Wedding Photographer Shares The Most Interesting Stories From His Career

The internet is galore of photos of happy newlyweds in beautiful natural settings and friendly families in beautiful surroundings enough to make anyone jealous. But even with the glam and perfect photos onlya few people know what hides behind these seemingly perfect moments.

We, therefore, decided to find out more about the highs and lows of wedding photography and none is better suited to set the record straight than the professionals themselves. Today, we will reveal some of the secrets by sharing real stories with you from Alexander Fayruzov’s a professional wedding photographer.

The professional photographer was once “requested” to shoot for a wedding by a couple but almost immediately saw that the entire organization process was under the bride’s control. During our meeting, the groom just nodded silently while his future wife said that almost the entire day was free for the photoshoot.

“I want a lot of photos.” Were the words she kept repeating. There were no videos shot during the event so the bride set a minimum target of 2000 photos on the Wedding day, Before going to the Marriage Registry Office, we had about 6 hours for a walk. we’re driving around the places. After 3 hours, everyone started to get really nervous and the fiancé suggested that we pause the photoshoot to have a snack at a cafe. Everyone agreed, but the bride had her objections. So we continued to drive. One hour later, the fiancé wasn’t really posing anymore and didn’t want to be in the photos at all. And it was also really hot outside. When the guy was reluctant to pose the next time, the bride went mad, “Why are you so slow? Who did I organize this for? You don’t want to have beautiful photos? Why did we have to pay so much money to the photographer if you don’t care anyway?” All of this livened up the fiancé.

On the next to last stop, the guy said he wouldn’t pose for any more photos. The bride got hysterical again. But it didn’t work this time. They had a short conversation that went like this:

Bride: “You don’t want to take more photos?”

Fiancé: “No”.

Bride: “You sure?”

Fiancé: “Yes, I’m tired.”

Bride: “Maybe we shouldn’t go to the registry office then? You’re tired.”

Fiancé: “Okay, let’s not go.”

The guy turned his back and just left! A friend of the bride there and the best man were also there. The best man chased the guy and we haven’t seen either of them since. The bride was saying that he probably just walked to the registry office on foot, but he never showed up for the registration. Or for the party afterward. All the attempts to reach him by phone didn’t turn up any results. The family lied to the guests and said that the fiancé didn’t feel well, but everyone understood that he had left the wedding. The party wasn’t canceled. The bride and her fiancé never became husband and wife. She tried to get t a refund from the photographer but all he did was give her the 2000 snaps as requested.

During one of the meetings with his potential clients, the photographer was forced to engage in an  annoying discussion regarding his own extra weight

It all started with a regular call, “We like the photos, we want you to shoot our wedding, the prices seem reasonable, let’s meet.” A day later, while discussing the photoshoot, it was evident that everything was going well until the photographer asked the couple if they had any issues requiring clarification. The girl hesitated at first, but then she went, “I like everything but I have a request. Can you please lose some weight before the wedding?” 

This was unexpected. “He looked at her guy but he was hiding his eyes because he was ashamed. He  tried to laugh it off, saying  something like, “You must be a fitness coach, so maybe you can pay me with some lessons.” Her face didn’t change, and she said again, “Fit people will come to our wedding, we don’t want to see someone this overweight”. Unable to take in the insults any longer, the photographer packed his bags and told the couple to find a fit guy before storming off in a rage.

Several minutes later, her guy called back, asked him to come back, they discussed it and they were okay with the photo quality, the price, and my weight. The groom apologized for the situation upon which the photographer told him he would do the photoshoot for his wedding, but only on one condition: if he changed the bride. He hung up the phone and added both of them to my blacklist.

In another peculiar incident, Alexander was hired to do a family photoshoot. The clients lived in the countryside and forewarned him that it would be their first photoshoot ever. They were mother and son. the professional tried to offer some simple posing tips, but he was told that nothing could help them. They transferred the money to his bank account, so on the agreed date, he drove to their home after being assured that it was a quick drive, only 25 miles away. There were some really good locations for the shoot everywhere around.

Upon arrival, he was met by a man who informed him that the family was waiting on the field. The duo got into their big car and drove out to meet the family and start the photo session. When they arrived, there was nobody, except a herd of cows. asking the man where the mother and son were and he took the surprised photographer to one of the cows and her calf. Before fishing out his gear the photographer out of curiosity asked the guy why he needed a photographer for this. He could just use a regular camera or a phone. The guy told him that he needed the photos for a promotion campaign, but for some reason, photographers either refused to do it when they heard the word “cow” or they asked for a lot of money when they heard the word “commercial.” The guy had a small business, he was in debt and he didn’t have a lot of money, so he decided to trick me.

This was clever of him, after the shoot, Alexander was given some food as the farmers looked at the photos. They were really impressed by the results and even hired him on multiple projects. Since then Alex always asks his clients if he’s going to work with people or with animals. This question usually startles everyone.

On one beautiful summer day, a lady called and said that one of Alexander’s relatives had recommended him to her and she asked him to do a photoshoot of her wedding. Excited about the prospects of another project, Alexander asked her the date and told her the price with a small, but a nice discount. The girl was shocked and said, “Didn’t you hear me? Your beloved aunt sent me to you, what money are we talking about?”  shocked by the unexpected response, he asked her what the relative had promised her. The girl said that the relative guaranteed a completely free photoshoot because he was a good boy and so on!

It was hard for the girl to digest his refusal. An hour later, Alexander’s mother called him saying that his aunt had called her and asked, “Your Alex takes photos for money? How can he do that? He disappointed my colleague’s daughter.” His mother said something like, “My son is not a charity.” Since then, the mother and son are not very popular in the family.

Once, Again, Alexander was hired to take pictures of a marriage registration process. However, during the process, he accidentally tripped over a curtain. (it was a traditionally long curtain that not only covered all the windows but also lying on the floor.)

The event’s rules dictated and no one was allowed to even touch it. If someone stepped on the curtain, the ceremony was stopped and the offender got reprimanded. Sadly, he was.

 walking backward during the shoot and tripped and the curtain fell off some of the hooks. The marriage registry clerk said, “Be careful,”. He apologized and when the ceremony was over Alex said he would come back on Tuesday and put the curtain back where it was. After that working Saturday, the office would only be open on next Tuesday. He did everything as he had promised.

One month later, Alex had another wedding gig in the same office. We walked into the room, and the same lady met them. When she saw him, she said he was supposed to leave the ceremony because he had a history with an incident or the registration wouldn’t happen. Alex explained the situation but nothing helped. The lady insisted.

The guests and the couple heard his version and were completely on his side. It was only when the manager of the Marriage Registry Office intervened, that the ceremony was able to continue. We could hear the people talking behind the door. The clerk said, “He should be prohibited to be here.” And the boss said, “Do you realize that we are breaking the law?” 

While the events were delayed and time was lost, eventually everything proceeded well. During the shoots, people joked about being photographed by a hardened criminal.

Alexander worked with the lady several more times, during which she would hold the event silently and pause if he walked across the room to caution him against causing unnecessary accidents.

Everyone dreams of traveling to beautiful destinations and it gets even better when the travel expenses are catered for. In one of his adverts, Alexander wrote in his price list that he could do a free photoshoot in Paris, Rome, Vienna, New York, or any other famous city if the client would cover all the expenses regarding transportation and accommodations.

He had put it on the price list as a joke, but it came to work out once.

A girl called him saying she would be having a wedding in Paris. Having read his price list the couple had agreed to carter for all his travel and accommodation expenses. After agreeing on the date to meet, all was remaining was to pack his bags considering he had a valid visa.

The day of the meeting came, Alex told the clients they wouldn’t have to spend any money on the visa but it seemed they were not on the same page

 “What visa? It’s a 200-mile drive! We’ll pay for the gas, and you will stay at our relatives’ place.”

This was when he realized that the wedding would not be taking place in Paris, but in a village that had the same name where these people came from.

Having been played at his own game, Alex didn’t refuse the offer instead, he asked the couple to pay for an accommodation at a local hotel and he’d be on his way there. The wedding went great and the people finally admitted they understood which Paris he meant but they wanted to try their luck and get a free photoshoot. And, well, they got it.

A girl once asked the photographer to work at her friend’s wedding. In the phone conversation, she said that the couple would be unusual. After setting up a meeting, Alex showed up at the venue, a nearby restaurant. He saw 2 people at the table. And went up to greet them before suddenly realizing that they couldn’t see him.

Then, the second girl (the one who called him) told him that the future newlyweds were her friends and that they were blind…

The awkward silence ensued as Alex stood transfixed. He had never worked with a blind couple before.  The painful silence was broken by the bride who went on to introduce herself and the fiancé and said that their friend chose me.

They needed the photos for their children who would see the wedding of their mom and dad and also for their relatives and friends. They trusted their friend and she chose some photographers. Their only doubt was if Alex could efficiently work with blind people and also they didn’t want me to publish their photos in his portfolio. They didn’t want any publicity and most photographers charge extra for this service. In the end, the bride even made a joke and said that even if everything went wrong, they wouldn’t see the photos anyway.

After spending  2 more hours talking the couple was okay with his conditions and signed a contract. Come the D-day,  It was really hard to work at the wedding. Every photo took much longer than usual but also came with its own reward. Alex received a huge amount of experience in explaining to people what he wanted from them. Of course, he made some mistakes too. The friend helped with the shooting a lot. They liked everything and the newlyweds called the pictures “invisible photos.” They have a great daughter and a happy family.

A boy once asked me for Alex’s services after he did a photoshoot of an event for his school class and he remembered me. He asked for his rates but was rather shocked and disappointed by the prices  It turned out that his mother’s had an upcoming birthday party and he wanted to gift her some perfect family photos but didn’t have enough money.

He asked him how much he could afford to pay and the said he only had $30. Moved by the kid’s idea, Alex agreed to come and take some nice photos.  asking him for his mother’s phone number, the client asked him to breathe a word about their arrangement with his mother. He wanted it to be a surprise.

On the day, Alex came to the address, called the boy, and he ran to open the door. On entering the apartment he couldn’t help but notice that the family wasn’t very rich. 

The family and relatives were sitting at a big table, and everyone was looking at him and the boy. It must have looked really weird. The boy later broke the ice and said that he was a gift for his mother. This got the family even more worried.

Fortunately, the boy explained that his mother had been dreaming about a photoshoot, so he decided to give it to her as a gift.

The woman was moved and everyone started praising the boy. After that, they decided that the whole family would go to a park near their house where Alexander took pictures of the entire family. The boy kept his word: in the end, he gave Alexander the money for a job well done. He didn’t take it though, and the family even asked him to charge them the regular price. Instead, Alex told the boy to use it to go buy flowers for his mother.

There aren’t many stories where kids want their mothers’ dreams to come true, so spending several hours helping out a noble cause as this is definitely worth it.

Preview photo: pikabu