An informative article on the direction of wedding photography.

Or…. Why spend the money?

T he present time is, if anything, a very challenging and exciting time to be a photographer and a wedding photographer in particular. The technical advances in digital photography and equipment have made the capturing of images almost automatic. It seems to me to be a basic truth that if in fact one could afford the price of a high end digital camera, well, just about anyone can produce photos that are pretty much professional in quality. So, what exactly does that mean for pro photographers today? What challenges are we now facing? Why would anyone pay premium price for our services? Precisely what can we offer now that the whole industry has changed?

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n the good old days of film, (don't get me wrong, I love and am a fully committed digital photographer) there was a pretty steep learning curve regarding the time we devoted to learning all the aspects about shooting with film, exposure, and processing and darkroom experience. I recall at the start of my career as a photographer, all the trial and error involved in learning how to work the cameras, and creating a good negative. Let's not forget to mention shooting black and white, a specialty unto itself. Studying Ansel Adams' Zone System, testing the cameras, lenses, films and so on all to get a perfect negative! So part of what we had to offer our clients was our expertise and experience as technically proficient photographers. Now with the availability of great equipment that pretty much does all the work for a photographer, all the sophisticated software that process the images automatically, what makes me any different from Uncle Bob with his Canon 1DS Mark 111? Or all those who once thought it a pretty cool idea to become wedding photographers but it was not really possible till just recently. Why would you hire me instead of someone taking technically good pictures for half the price?

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hen I think about it, this is a very unique situation indeed. One can buy the very best surfboard manufactured, but you still need to put the hard work and time in to learn how to use it. You can spend the money and buy the most high tech commercial kitchen range that money can buy, outfit your kitchen with latest and greatest gadgets, but if you don't know how to cook, you don't know how to cook. The stove will not do it for you! On the other hand, spend the $8000.00 or so on a Canon 1Ds Mark11, put her on program, shaman! I promise you it won't look too shabby.

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ow, I am basically talking about wedding photography, studio work I still believe falls under another category to be discussed later.

In 1993 I was one of the first wedding photographers to treat the formal portrait session as though it was an editorial or fashion shoot. Denis Reggie, even earlier than that broke away from formal portraits entirely and developed a style that was later to be coined as "photo-journalistic". At that time this was pretty much cutting edge. Currently, these styles are now very much status quo, nothing wrong with that. But let's be real, what was once promoted as non-traditional wedding photography has in fact become traditional.

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o what do I propose? What do I do about it? What do you need to know to make the right decision regarding choosing a photographer?

I believe the first thing a couple looking to hire a wedding photographer need to address is just how important is photography to you? How high up the list of priorities are your wedding photographs? If your answer is that they are really not very important, not on the top of your list, but still you would not want to do without a wedding photographer, well then you can save a lot of money. As mentioned above, with the equipment around today you can be pretty confident that you will get good results from just about anyone.

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ut if wedding photography is important to you, is on top of your list, then this is a different ballgame indeed. Taking into consideration all the technical advances in equipment we need to focus on a few areas: experience and creativity. In terms of experience, how long has the photographer been in business? Their service record, customer satisfaction, production value so many obvious questions that I need not elaborate all, but the right answers can only be given to you by someone who has been in the trenches many years. Where did they come from, more specifically, is their background film? Have they mastered darkroom techniques? Even though these techniques are not in use at this time it is an invaluable body of knowledge that can only enhance the quality and value of the work they bring to you.

In terms of the creative, and this I cannot emphasize enough, is what it’s really about, this is what will make your photographer stand out from all the rest and this is why you will hire them. This is why you will spend the money. And then there is passion, not new   kid on the block passion, but a passion and intensity sustained over the years. You can tell, you can’t miss it.

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wedding photographer will be with you from ten to eight hours, and 8o percent of this time will be spent taking thousands of candid shots which are extremely important as that is part of the documenting of your day which in truth, takes only a working knowledge of the camera, a willingness to work hard and be on his or her feet at all times and a bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time. So what makes a great photographer stand out? The ability to anticipate, the uncanny skill to be able to almost have a vision about what is going to happen next. This takes experience, skill and passion.

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parting thought that may help with your decision. In a way (as far fetched as this may sound) you are also forming a marriage contract with your photographer. Twenty years from now, when all is said and done, more than likely the only name that you may remember from all the vendors you hired on your wedding day is the photographer’s. As the old cliché” goes, the cake is eaten, the band has packed up and the only tangible thing you have are the photographs. A thousand or two dollars more for a great photographer in twenty years time will not even matter nor be remembered at all.

Best of luck