<p>
The person(s) paying should be the only one(s) doing the saying. The photographer already got some (most?) of the money, so didn’t appear to care? Maybe he/she thought that Bossy Auntie and family would buy a lot of the prints if he accommodated her? What other explanation could there be, when he/she was told explicitly to take lots of pics of friend’s mother?</p>
<p>^My friend wanted to sue the photographer. The new wife kindly arranged for some special pictures with the mom at another time- wore her dress again and had flowers. (A special gal and the marriage has been a long and happy one.) I do feel sorry that OP, the only aunt, missed out, but do hope she gets her replacement photo opps, as time goes by.</p>
<p>Thank you lookingforward…that was very kind.</p>
<p>lookingforward, I’m so glad that the new wife arranged for some special photos of the mom. She sounds like a class act!</p>
<p>At my family’s weddings, the tradition at every wedding I’ve attended since I was a little girl has been to include everyone in photos in groups large and small. People have been quick to point out to the OP that the day was not about him or her. My take is that brides and grooms would do well to get over themselves and appreciate the presence of out-of-town relatives! That said, I am not a fan of staged group shots AT ALL. They are uninteresting aesthetically; they do not capture anyone’s personality; they are just flat. What they say is, "These people came to a party and lined up with fake, frozen smiles when they’d rather be dancing, talking or eating canap</p>
<p>^I agree, but I’m also glad I told my photographer to make sure he got a group picture of every table at the wedding which ensured that I had a decent picture of everyone. The candids are more fun, but it’s easy to miss people if you count on them to cover everyone. My favorite pictures are the ones of people dancing, though the ones of the sunset the photographer insisted on are great too.</p>
<p>You know, that would be a good thing to ask the photographer when choosing one for a wedding - let me see examples of your candid shots. Our guy didn’t even want to take candid shots because he said no one ever buys them. Well, he was right…no one buys them because his were bad…we only bought a few because most looked like ones I might have taken…lots of backs and sides of people.</p>
<p>A good studio photographer that shoots weddings will compliment their skills with a photographer to shoot ‘second’ who has an eye for photo journalistic skills (ie great candids). The other benefit is having two points of view on the ‘money shots’ in case someone carelessly walks in front of the photographer during cutting of the cake, etc. As Missypie states, ask to see their candids, not just formal work. Event photography is a much different animal then studio photography and takes a different skill set. You can’t control your lighting or insist people be still.</p>