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3 very important points


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Although it's not really relevant, when me and my partner met the lovely Camilla Luddington at a neighbouring con, after signing our pictures she asked if we wanted a photo, but the con operative next to her said 'we're not doing photos', to which she, and we were both disappointed. As we turned to leave she called us back, sat on the table and had a photo with us both! :)

 

Just a nice little sorry about how nice some guests are :)

 

Ta,

Che-Snake :)

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I totally understand the "no posed photos" policy on bigger guests. Without that, queues will just last for hours... The "no flash" policy as well. Who would want to be flashed non-stop for 3 days? Still no photos at all is ridiculous and not very respectful of persons who paid 30 £ for an auto. If the guest doesn't want you to take a photo when you're in front of him, at least it would be nice to allow one quick photo when we're queueing. I don't see any problem with that. This year in Jason Momoa's queue there was this lady ready to bark on anyone who gets his hand close to his mobile phone/Camera, and that was very unpleasant.

 

The £30 is for the autograph. Nowhere does showmasters state that the money you pay is for a photo and and auto. If you object to paying £30 for just an autograph, then don't go and get one. I take getting a photo as a bonus not as a right. And I totally understand why many guests would not want their photos taken. It's their right to say no photos and I choose to respect that.

 

As for the crew, when you've told someone four times not to take photos and they still try to take them, and this happens twenty times per hour, it does try your patience somewhat. As a teacher. I expect my pupils to put their phones and cameras away on the first time of asking and I expect nothing less from grown adults.

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I don't agree with the reasoning for the second point made. Now a guest I would love to have had a photo with was quite had no one else arround to see him, I could tell he was also dissapointed that no photo was allowed as the member of staff reminded him that I couldn't get a photo with him.

 

I agree - I fully understand that you are paying for an autograph and not a picture. However, I have had the exact same experience with the 'no photo at the desk'.

 

I was with a guest who was (apparently) happy to pose for a quick picture after signing a 10x8; I believe she was happy to do it because she had no queue around her, smiled and was preparing to lean over the table for the pic. Until the crew member jumped in hastily, and said "No we can't do that" and put a stop to it.

 

I appreciate Showmasters coming on here to state their position. It would appear, therefore, that there are crew members who are deliberately taking it upon themselves to subvert Showmasters' policy. I think this deserves further clarification.

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I don't agree with the reasoning for the second point made. Now a guest I would love to have had a photo with was quite had no one else arround to see him, I could tell he was also dissapointed that no photo was allowed as the member of staff reminded him that I couldn't get a photo with him.

 

I agree - I fully understand that you are paying for an autograph and not a picture. However, I have had the exact same experience with the 'no photo at the desk'.

 

I was with a guest who was (apparently) happy to pose for a quick picture after signing a 10x8; I believe she was happy to do it because she had no queue around her, smiled and was preparing to lean over the table for the pic. Until the crew member jumped in hastily, and said "No we can't do that" and put a stop to it.

 

I appreciate Showmasters coming on here to state their position. It would appear, therefore, that there are crew members who are deliberately taking it upon themselves to subvert Showmasters' policy. I think this deserves further clarification.

 

 

 

i can see why you think they way you do , but i have to say one very important thing , a guest NEVER wants to look bad and we are there to look bad , so if someone asked a guest to have a photo taken with then a guest may not say sorry i would rather not as that will make them look bad , so they rely on the showmasters crew to help them get what they want , IE to say "no you cannot have a photo" that give the guests the chance to look cool and nice and they have been stopped , not they did not want to have a photo .

 

at the end of the day you can believe us or not but we are not here to stop photos at the tables , as if we did want to stop them we just could , if you think about it its in our power to just give a total blanket ban and stop all photos at the table , but we do not want to do that , we feel part of the fun of getting a autograph is also having a photo if you want one with the guest at the table , so we do not and will not enforce it if there is no need to .

 

so if you see a sign saying no photos at the table it is most likely to be down to the guest or agent or down to there being a long line.

 

but never because we just do not want you to have a free photo .

 

the table photos do not affect the pro photo sales as the pro photo sales have increased over the last 3 year 40% each year so there is no need to stop anyone getting table photos .

 

i hope that helps clear this up .

 

it comes up every year and every year i have to make this statement hopefully others will pass this info on to other new forum members to help me get the word out thanks

 

jason

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I can understand your points Jason. On Sunday, in the last couple of hours someone came up to Dee Wallace and got her autograph then asked for a photo. When she said yes to a table photo, the gentleman asked if he could have a photo with her where the ET photoshoot was with the ET model. She looked a little uncomfortable (and to be honest did seem to be a bit tired by the end of Sunday) and she diverted the question to the Showmasters crew who was with her. The lady with her said she'd check then said the area for the photo was shared with the Game of Thrones shoot and so wasn't sure if it would be possible. The gentleman asked if she could check so she did. She returned to say it seemed ok as it was quiet and ET was still there. Dee seemed a bit incredulous as she obviously didn't want it to happen. She was at her desk signing autos and chatting away and someone asked to take her elsewhere for a photo. I understand completely the fan's desire to have a photo with the "Mum" and ET but this could've been a paid photoshoot.

 

I was right behind this guy and then the crew member said to Dee and the gentleman "Yes the area's quiet and available we can do it if it's ok with you..." The gentleman looked at Dee and egged her on a bit. Dee looked very embarrassed and said to the crew member "Really? You're going to put this on me? I have to make the decision?" and she very obviously didn't want to do it. She couldn't say no and so agreed.

 

Now, I'm behind this guy and have a few things to get signed. The crew member said "Dee you've got someone waiting so how about you sign this gentleman's stuff quickly then we'll head there". I felt slightly short changed because I was already being told it was going to be rushed because this guy ahead of me already got to whisk her away and I was on borrowed time.

 

Dee was great and signed for me but did seem a little preoccupied and concerned that she'd have to leave the desk in a minute and go to the other area for this photoshoot. Also it was very obvious she didn't want to do it but didn't want to be the one saying no. When I saw her later after she got back from there she was with her staff having her head massaged, looking a little stressed.

 

I'm pleased for the guy who got his photo, it must've been very cool to have that, but a little consideration from either him or the crew member would've saved her the embarrassment of the situation and she would not have to do something she obvious didn't want to.

 

I guess the message is yep, respect the sign. If it's quiet you may be able to request to the contrary, but think twice before pulling someone away!

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I agree about crew members often being there to take the blame for a guest's reluctance to do photos. Philip Hinchcliffe from Dr. Who is one of those people who is notorious for not allowing photos at all. On the day, he wasn't doing a professional shoot, and one person asked at the autograph table if he could have a photo. Philip turned to his assistant and asked what the policy was, to which she replied that there are professional shoots in the day. He asked "am I doing one of those later?" and we in the queue said he wasn't and the crew member told him it was his choice if he felt comfortable. The guy who asked for a photo relented and asked for a photo of Philip just on his own, which he agreed to.

My point is, it seemed Philip was confused and not aware of the professional shoots or what he should do regarding desk-shots, BUT he is well known for not wanting photos at shows so the whole thing was an attempt to shift the responsibility for saying no to the crew member. It's hard to believe he didn't know about professional shoots, and he could easily have said "yeah a photo's fine, let's do it" but the whole play-acting made it seem that he wasn't to blame for the situation. I wonder how many others have employed the same technique.

 

Having said that, agents who are there to make money for their clients must surely be tempted to want us to buy photo-shoots. Or get the autograph queue moving as much as possible to make as much money as possible that way. I think we are all familiar with certain over-zealous agents hanging around their clients at the show. There are plenty of respectful ones, but others who do treat us like cattle.

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think my only real comment is about Earls Court here... I love the fact you go to Olympia for some events, as Earls Court has quite possibly the most atrocious lighting known to man... all the photographers hate it, and actually have to take the cosplayers outside to get good photos... sadly that led to a lot of people overheating at the summer event.

 

Hopefully more will be held at Olympia as time goes on though :)

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oh it's doable yes, with a grey card, a decent diffused flash, and custom white balance sure... i got some great ones, but having every photographer at the event forced to use flash for the entire weekend was a serious pain lol

 

glad i invested in external battery packs for both my flashes lol

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