weddings : love/hate

I can see that wedding photography is going to be a big part of my photography career. I enjoy the hard work, doesn’t mean I don’t bitch about it. Marwari weddings can be painful.

One of the things I’ve observed is the attention I get as a female photographer. I’m usually looking to be left alone to compose my images & shoot in peace. But the queue of people wanting a free portrait keeps getting longer.

They praise my camera, “It’s awesome because of the enlarge.” Obviously referring to the lens hood that does nothing of that sort.

Or, “You must be from Bombay. No one this smart can be from anywhere but Bombay.” This from a sixty-something old fart who hasn’t taken his eyes off my boobs.

Or, “You have to take a special picture of me. Just you and me.” Followed by hysterical smiling, winks and attempts at further innuendo.

And the usual being-mistaken-as-a-foreigner routine. “What country are you from?” in broken English.

The competition from the local and so-called “official” photographers is quite another saga. No respect for the other lens person’s space, trying their best to block my view, going wherever I go, replicating angles I’m shooting, making the couple’s expressions worse by asking them to pose and when nothing else works, taking pictures of me while I work. Their lighting sucks, they direct their flash into faces, they smell & I hate them for their doggedness. They’re on their feet for hours on end.

While I have no intentions of being just a wedding photographer, I can see this is part of my calling.