photography faux pas

I think everyone I know knows that I try very hard to please every one of my clients. I communicate as much as I humanly can, and I even have contracts in place to cover what I don't get to verbally. The most important thing when it comes to photography, and not just on my part, is communication, communication, communication. Plain and simple. When a wedding is moved to another location, I need to know about it in advance for many reasons. If you're wedding has been moved to another date or canceled altogether, I need to know about it. If you make out lists of things to be covered during your wedding, I need notice to go over what is important to you, not ten minutes before the wedding begins. Are we getting the point here? I think sometimes people forget how important and how difficult our job is as a photographer. I never want to hear, "Oh, the photographer can just wing it, (or better yet) figure it out." No we can't, nor do we want to. We need to prepare the same as the bride and groom. Do you honestly think that "winging it" is going to give you high quality photos, especially when plans have changed and you failed to let the photographer know? Of course not. But, the clients will expect them, no doubt. There's equipment being man-handled and transported across parking lots (or venues that are as big as the O'Hare or BNA Airports), and special equipment needed for us to do our job properly (lighting, special lenses, and so on). I never want to get blind-sided on a job. It's the most irritating feeling. It's almost like people don't care about us little photographers, but in reality, we ARE very important and need to know as much detail as anyone else. After all, we are the ones who will be there to capture every special moment on your wedding day so that you can look back on it in 40 years. So, if they turn out poorly, you have no-one to blame but yourself. And, I love when the wedding party doesn't want to cooperate. They scatter like roaches and no-one can seem to find Grandma when it's time to take photos. Then, that brings me to my next thing - time. I don't want to waste everyone's time, or mine for that matter. I feel that I am very patient, but sometimes you just get annoyed when nobody is participating. Honestly, even the most prestigious photogs out there need time to prepare, take crappy photos, and get just as irritated if put in this type of situation. Moral? Communicate and have some respect for your photographers! I promise, you'll appreciate the ending result. Okay, I'll get off my soap box now. *wink*