Guests Taking Pictures 2
With the popularity of smart phones and iPads, there has arisen an increasing obstacle of you receiving great professional pictures & video from your wedding, which is amateur photographers being in the way of the professionals. The good news is, that, as a bride, you can help to prevent this issue. We as photographers and videographers walk a fine line. We want to be very friendly with your guests and your family, as we understand they are very important to you, however, a well-meaning loved one who is oblivious to the professionals, can negatively affect YOUR wedding pictures and video. Our photographers and videographers are usually communicating with each other during the ceremony with hand signals or eye contact to try to make sure we are not in each others shots, however, guests are usually unaware of what is happening behind the scenes, and can ruin a great shot.
In this wedding we shot at the Hyatt Regency in Clearwater Beach, I wanted to get the background scenery of the Clearwater Memorial Bridge as the bride walked down the aisle, but was forced to get Aunt Susie in the blue dress. As the ceremony started, I walked to my camera in the back and noticed 3 guests in the aisle taking pictures, completely blocking my shot of the bride and groom. I, as politely as I could, tapped them on the shoulder and pointed to my camera in the back, so that they would move out of the aisle, which they did, for awhile. We regularly will have 3-4 video cameras rolling, and because there is not a videographer at the time at a particular camera, a guest may, either, 1)not even see the camera at all or 2)think because a person is not there operating it, that the camera isn’t on, and thus blocking the shot from that camera. Fortunately in this case I was able to clear the aisle during the ceremony, however at the end of the ceremony, iPads & smart phones lean into the aisle again.
The solution to this is simple, have your officiant make an announcement before the ceremony such as: “Ladies & Gentlemen, the bride & groom have hired professional photographers and videographers, and they will be shooting during the wedding. The bride has requested that all guests remain seated, and only take pictures from your seats, and please keep the center aisle clear for the professionals.”