Reply To: Fauxtog spottings in the wild!

[cass335]

Back before I did any weddings on my own a friend of my husbands asked me to get some photographs of her wedding day. She had already hired a local photographer as it came in a package she got with the chapel (which was also owned by him) but she had seen my work and liked it.  Well the hired photog provided a second photographer. I did my very best not to be one of those pain in the butt people who gets in the way of the paid photographer. I explained to her (the bride) that I would take some ceremony photos, but for the most part would leave those up to her paid photog so I didn’t get in his way or ruin any of his shots. Well after the ceremony they did some shots at the chapel. I also didn’t take any there as I didn’t want to be a bother and he had the guests all head to the reception location (which was only a short walk across a bridge). They also planned on doing some outdoor shots with the wedding party. Well when they got to the reception location the main photog took the guys, and the 2nd photog took the girls and went separate ways.  I joined the girls as the bride asked me to tag along for these shots. Well once the 2nd photog was alone it was like she didn’t know what she was doing. First she put the hot shoe flash on backwards and couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working (I helped her out with that one). She kept posing the girls facing into the sun. I didn’t want to tell her how to do her job so I didn’t say anything (but the bride did).  After she got about 2-3 different shots she seemed lost. My friend (the bride) asked if I had any that I wanted to do. So I started posing and snapping. Backing off when the paid photog seemed to want to take back over. But after I posed them she would step in and take a shot, then look at me to see what I was going to do next.

Here is a comparison pic if you are interested:  http://flic.kr/p/dY4sie

Also, I should mention that at one point both paid photogs disappeared somewhere and as I was standing near the bride and groom, her best friend whom she hadn’t seen in almost 8 years (due to moving and long distance issues) arrived and I got the shot of the first time they saw each other. It was such a special moment with them hugging and crying. She thanked me repeatedly, as did her friend, when they saw the photo. Both said they will treasure the photo forever and were so glad I was there to capture it.