Tanya Mayer Photography wrote: Comments interspaced:
> Thanks for this lovely post Malcolm. :-) > It certainly was an "enjoyable rural wedding", as you put it. > Indeed, most of them are out here in the bush. One thing > about country people, the guys may have no teeth, but the > girls are generally easy going and prepared to party! lol. I > do love shooting weddings, even if it is just so that I get > to be the first with the "what the bridesmaid's wore" gossip > in town following each event! lol. Weddings are big events > in small towns like mine, and people love to talk about them > and to participate in them - hence the excitement by the > truckies who were flashing their lights and beeping their horns at us! The wedding you describe above and several of the weddings I have seen posted here have captured the fun element and of it being a very special day - the reason that a professional photographer is employed, to capture an unrepeatable event. So there is pressure on you before you even think about the pictures. Many of the weddings I have attended, have had more to do with being more glitzy than the last - all show. This comes across in the pictures, as the real reason for the day becomes high jacked by 'one upmanship'. There seems little point in spending fortunes on a day where happiness comes second! > I agree with you that weddings are a difficult thing to > master. As a photographer, pretty much EVERYTHING is out of > your control. You have no choice over backgrounds, lighting, > clothing and styling of the pics etc, so every single shot is > a challenge. You have to deal with people from all walks of > life, which is tough in itself - and even tougher, if like > some silly girl that I know, you make a habit of travelling > thousands of kms each weekend to cover weddings of both > country AND city folk. There is always some occurence to > throw a spanner in the works, when you are shooting so many > people in such a small amount of time, and when dealing with > so many people of different gender, race, age, religions, > personalities etc. It truly does pay to have "people skills" > to add to the mix. I know that many of my wedding bookings > have been made after the bride has spoken to other > photographers that were "horrible to talk to" or "made them > feel uncomfortable". I could never be a wedding photographer; although it is some time since I worked directly with the public, it isn't something I would choose to do again in a hurry (eternity), for pretty much all the reasons above. I recently had to organise a few children's photos, nothing special, but every parent had their own agenda, some wouldn't talk to each other and I ended up making my position on future requests of this nature, to never ever to include me again. The children were a joy! > Now, I am not saying that I deserve any kind of accolades > here, or that what I (and any other wedding photographer!) > does is any harder than say a landscape photographer or Photo > Journalist. I just believe that each "genre" of photography > requires special and differing skills, and nothing irks me > more than to hear a top PJ or Fashion Photographer say things > along the lines of "yeah, but you're just a wedding > photographer, you're over paid and underskilled" etc. I certainly agree that there are different elements on skills both in front of and behind the camera. Wedding photographers have persuasive and coercive skills, photo journalists tend to develop thick skins and landscape photographers tend to have bags of patience. > It does help, for me anyways, that I do the bride's and > bridesmaid's makeup artistry on the day though, as it gives > me time to get to know them, and to "scope out" just how they > are feeling etc on the day, as well as to give them a bit of > pep talk to relax them and settle them down a bit too. It is > also a good "warm up" for me to get me "into" the day and > "wedding mode". This must be a great way to break the ice and we know you must be good at this too as we have seen the pictures! > I have to say that I absolutely DETEST family photos, and > this is pretty evident when you view any of the weddings that > I have done. They are boring, and uncreative, however, the > SELL. People travel along way to be with their family on > their wedding day, and most usually want a decent photo to > record it. But, gawd, they are a PIA in a major way... I love family photos as I am always the one behind the camera!! By and large, most people in such circumstances don't want their picture taken and are doing at because this is expected of them. Most of the photos I have seen of weddings I have been present at show this at some level, as though it is something to get over and done with, yet many of the folk in the pictures are very photogenic and would have made great 'models'. I shouldn't think there is much time at any wedding to give the time required to relax the people concerned, especially if you are uncertain where the photos will be taken from one moment to the next or varying weather conditions. So much to cater for really.. > Anyways, off my soap box now, (I have no idea where that > little tirade came from! lol), I also agree wholeheartedly > with your sentiments about the PUG and the images that > PDML'ers post here, they are priceless learning tools for me too! This looks like a good time to stop typing and start taking pictures :-) Regards, Malcolm
