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Once in a lifetime moments are being 'ruined' by wedding guests, claims photographer

Jonathan Duane
Jonathan Duane

10:23 16 Jul 2019


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A father walking his daughter down the aisle. Source: Facebook

“Not only did you ruin my shot, but you took this moment away from the groom, father of the bride and the bride.”

A professional photographer wants people to start absorbing special moments as memories, instead of witnessing them through the lens of a smartphone, especially at wedding ceremonies.

Wedding snapper Hannah Stanley made the call after her photo of a bride and her father stepping onto the aisle was “ruined” by an overly enthusiastic guest.

Sharing a picture on Facebook Hannah pointed out how the shot is completely obstructed by the arm of a guest holding out a phone, taking their own picture.

The snap was uploaded with an open letter to “the girl with the iPhone” and describes how the perfect moment was 'taken' away from the bride and her father.

“Not only did you ruin my shot, but you took this moment away from the groom, father of the bride and the bride,” Hannah begins.

“What exactly do you plan on doing with that photo? Honestly. Are you going to print it out? Save it? Look at it everyday? No. You’re not.”

Hannah runs Hannah Way Photography in the US and explained how the happy couple would have printed this photo out and reminisced over this moment for years, adding that instead it was a moment that was “blocked” forever.

“Instead, you wanted to take a photo with your phone, blocking my view, and taking a photo that you will not use,” she said.

Hannah’s rant ends with a heartfelt plea to all wedding guests, urging them to live in the moment.

“Guests, please stop viewing weddings you attend through a screen but instead turn OFF your phone and enjoy the ceremony. You are important to the bride and groom, you would not be attending the wedding otherwise. So please, let me do my job, and you just sit back, relax and enjoy this once in a lifetime moment,” she said.

Many could clearly relate to Hannah’s strong views, as her post received over 1000 comments and 159,000 likes.

Wedding photographer Hannah Stanley. Source: Facebook

Many comments were from other photographers agreed that guests need to take a step back in the modern wedding era and let them do their jobs.

“I’ve shot hundreds of weddings and I’ve posted many, many times about this same thing!!” one wrote.

Another said: “I’ve been in this situation MANY many times and it IS a problem. Sometimes I’m able to get to the guest in time to ask them to move, but most of the time there are only seconds left to get the shot and I have to re-position myself.”

“YEEEEEESSSS!!! Preach it, sister. I’m so glad you shared this,” another wrote.

However, hundreds of people disagreed with Hannah, saying she needed to re-position herself for a better shot.

“Sorry Hannah, this post is stupid. You prob had plenty of time to take multiple pics. This is unacceptable and waste of time,” one said.

“Be a better photographer. Find the shot that this iPhone can’t find,” another wrote, slamming the viral post.

“As a wedding photographer myself, this is absolutely overkill. I get nearly 100 shots of this moment ALONE!” someone else remarked.


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