what does it take to be a great portrait photographer and take great portraits?

yes I have used Hasselblads for over 40 years

Thank you Ed, This is exactly what I have been trying to convey every time this subject appears. Often times it falls opon deft ears. People feel they can do anything they want because they are invited guest while the professional is restricted by the clergy. I.E. the priest or minister says no flash pictures during the ceremony so the professional has to comply but the guest think that does not apply to them. I have done weddings where the ceremony was stopped and the guests were told it would not go on if another flash goes off.

Well said, read my earlier post. I too was a Profressional Wedding Photographer for over 45 years and over 3500 weddings before I retired. I would inform the couple from the very begining of signing the of the contract that I would make sure of just what the bridal couple wanted in thier coverage and would make a list of the photographs that wanted. I would explain that at the church formals I was to be the only photographer which was also in my contract. Now I would allow people to take photos as long as they didn't get in my way, I also had permission from the bridal couple if things got out of hand They would allow me to stand on the alter with them and tell the guest to put their cameras away and the couple would always think that was a good idea. This not only would kept them in the good gracess of there guests but made me the heavy.
I didn't have to do that often but it worked. I would also tell the guest that they were welcome to take as many photos they wanted if time allowed after I was finished. This worked out well for all concerned. A trick that I would use was to tell the bridal party and family members was to exit the church and come back in through a back door or to go into a dressing room until the church was empty and would call them back in. Out of sight out of mind. I always would take the parents and family members photos first and tell them they could leave and entertain the guest so they didn't feel slighted while I finshed up. This accomplished 2 things first less people in the church causing distractions and no one shooting over my shoulder. This would allow me to get all the formals done in about 45 minutes allowing the bridal party to relax a little before the next round of photos at the reception. This was always apprecheated by the briadal party and the clergy.
Bottom line is as the professional photographer it is your responcablity to get all the photos they wanted and to make sure everything goes off on time, work with the DJ or band and the party house so there is never surprises. Remember the couple will most likely never be back but you will be at the church and party house and they will remember you the photographer. If they like you they will work with you.

The bride and groom are spending a lot of money to have a professional take their photos and video. The pros are not there for the convience of the guest. If they wanted you to take the photos they would have asked the guest. By getting in the pros way all you are doing is make their job harder and longer. Remember after the ceremony there is limited time for doing the formal groups in the church, not only because there will probably be another wedding coming in but the Bride and groom have to goto other locations or the reception and if they have a limo they only hire it for limited amount of time and can't be late. I'm sure the pros have no problem letting the guest take all the pictures they want at the reception. Why not respect the Bride and Groom and let them enjoy their day.

As a professional wedding photographer back in the film days I would prepare for a wedding first by setting my equipment up before the shoot and would take the film back off and look through the camera back to make sure the camera was in sync with the flash and make sure the shutter was working properly. I would do this every time I needed to change film backs through out the day. With digital, chimping is a way to make sure the equipment is functioning properly. I will know if anything was not working I would put that camera down and finish the job with my backup camera which I knew was working correctly. That goes for my flash equipment, sync cords and light meters as well as anything else that could go wrong. I don't believe in leaving anything up to chance. Every pro I know follows then old rule that if it can go wrong it will.

That's why I leave that up to people like you. I don't like sports, never have and never will.

:-)

Why would you MARK THIS DAY ON THE CALENDAR ?

Ansel Adams was not a wedding photographer. LOL I'm not putting any one down for doing what they love or how they do it. I shoot weddings because I love doing them and I get the benefit of working with new people from all over the world and different customs. My personal favorite weddings are Asian. There is so much ceremony it takes my breath away. The Bride will where 3 different gowns during the day. You say a wedding is a wedding. This is a true statement but so is baseball, 3 strikes 3 outs and 9 innings. Foot ball and basketball have four quarters, do you say they are predictable. A wedding is only predictable and boring if you let it be. Yes all weddings are the same but each and every one is different and people come to me to shoot it and give me their hard earned money for me to do it. In my city there are at least 400 photographers that shoot weddings. Some are very good and others should be paying the bride and groom to let them shoot the wedding. I'm busy enough that I have to turn weddings away. I could take on more and hire more photographers to work for me but I don't want the my quality or reputation to suffer. Once again the original post was geared to wedding photographers but seems that every one with a camera wants to put their 2 cents in even if it doesn't have anything to do with the question or subject.

"Basically special only to the subjects and their families because they are "their wedding". These are the people that are paying for my work. I'm not shooting to sell on the open market I'm shooting for what I'm being paid for. You go shoot for fun I shoot to put food on my table how about you. This post was why do people shoot 1000 pictures when 200 will do. It was asked to wedding photographers not wild life or landscape photographers period. So go out and shoot what you like I don't care. I don't tell you how to shoot so don't tell me how I shoot mine. I shoot for my clients not for you. I have made a nice living doing what I do, I don't tell you how to mop floors the way you do for a living. The difference between me and you as well as people like Monte Zuckor, Don Blair, Clay Blackmore and others that I have studied under is we make photographs not take them. We treat our clients for what they want and not shoot for the sake of piling up pictures. We actually care about what we do and it shows in our work.

What you are missing is a wedding photographer is limited to how fast his lights will recycle. most take at least 2 seconds to do that. Shoot sooner and your second shot is under exposed.Therefore We have to know what and when to expect the action to happen. I don't know any reception hall that has the lights bright enough to blase away to your hearts content and I have shoot all over the USA and Europe. If fact the house or the DJ will turn the lights down so low that you have to zone focus. Do you auto shooters even know what I mean by zone focus? You can not shoot burst mode without constant lighting conditions. Assist a pro wedding photographer once to see the conditions we have to work under and the time constraints we have and then tells us how to shoot in burst mode. It's easy to say you should do this and that if you've never done it. Get educated before you offer an intelligent alternative, otherwise your are talking through your ass. By the way a kid does not know what the photographer sees in his minds eye anymore than a camera does. Attitudes like this is why brides get so much garbage to sort through to find 24 or 36 photos for their final album. I personally as well as any other pro photographer only show their best work to the client other wise it would look like we didn't know what we were doing, aka a snap shooter.

I have shot over 3800 weddings since I started in the business in 1976 and have never had a need for more that just myself and an assistant to help with lighting equipment to get the job done.

I think a lot of people are not reading the original question. He is talking about wedding photographers, not sport or wild life photographers. People should read the question before making a statement that has nothing to do with the original post.

" Why do a lot of digital photogs take an excessive number of shots? As a professional from film days we made every shot count. These days as a working retired photographer I still live by that untold rule "Make every shot count" Just because we have motors and the cost is down do we really need a thousand wedding shots when 200 actually covers it? I know there are a lot out there that feel the need to do the 1000. From the images I now see in the windows of a good photo studio or in their web site I have found that they are just not making good first shots and that they are just counting on one good one out of many. This is fine if you are a beginner so why shoot thousands when that first 100 should have been made to count? "
drklrd

I think a lot of people are not reading the original question. He is talking about wedding photographers, not sport or wild life photographers. People should read the question before making a statement that has nothing to do with the original post.

" Why do a lot of digital photogs take an excessive number of shots? As a professional from film days we made every shot count. These days as a working retired photographer I still live by that untold rule "Make every shot count" Just because we have motors and the cost is down do we really need a thousand wedding shots when 200 actually covers it? I know there are a lot out there that feel the need to do the 1000. From the images I now see in the windows of a good photo studio or in their web site I have found that they are just not making good first shots and that they are just counting on one good one out of many. This is fine if you are a beginner so why shoot thousands when that first 100 should have been made to count? "
drklrd