Being a Guest

I have been to 5 weddings in my life, all of which have occurred in the last four years. One of these was before I discovered my interest in photography, one of them I was a bridesmaid for and two of them I photographed. Since becoming a photographer, I have only been to one wedding where I was not hired or part of the ceremony, and that wedding took place last week.

As a photographer, I hardly ever go anywhere without my camera with me. And when I travel halfway across the country to go to a wedding, you can bet that my camera is going to be by my side. It is an extension of who I am, after all, and it is what I do wherever I go. I know that sometimes it can get annoying, that sometimes I get in peoples faces, but I do try to be respectful as much as possible, and never intend to get in the way. But, when you are not the paid photographer for an event, you need to know that there are lines that you shouldn't overstep. So I thought that I would write a quite post about my experience of unofficially photographing a wedding.

• Remember that this is not your show.The bride and groom have specifically chosen a photographer that they want, whose work they like and who will have an idea of how they want to photograph the wedding. Your own view might clash with theirs, but do remember at all times that you are not the one in charge. As much as you may want to, you shouldn't interfere with anything. If the couple are posed in a particular way, do not ask them to move or look at you, even for a minute. This is something that guests with their point and shoots often do, and is something that I have experienced. And as the hired photographer, it gets very annoying. By all means, take your shots, but don't get in the way while doing so. It just means that the photographer has to spend more time trying to get the shots that he/she planned for the occasion.

 

• Be respectful.
  The photographer for the event is likely experienced and knows what he/she is doing. You may not know them, but treat them with respect and do not try to compete with them in terms of gear or experience. This is not a competition. They have been chosen and are being paid to photograph the event, you have not. They have a job to do, and you are a guest. Bear that in mind.

 

• Stand back.
It is very tempting to jump into the role of photographer on occasions like these. You want to grab the shots that you are seeing pass you by. You want to jump into the middle of the aisle when you see the bride walking down it. Don't. Once again, someone is being paid to do that. It is someone's job. You are there as a guest, and it is not  your place to be interfering with the proceedings. It will only annoy the bridal party and the hired photographer. By all means, shoot what you see. But don't interfere, don't interrupt and, especially during the ceremony, just stay in your seat. I, myself, didn't actually bring my camera into the ceremony but brought it out during the reception. Of course, I missed some of the shots from the ceremony which is disappointing, but I am sure that the bride and groom are grateful that they couldn't hear me snapping away throughout their vows.

 


• Have fun.
  This is my last piece of advice, but it is important. You are there as a guest, and you should act like one. Enjoy the food, enjoy the company, laugh, dance and just have a good time. It is something that you seldom get to do as the hired photographer, and if you have your camera on you, you will still get fun shots that show the feeling of the day, something that hired photographers often miss out on. Plus, it opens up possibilities for taking photos that you wouldn't have been able to take otherwise - seeing the wedding from a whole new perspective.

And so, I want to say thank you to Andrew and Nikita for inviting me to their amazing wedding. It was the best time that I have had in a long time, and definitely worth the trip. I hope that I stuck to my guidelines and didn't get in the way too much, and I hope that you two enjoy a most wonderful life together.

2012 Photography Goals

Good morning Ladies and Gents :)

It is that time of year again where holidays are around the corner, work is winding down and you start reminiscing of the year that has past and dreaming of the year that is ahead. A lot of the photography blogs that I have been reading have been listing their photography goals for 2012, and it took me about 3 minutes to write up my own, purely because they have been on my mind a lot recently. So here they are:

MY 2012 PHOTOGRAPHY GOALS


1. Get my website up and running.
This is something that is already in the pipeline. Watch this space within the next week or two for more details, but I am expecting to have my website up (not quite complete, but at least up) before the end of the month. Maybe even before Christmas. *Holding thumbs*


2. Build my photography studio.
For those of you who are not aware (i.e. those of you who do not follow my other blog about what goes on in my life rather than my photography) I recently moved to a new house. This house is still in Grahamstown, not far from where we used to stay, but is a lot bigger. It also has a double garage, and Grant and I have decided that we are going to make full use of this extra space - Grant by buying a table tennis table, and me by building a small and mobile photography studio. Mobile because, of course, I need to park my car in there at night. But imminently doable. The move, of course, has been quite harrowing on our budgets and so Project Studio will need to wait until next month to get its feet off the ground.

3. Create at least one printed portfolio.
I have been thinking about doing this for awhile now. I know that I intend to have more than one portfolio since I enjoy so many different types of photography - portrait, nature, events, etc. - but by the end of 2012 I hope to have cut down and printed at least one portfolio to show to prospective clients.


4. Be paid for at least one job.
This is one of the biggest tests for 2012. So far, out of all of the photography shoots that I have done, I have only been paid for one, and even that was a special deal for a friend where I charged her a third of my intended price. Don't get me wrong though - the photo shoots that I did were intentionally free of charge because I needed to get experience, needed to get a working portfolio before I felt that I could start charging. However, now that I have got some experience, I feel that charging clients for shoots is the next logical step. The rates are still likely to be lower than other photographers, because I am still an amateur, and negotiable for the same reason. But I am hoping to gain a meagre income from my photography, and by 2013 I hope to make a decision as to whether this is a viable business opportunity or nothing more than a hobby.


5. Have at least two clients who are not direct friends or relatives.
This is another of the big tests. I am never going to be able to make a business or a career out of photography if I am only photographing friends and family. It will especially be the case if I am not charging friends and family for sessions. I need to see if others find my services good or worthwhile, and the only way that I am going to find that out is if I put myself out there and see if anyone is interested in the services that I can offer. Here's hoping that I get the opportunity to have sessions with people in and around Grahamstown.


6. Purchase at least one new piece of equipment.
This is something that I am going to have to save up for and there are going to definitely be decisions to make. There are so many bits and bobs that I want to add to my camera bag (not to mention a new camera bag itself)! Most of all, I want a wide angle lens, but as that is the most expensive lens available, it will take some searching to find a good second hand one for a reasonable price. If I can't manage the lens itself, I am considering getting a wide-angle attachment for my lenses, and then I will look into getting other things like an off-camera flash, a new camera bag, a Lensbaby Composer (so cool!), lens filters and more.


7. Rebrand/Revise/Redo my Facebook page.
Every time I look at my Facebook page compared to those of other photographers, I feel way behind. This is partly because I am way behind on followers and partly because they all have uber-cool designs and logos and are constantly updating their posts, sites, photography, etc. This is something that I intend to do more of next year and I am hoping that it will lead to more popularity and more followers.


8. Gain at least one follower on this blog.
Speaking of followers, I have no idea how many people are following this blog, but the stats aren't looking too good. Most of my posts get between 5 and 17 views in their lifetimes, with photo shoots with friends (who pass the link on to others) getting far higher viewing stats. So I am hoping that this number will rise with more photo shoots and with the website. Speaking of which, there is going to be a little redecorating and renaming of the website going on. Keep an eye out.


9. Write at least one new photography blog post every two weeks.
Part of the problem with people not visiting the site, I feel, is that I don't post often enough on interesting subjects. Well, I tend to post on subjects that are interesting to me, but I definitely don't post often enough. So, one of my goals for next year will be to post a lot more regularly. I feel that once every two weeks will be enough to keep people interested, but not drown them in information that they don't necessarily want to read.


10. Do a new photography challenge every week.
And finally, I have set a goal to do a photography challenge every week. Some weeks I am sure will coincide with the challenges from the photography sites that I follow - sites like Digital Photography School and Photofocus. But there is also a book that I am going to be using as a tool for deciding on challenges. I am going to occasionally run my own challenges, and I am hoping that some people will participate in these challenges. You don't need to have a fancy camera, you could just use your phone. But I will be posting different ideas each week for photographs, and I am hoping that people will participate together with me. Consider it a 52-week challenge rather than a 365 day challenge. 52 awesome photos in a year? Totally doable.

And so there they are. My own photography goals for 2012. What are your goals, photographic or otherwise?