Soooooo. Shot a wedding yesterday that should have been AMAZING, but, of course I cant be that lucky
Reasons why it should have been amazing 1) Outside (I prefer outside weddings) 2) Great weather 3) Scenery the backdrop was the mountains The freaking mountains!!! Ok, I know that depending on where youre from you may not think Virginia has mountains, but we do and we love them! 4) Fall themed. Im talking pumpkins, fall leaves, hay bales with quilts for seating Oh yeah, love it! 5) My favorite SG Hopeful Pheobewas a bridesmaid! this girl!
On to the suck Sooo If you tell me the girls will all be at the house to get ready at 1pm, wed like you there then to get shots of getting ready, then I expect there to be a heard (7) of bridesmaids and, I dont know maybe a BRIDE at the house at 1pm I guess thats too much to ask. I got to hang out with the Brides parents at their house for an hour waiting on the girls to show up. And, they were still running around trying to get everything set up. Did I mention I had to drive an hour and a half to get to the location? Once the Bride does finally arrive, she has to go check out the progress down at the barn (where the reception will be) which I guess I get, but come on, were already an hour behind on time. But wait; lets also take this time to go get high while out of sight of the parents this should speed things up **SMH** Now she needs to eat and then go to the bathroom for 20 min Holy Mother of God, Im pulling my hair out!!! Hey, anyone know where the florist is? No? Awesome Ok, Bride done pooping, time for makeup, so at least I have something pertinent to take pictures of for 30 min More Bride wandering around not getting ready. Sooo, we arent doing formal pics before the ceremony then are we? No? Ok, great. Does ANYONE want to put on a dress now? Hey, great idea photographer lady. It takes 30 min to get the Bride into the dress. Is this normal? I dont think this is normal. Hey, chick with the clipboard looking panicked; whats the plan? Girls into the limo to be driven down the hill about 30 feet? Sure , whatevs, but the limo just left but the flowers just got here! Oh, and chick with the clipboard, you really need to keep me abreast of what the plans are since Im supposed to capture all of these special moments! So, bride placed on a hay tractor for dad to drive her the 30 feet (which is kinda cool, but none of the guests can see it).
Ceremony: pretty basic and Ive got free range to move around. Forgot they were going to do a sand ceremony at the end and had to sprint around as quietly as I could muster through the crunchy grass to get those shots. Ceremony done. Sweet, lets grab everybody right quick and do these formal shots. Oh, hey, photographer lady; Mom doesnt want pics where you and the bride had discussed, she wants them over there, so take down your lights youve set up and move everything down there Sweet Baby Jesus Ok, moved aaaanndddd where is that little black screw that I need to keep my umbrella open??? SonOfaBitch! Ok, flash it is. Thank Dog I had a friend helping out as second shooter, he was able to run back up the hill and somehow find the missing little black screw in the grass! Slight delay to set up lights AGAIN. Click, click, click WTF is causing my lights to not hit the bottom of my shot? Reposition X5 add a synched flash to try to compensate, reposition again que gust of wind to knock over 86inch umbrella while fidgeting with other stuff. Set everything BACK up annnd now microsynch not working. FUCK THIS! Flash again click, click, click SB 900 overheating Damnit! Im over this!! Some natural light for a while, and done! Yay, on to the reception. Hey, lady with the clipboard, whats the plan? Eat, eat, eat. Hey, happy couple, hold this Thank You sign real quick, well take one now, but get the real posey one later. Blah, blah, blah, reception stuff toast, dancing (like 52 different specialty dances), garter and bouquet. So, theres not a cake, there is going to be a pie table. Cool, whatever. Pies put out and its like a feeding frenzy! So much for getting pics of the pie table before it was attacked. Literally, they couldnt get all the pies out before people swarmed (where the fuck is the chick with the clipboard?). Couple cutting pre-cut pie pics whatever hey, GWC, MOVE, they are paying me for these pics, not you! Yum, yum, pie. Hey, anyone know where the Thank You sign is so we can run off real quick and take those pics? It got devoured in the great pie frenzy? Check. Hey, clipboard lady, whats the plan for the exit? Oh, youre not sure because there is no vehicle for them? Perfect details worked out and exit made No, Im not going to stay and drink with you guys when you come back, Im blowin this pop stand!
I guess Im just pissed that it could have been awesome, but with delays, malfunctions, and general disorganization, I couldnt get all of the shots that they wanted, or all of the shots that I wanted. Oh well They will still be happy, but I will still be annoyed Damn you lady with clipboard!
There's my rant... now I;m done.
Reasons why it should have been amazing 1) Outside (I prefer outside weddings) 2) Great weather 3) Scenery the backdrop was the mountains The freaking mountains!!! Ok, I know that depending on where youre from you may not think Virginia has mountains, but we do and we love them! 4) Fall themed. Im talking pumpkins, fall leaves, hay bales with quilts for seating Oh yeah, love it! 5) My favorite SG Hopeful Pheobewas a bridesmaid! this girl!
On to the suck Sooo If you tell me the girls will all be at the house to get ready at 1pm, wed like you there then to get shots of getting ready, then I expect there to be a heard (7) of bridesmaids and, I dont know maybe a BRIDE at the house at 1pm I guess thats too much to ask. I got to hang out with the Brides parents at their house for an hour waiting on the girls to show up. And, they were still running around trying to get everything set up. Did I mention I had to drive an hour and a half to get to the location? Once the Bride does finally arrive, she has to go check out the progress down at the barn (where the reception will be) which I guess I get, but come on, were already an hour behind on time. But wait; lets also take this time to go get high while out of sight of the parents this should speed things up **SMH** Now she needs to eat and then go to the bathroom for 20 min Holy Mother of God, Im pulling my hair out!!! Hey, anyone know where the florist is? No? Awesome Ok, Bride done pooping, time for makeup, so at least I have something pertinent to take pictures of for 30 min More Bride wandering around not getting ready. Sooo, we arent doing formal pics before the ceremony then are we? No? Ok, great. Does ANYONE want to put on a dress now? Hey, great idea photographer lady. It takes 30 min to get the Bride into the dress. Is this normal? I dont think this is normal. Hey, chick with the clipboard looking panicked; whats the plan? Girls into the limo to be driven down the hill about 30 feet? Sure , whatevs, but the limo just left but the flowers just got here! Oh, and chick with the clipboard, you really need to keep me abreast of what the plans are since Im supposed to capture all of these special moments! So, bride placed on a hay tractor for dad to drive her the 30 feet (which is kinda cool, but none of the guests can see it).
Ceremony: pretty basic and Ive got free range to move around. Forgot they were going to do a sand ceremony at the end and had to sprint around as quietly as I could muster through the crunchy grass to get those shots. Ceremony done. Sweet, lets grab everybody right quick and do these formal shots. Oh, hey, photographer lady; Mom doesnt want pics where you and the bride had discussed, she wants them over there, so take down your lights youve set up and move everything down there Sweet Baby Jesus Ok, moved aaaanndddd where is that little black screw that I need to keep my umbrella open??? SonOfaBitch! Ok, flash it is. Thank Dog I had a friend helping out as second shooter, he was able to run back up the hill and somehow find the missing little black screw in the grass! Slight delay to set up lights AGAIN. Click, click, click WTF is causing my lights to not hit the bottom of my shot? Reposition X5 add a synched flash to try to compensate, reposition again que gust of wind to knock over 86inch umbrella while fidgeting with other stuff. Set everything BACK up annnd now microsynch not working. FUCK THIS! Flash again click, click, click SB 900 overheating Damnit! Im over this!! Some natural light for a while, and done! Yay, on to the reception. Hey, lady with the clipboard, whats the plan? Eat, eat, eat. Hey, happy couple, hold this Thank You sign real quick, well take one now, but get the real posey one later. Blah, blah, blah, reception stuff toast, dancing (like 52 different specialty dances), garter and bouquet. So, theres not a cake, there is going to be a pie table. Cool, whatever. Pies put out and its like a feeding frenzy! So much for getting pics of the pie table before it was attacked. Literally, they couldnt get all the pies out before people swarmed (where the fuck is the chick with the clipboard?). Couple cutting pre-cut pie pics whatever hey, GWC, MOVE, they are paying me for these pics, not you! Yum, yum, pie. Hey, anyone know where the Thank You sign is so we can run off real quick and take those pics? It got devoured in the great pie frenzy? Check. Hey, clipboard lady, whats the plan for the exit? Oh, youre not sure because there is no vehicle for them? Perfect details worked out and exit made No, Im not going to stay and drink with you guys when you come back, Im blowin this pop stand!
I guess Im just pissed that it could have been awesome, but with delays, malfunctions, and general disorganization, I couldnt get all of the shots that they wanted, or all of the shots that I wanted. Oh well They will still be happy, but I will still be annoyed Damn you lady with clipboard!
There's my rant... now I;m done.
I tried a couple different approaches for SGVA, but still no luck. AllieShamalie says you can join SGDC if you like, it's slightly more active than SGVA.
Also, good luck at the interview! Don't let another six hours of cockaholics interfere with that.