As a wedding photographer, I run into a lot of situations that present an obstacle to my taking a really good large group photograph of the wedding party or family portrait. Nowadays at weddings, it seems every wedding guest brings along their own little point and shoot digital camera and wants to capture every moment of the event for themselves. Most of the time I have no problem with them taking pictures around me unless they are standing up directly in front of my camera lens to take a photo of the bride and groom just as they come marching down the aisle.
But very often during the wedding, while I am making the formal group photograph of the wedding party or family portrait, friends or family members with their own little digital camera (or sometime a large digital SLR) want to stand next to me or off to the side to try and get the same photo I am taking at the same time. Usually, we are on a very tight schedule (very often it is normal to be running way behind schedule) as these photos are often taken just before the wedding ceremony is scheduled to begin and it is hard to stop and explain why I do not want them around with their cameras. I try as diplomatically as possible to get them to stop but often they ignore me or act offended.
Later some of these people have told me they think I do not want them taking a photo because I am afraid of losing revenue from print sales or that I am feeling jealous. It is not that. The reason is I want everyone in my photo to be looking in the same direction - at me.
When several cameras are pointing at a group of people posing for a picture, it is natural for some people to look off to the left at one camera, some off to the right at another camera, and the rest will be looking at my lens. When the photograph is printed large enough to really see it, everyone looking off in every direction has a disconcerting effect on the viewer. To these guests off to the side with their own digital cameras, the photo they think they see me making is just a photo of a group of people. The picture I am actually trying to make though, is of a group of pairs of eyeballs and I want to photograph all of them looking directly at my camera. Nothing destroys a good group photo more than if some eyes are looking off left, some off right and some at the lens. A group photo works best when every set of eyes is looking right at the viewer of the photo. Anything else is a reject photo when it comes time for editing.
I always try to politely ask these guests to wait until after I have finished my shot first. And I always make multiple shots to insure that there are no half closed eyes caught as people blink. When I am done they can rush in and take their turn. They should should keep in mind that the bride and groom have hired a professional photographer at great expense to make their wedding photographs to ensure sure their wedding album will end up looking great. If they really need to get their own print of the photo, they should get a copy of of the picture from the wedding couple later or if they really need to make their own version, have the courtesy to wait a little until I have finished making the photo for the bride and groom.
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