Did it really need two?

[Peter Rush]

A pro tog normally crouches at the head of the isle but not these two!

[Dave Partington]

There are certainly some weird developments in photography….. what happened to getting a back shot of the dress as they walked down the isle? Hopefully you didn't have a third one in your way for that as well!

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Peter Rush

A pro tog

That says it all, you recognize the behavior of a beginner immediately, also they are standing side by side taking shots from the same angle which is a sign of insecurity, since that is a keymoment to get a shot from they probably agreed in advance to take the same shots incase one would mess up, if it was a "pro" duo one would be crouching and the second one would be standing in a totally different place. I see this more then once, worst kind is if a friend of the family asks if they can shoot pics all day as well. Must say I sometimes get pro photogs that have the feeling they are the center of the universe and they do whatever it takes to get the shot.

[Eric Coughlin]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

worst kind is if a friend of the family asks if they can shoot pics all day as well.

I generally take a lot of pictures when I'm a guest at a wedding; video is too much work to do as a guest but with photography you can just send them unedited pics after the wedding if you wish to. I try to stay out of the way of the hired professionals, but that doesn't mean I'm not moving around at all.

[Rob Cantwell]

last wedding I was a guest at, I didn't even have a phone with me not to mention a camera! leave it to the hired help I say.
kicked back and had a great day

:-)

[David Barnett]

Bad 2nd shooter. I've never seen both at the front. Personally I would probably tell them myself to shoot from a different angle, although I'm usually in the front of the aisle myself, so there'd be no room for 3 up there.

[Eric Coughlin]

In the cases where I have done photography as a guest often the "hired help" did a terrible job, so while I consider myself a novice at photography (and a professional at video), sometimes it's not difficult to do better than the "pro photog," in which case the bride and groom have been quite happy to have additional free photos from a guest which are sometimes better than the hired photographer.

At one wedding I did guest photography at the official photographer, who was a relatvie who did pro photography, decided to stop taking pictures after the speeches, so missed cake cutting, bouquet, send-off, etc., to the bride and groom's dismay. Fortunately I was still taking pictures then so captured all of that.

I also feel awkward being at a wedding without a camera in my hand. Photo/video is fun for me so without a camera a wedding is less enjoyable. I don't really view it as work. Then again, photography isn't really work for me since I do it more as a hobby.

[Danny O'Neill]

I find this normally happens when the second shooter is a contractor who doesnt shoot with the primary all that often. They are insecure, just copy the primary as they dont want to get in the shots or mess up.

[Steve Bleasdale]

+1 Danny... The assistants

[Matt Brady]

This was a interesting post trying to convince guests to leave their camers/iphones/ipads at home rather than get in the way.

4 Good Reasons to Ask Your Guests to Leave Their Cameras at Home

[Steve Bleasdale]

Wedding tomorrow and a Pratt of a photog so im ready for him...Wedding Saturday and another Pratt so im ready for him... Get out of my way or I will leave you in then tell the bride like a tell tale and let her sort it out...

[Paul Mailath]

Originally Posted by Eric Coughlin

Then again, photography isn't really work for me since I do it more as a hobby.

and you piss off the people that are actually paid to do the job and most probably the bride & groom & half the guests - maybe they're just too nice to say.

[Eric Coughlin]

The couple I mentioned where their photographer stopped taking pictures half way through the reception insisted on paying me for the photos I took as a guest. I kind of doubt that was just to make me feel like I wasn't being a pain at their wedding, but who knows.

I don't get annoyed when hobbyists shoot video or photos at weddings where I'm the hired videographer, as long as they stay out of my way, so I don't see why the hired professionals should get annoyed at me, again, as long as I stay out of their way. I'm not really concerned that a hobbyist will do a better job and make me (the professional) look bad, but hey, if they're that good and do do better, well, then good for them, and good for the bride and groom too, as they get an extra (better) free product.

I think the smart thing to do when a guest is taking video with a quality camera, if you think it could be of benefit, would be to ask them if you could copy their footage and use it. I mean, why declare war on guests with cameras? I never quite got that.

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Eric Coughlin

I think the smart thing to do when a guest is taking video with a quality camera, if you think it could be of benefit, would be to ask them if you could copy their footage and use it. I mean, why declare war on guests with cameras? I never quite got that.

Wait what??? I would never ask a guest to copy or use their footage at all!! Wow, imho that would be a massive blunder which when word got back to the bride & groom would make you the professional look silly.

As to your other post, Paul could have a point there. The "Pro Photographer" who was a relative, could have offered to shoot for free, as in their wedding gift to the couple. Being a pro-bono job he got the important shots, yet maybe as time went on it got too absurd with other guests not treating him like the pro & getting in his way as if he were just Uncle Bob which irritated him and he felt with 10 other people taking shots of the cake cutting let them handle it. Sounds a bit much tho to skip out on the cake & bouqet but maybe he felt the ceremony & portraits were enough. Maybe it was agree upon to only shoot up until the first dance too, since he was a guests the bride wanted him to just have fun & felt he'd done enough. Just playing devils advocate.

[Eric Coughlin]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Wait what??? I would never ask a guest to copy or use their footage at all!! Wow, imho that would be a massive blunder which when word got back to the bride & groom would make you the professional look silly.

I can see how asking for a guest's footage could look unprofessional in a sense. But let's consider this; if the main goal is to give the client the best quality product you can, and you feel that the guest's footage will add to the quality of product that you can deliver, then it would make sense to ask for the footage, from that point of view. Consider that, for example, DSLRs tend to look less professional as a videographer's main camera, yet, people began using them not for their professional look, but because it often added to the quality of their production.

Originally Posted by David Barnett

As to your other post, Paul could have a point there. The "Pro Photographer" who was a relative, could have offered to shoot for free, as in their wedding gift to the couple. Being a pro-bono job he got the important shots, yet maybe as time went on it got too absurd with other guests not treating him like the pro & getting in his way as if he were just Uncle Bob which irritated him and he felt with 10 other people taking shots of the cake cutting let them handle it. Sounds a bit much tho to skip out on the cake & bouqet but maybe he felt the ceremony & portraits were enough. Maybe it was agree upon to only shoot up until the first dance too, since he was a guests the bride wanted him to just have fun & felt he'd done enough. Just playing devils advocate.

That's certainly possible. Though, in this particular case the bride and groom said they were upset he suddenly stopped taking photos, so therefore they were expecting him to beyond the speeches. In the case of a professional, though, it's obviously quite unprofessional to quit taking photos because a guest or guests are taking lots of photos.