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]
Unless there were major antics off camera, the minister is at fault here. In a modern wedding it is accepted practice that a videographer and photographer will be present. Well BEFORE the ceremony (or rehearsal) he should have made his wishes known to the professionals and the bride and groom, so agreements, pro, or con, could have taken place. I can understand his reaction if this happened in a church, but it is obviously in a park setting, not a house of God. He may well have ruined the couples wedding day, he owes them sincere apologies and a refund if applicable.
Well that priest is gonna need a new line of work after this.
Yo hago videos de bodas, y a veces es estresante encontrarse con estos sacerdotes, y si, si existen.
I'm part wedding videographer, and sometimes, finding these priests it's annoying, and yes, they exist.
I believe the article misrepresented / exaggerated the matter.
"However, how do you handle an awkward situation where you’re asked to stop photographing all together, in the middle of a ceremony? .......
........ Seemingly out of nowhere, he turns around, and aggressively tells the photographer and videographer to stop doing their jobs, and go somewhere else."
No, if the minister wanted to stop photographers, he could've stopped them earlier.
And he didn't ask them to stop altogether, just asking these photographers to stand elsewhere.
Note the phrase "do not get in the way". Clearly he got annoyed.
Behind him is not in the way.
Bear in mind that they are all stationary, so this "getting in the way" wasn't referring to path of physical movement.
"getting in the way" here refers to interruption of the proceedings.
If you watch the bride through this, when the photographer asked a third time for them to move at about 40 seconds she scoffs at it. Then right at the end she says "this isn't happening" (sorry if someone already mentioned it) Yeah the way the priest is talking aggravates me, but gosh this is the brides day. I ALWAYS ask the officiant where are they comfortable with me being, and then work with it. But if one changed their mind in the middle of the ceremony and asked me to leave then I would LEAVE lol head bowed, red faced probably teary eyed because I am emotional when i get mad LOL but I would NOT hold a conversation while the couple is waiting for their beautiful day to continue. Don't ask where you are allowed, just leave and stay near where the guests are, because guaranteed he won't have a problem there. The fact that he asked were they still ok at the beginning is because the bride was distracted. Could be because she was emotional or whatever but I think the officiant was speaking on their behalf thinking it was all the photographers super close by, and the photographers should have just listened. As much as the officiant initially upset me, all I can feel now is bad for the bride.
This officiant is a jackass?! IS THIS THE MOST AWKWARD WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEO EVER?!!! If so then you may have attended wonderful dreamland weddings or something cause this is nothing compared to the weddings I have attended (11 years of attending weddings) In my experience this officiant was way too calm. People is over reacting to this too much. Calm down!
This is exactly why I always ask the officiant first if there are any restrictions on when and where I work around the ceremony...
He's an officiant, yes, but not a Catholic Priest: Catholics do not get married outside. At least, they are not supposed to.
"Too close" is a relative term. Some officiants will let you just about sit on their shoulders. Others want you to photograph via spycam from another city.
The officiant is hired to do a job and is not really any more important than the photographers or the caterers. Sure, the ceremony is their time, but that doesn't give them the right to be jerks. Chances are that this couple are not all that religious in the first place, given that this wedding was outdoors and not in a church building. So carrying on about it being God's day is all well and good for him, perhaps, but it likely doesn't reflect the opinion of the couple. For the couple it's "their" day. For the bride it's "her" day.
Poor priest; always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
In the space of 2 and a half seconds i can hear 9 clicks from the camera. The photog trying to catch smiles and expression from the bride I presume. Seems this is what sent the officiant over the top.
Too many shots and an over the top reaction.... phew...
I like how certified the officiant is although he didn’t
fight to have the bride and groom get married in any sort of church. I
personally keep a very disconnected approach for the ceremony and I warn my
clients about that every time. I have sang for many wedding ceremonies and I
saw photographers and videographers getting called out all the time for being “too
close”. As a wedding photographer, I could feel for them, but as a photographer
with a dramatically different approach, I was on the side of the priest. Because
they were too close. I think the lesson here is find what works best for you,
your clients, and always speak to the officiant or ceremony coordinator before
it starts. Maybe they will let you do more if they know before hand or perhaps
the photographer will do less based on what they hear from those running this
portion of the day. In the end (I hope what I’m about to say it true for all
wedding photographers) we do our best. (If that last part is not true for you
as a wedding photographer, please quit because you are saturating a market you
will never succeed in.)
The officiant did not have to take that attitude, no question. But I believe if you watch again, and turn the volume up, you can hear that the photographer was using burst mode on his shutter like he was shooting a sporting event. And I'm sure that is what set the priest off. That was in poor taste for the photographer to choose to do that. It is distracting, and the photographer, and unfortunately his client, paid the price for that. My opinion on what happened. :)
By the attitude of the couple I'd say this is a marriage destined to failure.
Had to of been the 9 frames a second the photographer was shooting.
I love my D4s, I love the multiple image capture sound. But just tone it down during the ceremony.
"This is not about photography, this is about MY AUTHORITY!!!" Priest is an arrogant asshole. I would not have paid him, had I been the groom. "Hey, priest, you effed up what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life because you're a control freak. Whatever your fee was . . . you ain't getting it."
I was pretty appalled at how close the videographer was, and especially at the machine gun shutter of the photog right next to them. There's no reason to be that intrusive into a ceremony. It's kind of nice to see a priest lay it out like that, and I'm a wedding photographer! :) Maybe not the most diplomatic, though. That being said, it was certainly the responsibility of both parties to clear up expectations beforehand. Lesson to learn as a photographer, be respectful and lay off the rapid fire.
Everyone should stop calling this guy a priest. He's obviously a Protestant minister of some sort. Different league altogether.
You see where the confusion could happen don't you? It's not that big of a deal.
It's hard to see but notice the photographer right before the camera turns off wearing a hoodie and khakis? Plus just as the video starts you here like 20 shots, if the camera is digital silence it! I do audio for weddings the pastor was rude but I've witnessed photographers with total disregard for whats happening they throw attitude to the coordinator and the pastor when asked to stay away from certain areas. And go where they feel like as if the days about them (and those type usually have an entourage).
I know on my wedding day I didn't even notice things that happened until I went back to the video. I was at one wedding where the photographer blew me away by how stealthy and aware he was of were he was and he got amazing photos. Now that I think about it mine was not in one video shot that I know of got amazing photos and was by himself. maybe some people shouldn't be doing weddings, I mean look at how they cut it to just the moment without the context.
Anyone else ever been so blown away by another persons actions that it;s hard to compose a proper sentence. Plus the guys like "where do you want me?", um maybe do your job and figure that out.
OK stepping of my soap box :P
i blame the photographer absolutely. Every church or venue has some form of restrictions on where photogs are allowed to go to. He should have confirmed this before being embarrassed by the priest. and people for crying out loud, if you are going to be behind the officiant, u don't have to be so close, their closeness alone could have made him pretty uncomfortable. was at a wedding some time back and had this photog who was all up in everyone's face taking pictures. he'd jump right in front of the other photogs, be like a few inches to his subject before taking his pics. talk about being really obtrusive. To imagine he had a zoom lens.
This goes beyond rather if they should have been there or not. The minister should have kept his cool before ruining a wedding. No reason to put on a devil face and be so harsh, he could have handled it a lot better and still got his way.
I agree that he could have handled it better, but do you agree that the photog was where he was not supposed to be in the first place, then again can u imagine how many photogs the priest has had to address before realising that the photogs just don't get it, hence his "devil face"
Yea I agree they was in a rather weird place. Really the more I think about it, I don't know if they was there from the beginning and he could have warned them right away or if they just got there. I would have to say without that knowledge I can't make the judgment against him. Or for that matter, any of us.
Anyone ever seen a couple stand that far apart from each other?
I know that priest, he used to be a photographer, and was pretty bad at it.
what a troll ..
You can definetly tell the A type and B type people in the comments. All the B types think the Priest is a tard and all the A types think the Priest is justified. I'm a B type so I think the Priest is an idiot. I'm sure that most of the people including the couple are having a second thoughts about going to this mans sermons. There is the right thing to do and an effective thing to do and I'm convinced this man did neither.
Also think it's priceless that people keep saying that the photographers should have talked to him before hand and then the photographer who was there keeps responding that he did talk to him and then two posts later another person saying that the photographer should have talked to priest.
The videographer should have piped up and said, "It isn't about the photography! It's about the videography!" and then stayed and then when the priest said all the photographers need to leave say, "I'm not a photographer." Then the priest would say, "Videographers too!" Then say I'm not a videographer I'm a cinematographer!"
In my years as a photographer I did hundreds of weddings. I always spoke to the officiating person before. Not only did I ask them for their rules, I outlined what I had been asked for by the couple and what I envisioned on doing in their facility or church. Simply asking for general rules is not enough, imo. Could this have been handled better, most certainly on both sides. I fail to see why the person who shot this would post this to the net other than to try to embarrass the minister or priest which speaks volumes about them. This should have been one of those live and learn experiences and then move on with your life.
Transpod knows all.
God loves photographers, he said give them light and they all turned down there ISO. I know on the Nikon there is a silent shutter mode, also bursts on a static scene? the couple are stationary, single shots will do. to be honest the camera was way too close (video) also at that height. Would make anyone feel uncomfortable. Also being in eyeline or periphery of someone is a bit of a no no. 70-200mm use the lens length. You have to be a Ninja, as well. I think the ships doctor from Voyager was right to be uncomfortable. On the first haughty look in my direction, turn your back and walk off. If you turn your back and walk, they dont get into an engagement with you. Go somewhere else, he is right it is not a photography session, it is someones special day and there are ways and means to get the shot you require without drawing attention to yourself. I understood the photographer spoke to the ships doctor prior, I always make them part of the team, using phraseology like lets make this special for them, lets help each other out, I know we are frustrating, could you during the rings step back for a moment so we can get it and out of your way, and so on, I have kids to feed and this is my only source of income.... Now if he was being an arse just for the sake of being an arse, then the time to speak would be at the end. If that does not resolve itself, speak to his boss, someone mentioned church lady, jeez, flowers, card and flattery sorts them out, rohypnol in there tea helps as well.
I just went to a wedding. The photographers ruined everything. They stood in front of people, moved around constantly, and blocked my view of the bride and groom at every turn.
This story was on CNN this morning. WOW
Good for him! Why are you even getting a front on shot anyways, This should be featured in the 10 things not to do post
This is a very unfortunate situation! It doesn't even matter who the priest was talking to. He was rude and unprofessional. I don't even care what what going on behind him (it could have been a party for heaven sake!)...as a professional he needed to handle it differently. Regardless of what the photographer might have done or not done it doesn't matter (its how the priest drew attention to the matter and STOPPED the ceremony to do it!) We wouldn't be having this discussion and no one would even know about this had he continued to perform his duty as priest (as he was hired to do) There are distractions in EVERY wedding, crying babies, honking cars, things get dropped, family members who are want to be photographers, service staff working in the back, weather, planes overhead the list goes on! For him to go off on anyone is incredibly unprofessional! Imagine what this discussion would look like if he had yelled at a mom with a crying baby! If this is an issue for him to be able to perform the service he was hired to do...then he should have included it in his contract with bride and groom...not power play with the photographer. And even then no matter what happens he needs to pull it together....its the right thing to do. Priest in in the wrong here. End of story!
I see a man guilty of wrath!
"This is not about photography, It's about God"
And that's why you don't do it like that.
I can understand why John Malkovich would not want the fact that he is now performing wedding ceremonies recorded to videotape. It could ruin his career in Hollywood!!
I consider the photographers to be at fault here. Not to mention that they haven't touched base with the officiant before, they could also stop the argument as soon as the officiant said something and changed their positioning. For some reason they chose to drag it out with their pointless questions. I might be in the minority to say this, but I do not think the officiant was a jackass. He taught all of us, photographer, a lesson. Let's admit, photogs tend to get plenty arrogant.
Well first and foremost they were clearly breathing down the back of the Priest, I would never get behind an officiant and shoot like they did, call it what you will but respecting his place and your place are paramount. These idiots are the reason the priest/ officiants give us the photographers a hard time to start with. How bout if uncle Johnny with the new digital camera was standing behind you close enough to hear him breathing and you running into him if you step back or sideways. I am glad he spoke up and embarrassed them maybe they will learn some respect and etiquette.
a little communication goes a long way, being an arrogant photographer makes for some pretty nasty law suits later.