WASHINGTON — Few ceremonies at the White House over the last five years have eluded the lens of Pete Souza, President Obama’s chief photographer and almost constant companion. One that did was Mr. Souza’s wedding, which was held last month in the Rose Garden with the president among 35 friends and family members on hand.

Permitting a private citizen to use the Rose Garden for a personal event is extraordinarily unusual, and it attests to the deep ties the president and his photographer have forged, as Mr. Souza has shadowed Mr. Obama on virtually every day of his presidency.

Now, though, Mr. Souza’s privileged access — combined with the rise of services like Facebook, Flickr and Instagram, which has allowed the White House to distribute his official photos rapidly to the news media — is generating tension between him and the news photographers who are assigned to the White House.

In a letter two weeks ago to the press secretary, Jay Carney, the White House Correspondents’ Association and other organizations, including The New York Times, protested that the White House routinely excluded news photographers from sessions with the president and then released photographs of the events, usually taken by Mr. Souza.