Apologetic wedding photography

Ok, I'm confused. Loads of people are writing articles about 'being a documentary wedding photographer' , there's a new trend it seems of 'fly on the wall' wedding photography. Great, something else that everyone else is trying to do.

Problem is, or seems, that the people writing this tat often have no clue whatsoever about anything they're talking about, it's like they've read it in a book or heard someone else saying it and are simply repeating it back out to the general public. Spouting sh!t they don't even understand themselves.

This 'fly on the wall' stuff is often nonsense. Unless everything at your wedding happens right next to a wall, what good is being on it, and what does it have to do with flies ? No-one seems to know what they're blithering on about these days, but that's ok it sounds cool doesn't it.

What really hacks me off though in all honesty is the claims of documentary type work, then you (or I) happen to see these people actually working and they're the most socially awkward people I've ever seen in my life, I call it apologetic wedding photography because it looks like they are about to get on their knees to beg forgiveness every time they take a picture of a wedding guest, it's awkward as f*ck.

How are people meant to relax around someone like that? How do they get people's character in pictures when they're clearly an expert at being weirdly creepy rather than putting people at ease. The answer is they can't, even though they claim to. WTF is the world coming to when people simply can't be honest about what they do, how they approach a wedding, where their skills are.

Want to know how to get relaxed pictures of people???? It's not rocket science, put people at ease, work on your social skills, be relaxed yourself. It's always the same ones who bang on about a free engagement shoot to get a couple used to the camera...well unless you're going to couple shoot every single person at the wedding prior to the actual event, guess what, it 'aint going to work - and if you think that's the way to relax a couple and their entire guest list on their wedding day you're living in cloud cuckoo land.

You're either a part of the wedding or you're not, it's quite simple really.