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Question from Shawn: “My photographer was covering my son’s birthday party. Increasing, my guests were shoving their smartphones and cameras into his hands expecting him to take them and shoot for them. He obliged but later told me he missed a few good shots. My opinion is that he shouldn’t have obliged in the first place. But how should he turn down such requests politely, assertively and quickly (so as not to miss a good shot) without sounding rude?”
Stacy: he shouldn’t have to… you should have done it for him… he was in a position where he wants to please you, and in doing that he feels like he has to be nice to your friends..
Savannah: I had that happen at the 1st wedding I did. I simply told everyone I am sorry but the bride and groom are going to be taken away for their pictures. Please no one follow. The photographer can just speak up and say I’m sorry but i am here to do my job I can’t be taking pics of everything else.
Crystal: Shawn should have handled it. They are his guests and if they were doing something to interfere, he should have asked them to stop. One way to do so, without sounding rude, would be to announce that he’s thrilled they want to take pics at his son’s birthday party, but that the photographer was hired to obtain certain professional shots and by his shooting with their devices, he may miss them.
Megan: I completely agree with what Stacy said. If he is coming to your event you should explain to your guests that he is there for the purpose of taking pics for your son’s birthday party.
Jacek: he is the primary and he does work! simple NO, I can’t is fine and I do this all the time. Besides, I would never tell my client that I missed few good shots, because I have few more great shots!
Cary: I would just nicely tell them that I can’t really do that because I am working.
Candice: advice I recently read, regarding these situations is that the photographer should politely inform people with such requests that they are on the job, being paid by whomever, and that they need to run those requests by the person who is paying for that job. If the paying client is okay with the photographer performing those requests, be more than happy to oblige, but would need client confirmation.
Christina: I feel sorry for this photographer. He tried to keep this person happy, and after dealing with pushy guests, it still wasn’t good enough.
Esta: I’m with Stacy. It is the same as a wedding. People and all their tech devices get in the way all the time. It issued the host who is responsible for the guests. You have to let them know what is acceptable at an event. There are great articles on “unplugged” events.
Shelly: I agree with Stacy Morgan Howell on that one! I had someone do that to me at a wedding I was shooting. And the lovely bride told them “Hey, I am paying her for my day – if you want to fork over the $$$$ for it, then I will allow her to take your family photos too, otherwise, she works for me”. She said it jokingly of course, but they got the hint.
Erin: I agree too, you could simply tell your party that you hired the photographer, and if anyone would like to order some shots of the day that you would be happy to share the information with them.
Amanda: This is something I address in my contract. I let the client know that others may take their own photos but that they cannot use flash and cannot hinder me from getting the shots that I need to get. If you go over the contract with the client, be sure and explain everything, especially this!! If you aren’t getting a contract with each client, start doing it now! It protects you and the client and it addresses any issues like this that can happen before they occur 🙂
Amy: Weddings are something this happens and it’s also a contract point for me also. It’s our responsibility to ensure we capture every moment, it really annoys me at weddings!
Fiona: A good events photographer has to be able to manage people – anyone from the Prime minister to a child. You have to be able to politely tell guests what you need them to do. He should never have taken the other cameras. Of course, it would have been helpful if someone had made that easier for him – usually that is the role of the go to person such as the planner or best man, or host. Sometimes unfortunately guests do not realize and they get in the way of shots. The classic is to jump out into the aisle and photograph the bride coming up the aisle, blocking the professional photographer.
Lee: If the photog has their Camera in their hands, no one can hand them a phone. If it were me I would smile and say Please understand I’m being paid to use this camera right now so you’ll need to ask the host if they have someone else who can take guest camera photos. I would also build into the contract the option of a paid photo assistant to handle those things and/or deflect the requests for large events.
Lavish Lens: My bride at the last wedding I shot got her pastor to announce “please respect the photographer, do not get in her way as she was hired strictly for the bridal party. If you would like to request personal photos, please do so with the bride and groom AFTER dinner.”. It was perfect, nobody got in the way or asked me to take photos!
Ashley: I do think it is rude of your guests to ask a pro photographer to shoot with their Iphone for pics of themselves. There are other guests around to do that. I have 2 points on this. 1) like many people said, you should have made it clear that there will be a professional photographer there that you hired to do a job, so guests please do not interfere, 2) I feel that as an event photographer you should do your very best to capture the WHOLE event, not just the birthday boy. This includes guests interacting, so when your guests asked him to take pics he could have politely said something like, “oh I am documenting the whole event, so there will be tons of pictures for Shawn to look through, if you are interested in purchasing any of them here is my card”, or “let Shawn know, and we can make that happen for you”. It’s all a learning experience and now for the next time you will know how to handle it a little better. I bet you got some great memories none the less : )
Leah: It is the photographers responsibility to get the images expected of him/her. If that means telling people to move, no, back off or shut up, that is the job. We are hired for a purpose and need to accomplish that. ‘Other people wouldn’t let me’ is not an excuse. Obviously we can’t ruin a party by making a scene or make it about us, and sometimes people don’t listen. But we gave to do everything in our power to get the coverage we have signed a contract to provide. In this question the photographer should have said no
He should never have agreed. He should just say that he is being paid to capture the moments of the day and that should just relax and put their cameras away. Any special requests should be directed to you. You could also have made an announcement to everyone that you hired a professional to capture the event and they should put them away and enjoy the party
Christy: He should never have agreed. He should just say that he is being paid to capture the moments of the day and that should just relax and put their cameras away. Any special requests should be directed to you. You could also have made an announcement to everyone that you hired a professional to capture the event and they should put them away and enjoy the party
Images by TDashfield: That is a pain nowadays! He should never have started and a simple and polite “I’m sorry but I cannot do that, I’ve been hired to do just this.” And if they get grumpy then direct them to who hired you.
Shawn: Thank you everyone 🙂 I learnt lots. I certainly would be in a better position to help my photog explain to my other guests to get better control over the situation. I wasn’t unhappy with my photog though, he did his job well and captured many great shots. Actually he didn’t encounter the problems until we started taking some unplanned group shots later in the party and the guests just went into a mini camera-frenzy from then on. Still, point noted, esp for future events! Thank you!
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