I was asked to be an unofficial, unpaid photographer at a family Christening - Never, never, never again.
I agreed because I was looking for a good excuse to buy a fast prime lens. I would need a fast lens if I was going to take flash-free photographs inside a church. ( A fast lens is a lens with a wide maximum aperture - ideal in low light) . I turned up one hour before the service and tried out my new lens. I was pleased with the results. I had taken a bean bag rather than my tripod because I reckoned there would be plenty of places to rest the camera. Think of all the pews.
The vicar asked us all to participate in the service rather than take photographs. We could do that at the end. Since I am not a Christian, I had no intention of participating but thought it was only right to go some way towards respecting his wishes . The service came to an end. Like bats out of hell and before they had finished saying 'Amen', the members of the congregation rushed forward with their compact cameras and indiscriminately fired flash - and they kept on firing. It was like something out of Star Wars. How could I meter the light and take photographs in this kind of set up? I had bought a prime lens so that I wouldn't spoil my photographs with harsh horrible pop-up flash! Call me naive but I hadn't expected this kind of behaviour in a church.
The people in my pictures have flat washed-out faces and there are multiple shadows criss-crossing the walls. I waited until everyone left and tried to get the parents, godparents and grandparents to pose but they were fed up of it all by then and could not keep still. One of the godparents has 3 see-through arms on one shoulder - she was waving to someone. Shakes head - I wasn't asking them to keep still for whole seconds at a time!
I thought I had got a good shot of the vicar but on close inspection I can see that he has four rows of teeth.
Next time ( but there won't be a next time ), I could take my big heavy tripod and use it to assert a false sense of superiority and authority.
19 comments:
Sadly these days, being in a church counts for nothing when it comes to propriety. It just happened to be the location for this event, and as such people feel free (and indeed feel they are entitled) to behave without restraint or consideration. A sign of the times I'm afraid - sorry about that.
Love your photos on other posts though..
Anon - I can't blame the people for my poor photo of the vicar (except that I seemed to have lost the will to do well.) I took it after they had all left. It looked good on the LCD screen - he asked me to email him a copy for personal use. I think I will offer to go back and try again - at a quiet time.
Thanks for your comments re my other photos.
at least you know you were doing the right thing and if the baby with the balloon was the babe being christened you did manage some fab shots.
It could have been worse - did you read about the guy who fell off a cliff and died while taking a family photo, he took a step backwards, awful!
Pal - Yes, the baby on flickr is the child who was Christened. I have some more shots of him which I am probably going to convert to black and white. The child was well behaved and was more or less the only person I could successfully photograph. He was the most important person so things aren't so bad.
Stories of photographers falling off cliffs are very sad. I would not like to witness such a thing.
Pal - I've managed to combine two photos ( 2 layers and the eraser ) to get a reasonable photo of the godparents .
You should have done it with a tripod, as the case of all high speed lenses in a crowd like in a church.
But, that is a lesson, isn't it ??
Jac - I could have managed quite well without the tripod, but I think one would have helped me to manage the crowd. :-)
It's mercury retrograde too. If that helps :)
echomouse - When does Mercury move forward again?
June 20th is the last day but they say give it a couple days extra to be truly past it.
I can't freaking wait. lol
I was not invited, or I would have done that kat
:)
I think you have discovered the learning curve of the pro photographer Kat!
It explains why photographers are the way they are at weddings etc.!
Andre - I think it is a take charge situation and if there is a next time that is what will have to happen.
:) very engaging post...
Magiceye - I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think I have just about got over the experience. :-)
Hi Jac, I'll write to your email address - tomorrow.
Oh no, what a nightmare; but they do say doign wedding and christenings etc is really very hard for many reasons!
At least you know now :]
dogboy - I wouldn't dreaming of doing a wedding. :-)
I only did the Christening because it was unpaid and there was no contract.
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