In the rush to capture all the best moments at a wedding, photographers should always be aware of when to get closer … and when to take a big step back. One wedding photographer found this out the hard way when he was reprimanded in the middle of the ceremony.
In a YouTube video posted last week, an officiant at a wedding can be seen delivering vows to the bride and groom when all of a sudden he turns around to address a cameraman.
“Please. Sirs. Leave.”
Stunned, the cameraman asks “Where do you want me to be?”
“Anywhere other than here,” the priest says, as the bride and groom look at each other in the background, clearly embarrassed. “This is a solemn assembly. Not a photography session. Please move. Or I will stop. I will stop this ceremony if you do not get out of the way. This is not about the photography. This is about God.”
At that moment the photographer, Kamrul Hasan, and the rest of his crew hastily pack up their gear and shuffle away from the altar.
In an interview with ABC, Hasan says he was completely caught off-guard by the priest’s outburst.
“He just snapped out of nowhere,” Hasan said. “I just couldn’t believe it.”
Hasan added that at no time in the pre-ceremony did the priest set boundaries — a meeting that likely would have prevented the misunderstanding.
“My responsibility is to capture the great shot,” he said. “But at the same time I do not want to interrupt the ceremony.”
We’ve interviewed plenty of wedding photographers (check out this video with Anna Kuperberg) but we’ve never heard of such a confrontation. Photographers have a responsibility to remain respectful while they do their jobs, yet they also have to get images that show the intimacy of the ceremony. And that means getting as close as possible.
So did Hasan overstep his boundaries? Or does the Priest have a valid complaint? Check out the video below and let us know what you think.
The one time I had to do a wedding I felt very uncomfortable with these two mutually exclusive imperatives: being where the action is, yet invisibly so. Combined with the unwillingness of the couple to assess what shots they wanted before the fact and the general tendency to chaos this occasion told me something about where not to go with photography.
Photographer was way out of bounds. Who does he think he is? Gods gift to wedding photography!
Not being a wedding photographer and watching this clip
I conclude that the priest, minister or what ever has no use
for photographers clicking away as he is doing his thing.
Maybe the photographer is breaking up his communication
with god.
There were errors on both parties. As a professional photographer witnessing over 300 weddings in my tenure it’s preeminent procedure to speak with the officiant or his representative at the ceremony venue and acquire the ‘rules’ of expectation.
The video camera man was intruding on the alter and he should have known this. He is simply a witness, never to be part of the ceremony. It’s just as much about being unobtrusive as it is about camera settings. Having a wherewithal as to how your presence is being received is part of the game.
The officiant called too much attention away from the ceremony and became the aggressor, giving the Bride & Groom a memory that he didn’t have to issue. He could have been more Christian like, been a bigger person and not throw his weight around in his capacity. He could have as easily walked up to the camera man and whispered in his ear and not have drawn the grand attention and embarrassment to the camera crew and the Bride & Groom that he did. If I was the Groom, I would have been really upset that my Bride and I had selected the wrong officiant.