The Most Awkward Wedding Photography Video Ever

The Most Awkward Wedding Photography Video Ever

As photographers, many of us will do the occasional wedding or two to help supplement income and boost our careers. Wedding photography can be one of the most stressful and challenging aspects of photography, but is often considered the most important because of its purpose. However, how do you handle an awkward situation where you're asked to stop photographing all together, in the middle of a ceremony?

In the video posted above, we see the officiant giving his blessings and speaking during a wedding ceremony. Seemingly out of nowhere, he turns around, and aggressively tells the photographer and videographer to stop doing their jobs, and go somewhere else. The worst part of it all however, is the look on the bride and grooms face, as this officiant makes everyone feel uncomfortable in the blink of an eye.

Certainly as wedding photographers, it's important for us to be like ninjas, and do our job as silently and nonobstructive as possible. But what happens when the officiant doesn't want a ninja, but someone nonexistent entirely?

 

[via SLRLounge]

Zach Sutton's picture

Zach Sutton is an award-winning and internationally published commercial and headshot photographer based out of Los Angeles, CA. His work highlights environmental portraiture, blending landscapes and scenes with portrait photography. Zach writes for various publications on the topic of photography and retouching.

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194 Comments
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I agree with you on this 100%

I am actually surprised that the videographer was able to set up right behind the officiant. They should have been at a "safe" distance.

I do weddings and I always ask where can I be, or not. This is basic think.
If I would be the pastor I would maybe do the same thing. What do we know, maybe they talked to him before and he said them where to be or not ;).

So this is fault of photographers/videographers. I think :)

There is something to say for both, but I feel with the officiant - although outside, it is a church-wedding and you have to respect certain things - like not standing at his back so close for a longer time.

Then, if you did not see this coming, fine. But when he turns around and asks, YOU the get the hell out immediately, you don't start a discussion and keep asking, what? why? You the professional are prolonging the situation unneccessarily‎.

He thinks he is bigger than the event. Egotistical.

"ass-holy"

Everybody here seems to agree about the officiant.

I really think the photog is an idiot for shooting many bursts at 5fps right next to the priest, bride and groom, during a moment that doesn't seem so important. It sounds like a machine gun.

If he really wants to take a shot of this scene : he could wait with prefocus, use quiet mode, wait for some reaction from the bride and groom, and shoot. If he misses it : too bad, there will be more important moments. If he really wants to use "spray and pray" at 5fps, he could do so while music is playing or while everybody is cheering. It's just rude otherwise.

If he really wants to get some attention, he'll need it during formals and groups.

Finally, there are some (much) quieter cameras out there. X100s is basically silent.

Exactly.

The photographer was way too close and was shooting way too many shots of nothing.

I wasn't too close.

You were too close. You shouldn't have been visible to the audience. From their perspective, they see the bride, the groom, the officiant and a clusterf#ck of photogs up on the stage. If I was told I couldn't be in the aisle, then I would ascertain that the priest probably didn't want me right behind him. With that said, how the priest handled it was abominable.

Hey Eric,

I actually won't call you an idiot because I am not an idiot like you to make a
comment without knowing what actually happened. I wasn't right next to the
priest. I've been shooting wedding for many years now. So I know where i should
be and where i shouldn't. But when comes to asshole Priest like him. I have to
go according to their rules. But I did give him piece of me right after the
ceremony for being an asshole. It sounded like a machine gun because of high
frequency microphones. There were three microphones. But I was shooting from
far behind. If you know what 70-200mm lens means.

The priest obviously heard your bursts regardless of how far back you were, and it probably was more about the distraction of the bride and grooms attention being drawn to the background and ruining the continuity of what was going on between them. I'm just sayin.

What an ASSHOLE!! All those so called church old farts are full of themselves. The photographer was doing his job as he sees fit. The couple hired him to do just that. This guy knows how irrelevant he was five minutes before the ceremony and how irrelevant he is after, so he didn’t want anyone sharing his minuscule limelight. I agree he is just the hired help, when he’s not molesting boys that is. JERK!

That's a pretty darn ignorant thing to say...molesting boys and all. That's a pretty hateful thing to say...

I'm sorry but these men of the cloth should and aught to take the sanctity of marriage very seriously. I mean, there are all sorts of comments here saying things like, "the priest is being paid to do his job...blah blah blah"...well it IS his job to take these things seriously and as honorable as he sees fit. If the couple simply wanted someone to officiate the ceremony, they could have hired someone who isn't ordained, and do the real marriage in a courtroom (it's been done before...it's a good alternative for non-religious people to do "religious" like ceremonies). This doesn't excuse the pastor of his graceless manner, but in all fairness, HE was hired to do HIS job, and part of it is to take these holy ceremonies highly and incredibly sincerely.

Anyway...

I believe this MUST have been a series of huge miscommunications between the bride and groom to the photographers, videographers and the minister. The crazy frame-rate "spray and pray" that the photographers were doing (which is ammature imo), how incredibly close the video recording DSLR was right behind the priest.

Was there even any communication with the priest? His reaction seems to point that while he is trying to "perform" this ceremony (possibly by memory which needs concentration), there's a bunch of idiots (who he didn't know was going to be behind him), making all kinds of ruckus and all kinds of distractions...I would be pretty mad too!

Let's all remember that he's a human too, with human emotions and frustrations. Hopefully if you hold him to a higher standing of professionalism, you would do the same to yourself and be as professional as a photographer should be...the maturity of some of the comments on this board would suggest otherwise...sorry.

Take it into account, that in most court houses, you are not permitted to bring camera or any kind of recording device.

This all can be prevented by communicating ahead of time. As far as priests/officiants job - dont forget - hes the one that makes it official. As photographers we are there to capture the moment. It is not our show. And sometimes photographers forget that guests, family and the couple are there to be joined in marriage.

Okay I'm sorry. I didn't at all make it clear what I meant by a "court marriage"

What I meant was to have a non-ordained person "marry" them in a ceremony where the pictures and all the glam can be have, then go and get your marriage certificate at a courthouse and be officially married. I didn't mean have the ceremony at the courthouse with photographers and what not...that would be a terrible setting, lol!

point being , communication is the key. Profession photographer will coordinate with all parties involved. There is a way to create memories without clicking near priests ear.

And I had a chance to photograph for friends, who chose to tie the knot at the court house. We made memories in nice location afterwards.

I wasn’t actually clicking by his ears, I was shooting from far behind with my 70-200mm lens. Shutter click that you hear on the video clip was captured by videographer microphone.

I did ask him before ceremony began, If he has any rules or restrictions. Only thing he told me was “DO NOT COME IN THE AISLE”

But they're not in a courthouse...

I WASN'T actually clicking by his ears, I was shooting from far behind. If you know what 70-200mm lens means. Shutter click that you hear on the video clip was captured by videographer microphone.

I did ask him before ceremony began, If he has any rules or restrictions. Only thing he told me was “DO NOT COME IN THE AISLE” but shooting from behind wasn't a problem. You tell me where would you shoot from if you were in my situation. So before calling someone Idiot, please try to use your brain properly and put yourself in my shoe.

Well I hate to break it to you but the priest is not hired help. He doesn't get paid for officiating (this is why most won't agree to perform services for couples that are not a member of their church). They may have to pay facility fees or courtesy fees for the church organist etc, but the priest's role is free.

If you decide to have a priest preside over your ceremony, you have voluntarily made the decision to have a ceremony defined by traditional rules and to respect the role of the church and the priest as your moral compass. If you don't want to abide by this, or have your hired photographer abide by them, then don't have a church ceremony. No one forces you to have a church wedding after all.

I don't disagree that the priest's reaction is bizarre but the bride and groom chose him as their officiant just as they chose the photographer. If he ruined their wedding I think they need to take a look in the mirror about how these obviously mismatched photographer and priest ended up a the same wedding.

priceless! :-)

Well uhm ... it's the couple who pays him, so I'd guess it's the couple who's in charge of what is going on or not.
Being the groom I would give this jerk the scolding of his life.

They also payed the priest... HELLO!

My church hires very talented photographers and videographers every service to document and share the service with people at home, on the web, on tv, etc., so to say that this is not a photography session but instead about God is to simply not understand that one emphasizes the other.

Also, I understand his frustration if the crew never consulted with him prior. Big no-no! Condolences to the bride and groom! I hope they expressed their feelings honestly with that priest.

We did consulted with him prior.

You have to look at this from all sides. I have been at a wedding shooting video (I now only shoot stills) and this has happened to the photographer. We as vendors all have to be proactive and talk with each other. I talk with every officiant on the wedding day to gage what they are comfortable with. If I am in their church I follow their rules. If we are on location (not in a church) I talk with the officiant to see how many on location weddings they have done. With a short conversation I can tell how they operate. I then know how to tailor my distance and actions. I may give the officiant a little more space. I can still get the job done with my 70-200 or even a 85 from a respectful distance.

Yes the officiant could have handled the situation better. I am pretty sure this is a officiant that does not normally do on location weddings. This officiant is use to being the boss at his church. Which is fine. Lets not forget the officiant has a job to do. Not every church pastor does weddings all the time on location. Who knows how much stress he is under when officiating. Now he has cameras at his back. Everyone Bride, Groom, videographer, photographer and officiant is part to blame for what happened. Advanced communication with all parties is key.

HEEYYYY just wanted to say "Hi." Missed corresponding back and forth before David Jay closed the opensourcephoto.net.

It seems like the photographer didn't have a conversation on what's cool to do and what's not with the reverend. I'm blown away that he did what he did though.

Whats up man. Long time no see. Hope you are doing well. this story was in CNN the morning.

What's really awkward is that I can only watch this in 240p...What is this 2002 where's the 1080.

In terms of awkward moments, you might want to consider this instance....

https://youtu.be/qbxxfVM0aRo

Holy smoke Gaxify... and I thought everyone was happy on a wedding day ;-)

That's not awkward that's crazy.

This idiot could of handled this better. I don't care how wrong the photog or Video guy where by placing them selfs in that spot. This A-hole is nothing but an egotistical moron who instead choose to ruins somebodies wedding over a small stupid issue.

All he had to do is ask quietly and nicely to move and he would of been more effective. And this is why i hate religion in general.

Only thing that REALLY bugs me is when he says:'This is about God' No, you old fart, this is NOT about God, it's about your sick ego! Shame on you!

I feel sorry for the bride and groom, this imbecile ruined their day.

Holy ass, if you have photo issues the guy should have said that before the damn ceremony started.

«this is about god» [lowercase intentional]
I always thought a wedding was about the couple.

Within the church marriage is a sacred & permanent covenant relationship introduced by God after creating Adam & Eve. In the Old Testament marriage was used to portray God's relationship with Israel and in the New Testament it represents Christ's relationship with His church. So while the world outside the church (and many within the church) have made the wedding about the couple (particularly the bride), it really is about God. You may not understand or believe this, but this is why the priest made the comment about the ceremony being about God.

It is too bad that there seems to have been poor communication about the photography between all those involved. As the bride I would have personally found all of the noise coming from the camera to be an annoying distraction.

thanks for your clarification, I can understand the priest's words now. BUT, he's disrespecting the couple in the first place, he could have apologized to them before kicking the photog's ass out. and what a useless bragging, what comes after 0.15 is absolutely gratuitous, the photog clearly understood the priest didn't want him so close the first time he asked him to leave.

still thinking marriage is about two people who love each other, and the wedding being the celebration of that unique love. for the record, I've been raised with catholic principles.

God is a shared delusion of many, and doesn't exist. Whereas the couple does exist. The wedding is about the church's intrusion into the breeding cycle of earlier man, this is just a ripple in the pond many generations later. Just a left over ritual from the days that religion was the dominant mechanism for controlling the masses. With that said, this event is about the couple, and the officiant is a self-righteous asshole.

I guess that paragraph should just have people roll up their personally experienced beliefs, and how they manifest those beliefs into their lives, which is their business, because someone just said that. You solved it!

I absolutely agree.

whether you believe in God or not, is not ours to judge. The couple chose to have priest, implying that they do want to be joined in prescience of God

I've been an assistant of a wedding photographer for many years... that happens more often than you can imagine. A wedding is a solemn cerimony, but it is right to shoot it since it is so important. I think that photographers should be a little more discrete and priests a LOT more tolerant.

I do hope that this goes viral and his ass-holeness nevers books a wedding job again. Arrogant church guy.

I already back this video up in case this is one of those videos that will get deleted just because intentionally provoques hate between people.

good stuff!!

The photographers are being PAID to capture this. I was shooting a wedding on Sunday. I was rushing to a spot to get shots when one of the guests told me to slow down and stop being in the way. I looked at him and said, "I'm getting paid to be here and do this", then moved on. People need to realize that it's our job to immortalize that day. Guy was a jerk...

Photographers do get paid and as such don't you think that part of their job is not to be noticed, not to get in the way, the spotlight should never be on the wedding photographer.

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