Of late I have noticed many “serious” photographers claiming that they don’t do weddings and children. I even found myself removing a few flickr contacts last week because of this reason.
Let me explain my reasoning.
As a photographer I have covered many events, I have been on stage with the courteeners at a gig in front of 5,000 people, I have photographed features for magazines with bands such as the view and the Enemy and I have had the pleasure of meeting some amazing people (some I would class as personal heroes).
Now this all may sound like gratuitous name dropping, my partner and children will confirm I will quite happily name drop at will (don’t get my better half started on the email I received from Katie from the Ting Tings complete with a kiss), however it does serve a purpose. As much as working in this kind of environment is a bit of a buzz and quite exciting, it completely pails into insignificance when you compare it the stress and planning that is required for a wedding event.
During set pieces for photoshoot you can plan everything to the last detail, you are in control of the environment, the lighting and the people. When it comes to a wedding you need also need to be in control of your environment, however there are crucial key moments that you get one “pop” at. If you miss the bride and father coming down the isle or the you “may kiss the bride” moment then that’s it, it’s gone forever, you can’t stage a moment like that so the pressure is on. Couple this factor with the low level of light in the church and the fact that using flash within the service (from my perspective) would be completely disrespectful, then you are left with a pretty hard gig to cover.
So getting back to my point, to criticise photographers who cover weddings and children and to question their credibility in my view is ludicrous. Maybe these “artists” should stop taking self portraits in whacky situations, step up to the mark and take on a real challenge 
11 Comments
There does seem a heck of a lot of snobbery involved in photography. It was one of the things that nearly made me stop getting involved in the community.
OK, so we josh each other, it’s what people do, but this kind of thing goes beyond that into “this is beneath me” with the implication being the people who do it are beneath them too. I wonder if it is because weddings and portraits are a service, rather than being valued as art, it is a plying a trade?
I have done weddings and am shocked I got through them successfully without resorting to medication or sturdy brown trousers and bicycle clips!
I believe the snobbery comes the view of the clients. I’ve shot some weddings – and yes, it’s stressful and a LOT of work. But… the upside is that your client is almost in a dream (sometimes a nightmare). If you can capture decent stuff in this technically-difficult environment they will LOVE you. Which is not typical with commercial work. Look how many wedding photographers are doing cheesy effects from the 90’s or botching their picture-quality in Photoshop and still selling out their seasons.
Yes, it’s difficult to do an excellent job at weddings. But there are a lot of photographers out there that are just barely producing “good-enough”, that seem to make a living. I guess you could say if the client is happy you’ve done your job – but as a community we hold each other to a higher standard.
Weddings are DAMN stressful…I’ve done a few (not as many as I would like…the money is also DAMN good hehe). It’s probably one of the hardest photography jobs to pull off without losing your sanity, so to snub the people that do it (and do it well), sounds a lot like typical jealousy in a way.
A lot of the “art” community is like that, in that it’s not “skill” that is generally put on a pedestal, but rather what the collective group thinks is interesting (and don’t get me started on the terrible taste of the art community
).
I don’t shoot weddings and rarely shoot kids, but I have. I just don’t enjoy it. I do however know several people who are wedding shooters, who are also on top of their game making more than 6 figures a year at it. A few years I was having a conversation with one and we added up the total number of hours it takes to get an end result from a wedding gig. This includes the initial meet, contact leading up to the wedding day, the day itself, post processing, getting prints and then putting together the final album for the client. Roughly speakin, it’s about 20 hours of work, not taking into account the time to market and properly promote yourself.
There is a lot of skill to do high quality weddings. But the snobbery goes both ways, I know wedding shooters who think fine art nude photographers are hacks, photojournalists that think fashion shooters are idiots, so on and so on.
Shoot what you enjoy, respect all aspects of the art form, don’t look at what you don’t like you.
Very aptly said. I believe any photography is difficult if one decides to have achievements in it; even if it is table top photography. Being disrespectful to any art is no sign of an artist. I am only 23. I have been taking pictures for only three months. I do not understand much. But this much I can claim that wedding photography is pretty difficult.
I have been thinking for sometime whether I should be having a blog or not. But now I finally have a blog. The name of my blog is – My Third Eye. In recent times I have discovered a genuine fondness for photography. Capturing the world and its people in still images is a very difficult task. But right now I am trying. I am serious about this hobby. And I will carry on with it for years to come.
In my new blog I have posted a few pictures that I have taken in recent times. There are four categories. There is also another category which has my sketches. The URL is: http://clickmoments.blogspot.com/
I will be glad if you pay a visit to it and post your thoughts. I hope others will pour their thoughts in soon. You can even vote in the voting machine at the bottom of my blog. You may even be my follower if you want to. By clicking the ‘Follow this blog’ link on the top left of the page, you may add yourself to the list of my followers. I will be extremely glad.
Since my interest in photography began I’ve observed the best and worst of wedding photographers at work. In that time I’ve gathered a lot of opinions about what’s wrong the wedding photography business (but that’s a rant for another day).
At the lower end you have the newbies who are underselling themselves in terms of what they charged for the time they will actually commit to getting the whole job done. The problem with newbie is he/she hasn’t realised that the photographer has to become the choreographer for the day ensuring that the client has a balance between enjoying the day and in a few weeks times being able to re-live the day through the images captured. If the photographer looses control chaos can quickly ensue.
At the opposite end of the spectrum the experienced professional wedding photographer will manage the crowd and get all the shots you asked for and more and if they are really good no one at the event will even know they were being crowed managed! I’ve been amazed at how well this can be done.
Those folks you know saying “I don’t do weddings” and probably saying “I can’t do weddings” but trying to do so with the pomposity often found in “pro” photographers.
Snobbery is one of the parts of photography that I struggle with, isn’t trying to make a living with photography hard enough without us having a go at each other? But I suppose it’s just part of life…
As for wedding photography I’ve not done any myself, but I have a great respect for those that do!
It amazes me that any photographer would not want to doing weddings, loads of happy people, lavish events, usually sunny days and a captive audience to sell your work to.
We run a web site where we offer a service to bride and grooms so any photos taken at their wedding can be uploaded and viewed, if permission is given shared and images sold for print.
When we discuss this with photographers who do wedding they usually start by seeing this as a threat. It is not untill the realise that they retain control of their work but have the advantage of nearly everyone who attends the wedding and some people who do not being able to view their work along side all the other photos that are taken that the light start to shine.
The key to wedding photogrpahy from a commerical perspect is to get your work seen and be inovative.
You will always get guest with their own cameras and we encourage this as the more people who upload work the more choice the birde and groom has and the more they will appreciate the work of a good wedding photogrpaher.
Regards
Adrian
http://www.disposableweddingcamera.net
http:/www.weddingphotoshot.com
Having shot a handful of weddings I have nothing but respect for people who make this a significant part of their living. It can be stressful and exhausting, but its also hugely rewarding! Part of capturing the human condition on film (or silicon) is capturing the happiness of family, events, joy, etc.! A wedding is an opportunity to get this all in one place!
Its not snobbery. Its preference and I embrace preference.
I have shot weddings before. Hated it. I’ve done family/kid photos before, hated it. Kudos to those who enjoy weddings and kids, but I prefer shooting urban landscapes and industrial/workplace. We all have our niches; I’m nowhere near as good as the best wedding photographers, but I could probably create better industrial images than them.
OMG I think this is so interesting! Being heavily involved in the wedding photography community, I always thought wedding photographers had the reputation of being snobs because there are so many big names with big egos. Funny how perception works. I never really thought about other photographers looking down at US! LOL