High profile Wedding shooters

[barry_davis___st._louis__m]

Greetings, with all the celebrity type wedding shooters...Ascough, Pfister,

Celentano, Yervant, Busincik etc...and if you've attended their seminars...How

many images do they present to the client (i presume via the web) and are they

enhanced. I believe in Pfisters case he edits extensively every image before it

is shown, so I gotta believe that if they're doing that much post editing the

overall # is lower...Any ideas?

[annealmasy]

Really, Barry, if you want to learn from the greats you should go to the source. All the

shooters you mentioned offer workshops and seminars where they go into detail about their

process. Any information you get here will be second-hand, and likely not completely

accurate. :)

[barry_davis___st._louis__m]

Really, Anne...thank you for your post...it did little for the futherance of this forum. Im in St louis and do get some seminars...others however in remote areas may glean from such a post!

[annealmasy]

I'm sorry that you feel that way, Barry.

[mreul]

it would seem you won't really have to apply this to "high profile shooters" anyway. i mean i've seen some photogs who just post every pic up and don't edit and then i've seen gallery's where every image is stunning. i want to only present images that look great....so i think this is a good question applied to what ever photog?

[kari douma]

Here is my guess, (just a guess, not the facts.) If these are high profile shooters, they are probalby charging a lot. If they are charging $10,000, $20,000, or $50,000 (I really don't know how much they charge, but I am sure it is more than the $2000 that I charge) they are probaly paying someone to make the images look great! The customers probalby expect all the images to look fantastic because the hired a photographer who charges that much.

[bdp]

I would tend to agree with Kari. I believe after reading up on Yervant, that I get the hint that he has graphic people that work on his images so as long as you can get a well framed shot, it's a keeper when you get people to do your 'dirty' work :)

[stephen dohring]

First off I would not attribute their images to their PS people who take mediocre images and make them spectacular. I have personally been to a lot of seminars and seen some shoot in front of me and seen the RAW images. They are deserving of all of the hype - their PS enhancements make spectacular images a masterpeice. I have seen : Joe Buissink, Marcus Bell, Yervant, Jerry Ghionis, David Jay, Gene Hinga,Hanson Fong, Mike Colon and many others in person at clinics and seminars.The number of images is different. Some that set up more shots opposed to PJ like Yerant get perfection out of their shots and shoot less. Joe bangs away getting more moments and will have a higher number of shots. You have to do what is best for you. I admire Joe and I like to shoot a lot and edit down. The turn of the head - the look in the eye in a 4-5 shot sequence can make all the difference so I shoot a lot. More experienced shoots are more skilled at getting the moment and knowing they got it. I hate to see an eye blink at the critical moment so I shoot added frames. With batch actions and lightroom you can edit every picture fairly fast. The very best shots get the full skin edit etc. Yervant does every image, every one. Joe has his printer edit the very best ones for artistic effects, Marcus edits all for basic and goes into more PS work on the images that are fine artish. They work just like all of us no one is the same.

[mreul]

there ya go Barry - steve d probably just gave you a good idea - thanks steve that was cool of you to share.... ;)

[david_schilling___chicago_]

I do know that Parker does some PS and eyeballs each image but he flies through alot of them by culling and using actions. Parker is also not above answering an email or two. You can learn alot about some of the big guns if you've got a Photovision subscription. Michelle Celentano has jumped into childrens portraiture in a big way but still does some weddings through out the year.

 

You can also catch some of the names you mentioned at the Digital Wedding forum and David Jay hangs out at OSP. I caught David when he came into town for a Pictage users group, very personable, wish I had his youth and energy :-)

[barry_davis___st._louis__m]

David, yeah, I love my photovision subscription. One of the best uses of my $$. One of the main reasons for the questions is and especially after seeing Parker's work is that a few that I have come in contact with seem to have two folders...the fine art folder and the folder that contains the normal (in most cases above average). The fine art folder gets their heavy artistic (PS) enhancements and the other folder may show the extent or the whole day...Interesting model..or workflow!

[ni_gentry]

Everyone is different and has their own way of doing things ( haven't I heard that before ).

<p>

There is no right/wrong way.... (well, maybe a wrong way)... but really, if you want to find out

what a specific person is doing, then just ask them. Go to their seminar or simply shoot

them an email. No matter how "high-profile" they may be perceived, most of these

photographers are pretty down to earth and glad to help (when they have the time).<p>

Mostly, you need to figure out what works for YOU and your clients. What someone else does

may not apply at all. Focus on your own market, style, technique and workflow.

[wedding-photography-denver]

I agree with Ni.

 

Some of the top guns are more approachable than some on this very forum. It all depends on how busy they are I think.

 

Best, D.

[susan_flewelling]

I would say to actually go to photograpers in your area that you admire. Let them know you love their work and ask a couple of questions. They may be willing to share their expertise and then you will get regional advice as well as top dog advice. I also think it was Mike Colon that sells something like you are describing to photographers about how to go after the high end bride. I think it is Mike but I may be wrong. Good Luck!!