Grrrrr - non-horsey rant!

[ecarylloh]

I help my OH take photos at weddings. It's his job. The couple employ us to take photos and we work ****ing hard doing so - we're there from the morning taking photos of the bride getting ready right through to the end of the evening. We go out of our way to be nice to people and try our best to take flattering photos of them (not always easy).

What do we get in return?

- Being made to feel like scum for getting in the way of people taking photos on their crappy phones.
- Being made to feel like perverts when we're trying to take candids - I'm not taking personal pleasure from taking your photo lady - if you have an issue with it take it up with the bride and groom.
- Being given a second rate dinner in a separate room from everyone else. Not only does this make us feel like second class citizens, as if we haven't been *working* for the last 10 hours - it also means we can't tell when the speeches start, so don't blame us if we miss your dad waffling on for 30 minutes about what you did as a baby.

Yep. I'm miffed. After working at 10 weddings this year, only one of which was actually a pleasant experience, I have an extremely long list of things that will *not* be happening at my wedding next year. The top of that list is - treat the people who are trying their best to give you good memories of your day like actual people, not as "the hired help".

Tired. Ill. P***ed off.

Can you tell?

Piece of stolen wedding cake for anyone who's got this far.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Sorry you're so unhappy hun. All I can suggest is that emotions run high at weddings and when the emotions stop running high, the alcohol starts!!! The only thing I would add though is that I wouldn't find it odd that you were given a meal in a different room. You're lucky you were given a meal at all! Sorry, but you're the hired help, however professional, and hired help doesn't get a look in when - probably 6 months ago - the discussions about which table Great Aunt Mildred sat at were at their height! What might help in the future is to make sure you know exactly what's going to happen while you're still at the taking-on-the-job stage. No nasty surprises then!

 

[ecarylloh]

We actually have it in our contract that we have dinner given to us alongside the rest of the wedding party - it is actually normal for the photographer to get dinner. We don't need to be at a table with the guests but we do need to be somewhere in the vicinity so we're not having to run 5 minutes between our table and everyone else. And we do ask for a timetable of when everything is supposed to happen well in advance of the day - please don't think we're that disorganised!

My main problem is that whenever someone sees a camera being pointed at them (from a distance - we use long lenses specifically so we can be discreet and not interrupt people) they scowl as if we're doing something dreadfully wrong. I just feel like walking up to them and saying, 'you know what? I don't think you look particularly good on camera either you ugly bint, but the fact is that your friend wants some happy memories of you on his/her special day, and they want me to make those memories. So if you want to help with that, or at least make the chances of you looking bad a bit less, you might want to smile at the camera instead of scowl'.

And yes, I know that technically we're the hired help, but I don't think there is ever a need to treat people like scum the way some people do. I won't even go into what I've heard some guests say to waiters/waitresses. In any other situation they would have their noses broken after comments like that. And this is *before* the alcohol is flowing!

 

[missyme10]

Mmmmm, my photographer ruined my wedding day !!

He had it in his mind that set poses produce good pictures, and I am sure there is truth in this.
However, pulling and pushing the bride into position and standing on her dress and then pushing so I lost balance resulting in my very expensive dress getting torn really peed me off! I wasn't smiling in any pics after that - wonder why lol.

TBH I think on a wedding day, no one is really thinking of the photographers, everyones attention is on the groom and bride, but there is no need for rudeness ever, especially on such a happy occassion.

I'd do something different if it peed me off that much

 

[ecarylloh]

MissyMe - that sounds horrendous! I wouldn't be smiling either if my photographer stood on my wedding dress and pushed me around like a doll!

I'm not a photographer by trade - my OH is though and I assist him - I know where all his camera stuff goes, I can run and get it, I can share ideas with him and if things are going really badly I can give him a big hug.

I think part of the problem is that he is now in the un/fortunate position of being recognised as a very good wedding photographer now. Of course this is brilliant because he gets lots of work, but it's now also the case that his clients seem to all want amazing wedding photos but don't want to put in any effort to help make them. He can get incredible shots, and he goes to great effort to inconvenience people as little as possible - he and I spend ages setting shots up with me as a model so that he can just quickly run in, get the bride and groom, snap them in a few minutes because we've worked out what works best already, then they can go rejoin their party. However, it does get frustrating that more and more couples now seem to think that he can produce incredible shots without them lifting a finger. He's good, but he's not a miracle worker!

Anyway, that's a whole other rant that's unrelated to my first rant. I do it because I want to support him, and this is pretty much the only place I can vent without him finding out.

 

[missyme10]

haha, how many of us rant on here away from the other halves, even about the other halves

Mmm not sure how u get around the cooperation issue, are you not able to speak say to the whole reception for 30 secs, saying right we're the photographers, were here for Mr and mrs so and so, to capture there wonderful day, so please all help us out and smile for the camera, and if you cant smile for us, at least smile for your friends, the bride and groom lol.

I'm sure its not an easy job, trying to blend in and not be there but yet being everywhere x