Wedding Photography Tip #3

Wedding Photography Tip #3- Controlling the Paparazzi

Every wedding has them. The aunt, uncle, friend, etc. who is an avid photographer and sees your wedding as a great opportunity to practice their hobby. They have the best of intentions-- they want to capture some of the wonderful moments to share with the bride and groom! What could be bad about that?

These loving paparazzi can be one of the biggest challenges at a wedding. We have seen brides who cannot get down the aisle because of a horde of their loving paparazzi. We have been pushed aside so that a friend can grab a moment on a camera phone. We have literally thousands of group portraits where part of the group is looking at someone else's camera.

A professional photographer is hired to photograph a wedding and capture all of those special moments. Although the guests intentions are wonderful, the result is often less than ideal. We actually request that no other cameras are allowed during our formal portrait time so that we can produce as many outstanding images as possible during our limited time. We want our couples to not only receive amazing images, but we also want to get them to their reception as quickly as possible! Nothing makes a crowd more restless than a photographer who takes forever to get the couple to the reception!

What is the solution? How can you ask these dear friends and family to put down their cameras?? Well, you don't really have to. The best solution is to ask them to cover what the professional photographer cannot. While we are photographing formal portraits, there are lots of things we cannot be doing! We cannot photograph the cocktail hour, the mingling of your guests, or the decorated tables before any guests are seated. While we are photographing the first dance, we might not be able to see your sister at the back of the crowd with tears rolling down her face. Those memories are just as precious and are actually more of a gift to the couple than a duplicate photo of what the professional has already produced for them.

www.LongsPhotography.com