Dealing with tough priest in Cathedral, restricting me where I could shoot??
See what happens.
I've not shot many Catholic weddings (one actually) and all I was told is we can't step on the alter or whatever they call the raised section. T'was OK though we could go all around it.
My contract states that I must follow the rules of the ceremony location and officiator, and that negotiation for relaxing those rules is up to the client. I may have to come back next week to the same place and work with the same people. I discuss this ahead of time, and plan accordingly with the clients. Please don't be an asshole wedding photographer, and break their rules. They probably won't stop the ceremony to chastise the photographer, but when I show up next weekend they treat me like I'm the offender. I've heard a million bad stories about wedding photographers from church staff. They are the reason for the rules and restrictions.
I try to be as polite and respectful as possible with the church/synagogue staff. I've found that sometimes restrictions relax after they get to know me, and see I'm not a jerk about the ceremony photography. I have also found that in many cases the officiator may have different rules than the house rules. Usually these are less restrictive.
Once I had a Catholic Arch-Bishop come up to me, and check out what I was wearing. He said "You dressed respectfully. You can do anything you want, just please don't blind me with the flash." He then went on to say that he makes photographers that show up in photo-vests and sneakers stand in the back.
Henry Peach wrote: I've done 350+ weddings
You must be exhausted!
My Boo wrote: It really surprises me that priest/pasters the church in general have so many rules, against photography in certain places.
They probably didn't start out with any rules about photography, but after working with many troublesome and intrusive photographers they come up with them.
butterflygirl921 wrote: I would think since the couple is having the church for that time it's up to the couple where they don't want you to be not the priest.
All rented locations will have rules. If the rules don't suit the couple they shouldn't rent the location.
In any event, photography is a sin according to the 10 commandments: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."
We are lucky they put up with us heretics at all.What I really hate is when they tell me I can't take photos, which I would do from the back, no flash, and being very discreet, but during the ceremony half the guests stand up and flash away. Smart phones are a plague upon wedding photography. Any ceremony shot that includes the audience is now filled with the brightly lit LCDs of smart phones held out above the guests' heads.
Respect for others' faith and customs would seem a matter of course for a professional, and asking for limits on permitted activity the right course. Too often such efforts are not met by equal respect and acknowledgment, and blanket proscriptions are issued, regardless of the circumstances, which are then not observed by anyone except the photographer. My latest experience was in the Sistine Chapel! 
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