So I chose to write this blog because I am currently in the process of going through Natasha and my wedding pictures and editing some of them to put some of my own styling in our pictures. For anyone who has ever met with me about wedding photography or those close to us know that if we could redo it today, we would have definitely put a lot more thought into the pictures. Three years ago when we were planning our wedding, pictures were not a huge factor during planning our wedding, and WOW do we regret that now.
1. Our pictures were VERY traditional. We knew that this was our photographer’s styling, and we didn’t think anything of it. So this is our fault for not doing any research but as I mentioned above, we did not do any research of photographers in the area and view what people were doing or what the latest trends were.
2. This is the big one! The composition of our pictures were very lacking. The formals looked fine because our photographer had a lighting setup during those shoots. But the ceremony and reception almost resemble a point and shoot quality picture.
So, what am I getting at? There are some out there that believe you must have 10-20 years experience as a photographer to be a great wedding photographer. While experience will definitely help teach you the camera and the business side of things, some of the most successful and popular photographers right now have less then six years of experience. I’m talking $10,000 minimum per wedding photographers. Our wedding photographer had many years under their belt. So experience does not make you a great photographer. Same goes for equipment; just because a photographer might have all the bells and whistles does not mean they are going to capture the best images. FStoppers proves that by doing a fashion shoot entirely by an iPhone!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoGjtSy7xY
In conclusion, I’m not hating on our photographer by any means, we did appreciate their work and taking the time to photograph our wedding. My only regret is that we did not take the time to think more about the pictures we were going to look at two, five, twenty years from now. I only bring this up as an informational blog post, because now, as a wedding photographer I see the importance of pictures from your wedding and just how HUGE of responsibility this is to not only capture fun, precious moments, but to capture them in a way that is appealing to look at for years to come.
Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy the weekend!! 🙂
