Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Sad, but it happens. People simply don't realize the effects of their decision.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

When I stand behind or to the side while "you" pose the bridal party, I'm not 'pirating' your poses - I'm photographing you. The photographs I capture at a reception are the people, and the photographer is often the most interesting person, the more officious the more interesting.

NBBPH Loc: Indiana

I don't get it. What seems to be the problem. I think the instructions are pretty explicit. Leave your camera at home and enjoy the wedding. As part of the family the wedding is not for taking photographs it is for enjoying the moment and the day and all the folks who are there. Relax and have fun. No one cares about what photos you might take at the wedding.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Ask the photographer. The one at my granddaughter's wedding even used my camera for a few of her posed shots that I was in. Personally I think that posed shots can be off limits if you need to interfere with their workflow but candids are in more of a public setting and can’t really be controlled by the pro, especially where the venue is large.

LouV Loc: Juno Beach, FL

The wedding guests are not a party to the contract. The contract can certainly prevent the couple from hiring a second photographer but it’s difficult to see how they can possibly be expected to prevent guests from taking pictures.

I think it’s an overprotective and unenforceable clause. That said, he’s doing it to make a living; you’re not. Be respectful and stay out of his way.

gmsatty Loc: Chicago IL

I think it is boilerplate language to protect the photographer is someone intrudes. I would ask your nephew to ask the photographer about this and get a specific explanation of the somewhat ambiguous language.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Not quite true. I still remember a wedding some thirty years ago that was run by THE PHOTOGRAPHER. I took a few photos at the reception. Several weeks later the groom called to ask me what photos I had, because work from THE PROFESSIONAL was so expensive. At a wedding we went to a few years ago as guests of parents, much of the fun of friends of the bridal couple seemed to be taking photographs {so the fun is what I photographed}.

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

I pretty much agree although I might have said it a different way :) It is hard work being a wedding photographer especially if you can't get to your subject because of all the other people with cameras in the way. Pretty much an impossible situation. Don't be one of those "other" people. Leave your camera at home and enjoy the wedding.

RS Bandit

When I take my camera to a wedding the first thing I do is approach the photographer and tell him/her that I'm a family member/friend and would like his/her permission to take photos. I assure him/her that I will not interfere with his/her plan of operations, that I will not use flash while he/she is photographing, and that the photos are for my own use and will not be sold. To date, I have not been turned down and on many occasions, after a particular shot the photographer asks me if I would like to photograph the same pose.

I always show the utmost respect and go out of my way to be unobtrusive and make sure the photographer knows that he/she is in charge.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I don't really agree. Friends of the bridal couple with their cell phones put on quite a show, and THE PHOTOGRAPHER is getting the usual boring stuff.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Good for you!! I doubt you will ever be refused while showing that much courtesy & respect. It's so easy, but many never approach it that way.
Mark

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

DON'T TAKE A CAMERA..........IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE PAID PHOTOGRAPHER WILL WALK OUT.. DON'T DO IT!!!!

Cheapshot Loc: California.

Chances are "your nephew" is not the one who signed the contract as that is the bride's responsibility and $$ normally. Better get her opinion and get this relationship started off properly. :)

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

For those who question the validity or ethics and even marketing issues behind an exclusivity clause in wedding photography contracts - here's an explanation and an overview.

Firstly and most importantly, legalities aside, a truly professional wedding photographer must possess exceptional PEOPLE SKILLS and must be prepared to handle any issue that arises at a wedding celebration with professionalism, kindness, and tact. This applies to the bridal party; the bride and groom, their attendants and family and all the guests. This also extends to the clergy or other officiants and other vendors and service folks attending the affair- the caterer, the band or DJ, the florist, and any coordinators. The photographer needs to interact with all of these people and garner their cooperation and help make there roles and participation easier and enjoyable as well.

Believe me, during my career, I have hired and fired many wedding shooters and I can tell you, prima-donnas, "wedding dictators", bullies, gruff, nervous or temperamental individuals folks never get hired by me and the somehow if the bad guys make it through, undetected, they don't last very long as my employees.

We plan very carefully with our brides and grooms so as to make their photography an enjoyable part of their wedding day, will NOT intrude on the event, yield excellent result, and merge smoothly with the schedule of the wedding. Of, course we enlist their cooperation in all these efforts.

This kind of precise planning usually avoids any serious problems MOST OF THE TIME, however, if there is a glitch, we, the photographers, need to be the "adults" and professionals in the room and be able to work around issues, even if thigs deteriorate into utter chaos- it happens! We've got come back with the goods no matter what as long as we are not in danger or peril.

By the way- Photographers who take books online, do all their advance planning by texting and phone calls are setting their own boobytraps. Precise planning and everyone being on the same page is essential. Direct communications are always the best way to go. By the same token, if anyone has issues with at photographer, needs permission to shoot thrown picture at a wedding, etc., the best approach is to communicate directly with that photograher. There is nobody on this site that can specifically advise you on someone else's policies. We can just offer an opinion or familiarize you with a few traditional trade policies that may not apply everywhere or with every photographer.

Unfortunately, the exclusivity clause is usually based on bad experiences, and after 50+ years of weddings and events, I can write a book or produce a hilarious TV sitcom that is funny enough unless YOU are the photographer. Intoxicated or inebriated guest can be somewhat problematic but add a camera to the equation and you have double trouble! How about "Uncle Oscar" who shows up with his video gear armed with a 1,000-watt quartz-iodine lamp that is always directed right into your lens! This kinda thing happened on numerous occasions- there are lots of well-meaning but intrusive "Uncles". One guy managed to blow the fuses in the hall and the entire venue went dark. Notice I said "fuses" not circuit breakers. Theses were old fashioned glass-screw-in fuses and the manager could no find any replacements. We had to do the unsafe thing by putting a coin into the fuse block to get on with the reception. How about the time that the "cell phone Paparazzi" swarmed the altar so badly that the good Reverend stopped the service and threw them all out including our crew although were really keeping a low profile- NOT GOOD!

We do not want folks to distract the couple and the bridal party during a formal session. We need everyone's undivided attention- we don't want eyes shifting in response to folks, other than us, giving "directions"! It's impossible to get romantic and sensitive images of the couple which folks looking on and sometimes joking around, cat-calling, oos, and ahas., etc. There is usually a limited time frame so we need to work quickly, effectively and uninterrupted. There will be lots of time to "PARTY" at the reception.

So...most of the time we don't need to "control or enforce" anything. The planning negates most issues and we can work around the odd glitch. We can change gears in an instant and compensate for most unexpected happenings.

There are no "penalties" in our contract if the exclusivity clause is breached, however, there is a stipulation that voids our GUARANTEE OF QUALITY" that is usually intrinsic in our contract. That clause stipulates that if theses are any loss of quality, missing shots, or technical difficulties that arise from the activities of unauthorized photographers, the guarantee is void and any retouching or editing that is a requested to remove folks with cameras, flare from unauthorized equipment or any such distractions from images will be additionally charged.

Money talks! In our own case, most of our wedding photography contracts are upwards of $5,000. We need to protect our clients' investment and of course, they want to maximize their results. In most cases, the guests that may cause an issue are well informed AND FOREWARNED. As I previously mentioned, we have little or no issues with guests at weddings. Most folks are happy to cooperate and we treat them with respect as if they were our own family. You get more with honey than with vinegar-especially if you are a fly!

We also TELL out a couple that we don't want to turn their beautiful wedding into a "camera club outing", a photo-fest, or even a GIANT professional photo-shoot! We do everything we can to keep a low profile and make certain that their photography will be a fun part of the day, so keeping the camera population down is a good plan. Folks are free to take pictures when we are not operating in their vicinity or recording must-have critical events of the day.

Financially, in my case, I am not worried about "competition" from amateurs, loss of print sale's, etc. All of my services are packaged and all-inclusive. We are well paid and although addition sales and add-on sales are appreciated and welcomed, we do not dependant on theses to earn a fair profit on each of our assignments. Our main concern is always doing our best work and keeping the clients satisfied! We must be doing something right in that all of our wedding business is brought in on referral. We haven't advertised very much in the last 17 years. One wedding show per year- just to remain in the public eye!

I hope this is informative.

Cameraman

There are many ways other photographers can interrupt the hired photographer and ruin his or her photos. Here is one common scenario.
When I pose the family - the couple and their parents for example - and I am about the shoot, I notice 3-5 cameras right next to me trying to take the same shot and worse yell at the groom or bride to look at their camera. If I shoot at that time, of course my photo would be ruined because one or more of the group member would be looking at another camera. In the past, I have had photos where the bride is looking at one camera and the groom is looking at another.

Now a days, when this happens, I just stop taking photos turn around and ask these other cameramen "Let me know when you are done so I can do my job". At this time (hopefully) someone in the group yells at them to stop talking photos and leave me alone.

These days I also ask the MC to make an announcement to say something like - "please feel free to take photos from your seat without standing up or blocking the isle or the photographer".

By the way, during my son's wedding, they had signed a contract where no other photographer would be allowed to take photos, so I did not take any photos and in fact asked to help the photographer to keep unwanted other photographers out of his and her way (it was a couple doing the photography). That resulted in fabulous photos of my son's wedding.