DV Info Net - DSLR Shooters - Have you ever had a 'turf' problem with the photographer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Snow (Post 1602054)

I really make an effort to stay out of the way of the photographer. In the above example, I (we) are on the side of the dance floor and we don't move around even at the expense of some great shots. It's less disruptive to the guests and it also minimizes getting in the way of the photographer. All to often, the reverse is not true. For example, at the last wedding I shot, I was asked to be sure to get the limo departure shot from the church. But what happened!? As soon as the couple approached the limo, the photographer positioned himself between me and the couple. Then, when they got into the limo, he jumped into the front seat and started taking pictures of them in the back seat. And if that wasn't enough, as soon as the limo started to pull out of the parking lot, he pulled his car between me and the limo. Am I supposed to like that? Is that OK? Absolutely not. If it were a single organization providing both photography and video services, that sort of stuff could be controlled much better. I'm telling you, some of the blocking of shots is deliberate.

Jim, I'm with you all the way here. I did a wedding at a catholic church a few months ago and I swear the photographer was deliberately spoiling my shots. Like you, he managed to get himself between me,the car and B&G at every possible moment. If I moved, he moved too.

When he wasn't taking photos of the B&G he went and stood so close to them looking through his shots that it was impossible to get a shot of the B&G without him in it. In the end I had a word with him and his reaction is "I'm here to get photos, I don't give a f... about you, I don't like videos".

As others have said, communication is key - provided you have a corporative photographer! I go out of my way to introduce myself and my team to any photography team that may be shooting. Some are great people, others give you the cold shoulder and try to speak to you as little as possible.

For the first dance I like to set up cameras similar to Jim, 90 degree angles either side of the DJ so we get the benefit of their lights and our lights too. We even get to see the guests in the background watching. I even go as far as to tell the photographer I'm using lights AND what colour temperature those lights are in case they are shooting JPEG instead of RAW and can set their white balance to match.

However, I hate it when the photog runs around the dance floor to try to get a shot (which we already had ;)) only to find they are too late and the couple already moved, so they move again. Arrrrgghhh!!

The other thing that I really hate is when photographers insist in firing off bursts of shots (e.g. a Nikon D3 in fast burst mode) all the way through the vows and exchange of rings (not to mention speeches!). They don't shoot when the celebrant is talking.... nooooo.... that would be too nice to the video guy...... they shoot while the B & G are saying their vows so all I can hear is click-click-click-click-click in the audio track that I want to pull out for the highlights! What I don't understand it why they want shots of the Bride with her mouth open (i.e. while speaking) instead of a smile on her face (while the celebrant is speaking). Friggin' Crazy!

Up until now we've mainly done video for weddings (we do commercial photos). But I've now made the decision that if some one wants the full combined photo/video package I'm no longer going to turn them down like I used to. There ARE some great photographers around me, and I get along with them very well, but I'm so glad when some of the other no so nice ones bug out about 5:30pm (see they even get a shorter working day!) and we are left to capture things without interference.

In terms of cutting the cake, I do feel sorry for the (nice) photogs that end up with shots of the Bride's white dress completely covered in red (or even green!) focus assist bands from people's point & shoot cameras. OTOH I've had a couple of photogs spoil the video completely and then I don't have any sympathy at all ;)