Guests With Cameras

I’ve had this topic in mind for some time, but I’ve hesitated to write about it for fear of offending someone. That’s certainly not my purpose. My goal is to put the information out there so that everyone can make their own decisions about the subject. So with that in mind, I’ll try to be as objective and informative as possible.

These days, it’s assumed that your guests are going to come to your wedding equipped with cameras. I know I expect it for every wedding I photograph. And why shouldn’t they? How could this possibly be an issue? It just means more photos for the bride and groom, right?

Yes, mostly.

Let me explain. I think there are two broad categories of “Guests with Cameras.” Most people fall into the first category:

1. “I Just Want to Take a Pic” category. These are folks with their iPhones, point-and-shoot-cameras, and maybe fancy SLR cameras that simply want to take a couple photos of the special moments in your wedding day. They sit in the pews at church and maybe step out once into the aisle for the “kiss” shot, but for the most part, they’re content to enjoy the wedding.

The only time they might prevent your professional photographer from doing their job is during those classic family group shots. There’s nothing quite so annoying than having five or six cameras pointed at you with everyone clamoring for you to look their way for a photo. You end up with a bunch of photos of people with their eyes looking every which-a-way. This has happened to me on a number of occasions. I really want to get one nice photo of everyone looking at me, but people get distracted and turn their eyes–even for a brief second–to look at Aunt Sue’s little camera.

So, I would suggest asking your friends and family to refrain from taking photos during that time or at the least remain behind your professional photographer and don’t call out for people to look at them. In the end, it’s your photos that will be affected.

Then there’s usually one or two guests that fall in to the other main category of “Guests with Cameras,” the:

2. “I want to build my portfolio to become a pro photographer, and/or I just got this new camera and love taking LOTS of photos with it” category. AKA, “Uncle Bob.” For some reason, photographers like to refer to this type of guest as Uncle Bob–maybe because they’re often male (but not always!) and are usually related to the bride or groom. This guest is all about getting photos of everything that is going on. They often stand in the aisles, move about during the ceremony, and follow the couple’s every move throughout the wedding day.

For the professional photographer, this can present quite a challenge. I am usually able to work around this type of enthusiast, but on a couple of occasions, their intrusive enthusiasm has meant that they are in a number of the photos from a particular moment. On occasion, they have also prevented me from getting the photo I wanted by physically standing in front of me or moving right when I’ve gone to take the photo. The loss here, again, is not mine, but the bride’s and groom’s.

If you think this may be a problem, I would suggest asking your guests to remain seated during the ceremony. If you know or see a particular guest who is following your every move with a camera, I would encourage you to talk with them specifically to let them know your preferences. Also, communicate with your professional photographer ahead of time and let them know what you’d prefer them to do in such situations. I know that I’ll keep shooting the best I can, but that may mean sometimes having a guest with camera in the frame, too.

In fact for me, that’s just another part of the story. This particular bride’s family friend loved taking photos of everything. So since she was there during the moments, she’s included in a lot of the photos.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how you want to approach this topic, but I’d encourage you to talk about it with your professional photographer before the wedding day.