to read out - if you feel it's suitable you can pass it on to the celebrant or print it out for their use.

...........................................

Ladies & Gentlemen, If I could have your attention for a moment..

______ and _______ have specifically invited you to attend their marriage ceremony because, as family & friends you are an important part of their lives. when _________ walks down the isle - she wants to see your faces - not your iphones.

Remember, whenever you hold up your iphone or camera you are blocking someone else's view & you are making it harder for the professionals to do their job - so please turn your phones OFF, relax & enjoy the day.

.....................................................


2. Ask the MC to remind people not to obstruct the photographers or videographers view during important parts of the reception. Again I've prepared a script that you can ask the MC to read out - if you feel it's suitable you can pass it on to the MC or print it out for their use.

..........................................

Ladies & Gentlemen, before the bridal party enter can I remind you give the professionals room to get their coverage before you take your shots.

-----------------------------------------

Ladies & Gentlemen we're about to cut the cake, can I ask everyone to remain seated until the professionals get their shots and then everyones welcome to come up and get their own photo of the event.

----------------------------------------

For most couples the day is a blur and you don't even notice these things happening. If you want a sea of cameras to greet you at the church and meet you at the reception, that's fine, we'll cope as best we can. On the other had if you're happy to make our job that little bit easier, minimise the number of iphones in the air and end up with better photo & video, we'd be delighted to hear the Celebrant & MC remind the guests - of course some people won't listen but we can only try.

----------------------------------------

I also chat about lighting & audio - but that's another story

Awesome Paul

It might be worth sending the prospective bride a link to that video too! It should open some eyes quite wide. I'm happy the bride I booked last night decided on an unplugged ceremony ... I usually chat to the MC too, especially if they are just a family member!!

I wish every bride would eMail those responsible for being an obstruction and say " I deeply thank you for being part of my wedding day, hope you enjoyed the meal the the music and dance and the cake and I would like to especially thank you of Fu*#ing up MY video. You were really a great part of my wedding day that I now can remember you forever. Just wait till you invite me to YOUR wedding."

Do you guys think these are otherwise intelligent people whose brains just turn to pudding at certain moments in their lives (i.e. weddings/similar events) or do you think they conduct the rest of their lives with this same sort of obliviousness? Genuinely curious.

The other day I was watching some smart person on TV and they said the following; our phones have become an extension of our self expression, our identities and our social interaction. Think about it this way, people actually report anxiety problems being away from their phone. With a million social sharing programs out there, people are mainly doing what's normal, expressing themselves at the wedding. What's not normal is remembering that while a ceremony is a social event, it's also not theirs.

Absolutely Steven. 110% in agreement with you.
They could put down that phone for a day and enjoy the full wedding.
It seems like more of an incurable disease. It's as if that phone is their lifeline to survival. Sure, use it as a phone if it vibrates but please stop using it as a camera. At least for a day.

last week we had the usual compacts phones/ tablets and one pro Dslr! oh! and one loud ringtone the culprit can be seen looking at who's calling her!
It's in the video - hope the Bride gives her a bit of her mind.

I have noticed now that I have to elbow my way to the front sometimes to ensure I get the shot.
I'm certainly going to encourage 'unplugged' from now on. Don't know how it will be viewed here people aren't very good with rules in my part of the world.

Guests with Ipads and phones can be an issue, but overall it just doesn't bother me much, I work around it. Complaining about such things is just futile, IMO. Isn't it easier to just do the best we can and forget about it?

I think it's more fun to work around stuff than to freak out.

Bottom line here is that when a bride books you it's certainly worth telling her about the advantage of having an unplugged wedding ... if it's going to happen then Jeff's approach is the best but if she likes the idea and wants to make sure eager "phonies" keep their distance then Paul's advice is well worth considering.

Bottom line here is that when a bride books you it's certainly worth telling her about the advantage of having an unplugged wedding ... if it's going to happen then Jeff's approach is the best but if she likes the idea and wants to make sure eager "phonies" keep their distance then Paul's advice is well worth considering.

Guests with Ipads and phones can be an issue, but overall it just doesn't bother me much, I work around it. Complaining about such things is just futile, IMO. Isn't it easier to just do the best we can and forget about it?

I think it's more fun to work around stuff than to freak out.


My only comment about 'not worrying about it' is, I am working on this really nice wedding, I have a great shot of the groom crying, very emotional, and then a guest hangs out of the pew with an SLR and immediately your attention as a viewer goes from him to her SLR. So I think it matters as a point of art, She ruins a great moment. I've decided to put a slide show together of these shots when I talk to couples.

Hi Steve

You could also just email her the link to the video that Paul posted. That really hits home and if she does watch it it's quite likely that she will have already decided that she will have an unplugged wedding before you even sit down with her. Interview time is precious so you really don't want to waste it showing her a slide show of people blocking the ceremony ... If you do want a slideshow wouldn't it be better to pop it on your website under a section "Why you should have an unplugged wedding" ??

Hi Steve

You could also just email her the link to the video that Paul posted. That really hits home and if she does watch it it's quite likely that she will have already decided that she will have an unplugged wedding before you even sit down with her. Interview time is precious so you really don't want to waste it showing her a slide show of people blocking the ceremony ... If you do want a slideshow wouldn't it be better to pop it on your website under a section "Why you should have an unplugged wedding" ??

Yeah Chris,

I may try an all and above approach. I usually don't bring up the camera thing, but it is in my agreement, so most couples get it, but without a taser or a policeman to stop people, it's amazing how people ignore being told. I had two announcements done at a single wedding ceremony this year and the next day I find pictures all over Facebook done by a relative with and SLR that rivaled mine, and people just don't care. Crazy.

But Yeah, I may go all of the above approach. Good ideas.