Wedding Photographer's Job Question

If a bride and groom have wishes, they should write them down. The photographer has no idea who the he!! these people are!!!

M

When we got married in July we gave the photographer a list of all the pictures we wanted, and then I walked around with her and helped get all of the people together. How is she, a stranger, supposed to know who is who?

I was asked at both weddings during the formal picture time if there was anyone else I wanted to get as a group, I was asked several times before we were let go to join the reception.

The photographer is not a mind reader, how are they even supposed to know Joe Blow from John Doe from Howdy Doody. There is no way they can know this one or that one is someone they should get a picture of....how would they even begin to know?

My husband has done weddings and has always asked for a list of
"Must Have" Photos.

These are individuals, groups, families.. The food, the flowers.. the event place.. The signs on the street.. whatever. We have been asked to photograph all sorts of interesting things at weddings.

Then we have the bride tell us, who at the wedding can help us find these people if they are not in the "official posed shots".

Sometimes, the bride will tell us, the brides, mom, a cousin.. etc..

Also we ask the bride to tell these people before the wedding, "I want a photo of you, so make sure to tell the photographer, your name.."

That way these people know the bride wants the photo and is allowed to ask the photographer. We can then scratch them off of the list and we learn who to concentrate on during the event.

Sometimes we have been asked not to photograph certain people together.. Exes.. With dates.. Etc.. Or not to worry about certain people as much as others.

We have never had a disappointed bride.

I am a pro photographer and I just did a wedding last weekend. We do not know everyone. Usually either the bride or the bride's parents will tell me who to take pictures of and the combinations they want. If no one is telling me who is who and who to take pictures of and who is important family or friends, then I'm not going to know and it's kind of their loss if they don't tell me. I'm not a mind reader

Every person is different and photographers are not mind readers. They are there to take pictures of the wedding so if things like the first kiss are missed that is on the photographer. After the wedding, groups and stuff, that is on the bride and groom to make sure the photographer knows what they want and make sure they have access to them.

That doesn't mean the bride and groom have to personally direct, any family member can do that. It is just if it isn't done I wouldn't put that on the photographer.

Could be either, or both, or neither.

Could be an inexperienced (or not great) photographer who hasn't gotten his/her method down.

Could be a great photographer, with killer methods, but the bride/groom keep dropping the ball (incomplete lists, not sharing that it's a no-kids reception, etc.)

Could be the fault of the people in the pics (late, no shows, leave early, in bathroom nursing -or sick-, etc.)

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Ours was phenom. All 'must have' photos were taken BEFORE the wedding AND in between service and reception. Those, in total, added up to about 1/3 of the shots. The rest of the 2/3s were journalistic / artistic in style. Our photographer was the MOST expensive part of our wedding... and it shows. My feeling on this was that aside from the vows, this was what I cared most about. A wedding is only a few hours long. The dress goes into storage, the food is eaten, the dancing done... and in a few hours... that's it. After months worth of work... I wanted photos. ((Good thing, my entire day was a blur!)).

My brother's photographer was a great deal less expensive, and less experienced. And it shows. There were lots of key people barely captured, and lots of plus one's that were showcased. Overall they did an okay job, but a lot was missed. This was mostly due to the photographer's inexperience COUPLED with my brother not really caring that much about photos. The lists they gave the photographer (and the lists asked for) were incomplete themselves. In the end, they got everyone (decent photographer)... it just wasn't done as well as it could have been due to mutual inexperience.

In the 'neither' category... this stems usually from experienced photographer, and complete lists... but problems on the day. Like people are late for pictures & or the wedding/ don't show up. A kid who starts having a tantrum. Nursing in the back. A VERY short reception. A no-kids reception (that the photographer doesn't know about, so doesn't shoot earlier... or a family that takes kids home. Or an adult leaves early. Or. Or. Or. Or.)

A photographer's job is to capture memories of the day. It's going to be obvious that the bride needs pictures with her parents, the wedding party, the bride getting dressed, etc. However, if there are specific shots that the bride and groom want, they need to tell the photographer beforehand. They can't know everything. If it was important for there to be individual family photos, they should have spelled that out ahead of time.

They are not mind readers. How are they suppose to know. With that said a professional should also ask.

It's the bride and groom's fault. You could have endless groupings of people that you want photographed and photographers don't know who's who. We gave our photographer a list of family, etc photos we wanted to make sure to get.

The photographer should be provided with a list of everyone involved and what pictures the bride & groom want. So, if the couple wants pics of themselves, pics with wedding party, pics with her family, pics with his family, pics with all the siblings or all the cousins, that goes on the list. That also helps the family estimate the costs they're going to be looking at. It can be done by them or by the bride's parents (if they are paying for the wedding). In some cultures, the groom's parents pay for FLOP (flowers, liquor, orchestra, photographer), so in that case it would be their issue.

The photographer SHOULD ask for a list but the family cannot assume that the photog will know who everyone is. Given a list, the photog should ask whoever is paying to point out those who haven't been checked off the list yet.

Depending on whose fault this is and how much money the family is not paying the photographer or how much the photographer is worried about a bad reference, a compromise might be for the photographer to get some of those family members together in their wedding finery and take a few photos at the studio. Or maybe the wedding venue would allow them to come in at an off hour to do that. Obviously that won't work if the family members are from far away or if there were rented tuxes, but maybe it could be done.

And if the mom's boyfriend wasn't around much, whose fault is that? The mom should have realized her picture wasn't being taken (or that her own boyfriend wasn't around) and contacted the photographer!

Some photographers go from table to table for candid and posed shots at the reception. Others set up a both and guests can freely walk up and have their pic taken. Sounds like there was no professional wedding planner involved to make sure this was handled in a way that the bride and groom would be happy. A few brides I have come in contact with lately will only use a planner for the day of the wedding instead of using the planner to actually help plan and look out for the things a bride wouldn't be aware of.

One more thing. Just because someone takes nice pics doesn't make them a wedding photographer. My father in law takes great pics and does video for a hobby. So glad his video of our wedding was his personal copy and we hired a pro. Lol

Outside of the obivious bridal party and parents, the bride or groom really needs to tell the photographer if there are any special shots they want.

I have a acquaintence of the family, who wouldn't otherwise have attended the wedding, take pics. I gave a list of the pics I wanted (I have a confusing family situation but she was familiar with it and who some of them were). The one thing I was not happy about was she did get a nice individual pic of the young boy my now BIL was taking care of at the time but didn't of my son alone nor did she get one of my son w/ the groom. I had to crop them to get what I wanted.