i'm curious (about wedding photography)

Not officially but once, when the mother of a friend was remarried. She'd asked me a year before if I'd do the photography, which I would have. But over time she decided on someone else. By watching this photographer it was obvious she was a housewife with a DSLR that was trying to fit the role. She missed so many shots it was funny to watch. The "you may kiss the bride" scene for one.

I was invited as a guest, so took a Leica and a 50mm lens. I got some killer shots and sent a few of them to her afterwards. Heard back, "oh, your shots were so much better, I wish we'd used you."
 
back alley said:
do we have many wedding shooters here at rff?

do you shoot with a rangefinder?

how would you describe your 'style'?
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I only shoot weddings and love it. Yes, it is a lot of hard work (just like any business) but I am lucky that my work has allowed me to meet very interesting people and experience a variety of cultures... I am not done yet, of course, as I have not shot much in Asia :)

My style is strictly documentary as I do not get involved with posing and will only do a few family portraits for the clients that request this (many don't and instead want me to document the day from the point of view of a guest with unlimited access :)) If shooting 35mm, I use MPs and if shooting MF I use a Hasselblad SWC and a Rolleiflex. All the work on my site/blog is shot with them.

Cheers,
 
I have a side question:
Did you ever get a shot you really like, only to have the couple divorce and not be able to enjoy/use it?
 
Decades ago I was asked to officiate the wedding of a friend who owned a pro photo lab who was marrying a friend of my wife's. I explained that I only had the legal authority to sign the paperwork but really knew nothing about weddings. I was assured the wedding was a casual affair at the grooms parent's house and there would only be a few family members and close friends in attendance. But in the week before the ceremony, unbeknownst to me, it grew into a major production. When we arrived for the ceremony, I learned the couple's parents expected me to organize everything. I was clueless.

Fortunately, the photographer was a big time wedding pro also a photo processing client of the groom. I grabbed him, explained what had happened, and cried "HELP!". He quickly organized the entire wedding ceremony, told me what to say, and it went smoothly. Much smoother than the marriage which lasted less than a year.

That experience was enough to convince me that I never wanted to photograph a wedding for pay with the commensurate responsibility.
 
Bob Michaels said:
Decades ago I was asked to officiate the wedding of a friend who owned a pro photo lab who was marrying a friend of my wife's. I explained that I only had the legal authority to sign the paperwork but really knew nothing about weddings. I was assured the wedding was a casual affair at the grooms parent's house and there would only be a few family members and close friends in attendance. But in the week before the ceremony, unbeknownst to me, it grew into a major production. When we arrived for the ceremony, I learned the couple's parents expected me to organize everything. I was clueless.

Fortunately, the photographer was a big time wedding pro also a photo processing client of the groom. I grabbed him, explained what had happened, and cried "HELP!". He quickly organized the entire wedding ceremony, told me what to say, and it went smoothly. Much smoother than the marriage which lasted less than a year.

That experience was enough to convince me that I never wanted to photograph a wedding for pay with the commensurate responsibility.
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Great story.

Wim
 
StevenJohn said:
I have a side question:
Did you ever get a shot you really like, only to have the couple divorce and not be able to enjoy/use it?
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I had a groom pass away before the couple got their proofs and album. There really wasn't anything I thought special---it was one of my first NC weddings and it almost stopped me from ever doing another. It was a horrible. Even my lab called and requested a review because of color issues, this was film. Turned out they were trying to correct the uncorrectable. The bride has dyed her hair blond so often that it was greenish and the poor lab workers had been trying to fix it.

I have several photos in my portfolio that are from weddings where the marriage has ended. I'm not taking the photos out though.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
I did them in college, and found them more trouble than they're worth. My style was pretty traditional because I stopped doing it before the 'photojournalistic' trend and the current heavily photoshopped trends started.
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Pretty much why I stopped.


I started at a time when "photojournalistic" meant staying out of the day....not being part of the story. I feel that wedding photography today has become as much about the photographer as the couple. Let's face it. There was a time when we used to say "hire us, you don't want someone's head cut off in a photo". Now, the cutoff heads are the ooohhs and ahhhs of wedding photos.

I recently read where a photographer took the bride and groom, and disappeared for two hours. A wedding couple's day shouldn't be about the photos, it should be about them and their interaction, both together and with their guests. It should be the photographer's job to capture those moments, not manufacture them.

I know I'm cynical, but every photographer's website I see now is not unique. The style of work is so similar, you can't tell whose site is whose. Yet, each one promotes their work as unique, artistic, and different. ("unique, different--are redundant, but I see it all the time)

I don't see it.
 
I'm not a "photographer to the stars," but I've done weddings since 1972. I've shot weddings with Mamiya C twin lens cameras, Leicas, Hassy, and film SLRs over the years... but truly, other than affecting how you go about shooting, the gear doesn't dictate the job.

I've seen some amazing venues, met some amazing people, and had a ball at almost every wedding I've ever shot... I eat the food, enjoy the cake, and schmooze with the family and wedding party. I always attend the rehearsal so I get to meet everyone. By the time I shoot the formals, we're all old friends having a good time together. BTW, I ALWAYS shoot the formals between the ceremony and the reception. If it all goes really well, I'm done in 20 minutes. If it goes awry, it takes 30 minutes. I won't shoot any other way.

I've found a DSLR with a single on-camera flash with an Omni-Bounce to be the ideal wedding workhorse... the right tool for the job. I haven't carried studio lighting around in over twenty-five years. If you have the right equipment and adequate redundancy, and a "formula" for shooting, weddings are a piece of cake. As a matter of fact, "housewives with cameras" who shoot weddings prove that nearly every day of the week. What makes a wedding pro a "Pro" is 1) the depth of their equipment... if something fails, they throw it back in the back, pick up the first (implying that there are more) spare... and keep shooting. 2) that they have the photography experience to deliver the photos under the MOST demanding conditions, and 3) (and this is the MOST important) that they have the personality and people skills to get the job done without offending anyone; and that they can salvage a memorable wedding for the couple when the whole thing goes to sh*t.

What happens when the officiant fails to show? What happens when a tux (or tuxes) doesn't fit or there are other issues? Who intervenes when the "mothers-of-the-bride" have a falling out at rehearsal? What do you do when the groom has a heart attack four hours before the ceremony? I have had all of those situations happen... and much more of course. In each case I was able to help get the wedding back on track and deliver an album to the couple that they were really pleased about...

Shooting a wedding is pretty simple, but photographers who are really successful at it have learned the people skills that are required to really bring the product to the client. All that said, the wedding market has changed so much in the past couple of years that it's not really worth my time any more.
 
Other than the flash, I used all off camera, pocket wizards and quantum flashes, I agree with everything you say.

Your #3 is most important anytime photographing people no matter the venue.

Perhaps the exception is street photography which I only do when it's set up or when making candids (PJ) at an event like a wedding.

Just my philosophy and it has worked for me.
 
Bill, I used to do the studio lighting too... but my background is reportage and I cover weddings in that style as well. I found that I could light the group almost as efficiently with my single flash setup as I could with studio equipment in a very tiny fraction of the time which really suited the speed with which I work much more efficiently. I've been shooting a single on-camera flash with an omni-bounce now since 1991 and I've never had a single client dissatisfied with the quality of the formals... quite amazing I think since anyone with formal photography training knows that's absolutely NOT the thing to do! It's worked well for me tho.
 
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