One of the biggest complaints about wedding photographers is that they take too long to do the formals.
It might not seem obvious, but one of the biggest impediments to fast photos is interruptions. There are a lot of sources of interruptions, from people asking what to do with the flowers on the altar to someone needing directions to the reception. But, the biggest source by far is other people trying to take pictures while the professional photographer is working. We know that grandma will want to take photos, and we totally respect that. But, as trained professionals (who are working, just as you do at your job,) it’s very difficult to do our job properly when we’re interrupted with “Wait, wait. I didn’t get that.”
A professional photographer knows there is limited time at a wedding and is usually working a few shots ahead in his mind to make things flow smoothly. Unfortunately, when he’s interrupted after each shot, it’s impossible to keep things moving and he can easily lose track of what he’s doing. Additionally, countless professional wedding photographs have been ruined over the years by amateurs yelling “look over here” which often produces a cross-eyed look in the photos.
For all of the above reasons, we highly recommend that you eliminate amateur picture taking while the professional that you’re paying for is working. However, it’s up to you to enforce this. Princess Bride photographers will rarely say anything to your guests unless it’s really slowing things down to the point that we can’t think straight. More interruptions simply mean that we take fewer photographs. So it’s up to you as the host/hostess of your wedding to set the tone and get your money’s worth out of your professional photography.
