Last night I did a really lovely wedding at the Fox Hollow, and the DJ had a kid-maybe all of 19- shooting Zap Shots alongside me, to show later on the big screens surrounding the DJ booth.
Now, I’m a nice guy who believes in getting along with everyone, so I did as I always do. I introduced myself, and told him to stand by my side as I’ll always be in the best place to capture whatever is going on.
Simple, right?
Not really. Four times this kid went in front of me, ruining my shot. Two of those times were AFTER I had nicely reminded him to stay next to me, and again told him why.
Now, the kicker: During dinner the DJ came up to me and asked if he could borrow my memory card, as the kid had somehow lost ALL the 200+ photos he had taken, and he had important moments that were missing.
I said I’m a nice guy, but I’m not stupid. Did he really think I would jeopardize MY work by allowing him access to me memory cards? As it turns out, they would have been of no use to him as I shoot in RAW format, not jpegs like on a cell phone. That’s another difference between an amateur and a professional.
The guilty kid disappeared, and another kid took his place, using their camera for Zap shots. Obviously one of the DJ’s roadies, who come along simply to haul equipment in and out at the end of the night. THIS one had the nerve to push me out of the way during the cake cutting.
If you choose to have someone who is not a professional doing these kinds of snapshots at your wedding, know that there is a good chance some of your professional photographer’s shots might be ruined. Mostly not through malice, but through ignorance and enthusiasm.
Rant over. 🙂
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