One of the best cost-cutting measures anyone can take is using the professional services of a friend or family member.
As it’s more than likely that this individual will offer them a sizable discount, if not complimentary service.
Most of the time, these friends and family members are more than happy to work for significantly lower than their discounted rate, as they would be helping out a loved one.
If their time and effort goes unappreciated, however, they’ll likely be less than eager to come to their help again.
Redditor KindPlane7403 was initially more than happy to offer their professional services at their cousin’s wedding.
Unfortunately, the rest of the original poster (OP)’s family made their job much more difficult than it needed to be.
Unfortunately for the OP’s family, their bad behavior would not go unnoticed, thanks to the OP being particularly good at their job.
Wondering if they crossed a line, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**Hole” (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for doing a half ass job taking family pictures at a wedding after being told to shut up and stop being a smart a**?”
The OP shared how their family’s poor behavior at their cousin’s wedding would come back to haunt them, possibly for the rest of their lives:
“I was taking pictures at a family wedding as a favor.”
“I was being paid about half of what I normally charge and I was fine with it.”
“The bride is my favorite cousin and her husband is amazing.”
“During the formals the wedding party was great and I got lots of great shots.”
“When it came time to take pictures of different family groups with the couple, people were a**holes.”
“They wouldn’t stop talking or looking away from the camera.”
“I tried politely reminding everyone that the camera was the big black thing on the tripod and that it took still images not video.”
“I was repeatedly told to shut up and stop being a smart a** and that they knew what a camera was.”
“I asked my wife to record video of the responses for me.”
“My cousin was delighted with the pictures from the ceremony, the formals, and the reception.”
“She laughed her @ss off at the family pictures.”
“In about half of them people are looking off in all directions instead of at the camera.”
“In most of those there are also people with their mouths open.”
“She thought they were hilarious and her husband agreed.”
“I started getting sh*t on social media from my family about the terrible pictures.”
“I replied that I had tried to explain to them that the camera was the big black thing on the tripod and that it only took still pictures.”
“They said I should have waited for them to be ready.”
‘So I started posting the short video clips of people being jack@sses towards me.”
‘My mom said that I went to far and that they won’t ask me to take pictures for them again.”
“I did a fake cry and said boo hoo.”
“She called me a smart Alec.”
“Please let me state that I DO NOT THINK I AM THE A**HOLE IN THIS SITUATION.”
“But many people do.”
“They are upset because they don’t often dress up and get together, and they didn’t get good pictures.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community unanimously agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for documenting and posting his family’s bad behavior.
Everyone agreed that the OP’s family had no one to blame but themselves for their bad behavior being documented, and the only opinions of the photos that mattered were those of the bride and groom, who both gave their resounding approval.
“NTA.”
“The photos are an accurate reflection of their behavior on the day.”
“The only people whose opinions matter about the photos are the bride and groom who hired you.”
“They like it, then no issue.”
“They’ve embarrassed themselves and don’t like that their online tantrum turned around on them.”
“It’s easier to be ‘right’ until evidence comes forward.”- BulbasaurRanch
“NTA.”
“Sounds like they’re your family members and they were ignoring you and being rude.”
“Maybe they thought they were being funny, maybe they don’t take you seriously as a professional, whatever.”
“That’s their problem.”
“You tried to keep them on task.”
“If they wanted nice professional photos of themselves they could have paid attention when photos were being taken.”
“What did they think was going on?”- Engineer-Huge
“‘My cousin was delighted with the pictures from the ceremony, the formals, and the reception’.”
“‘She laughed her ass off at the family pictures’.”
“This is all that matters.”
“NTA.”
“The others are experiencing textbook FAFO. That’s their problem.”
“And you posting proof of their misbehavior is just more of that.”
“You aren’t the a**hole for defending yourself at all, particularly when the couple doesn’t mind either.”- pukui7
“‘My mom said that I went too far and that they won’t ask me to take pictures for them again’.”
“Mission accomplished!”
“Let them hire a photographer from the side. They will follow his instructions because they will remember how much they paid him.”
“NTA.”- deshi_mi
“NTA.”
“The bride knows your family is a bag of d*cks and now she can laugh at the pictures proving it.”- Open-Incident-3601
“NTA.”
“You are a legend with your actions.”
“The bride and groom were happy.”
“Their opinions are the only ones that matter.”- Additional_Prior_981
“NTA.”
“they were being familiar to you and they deserve those shots.”
“i doubt they will follow on the threat that they won’t hire your service again.”- Desperate_Counter502
“NTA.”
“l, if people cannot stop speaking for 5 minutes to look at the camera and have their photos taken then it’s not your fault if the look bad in the pictures.”- Secret_Double_9239
“‘Smile for the camera’, said every mother for every family portrait.”
“As they said, they knew what the camera was.”
“They knew why you were there.”
“And you were part of the wedding family, not a stranger who was only there to take pictures.”
“You wanted to eat, relax, and chat with your extended family, I’m sure.”
“You didn’t want to stand around for 20 minutes for each shot, waiting for them to take the 10 seconds to shut up and smile.”
“NTA.”- Suitable-Tear-6179
“NTA.”
“Oh no!”
“I won’t be paid half my fee and be disrespected by AHs!”
“How sad /s.”
“Your cousin and her husband loved the pics, that’s all that matters.”
“Plus you have proof of the other guests bad behavior.”- cassowary32
“‘My cousin was delighted with the pictures from the ceremony, the formals, and the reception’.”
“‘She laughed her @ss off at the family pictures’.”
“‘That’s the only opinion that matters, really’.”
“‘The couple love the photos – everyone else can kick rocks’.”
“‘If they wanted nice photos in their Sunday best, they should have looked at the big black thing on the tripod.”
“NTA.”- Final_Figure_7150
“‘My mom said that I went too far and that they won’t ask me to take pictures for them again’.”
“What’s the saying? ‘Don’t threaten me with a good time?'”
“NTA.”- burner_suplex
“As long as the couple is happy, NTA.”
“You weren’t taking pictures for everyone else.”- Independent_Prior612
“You absolutely were an a**hole but a hilarious a**hole who was correct.”
“On this sub that equals NTA.”
“Sometimes you have to be or you’re going to get pushed around your whole life.”- blippityblue72
“Your mom said they won’t ask you to take pictures for them again?!”
“Oh no.”
“Anyway…”
“Yeah NTA.”- FightingFoo4you
“Not only did you illustrate the a-holery of those family members, you may have taken care of the problem of having to accept half-price fees because of working for family (spoken in a nasal whiny tone).”
“NTA.”- HallGardenDiva
“NTA.”
“They obviously didn’t understand how a camera works.”- No_Lavishness_3206
“NTA.”
“You were a smart @ss but they were dumba**es.”
“I’d always rather be the former.”- Ignantsage
“NTA.”
“If people don’t want to be shamed for behaving inappropriately, maybe they should reconsider acting that way.”- C_Majuscula
“NTA.”
“I can’t tell you the number of stories I’ve heard about people who conned their family members into being unpaid wedding photographers, treated them like sh*t, and paid the ultimate price for their hubris.”
“It’s a tale as old as time.”- Darth_Chili_Dog
“Well if it isnt the natural consequences of their own actions.”
“You are the awesome as well as justified AH!”
“’We won’t ask you to do this big job for free again!’”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
“NTA.”- ResoluteMuse
It would be one thing if the OP had photographed or recorded his family without their knowledge and consent.
But that was not the case at all, as they were fully aware that the OP was pointing a camera at them, even going so far as to throw a condescending reminder right back in their face.
They can try to blame the OP all they want for their unflattering documentation, but as the saying goes, the camera doesn’t lie…