brooks whittington

We average about 6500 images for a 10 hour wedding, with two shooters...we shoot all RAW, so that is about 70gb per wedding...The clients see about 600-800 images from those.

Haven't we been down this road before?

~brooks

We shoot EVERYTHING that happens.

The clients know this. We tell them over and over and over before the wedding.

If someone cries, we shoot it.

If someone falls down, we shoot it.

If someone has a heart attack, we shoot it. (and yes, this has happened at a wedding I was photographing with another photographer, and yes, we shot it).

If the bride and groom are fighting, we shoot it.

If the bride is crying because her destination wedding has to be held in a tent instead of outside on the beach because of rain, we shoot it.

Our job is to get photos of EVERYTHING that happens, happy or sad, good or bad. If I have to constantly be wondering "Would the client like this image?", I would miss half the moments I shoot...

Here is an example.

We were on vacation in Utah, when a bride who was getting married the next month called. She said her father was VERY ill, and was not expected to live through the week...so they were going to have a family wedding at the bride's house, so that her father could be a part of it, in case he died before the real ceremony.

They asked if we could shoot it (not knowing we were out of town)...Leigh and I talked about it, and decided to fly back the next day and shoot it.

As the bride walked down the stairs of her house, her father waited in a wheelchair at the bottom to walk her up the "aisle"...in order to get the shot I wanted, I had to get REALLY close to them both, and shot when she started crying...

Now, if I started thinking about if she specifically WANTED a shot like what I was thinking, I would never take it. Turns out, she loved the image, and was very happy we were there...

We choose clients that give us the freedom we need to shoot the way we do.

YMMV, of course.

~brooks

We don't interfere at all.

We don't ask people to move, we don't tell people to get ready in better light, we don't move details, we don't turn on/off lights, we don't open/close window shades.

It is OUR job to find the photo.

YMMV, of course.

~brooks

We average about 6500 images for a 10 hour wedding with 2 shooters, all raw (so about 70-80gb per wedding)...We edit down to about 600-800 per wedding for the clients.

Didn't we just talk about this?

~brooks

There are alot of misconceptions about Wedding Photojournalism (or Documentary wedding photography, as we call it now)...

First, we do not pose ANYTHING on the wedding day, other then the few formals we shoot. We do not ask the bride to move, we do not move details (other then the rings, which we take one different shot of, which I will explain below), we do not ask people to get out of our way, etc. We basically shoot the day exactly as it happens, with no interference at all on our part.

Now, you may be thinking "Well, he says that, but his clients would be pissed if he missed one of those MUST get shots, so he has to do a little moving people around" right? Well, you would be wrong. We TELL our clients we are going to miss photos at every wedding, but that is the nature of how we shoot. You might miss a moment (and very rarely do we miss a moment like the Kiss or bride walking down the aisle, etc) but there is always a better one that comes along...

Second, alot of people think that just because you shoot in a "PJ" style, you can't shoot portraits, which is just untrue. When I shot for newspapers for 7 years, and portraits were a fairly large part of what we did (albeit short ones), so shooting portraits is not "against" the pj mindset by any means, the the WAY you shoot them does matter, at least in my opinion...Other then the portraits (and we only shoot about 20 mins of family shots), there is NO setting up of images, and no calling attention to ourselves...

Everybody has their own definition, of course, but ours is this (and I have been told we are some of the most militant when it comes to our style).

1. We don't pose ANYTHING other then the formals

2. We don't ask anyone to move, or barley even talk to people on the day of the wedding, as it draws attention to ourselves.

3. We use about 80% available light (mostly at f1.2 or 1.4), as flash draws attention to ourselves. A typical image is shot at 24mm @ 1.4, 800asa, and 1/25sec.

4. The few portraits we do are done VERY quickly, and very simply.

5. We are averaging about 6000 images per 10 hour wedding (and the average keeps going up!) and give the client anywhere from 600-800 images to see.

6. Our clients are told OVER and OVER how we operate, before they meet with us, during the meeting and before they sign, so there are rarely any problems.

7. We use VERY little Photoshop on our images, basically, we increase contrast, and turn images into b/w, and that is about it.

8. We shoot about 90% full frame (and even that is too low, I would like to get it to about 98% or so), and take pride in using the whole frame.

Hope that helps!

~brooks

Yes, we average 5500 images per wedding...

We shot 8995 or so on our last 8 hour wedding in the Bahamas...

The shutter life of my camera means nothing to me, I have replaced both of my MKII shutters 3 times each...Cost is about $150, which is nothing...

Why is it so hard to believe that someone shoots more then 400 images at a wedding? We are shooting REAL moments that cannot be posed or faked (although some photographers try to of course)...The number of images shot is irrelevant, all that matters is, did I get the moment?

YMMV, of course...

~brooks

-----5500 images / 10 hours = 9.16 images every minute.

5500 images x 5MB = 27,500 MB.

5500 images = 32 1GB memory cards

I think somebody is pulling our leg when they claim to take 5500 images.

Greg Jansen-----------

Are you calling me a liar?

The 5500 images is true, I can assure you...It is with two shooters, but we shoot all RAW, so each wedding is about 60gb or so...

I just finished editing a wedding we shot in the Bahamas, and it ended up being 8795 images for about 8 hours...(I don't want to even think about how many gbs...)

We shoot ONLY for the moment, the number of photographs we take means nothing to us...

YMMV...

~brooks

We shoot an average of about 5500 images for a 10 hour wedding, and we usually deliver about 500-800 or so...

We offer a proof magazine (through WHCC) or 4x6 proofs...

Hope that helps!

~brooks

Out of a typical wedding where we shoot about 5500 images, we take about 20 group shots, (and 3 of each formal), so out of that 5500 images, about 60 are posed...

YMMV...

~brooks

I recommend a faster lens, and a smaller fstop...

I shoot just about everything at f1.4 or below, and it helps photographs like this...

Other then doing that, the crop is fine...

~brooks

I will have to agree that this photo is really not all that wonderful,and I would have most likely cut it in editing...

The reasons...

1. The Red bag behind the bride is Extremely distracting.

2. The Girl with her eyes closed behind the bride is Extremely distracting.

3.The girl moving in the background behind the bride is Extremely distracting.

I could prob live with one of the three, but not all of them...

Just my $.02...

Do you have any other photos from the same session and a different angle/time we could look at?

~brooks

Well, we carry 76GB of CF with us (mostly Ultra II and Extreme III 4GB cards) and shoot about 60GB per wedding (about 5500 Raw images a wedding)...

The answer to the question "How much is enough" can be answered with another question..."How do I shoot"? If you shoot 5 set up photos per hour, then 6gb should be enough...If you Shoot ALOT more, then it will not be...

~brooks

<<<How do you people shoot 2000 images?>>>

AGAIN, we have to go through this?

The horse is not only dead, it has been dismembered and is now rotting away...

Let's keep this thread away from the "why don't you just shoot video" comments, shall we?

~brooks

It sounds like you are talking about Bella...

You have to decide if all of those rules are worth it to you...However, I will say that I would never work for a company that I did not feel comfortable with (and you obviously are not, or you would not be here), and that did not want me to shoot in the style that I wanted to (ie, more PJ then what you like)...

To do anything else would not just be a disservice to yourself, but also to the clients...

YMMV...

~brooks

Bob, to answer your questions...

<<<How many photographers?>>>

There are two of us shooting for 10 hours (average)...

<<<How many cards do you go through? Do you shoot RAW?>>>

We do shoot RAW for everything, and we shoot about 45GB per wedding...We carry 75 GB with us...Mostly 4GB cards (Sandisk Ultra II and III)...

<<<How many hours of editing?>>>

It takes me about 2 hours to edit 5000 images down to about 700 or so...Using a MacBook Pro and IView 3...

<<<What do you charge for an average wedding? >>>

Our Min package amount is $4500, with the average client spending about $6000 or so...We shoot about 45 a year...

<<<You do have gorgeous photography, though, Brooks!>>>

Thanks!

"I don't feel I am stuck in a rut, but have a hard time deciphering 500 shots let alone 5000."

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Well, then I guess it is a good thing you are not my client, eh?

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"I like to interact with the B & G, also the guest.With a camera stuck to my face as much as some of you do, I can't see that happening."

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You have your style, I have mine...The more I "Interact" with my clients, the more they know I am there, and thus the less "Real" moments I get...

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"Just remember, probably around 3 to 5 years from now, if they are still married, most of those shots will probably be in a drawer somewhere, no matter how good we are."

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Sure sounds like you are stuck in a rut...

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We shoot an average of about 5000 images for a 10 hour wedding, and the b/g see about 700 or so...

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At this point, if I had to choose between a website and my blog, I would have to choose the blog...

It has made a MAJOR difference in my business, as I keep it constantly updated (about once every two days or so)...Of course, you have to have the business to constantly update it...

Check it out at http://www.BrooksBlog.com

~brooks

http://www.BrooksWhittington.com

I only do this when I am leaving for another wedding the day after...For example, I have a wedding tom that will be about 11 hours (yay overtime!), with a 7 hour reception, so (since we have two shooters) I will have a little time to download the images onto my laptop, which will give me more time when I get home to pack, since we are leaving for a wedding in Cabo at 10am on Sunday...

Does that make sense?

BTW, I use a (Black) macbook.

~brooks

www.BrooksBlog.com

We stopped calling ourselves "Wedding Photojournalists" about 7 years ago (despite the fact that I shot for newspapers for over 7 years), and started calling ourselves "Documentary Wedding Photographers"...

We adhere to a STRICT no interferance policy when shooting weddings...We don't change ANYTHING about the day (other then the formals, yadda yadday yadda)...We don't pose anyone, we don't ask a bride to move into better light, we don't move details, etc.

Now, not everyone does this (and not everyone should!), but this is how we do it, and there are a few others who shoot this way as well around the US and world...

Bottom line is that there is no RIGHT way to shoot a wedding, and there is a client for all styles out there...

BTW, here are some more shooters who photograph in this style (Good personal friends all)...

www.GregGibson.com (a two time pulitzer prize winner)

www.timzielenbach.com

www.AmyDeputy.com

www.JVSWeddings.com

Hope this helps!

~brooks

To answer your question, there are a few "True" Documentary Wedding Photographers out there (that is, those who pose NOTHING on the wedding day, other then a few portraits), but you have to look hard to find them...

However, when you DO find them, you can tell very easily...They are usually charging quite a bit of money, and brides who are paying that CAN tell a difference between a real moment and one that is faked to look real, I can assure you...

~brooks

We take 45GB to every wedding, and usually end up shooting about 40GB or so...

We shoot almost all Sandisk (Ultra II and Extreme III) in 2GB and 4GB, with a couple of

smaller cards (1GB) as well for backup...

As always, YMMV...

~brooks

I have found that there are VERY few wedding photographer's who shoot in true "PJ" style,

as **I** define it (that is, the photographer must change NOTHING about the wedding day,

must not pose, must not move a bride into better light, must not direct in any way, other

then a few formal portraits)...

Most of the people who shoot in this style tend to have shot for newspapers in their

former lives...

Looking at work, you can usually tell (if you look hard enough) if something is posed or

not...

A couple of people who shoot this (specific) style...

Huy @ http://www.f8studio.com

Tyler Wirkin @ http://www.wirkenphoto.com/

And myself...

IMHO, this is the purest form of wedding photography (notice, I did not say "The Best"),

and (IMHO again) the hardest style to master...

As always, YMMV.

~brooks

Of course, he could also be lying.

Don't forget, Gary's business is not shooting weddings anymore, it is selling crap to other

wedding photographers.

Don't EVER accept what a salesman tells you at face value, especially if there is no way to

confirm it.

YMMV.

We have 6 more weddings before the end of the year....

Wish we had some time off!

~brooks