Tammy Typer

I’ve been waiting awhile to post about this, mostly because I still can’t believe it really happened. It seems like something out of a movie. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but I’m a photographer. I doubt that will give my identity away because there are about a bizillion people who think they are photographers. I meet about 5 of them at every wedding I do, always trying to shove me out of the way to get “their” shot. Newsflash; the bride and groom are PAYING me to get this shot, not you, so get out of my face. That was just a mini-rant, sorry, now to the juice.

Last weekend I was with a bridal party along the water at a beautiful park. Everyone was showing up while I was setting up my lighting. Then I notice another bride and groom walking towards us with a photographer. No big deal, I thought, there’s a ton of room here, we can both get our shots. Well, the next thing I know the photographer (a male… and I think that’s important to know) is talking to “my” groom and his groomsmen. Apparently he told them he has a bunch of photos in a gallery downtown and that he’s taking 4 years off to travel and take photos. Good for him I thought.

Then I walk over to him to introduce myself and to work out a location where we can both shoot. (note: all bridal party still standing around, listening) After a brief introduction he asks what kind of camera I have. I answer a Canon. I look and notice he has a Nikon and I make a little joke about the rivalry of the two. But he interrupts my joke to say “well Nikons are the stepping stone to Hasselblad, but YOU don’t even know what a Hasselblad is.” My mouth dropped open. Literally. “Of course I know what a Hasselblad is!!” I said, still in shock.

“Well, you might know what one is,” he said, “but I bet you don’t own any.”
“They are a little out of my price range at this point,” I said.
Some of the bridal party looked confused at this point, but the photographer was happy to let them know that they are $40,000 cameras and he had two of them in his truck right now.
“I hope it’s locked.” I said.

Everyone started laughing and I used that as a segue to move away from the jerk and start to organize my bridal party for their pictures. The photographer took the hint (so I thought) and started finding a spot for his bride and groom. I looked over at what he was doing and wasn’t super impressed. I was expecting some spectacular off camera lighting or some unique poses for all his smack talk. But his poses were corny prom and he just had a flash on camera. What a blowhard, I thought, as I started taking portraits.

Maybe 5 minutes into it, he walks up to me and tells me MY poses aren’t good. WTF. He walks up and starts grabbing my bride and groom and positioning them himself in another prom-like pose. I am in such shock that I just stand there, not knowing what to do. My bride looks mortified at this point, so I finally snap out my shock and walk up to them and tell the guy, thanks, but I would like to do things my way. I mouth an apology to the bride and turn to go back to work.

The photographer is waiting for me where I was shooting and starts telling me how to set up my shot and when to shot it. I say again, thanks for your input, but I have my own ideas and I’m going to take it from here. Goodbye and goodluck. Finally he starts to leave, again mumbling about his vast experience and impressive equipment, but I have lost any civility at this point and completely ignore him.

Again, WTF?!?! I know a lot of photographers have egos (which I really don’t get), but I had yet to see one on such display until last week. I don’t know if it was because he was a male and was being sexist towards me, or if his confidence was really so low he felt the need to bully me in front of my clients to make himself look better. And in general, are photographers really so fragile and insecure that we can’t collaborate and work side by side without feeling on-guard and threatened? This is just ridiculous.

Tags: ego trip, psycho photographer