Recently, I was asked to shoot a friend’s wedding. Though I don’t shoot for a living, I can relate to the preasure thrust upon wedding photographers every weekend. You’re dealing with alot of factors, many out of your control. You’ve got the nervous bride, the insane mother, the overbearing father, and the Nazi wedding coordinator. Not to mention wind, rain, bad light, too much light, glare, churches that don’t want flashes, and the potential for camera equipment failure. That’s alot of stuff, so what you do not need is Uncle Harry with his new 10 million mega-pixel Best Buy Special of the week digital camera getting in the way. This is why we have formal wedding photos with everyone looking in different directions. It’s clowns like Uncle Harry getting in the way that makes the job difficult. I say leave the photography to the people that are hired, or in my case drafted, into the job.
And please don’t talk to me while I’m working. Don’t ask me about my zoom, or my focus, or anything about pixels. I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you. I’m a hired gun, here on a mission to get “the shot,” the kiss, the moment of truth. Would you distract an artist painting on the streets of Paris?
So on behalf of all the hard working real wedding photographers everywhere, I have a message for the bride and groom to be: Tell Uncle Harry to “Leave Your Camera At Home.”
