Why do Tyro's Feel Weddings are Easy?

[edsel_adams]

There is a constant notion amongst the neophytes,that wedding

shooting is all a matter of owning the "right gear".This is like

saying "if I buy a Stratavarius I'll be Jascha Heifetz"!Or more like

saying that if I owned a big red wheeled chest of tools,Id be a

mechanic!

Wedding photography,if done properly is one of the most

stressfull,difficult jobs there is.To actually shoot a wedding one

must master their camera skills to the point where this requires

little thought.Then you must be able to pre-concieve the album you

are creating,while you are shooting it.This normally means posing a

few dozen people in half as many minutes!The people handling skills

and ability to deal with almost any unexpected situation,is what

makes a wedding shooter,not owning a Hasselblad!So really what is

needed is an expert at posing & composing shots.An expert at

understanding & communicating with people,and an expert

photographer.Most of all an expert at doing all of the above at

once,and not looking like a disorganized jerk while doing it!

My advice to the wannabee wedding shooters,tag along at least 3

times with another shooter at weddings.(Dont ruin your

friends/relatives wedding and become a jerk for the ages!)Watch how

they talk to people,pose them etc.try to see how they organize

themselves and their gear.This all comes down to rubbing your

head,patting your tummy,and juggling a heavy camera and doing this

all quickly!A lot of disciplines must be learned to be any good at

this.

Lastly the issue of doing for this money.It is better to be a

marketing major with a photo minor,than vice versa.

A good place to start is the book store.Learn everything you can

about people photography,lighting,portraiture,posing.(Even aspiring

PJ shooters need to know this stuff 1st!)If you are serious about

entering this field,apprentice.Find a good shooter that will let you

tag along for a season.

[garry edwards]

This is the most sensible opinion I've ever heard on this subject!

[brooks short]

Edsel,

 

I agree completely. Shooting weddings is much more stressful than the commercial advertising work that I do. There's much more to shooting a weding than getting the exposure, focus and composition right. These things are expected. It's the people skills that are so important.

 

To try to answer your question "Why do Tyro's feel that weddings are easy?" Here are my thoughts:

 

For a lot of beginning photographers the wedding photographer is the only personal exposure that they have to professional photography. A good pro will make it look easy, and the beginner buys into that and thinks it is easy.

 

I think there is also a feeling that because the retail client is usually unsophisticated about photography, a mediocre job will be accepted without question. And if you look at a lot of wedding albums, that does seem to be the case.

 

A beginner usually has experience with only 35mm equipment. They feel that the photos they have taken with 35mm film are sharp enough because they haven't seen pictures shot with MF or LF cameras. And the beginner usually has absolutely no experience with lighting. So you see a lot of photographers, beginners and pros, using a "jouranlistic" approach. That usually tells me that they don't have the technical "chops" to shoot properly lit formals.

 

Then there's the entire business side of wedding photography that most beginners don't even consider.

 

If you are working a day job, making as much as $1000 a week, the thought that you can make $1500 to $2500 for a wedding, on one day of the weekend, is very enticing. Imagine their suprise when they realize that the shooting of the wedding itself is the easy and fun part. The hours spent organizing negatives and ordering proofs, prints and putting albums together is the real drudgery. Using a bad lab to save a few pennies can make it a nightmare.

 

Still many beginners will shoot their first wedding, undercutting the prices of the professionals and delivering inferior work. Some will learn their craft eventually, others won't. But it always amazes me that people will risk the photos of their wedding by hiring inexperienced people. When the wedding is over, and the cake is gone, the wedding photos stand alone as a rememberance of that important day.

[wim_van_velzen]

Amen!

<p>

One can even be quite successfull with relatively simple gear (be sure to have back-ups though!). I use two Pentax MZ5 + Metz 45CL4 and a few Bronica EC-TLs and a Rolleiflex to do the job - no one ever asked about my choice of equipment, style of photography and they way you treat people are more important for most if not all clients.

<p>

BTW I use the word successfull here in connection with myself, not because I think I am a genius or something - but people like my work, and I like that!

<p>

<a href="http://www.fotografiewimvanvelzen.nl">Wim</a>

[art_haykin]

Wedding "A" is not wedding "B" is not wedding "C." I've shot informal little study weddings with about a dozen guests in attendance in a private home, using a 35mm and a single strobe, and others growing in size and settings to bigger chruch affairs with ALL the amenities using an assistant. I have assisted in even bigger affairs using up to 3 assistantsthat were also being professionally videoed. You must know 1)what you are getting into, 2) know what is to be expected of you, and 3) have the skills and equipment to pull it off. Living dangerously can be fun, but NOT at a wedding. There is NO teacher like hands-on experience from beginning to end. I would rather face a mother lion protecting her cubs, than anoutraged mother-of-the-bride if you seriously mess up. I've seen it happen more than once, and it is NOT a Kodak Moment

[bob_chong]

I see that "Word of the Day" calendar has really paid off.

[huey_stevens]

Edsel and All

 

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to say that I read all of your posts avidly, I really enjoy your experience and expertise.

 

Many moons ago I was in a now defunct photoclub. The guy taking first place is still a wedding photographer. I asked to apprentice under him and become a wedding photographer myself. He thought about it for one month, and then asked me at the next club meeting "So you want to become a Wedding Photographer?"; "Yes" was my reply. "Be at this church on Saturday, at this time, suit and all your camera gear" . WOW - what a summer of intense activity and learning. I never imagined how arduous Wedding Photography can be. You gotta be sharp, very flexible, and I'm still learning (good thing) and working with clients.

 

In short I didn't know what I was getting myself into. At times I thought that I'm not cut out for this, but I persisted and now have a better appreciation for the responsibility given us in this profession.

Thanks for the tips.

 

Sincerely - Huey(Hugh)Stevens - Ostermeyer Photography - Dallas, TX

[scott walton]

Edsel, Can't agree more! I love telling this story... naturally, I was shooting a wedding and a guy had a Nikon f4 SB blah blah and all the top stuff with a brand new bag yadda yadda... I shoot with Bronica SQA's, Norman 400B strobes so my stuff is older and I love the equipment. This kid had his motor drive cranking away when he approached me and scanned my equipment, bragging about his new equipment. I said I can see what he had... He did have a cocky attitude so I said that I was hired and we needed to stay out of each others way. He said that was ok and that he used to shoot weddings but now he has a "real job" and walked off. I said not to get in my way today! All through out the wedding he had the class of a caveman. Even the paster looked at me as if he was my assistant! I made it clear that he was on his own and I had nothing to do with him. The funny part was later. He came up to me and said he shot over 300 shots and asked me what I shot. I calmly stated about 200 and walked away. He was so into his equipment and himself. About 2 weeks later I delivered the proofs to the bride and she was amazed at what I got. It was a beautiful wedding! After our meeting, I asked her what she got from the other guy... she said "I only got 3 5x7's and they weren't that great..."

 

Yes, weddings are tough but they usually are an upbeat, fun day. Stress, sure there is stress and you do need to be able to take control when needed and you certainly need to have the right personality and the knowledge of your equipment goes without saying!!! As stated, weddings are never the same and every one is a learning experience. In my opinion, you either love them or you hate them! If you hate them, do everyone a favor and yourself, don't do them! I have always loved them but I had to take some time off from doing them when I was going through a divorce myself... I didn't like what I was capturing even though brides loved my work! I had to take 2.5 years off. You do have to be sharp, clear, and happy with yourself before you can do any justice to your clients.

Have to scoot now.

Cheers,

Scott

[edsel_adams]

When I shoot formals,I let the family shooters & the cardboard paparazzi's bang away!The only time I will bitch is when they try to shoot at the same time as me.There is nothing worse than a group picture with half the subjects trying to figure which lens they should be looking at!

I recently had a wedding where a cousin with an F5 W/SB unit was in my face all night.My contract is set up so I could have told him to FO,but I didnt.Meanwhile the family has backed off on the prints ordered.I might have to review the policy,as the politcians say.

When a 2nd shooter starts to slow me down or interefere,I always say something.There is always the young woman or man at every wedding that took a photography class back in college.These types believe that they alone are photo "artistes".I try to avoid locking horns with these "know it alls"!Im just in this for the banquet chow and the free diet Coke.

[kelly_flanigan1]

A relative shot a roll of photos at a wedding in the late 1970's with a Pentax 110 and Kodaks first attempt at asa color negative 400 film. Most were blurred or out of focus. Here is one of the better shot; fungus on the grooms suit and all. Wedding work is best done by pros if one wants good work. <A HREF=http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/images/tripods-294.jpg target = "_blank">

<IMG SRC="http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/thumbs/tripods-294-thumb.jpg" BORDER=0></A>

[trooper]

I gave in to my daughter's best friend and agreed to shoot her wedding last weekend. I have a personal agreement with myself to avoid weddings but couldn't weasel out of this one�. Outdoor wedding with threatening, stormy weather, out of town travelers not on time for the pre-wedding posed pictures, etc, etc. Finished my first 220 roll and had a dragging, jamming sort of winder feeling and didn�t dare open the camera (not know if the ratcheting was moving film or not). Went from the 645 to P67, re-rigged flash, etc. and part way into that roll, the mirror locked up! Switching to second P67 body (and feeling a bit smug at my preparedness of 3 bodies), the mirror locked up on shot #1�. This quickly became the wedding from hell and was completed with a Hexar that was luckily in my car and some Fuji Superia 200 that was in the case.

 

The problems were all rectified the next morning with the equipment (won�t bore you with details) and in my normal, personal hobby use of my equipment I can�t recall the last equipment failure. Having it on the line with all of the things that can and do go astray is more stress than I�m interested in, week after week!

[edsel_adams]

With firearms there is a saying,"you dont wanna hear a click,when you really need to hear a bang"!The same is true with cameras.When we hit the shutter button we expect the damn thing to take a photograph!The processional starts,the music starts,the camera stops!What wedding shooter hasn't had this happen?It usually takes about 30 seconds of panic to correct things,but the rest of the week to forget about this!

[graphicjoe]

Why do tyros think it�s easy?

Because they don�t know what is involved. To a casual, ignorant observer it looks easy, so Mr. or Ms. Tyro assumes that all they have to do is show up with some sort of camera and bang away. It only becomes apparent to them what they have gotten into as they flounder and feel lost and confused. The final realization comes when they�and the customers�start looking at the poor quality, ill-conceived work. It�s sad for the bridal party because this is the only time this particular wedding will happen and these are the only photos to document it.

 

I did one wedding as a gift to close friends when their daughter married. But there were some stipulations. Black and white; no flash, and no attempt to do a �wedding package.� They know my work and how it looks, so they were pleased and I had fun doing the photos. But, I was exhausted at the end of the day. And the dark room work took longer than I had guessed. But all in all, it was fun and everyone was pleased.

 

I came away with a renewed respect for the wedding photographers of the world. Their work is demanding and they earn what the receive for it.

Joe Stephenson