What has happened to wedding photography
Feb 20, 2012 05:36:05 #
My brother has two boys. Son #2 gets married into a family that has money and they pay $5000.00 for a photographer plus the costs of albums ($800.00 each). Brother #1 gets married and they asked me to shoot the wedding so I do it as a wedding present. The final package had 261 pictures. I spent about 40 hours on the computer doing PP work. This was my 7th wedding I am a wreck every time I do one. I know my work was a whole lot better than the 5 grand pro. It comes down to a matter of pride in your work. Too many people do this trying to make a quick buck without caring about properly capturing the most important day in two people's lives. I guess it come down to having a conscience.
Feb 20, 2012 05:40:08 #
("Uncle Dave has that big fancy camera, we can get him to take the pictures".
I promise the bride a lot and do take about 300 pictures to make sure I deliver. So far I've been able to meet their expectations.
www.dallasweddings.biz
I promise the bride a lot and do take about 300 pictures to make sure I deliver. So far I've been able to meet their expectations.
www.dallasweddings.biz
Feb 20, 2012 05:57:50 #
Roger Hicks
Loc: Aquitaine
Danilo wrote:
. . . #2--A vast "general" audience that views every photo as a good photo. "Oh, Henry looks like a ghost in this photo with Vivian...that's funny, hahaha". . . . Is it good? Is it bad? The simple answer is Yes.
This is probably far more important than many realize. The way people perceive pictures is always changing. Most of us see very old portraits and wedding pictures as stuffy and unrevealing of the people's characters: too highly finished. It seems very likely that people who grew up with camera 'phones will perceive pictures differently from those of us who grew up with 'real' cameras.
Cheers,
R.
Feb 20, 2012 06:02:47 #
Last year the young couple across the street got married, they see me with my camera a lot,so one day she asked if i wanted to see the wed. pics. I could not believe the photos, the photographer used an iphone. there is no way this photographer did any post, every photo had a bad white balance problem, i mean everybody was orange, most were of the brides mom and they were all slightly blurred. she then said, what we loved was her girlfriend photographer only charged 250 dollars. I just said wow you got a great deal. makes me wonder why i spend thousands on my stuff, when i can use an iphone and get paid for it!!!
Feb 20, 2012 06:12:37 #
You all painfully remind one of that phrase," You must get great pictures with such a great camera"... I still remember when it was," You must know what your doing if you can successfully run that"...
Feb 20, 2012 06:20:57 #
MWAC wrote:
quote=CaptainC quote=photosbyhenry My nephew's d... (show quote)
I agree. I've seen so many people say that they are "going pro" or "are already pro" and I just cringe at their work.
Photography is strange in that the tools are readily available to almost everyone nowadays...but the skill necessary to produce something worthwhile is a different matter entirely.
I can just see the "brain surgeons forum".....
"Hi...I'm a noob brian surgeon, I just got a new scalpel and clamp for christmas and now I want to go pro....
What type of head should I start cutting in to? How much should I charge for your typical brain surgery?
---------------
Uh uh....never happen. :)
Feb 20, 2012 06:31:01 #
yes, i don't even say anything usually when someone comes on here claiming to be a pro , but asking some of the most basic questions. it's like, if you have to ask that, you shouldn't even be considering shooting someones wedding.
MWAC wrote:
Don't even get me started on people that call themselves "professional" photographers. It is one of my many pet peeves, I bite my tongue even on this forum when so called professionals post client pictures that wouldn't make it off this Mom's memory card. On a plus side those professionals don't usually hang out here for too long.
Feb 20, 2012 06:37:28 #
So many great points. GW...or the comment: "What a great snap-shot. What kinda camera you used?". Brrrrr!
Danilo hit it dead-center: a. too many "pros" attending the reception b. so few viewers can "read" a photograph and I will add a third point. It's like how Americans got fatter: heaping mounds of "food". More is better. When I'm paying you "250" to attend my wedding, I don't want no stinkin' album with 20 shots. H---. I don;t want no lousy CD that costs a dollar. I want a DVD, man, with all the shots and prints too that only cost 14 cents at _________. That is, unfortunately, the American mentality towards photography and just about everything else.
IMHO.
Ray
Danilo hit it dead-center: a. too many "pros" attending the reception b. so few viewers can "read" a photograph and I will add a third point. It's like how Americans got fatter: heaping mounds of "food". More is better. When I'm paying you "250" to attend my wedding, I don't want no stinkin' album with 20 shots. H---. I don;t want no lousy CD that costs a dollar. I want a DVD, man, with all the shots and prints too that only cost 14 cents at _________. That is, unfortunately, the American mentality towards photography and just about everything else.
IMHO.
Ray
Feb 20, 2012 06:46:01 #
Roger Hicks wrote:
quote=Danilo . . . #2--A vast "general&quo... (show quote)
While how the subject matter is portrayed may change with time, proper lighting, composition and sharp focus never go out of style.
Feb 20, 2012 07:47:22 #
Roger Hicks
Loc: Aquitaine
Adirondack Hiker wrote:
While how the subject matter is portrayed may change with time, proper lighting, composition and sharp focus never go out of style.
Not for you and me, perhaps, but I really wonder if some younger people genuinely have different expectations and a different visual appreciation.
There have been other paradigm shifts before. Think of the way in which some people regarded film grain with horror, even as late as the 1950s. If we regard 1920s wedding shots as impossibly stiff and formal, perhaps a 25-year-old today might feel the same way about what we would regard as 'good' wedding pictures from as recently as the 1980s.
I am not saying it is so. I am just saying that it may be so. If it isn't, some things are quite hard to understand.
Cheers,
R.
Feb 20, 2012 07:50:42 #
Walt R
Loc: eastern tn
It seems that these " pro wedding photographers " go to walmart get a dslr and are now " pro's " . The mind set in photography now is just shoot and we can fix it in photoshop later . Learn how to shoot right the first time and spend your time shooting instead ofilmf on the computer . Digital is a great learning tool. SORRY for my rant , just an old film shooter who had to shoot it right the first time . Shot with a 4x5 camera .
Feb 20, 2012 07:51:41 #
photosbyhenry wrote:
My nephew's daughter got married last August and s... (show quote)
Just insist the photographer stay away from the bar and the bartender does not become the photographer, your wedding pictures will improve,
Feb 20, 2012 07:51:44 #
I absolutly agree it does seem that there are many more pros out there than there used to be. Im sure the digital age has much to do with that. I know that i was asked to shoot a friends wedding not long after i purchased my "big fancy camera" and i told him right up front i had never shot a wedding and had no idea what i was doing. It was a small wedding and i told them if there were any shots they wanted in particular to let me know. I shot alot of pic! They liked them and i guess that is all that matters. I guess some of the issue may be that a good photographers harshest critic is themselves
Feb 20, 2012 08:01:22 #
At my daughters wedding a few years ago i bought about twenty disposable cameras and put them on the tables at the reception. Some of the pics were very good.....some were not and some seemed to get more interesting as the night and the bar tab progressed......IT is very true that the cost of a real pro is in many cases prohibitive
Feb 20, 2012 08:06:24 #
sirlensalot
Loc: Arizona
I think most of the changes are because of the money. Pros are dropping off the radar, especially ones that had studios. People are asking for an informal style. They seem to be impatient, choosing not to commit time and effort for the formal studio shots except for those with very flush budgets. It is going the same way as the economy, fewer middle class which in my opinion was the bread and butter for wedding photographers. Now seeing those that have a lot vs those that have very little. Not much in between anymore.
I also have a wedding photographer friend who has a pretty cynical view who maintains when it comes to wedding photos, everyone's is on a tight budget, but then sees $800-1000 wedding cakes at these weddings. All I can tell you is when my kids bring our grand children to our house they all ask to see the prints in the albums of any photos we have of our family and themselves. They are not interested in looking at them on a monitor. Maybe we have outsmarted ourselves with technology.
I also have a wedding photographer friend who has a pretty cynical view who maintains when it comes to wedding photos, everyone's is on a tight budget, but then sees $800-1000 wedding cakes at these weddings. All I can tell you is when my kids bring our grand children to our house they all ask to see the prints in the albums of any photos we have of our family and themselves. They are not interested in looking at them on a monitor. Maybe we have outsmarted ourselves with technology.
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