Well, I'm bummed

suntzu

Just took shots of my sister's engagement party. I was suppose to be the backup photographer but the other guy didn't show up so I ended up being the primary one. Well, my sister got mad that I took too many shots of one person (3 pictures out of 61 final - 300 total) and not enough of her and the ones that I took of her she didn't like cause they were "weird" (I didn't want to take boring "stand in front of the camera and fake smile" pictures).

All that and I didn't even get to eat much at the party nor did I get paid. And there was some good food too!

If it was somebody else I wouldn't care much but if family does this to you, it kind of bums you out. I don't know. I'm thinking about taking a break for awhile. Putting the camera away until I feel like it's worth it. Who knows, maybe people ask me to take pictures not because the pictures are any good but because I have time to take pictures.

/end rant

photodoug

I get that too: YOU must have SO MUCH FREE TIME to take so many pictures....I just don't have all that FREE TIME.

yea, well, get up offa tha couch....

/add end rant

suntzu

photodoug wrote:

I get that too: YOU must have SO MUCH FREE TIME to take so many pictures....I just don't have all that FREE TIME.

yea, well, get up offa tha couch....

/add end rant

Heh . No, that's pretty typical when I take pictures. I'm always worried about missing a shot so I take a few so that I can choose the best one. Sometimes I think the picture is great but that's only because the moment was exciting. When I come back to the picture, it sometimes doesn't have that same feeling.

jsedlak

I get the opposite... my family still doesn't think I am serious about my photography hobby and so they look at me weirdly when I pull out my camera.

Must be nice to be asked to take pictures though...

SpeshulEd

I feel your pain, my mom keeps begging me to take family pictures, so then when I finally agree to do them, they want the plain, stand in front of a wall with a cheesy smile and call it good.

No creativity whatsoever out of them.

DKwan

When I shoot a wedding, I remind myself that it's just a big expensive party for the bride. And the parents, but mainly the bride. Shoot the bride! Forget the little kids running around, no matter how cute they are. Nobody knows who they belong to, and the photos are going to the bride. Don't worry about being "artistic". If you wanna be artistic, worry about that later in Photoshop. Be "safe" and shoot normal photos of the bride. Shoot the bride with the cake, the bride with the guests, the bride with the band, etc. Some photos of the groom would be nice too, but spend most of your time shooting the bride!

Scott_Quier

DKwan wrote:

When I shoot a wedding, I remind myself that it's just a big expensive party for the bride. And the parents, but mainly the bride. Shoot the bride! Forget the little kids running around, no matter how cute they are. Nobody knows who they belong to, and the photos are going to the bride. Don't worry about being "artistic". If you wanna be artistic, worry about that later in Photoshop. Be "safe" and shoot normal photos of the bride. Shoot the bride with the cake, the bride with the guests, the bride with the band, etc. Some photos of the groom would be nice too, but spend most of your time shooting the bride!

My, admittedly, limited experience leads me to strongly agree with portions of the above. Some of the things I have read elsewhere cause me to believe that the photog, if (s)he takes orders/direction from anyone, it should be the bride. It's her party!

FWIW, I would shoot the standard, boooooorrrrrrring shots AND the fun stuff. That way, you have it covered.

Where I depart from the above is that I also shoot the kids running around, the parents having fun with the kids, the tender moments between guests while the B&G are dancing, all these can increase your sales. It's not just the B&G who have money.

saurora

I've heard a lot of people say their family are their "worst" critics! I hope you're not planning on shooting the wedding! I bet the shots are just fine and she is just upset that the photographer didn't show up and she's taking it out on you. You should post some here and get some "positive" feedback!

greenpea

I feel your pain. Its my inlaws that are my worst critics. I had a showing of my photography and did the whole artists reception thing. My father-in-law showed up and announced quite loudly that none of the pictures were doing anything for him and then said he was leaving to get some dinner (we had a ton of food at the reception). He returned later picked out a photo and offered me $10 for it. I told him it has cost me over $50 to get it printed and framed. So he said he would give me $15 for it.

Scott_Quier

greenpea wrote:

I feel your pain. Its my inlaws that are my worst critics. I had a showing of my photography and did the whole artists reception thing. My father-in-law showed up and announced quite loudly that none of the pictures were doing anything for him and then said he was leaving to get some dinner (we had a ton of food at the reception). He returned later picked out a photo and offered me $10 for it. I told him it has cost me over $50 to get it printed and framed. So he said he would give me $15 for it.

That kind of "respect" really makes it hard to stay civil. Did you manage to do so?

SpeshulEd

greenpea wrote:

I feel your pain. Its my inlaws that are my worst critics. I had a showing of my photography and did the whole artists reception thing. My father-in-law showed up and announced quite loudly that none of the pictures were doing anything for him and then said he was leaving to get some dinner (we had a ton of food at the reception). He returned later picked out a photo and offered me $10 for it. I told him it has cost me over $50 to get it printed and framed. So he said he would give me $15 for it.

Its times like that when you give them the one they liked least for a christmas present.

greenpea

Scott_Quier wrote:

That kind of "respect" really makes it hard to stay civil. Did you manage to do so?

That's actually pretty typical of my father-in-law, and ultimately the print was a birthday present, which was a good thing because he normally exchanges or returns any gift you get him for he *really* wanted...at least in this case he didn't try and return it

...and it is hung on his wall (albeit in the bathroom ).

Sandy

Your sister should have been grateful that you you were willing to take the pictures when her photographer bailed. Without you she wouldn't have any. She is just gearing up to be a bridezilla. Be sure to take videos of the wedding for a segment on ET.

ajgauthier

...whatever you do...
...sorry that happened to you and from your sister no less!

My thought...whatever you do...

make absolutely certain that all of your cameras are "broken" or "in the shop" for the rest of the wedding events. Don't even bring it, don't stick it in your car "just in case" ...nothing... it may end up saving you a bunch of stress in the end, and further, you can enjoy her wedding

However, bridezillas being what they are...is she expecting you to be the back-up for the wedding too? If so, it may be hard to talk to her to tell her you don't want to take anymore pictures. Hence...the..."oh [EMAIL="d@mn"]d@mn[/EMAIL]! I dropped my camera and now it's broken...in the shop...sorry" way to get out of it too.

Good luck

Adrienne

Dee

I agree
Post some photos so we can see if your sister is right or not!:D

ziggy53

Well, the images are no longer available, but previously he (suntzu) got good reviews:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=316968#post316968

ziggy53

Jnichols

That is quite harsh but I can relate! My family is very outspoken when it comes to my photography - they always want to tell me what I did wrong or why I composed a picture a certain way. So now I leave my DSLR at home and bring my point and shoot Kodak to family events And if I do bring my DSLR with me, I never show them my pictures until I cull out the ones I didn't turn out. That seems to help...

KAM

Forgive her and move forward
Sad to say but we all have ran into situations where some folks just have no apprication for good deeds. Forgive her and move on....it's not worth worrying about any longer....don't lose your passion for photography! Post your photo's so we can all clap!
Kindest Regards,
KAM

Jeff Fillmore

greenpea wrote:

I feel your pain. Its my inlaws that are my worst critics. I had a showing of my photography and did the whole artists reception thing. My father-in-law showed up and announced quite loudly that none of the pictures were doing anything for him and then said he was leaving to get some dinner (we had a ton of food at the reception). He returned later picked out a photo and offered me $10 for it. I told him it has cost me over $50 to get it printed and framed. So he said he would give me $15 for it.

- It would be worth the $50 to crack him over the head with it and give it to him for free.

BTW- I love your signiture line. - "We need to listen to children because they are closer in time to the creator and remember more" (Native American saying) - Very nice.

photogmomma

That totall blows. I'm VERY sorry she was such a snot about it. Not sure how close you are to her, but can you remind her that you were jsut doing it for fun and NOT because you were being paid?

UGH! I'm so lucky to have such a supportive family and with that on everyone.... They are my biggest fans - and everyone should have fans like that.

I'm hope her head comes unstuck and she realizes how lucky she is to get ANY photos at all! (And I have to say, I'm intrigued to see them!)

Shay Stephens

Photography clients, be they family, strangers, or space aliens, have no respect for free services or those that offer them. Charge for what you do, and one of two things will happen.

1) The ingrates will happily leave you alone

2) People will value and respect what you do

Now there are some exceptions of course, but the general rule is to charge to gain respect. This also goes along the lines of learning to say no. In the long run, saying no solves more problems than it causes. It's like a super power that can be wielded to combat evil

AntoineD

DKwan wrote:

When I shoot a wedding, I remind myself that it's just a big expensive party for the bride. And the parents, but mainly the bride. Shoot the bride! Forget the little kids running around, no matter how cute they are. Nobody knows who they belong to, and the photos are going to the bride. Don't worry about being "artistic". If you wanna be artistic, worry about that later in Photoshop. Be "safe" and shoot normal photos of the bride. Shoot the bride with the cake, the bride with the guests, the bride with the band, etc. Some photos of the groom would be nice too, but spend most of your time shooting the bride!

uh !

Was does that mean, being creative later on photoshop?! especially on a wedding… if you miss the shot, don't expect photoshop to get some good of it! Unless you spend hours and hours on your production just for fun…

I do worry about "art" during the wedding ; in fact, people do pay me (and not somebody else) for that.

One thing about kids : you cannot miss them, because so many people will want to see them Of course, sometime you don't really know wherre they come from that's for sure but some of them (nephews, etc.) are very important, sometimes.

Sandy wrote:

Your sister should have been grateful that you you were willing to take the pictures when her photographer bailed. Without you she wouldn't have any. She is just gearing up to be a bridezilla.

Sure bet! I think your sister worth a little slap in the face

But here's what I think: don't ever shoot family stuffs ever again I'm ver serious about it : two weeks ago, I've covered a family wedding, it was nice and everything. But it's been VERY VERY hard to do it. Why? Because I knew almost everybody! It's been very hard to stay professionnal. And, let's say it's kind of a joke: I've just photographied my parents once Not more…

Besides, you can end up with family troubles if they don't like the pictures (I guess).

Anyway, don't put your camera away, this thing with your sister ain't enough. Continue shooting and evolving, instead! Don't shoot any wedding whithout having shown your previous photos, too.

And have a nice day

Shay Stephens wrote:

In the long run, saying no solves more problems than it causes. It's like a super power that can be wielded to combat evil

Definitely