If
you've booked a professional wedding photographer
you are probably hoping to have some photos of your
wedding ceremony. Most churches and registry offices
will have some sort of photography policy in place
and these can vary wildly, from being very relaxed
to extremely restrictive.
Whenever I take a wedding photography booking I will
always contact the church or registry office to
check what I'm allowed to do on the day. Sometimes
I'm given permission to walk around and use a
flashgun on my camera throughout the whole service,
in other venues I'm told not to use the flash, to
stand in one place or not to take photos during
certain stages of the ceremony. Everybody has their
own ideas of what is appropriate and I'm happy to go
along with that. Whatever is agreed, I'm quiet,
unobtrusive and don't disrupt the wedding.
However, after a recent experience with a local
church, I've decided to point out to my clients the
effect that these agreements can have on their
record of the day. I took a wedding booking a few
weeks ago and was asked by the groom to sign a
photography agreement with the church. The agreement
was very limiting, absolutely no photographs during
the ceremony, I was to stand in one place and not
move until escorted by a verger, I should arrive
half an hour early etc etc. I would be allowed to
take some posed photographs of the signing of the
register but nothing else. This meant that the
couple would have no photographs of their wedding
ceremony at all. I discussed this with them but it
was their local parish church and they decided that
they wanted to go ahead.
Whatever restrictions are made they are going to
have some effect on the photography. Churches are
generally quite dark, so a no flash policy means the
photographer is going to be using camera settings
that may cause camera shake, bad colours or grainy
effects. If they are told to stand in an alcove and
make sure they are not seen it's probably not going
to give them a very good viewpoint to shoot from.
Sometimes these policies can seem a bit mad, the
photographer is told not to use flash on threat of
eviction, then as soon as the service starts half
the guests pull out their cameras and the flashes
start popping.
At the weekend I received a letter from this
particular vicar banning me from taking any pictures
at all! She seemed to think that I had altered the
photography agreement before returning it, I hadn't,
all I had done was to sign on the dotted line and
return it. It was a very hostile letter, quite
surprising from a vicar, even more surprising as I
had done nothing to deserve it. The situation is
still unresolved. The wedding is coming up soon so,
even if the couple decide they would like to change
churches, they may have difficulty finding
somewhere.
The point of this story is that some vicars, priests
and registrars just don't like photography or
photographers in any shape or form. It's really
worth checking how your venue feels about this
before you make a booking. For some people the
ceremony is a time that shouldn't be disturbed by
anything, others would like some discreet photos
taken of the occasion. If you do want some photos of
your ceremony, check your church or registry office
photography policy before you make the booking. It's
your day.
By:
David Perris
About the Author
David Perris is a
contemporary wedding
photographer in Brighton Sussex.
See examples of current work and techniques on
the Sussex wedding
photographer's blog.
(c) copyright David Perris 2009
(ArticlesBase
SC #1313587)
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/
-
Check Your Church Wedding Photography Policy Before
You Book
