Wedding Talk

Wedding photographers specialize in weddings.  It’s their principal gig, and they have a routine and style for it. I am not one of these shooters.

I have shot many weddings, as favors, because I needed the money, or because I liked the bride and groom, but overall, I do not enjoy being the principal still photographer for a wedding.

I don’t shoot cheese, I don’t shoot for the emotion of the day.  I shoot for each individual moment. I like stills that speak to something different…either a more journalistic approach to the day, or a commercial setup that usually doesn’t fit within the time restraints.  I like a day to location scout before the rehearsal.  I like to take some off-the-beaten-path shots.  If you’re in front of the lens, I’m taking the picture…you’ve been warned.

That being said, there are specific times I do enjoy working weddings, and those are usually when I get to be creative and do what I want, for stills or video (for whichever I’m contracted).  This sounds selfish, I know, but it’s not and here’s why:  a photographer/filmographer is an artist.  They’ve put the time, money, effort, and life-force it takes into honing their craft so they are at the level to be considered a professional, so they have their own style.  You’ve pulled them out of the lineup of how many hundreds of shooters in the area based on their work…so why ask them to duplicate someone else’s?

When I am approached about shooting a wedding, there are FIVE factors I take into account that allow me to have the most freedom within my style and the flexibility to have fun with the event, therefore putting out the best possible product for the day:

1) Do I like the couple as a couple? Basically, do they mesh well, do they have a good vibe together as well as separate.  Remember, we aren’t shooting take after take, we have to get what comes to us.  It’s like casting actors that have chemistry on camera together.  Some couples love each other to pieces but don’t gel on camera.

2) Do I want to shoot the bride? The bride is the focus of most Western weddings, and therefore I know 50% of my time will be working with the bride…in prep, posing, personal portraits, and literally whatever she wants for the day. Is the bride someone I look forward to having in front of the camera?  When you WANT to take images of the bride and she’s comfortable with you doing what you do, there’s an ease/flow/dance to the day that can’t be duplicated, and it shows in the final product!

3) Do I get to be an artist? Are they looking to simply document the day in chronological order and spew out a couple thousand point-and-shoot frames? If so, there are shooters who do that.  Or do they want a shooter who has an eye and a vision for how he wants to portray the wedding and the couple on film?

4) Is the location going to add or detract from the wedding? Again, this sounds kind of jackassish, and this one may be.  But I prefer to have a setting that is, in itself, almost a character in the wedding. It does magnificent things for the imagination and improvisation of vision on location.

5) Is the budget there? Over and over, professionals are haggled with, hassled about their pricing, and weddings are no different. Most professionals worth their salt know that the best business revolves around customer advocacy. We aren’t here to take you for a ride, to empty your pockets and laugh all the way to the bank.  We know what it costs us to do business, to create the best product for you and our portfolios, and thus continue on as professionals with happy customers who recommend us to others.  Therefore, our price is our price.  

If you’re getting married, looking for a wedding shooter, and you’re offended by my above requirements, that’s fine.  That means you’re looking for something else in a wedding shooter and I don’t take that personally.  I’m not here to turn & burn plug-n-play weddings.  

If you’re looking for me specifically to shoot your wedding, whether film or stills, you’ve come to me for a reason, and I’ll do my utter best to honor that.