Who is Uncle Bob?

 Who is Uncle Bob? Uncle Bob is that uncle that we all have, who owns a professional camera with a giant lens and flash. He attends every family gathering, every birthday party, and every graduation. (I know you are rolling your eyes, and thinking, “Ah yes…I have one!”)  As digital cameras are becoming more popular and more resonably priced, and the cameras on phones have become better and easier to use, we see more and more Uncle Bobs at weddings.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we love your uncle, and he loves you. He probably thinks he’s doing you a favor by capturing a few extra photos of your wedding, but little does he realize, he’s ruining a lot of the photos we are trying to take.

Uncle Bob, seen here in his natural habitat, doing what he does best…providing a great backdrop for this couple’s beautiful wedding ceremony.

It’s completely up to you how to handle this situation. We would never, ever, ask a guest not to take pictures. That isn’t in our job description. However, I’ve have had several brides who were upset that guests ruined some of their important photos, but there is nothing we could do.

Ah yes…the iPad Pro! 12.9 inch screen, 2 gigs of ram, and an 8 hour battery!

Everyone can see the bride…except for the photographer.

Say cheese!

I think they found a Pokémon!

“I’ll just hop up here and hope nobody sees me.”

#Beautiful!

What CAN you do?  If the photos above make you cringe, you are not alone.  I’ve seen many “Unplugged” signs, like the photos below, at the entrance of ceremonies. It really helps insure that we get the best photos possible. But again, this is a decision you’ll have to make. If you’re ok with people taking pictures in ‘our’ pictures, then so are we.  There are many websites that offer templates you can download for free.  You can also have custom signs printed from websites like Etsy.