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Archive 2016 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding

  
 
heikoM
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


please guys, calm down, we talk strictly photography here... (0:


seriously, I am in a creative hole. Today I went through one of our last weddings, freshly edited, an I felt...

... sooo bored. Yeah, nice moments, sometimes nice light, some cool shots... but nothing that moved me, nothing where I really was proud of what I did.


So my misses and I talked. Next wedding she will be in charge, we bring a second shooter (our associate) and I am free. Free to do, or not to do, whatever I want.



I am nervous. So nervous and excited I have not been in awhile before a wedding. I donīt have to deliver, nothing, no expectations. I simply will do my thing.

The problem here is I donīt even know what my thing is. Thatīs why I feel nervous. But I have ideas, I have a feeling of the images, more that then anything like a concept. Thatīs why I am excited.


I will go to this wedding and I will relax, I will see, and I will feel. Then, and only then, I will take images.

Wow! What a great feeling.



heiko

P.S. Probably I will only produce a big load of crap, so donīt expect to see anything from this... (0:



Aug 03, 2016 at 04:10 PM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


Seriously, promise you'll show us what you do regardless

Very hard question, but maybe could be best answered with some insight about the next couple whose wedding this will be. What is important to them? Maybe you can pull back and keep a greater distance and stay as far away from the obvious action as possible, perhaps you focus on some very narrow narrative, pretend to be a guest and shoot from the crowd with a small camera, etc. I really think that considering the couple may give you a jumping off point that might pay off the most, though.



Aug 03, 2016 at 04:40 PM
jmraso
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


At the wedding, think of me doing an excellent job while you are stiff in that hole 😊, that will really ignite your creativity and inspiration ! 😜😜😜


Aug 03, 2016 at 05:09 PM
rw11
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


I would set my ultra-powerful cheap nikon body to Color Sketch effects mode and get some close-ups of the bride


Aug 03, 2016 at 05:45 PM
flash
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


One day I'll grow a pair and shoot all my weddings with a M and a 50 mm.

Gordon



Aug 03, 2016 at 06:06 PM
heikoM
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


flash wrote:
One day I'll grow a pair and shoot all my weddings with a M and a 50 mm.

Gordon



Thatīs a concept I like.


I think I will take my M9 with a 35 and Sony A7s with Nikon 55/2.8 macro on a tilt adapter.
Like to set some limitations. Sounds fun.


heiko



Aug 03, 2016 at 06:16 PM
glort
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding



As far as being bored or unmoved or whatever, really, what do you expect?

We are photographing the same thing done the same way over and over and over again and despite what we may like to convince ourselves of, there has to be a limit to the wonderful, creative, different shots you can get of what is essential the same thing repeated over and over.

The other thing I have well come to know is that some weddings are less exciting and offer far less opportunities than others..... Which is a primary reason I think all this " have to blog every single wedding " Position is a complete load of crap.
Some weddings just aren't that fun and happening nor are the couple or those those in attendance as wonderfully dynamic and outgoing and full of fun a we would like.

And of course there is the reality.... You are getting paid to do a job.... not to have fun or fulfil your own personal agendas. The reality is you are there for the couple, not yourself so even if YOU think the shots are boring or don't move you, this is very secondary to the couple.... who probably haven't been to as many weddings in the last year as you have done in the last month.
If you were an accountant or a town planner or a plumber or any one of the other 98% of jobs out there, you wouldn't have the expectation of being paid to be excited by your work and it does apply here as well even if you don't want or think it should.

Maybe you should Hire some models and go out and do a promo shoot or ask a couple or a bride you have shot before you liked working with if she would like to get dressed up again and come out for a creative shoot where you'd like to try some new ideas? What about seeing if you can hook up with a dress designer, MUA, hair dresser etc and go out and do an advertising shoot and give them some pics for referrals? Gives the effort dual purpose then!

I used to do this quite a lot ( although they always came to me but no difference) and it was a good outlet. I have always said, "never underestimate the power of a bride" and even when it's a " Fake" bride, telling people you want to shoot one opens up some doors. Not only were reception houses more than happy for me to come shoot through the week, ( don't EVER remember getting knocked back) But I was able to easily talk my way into a whole load of different locations I wouldn't have got near otherwise. Hi rise rooftops, Private marinas and on multi million dollar yachts, peoples gardens, Factories and industrial locations, Standing in the middle of a City street and holding up traffic for a minute at a time without a single horn being blown ( Did that for a real wedding then a promo shoot).....

You want to get creative, I suggest Ditching the whole damn wedding routine in the first place! The fact you have to be here or there at a certain time is a restriction in itself. I have done a lot of re shoots the same way. Lousy weather on the day so I said to the couple Fluckit! We'll work on getting the family groups etc indoors today and we'll do another day when the weather is better later on and do some real nice stuff of the 2 of you without all the constraints.

there is a lot to that like very simple things that you can't always do on a real wedding..... Like sitting on the top of that hill knowing the sun is going to break that cloud in 10-15 Min so sitting there having a mini picnic and a drink you brought with you and chatting coming up with more ideas. When the sun breaks and the light is right, You shoot what you want and then move off somewhere else at you leisure not watching the clock because you have to bet at a location 30 min away, in 15 min.

You can also add different elements to the pics, Line up a fancy/ old/mega peso sports car/ Harleys etc. Again, real easy to do through the week when you ask one of the people that hire them for weddings and tell them you'll give them some promo shots. Go to the marina and Line up a big boat. Yahcties love pics of their money pits... Used my brother in laws boat a load of times and he'll take time off work if need be to accommodate a shoot and it's not because he likes me, He loves the pics of his boat with hot chicks on it even if they are dressed as brides.... and his wife is more than happy for it too. Then I get his mates all telling me If I want to use THEIR boats at any-time, just let them know.

You want to think outside the square and indulge your creativity?
I say go all the way and forget about shooting it on the wedding day all together and pick and choose the subjects in your pics to start with. Some people are just more into photos and creative in their own right and I'm not talking about having the most devastating looks. Some of the plainer girls I have worked with have been awesome models and the bonus thing is for promo use, they inspire other girls rather than intimidate them.
It's a case of " If she can do that, I can!" Rather than " Yeah, it's ok for her but I don't look like that!".

As far as your overall feelings, just remember, you are being paid to satisfy the clients wants and desires, not your own. If you are doing that, You should recognise your job is being well done and recognise and co0ngradulate yourself on that for the accomplishment it is.



Aug 03, 2016 at 07:32 PM
sherijohnson
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


I would find this so freeing and fun and a chance to be as creative as you want to be... only catch is that hopefully the couple is willing to do whatever... as well. I have had my share of guys who hate to have their picture taken lately, and those are the ones this approach would be wasted on. I hope you get some amazing images that get you excited.


Aug 03, 2016 at 10:28 PM
Tony Hoffer
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


I think what you'll find is that

1. You already can do whatever you want at a wedding.
2. You will likely find it hard to come up with super crazy stuff because it doesn't just happen without pressure.
3. What you 'really want to do' is make your clients happy.

I hope that doesn't sounds like a downer. It's not. But I've had gigs that where shot under the same parameters and found it hard to break out. Later I realized that we can already do whatever we want and that my desires to make people are happy are way stronger than my desires to do crazy things.



Aug 03, 2016 at 11:19 PM
jeremy_clay
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


How could you have this and not end up just half-assing it all day? I'd be too worried I'd care *less* without constraints.


Aug 03, 2016 at 11:20 PM
TTLKurtis
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


I sort of do whatever I want already. I have no desire to do certain things I feel would be disrespectful to the friends and family in order to get something 'different' or 'more intimate' - the types of things we talk crap about other photographers and videographers doing. And I'm not too interested in the gimmicky stuff.

What I -want- to do is capture images that they will enjoy for many many years to come. I couldn't care less about awards or prestige, what's important to me is to capture solid, timeless images, end of story. I'll let other photographers do the tilt-shift, prism, ring of fire, brenizer method, vsco edit, b&g dramatically looking opposite directions with faces obscured by their hair, dark underexposed moody images just because... All of that stuff, the couple and their family will one day wish they just had nice normal images. Cool shots that make an interesting image to <3 on Instagram, but if I want to look at an old image of my grandfather I'm going to want to see it without the gimmicks.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong, maybe that isn't what I'll want and on my death bed I'll be like, y'know, should've used more fancy tricks. I've been wrong once before.



Aug 04, 2016 at 12:37 AM
glort
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


TTLKurtis wrote:
What I -want- to do is capture images that they will enjoy for many many years to come. I couldn't care less about awards or prestige, what's important to me is to capture solid, timeless images, end of story. I'll let other photographers do the tilt-shift, prism, ring of fire, brenizer method, vsco edit, b&g dramatically looking opposite directions with faces obscured by their hair, dark underexposed moody images just because... All of that stuff, the couple and their family will one day wish they just had nice normal images. Cool shots that make an interesting image to <3 on
...Show more

Exactly.
All this fancy gimmicky stuff will be as embarrassing as our parents in bell bottom jeans one day and the couple will cringe when they show it.
The picture that 9 out of 10 couples will still put on the wall and will be the hero shot is the one of them looking directly in the camera close together smiling in sharp focus with even lighting and good colour balance.

As another of my motto's goes; "Simplicity and elegance never goes out of style".

Edited on Aug 15, 2016 at 06:36 AM · View previous versions



Aug 04, 2016 at 02:23 AM
heikoM
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


glort wrote:
As far as being bored or unmoved or whatever, really, what do you expect?

We are photographing the same thing done the same way over and over and over again and despite what we may like to convince ourselves of, there has to be a limit to the wonderful, creative, different shots you can get of what is essential the same thing repeated over and over.

The other thing I have well come to know is that some weddings are less exciting and offer far less opportunities than others..... Which is a primary reason I think all this " have to
...Show more


Thanks Glort for the time to write this.


On my website in the about us section I have written something like that:

"We are sometimes asked why we shoot weddings. Because they are real. Because life is like that. Because we believe in love. For us, it is something special to be so close to other people on their wedding day. To experience their emotions and capture these for the time to come. Cheesy? No, life it not cheesy, it is what it is..."


That is what drives me. So I do not care at all about styled shoots. From my heard I want to document real situations, real emotions, unstaged. But I want to do it artistically. I want to exaggerate the emotions if possible.

Yes, I get paid, but I hope we get paid by our clients because they love what they saw on our website. We donīt want to do the same thing over and over again. I donīt want to feel bored at a wedding. Not only for my sake but also for the clients sake. I want to be excited. Thatīs something that will carry outwards, something the client will notice. Something that will show in the images.


If I hired a photographer for my wedding I would want him to be excited. I would want one who have a vision. I want him to try new things, be creative. I donīt want him to do the same thing he has done hundreds of times before with other couples. I want to feel unique.


So if I find a way to finetune my approach and my style to feel more in tune with my images I will feel better, my images will be better. Clients that like that style will find me and love the images they get because they chose me exactly for that.


heiko



Aug 04, 2016 at 02:34 AM
heikoM
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


Tony Hoffer wrote:
I think what you'll find is that

1. You already can do whatever you want at a wedding.
2. You will likely find it hard to come up with super crazy stuff because it doesn't just happen without pressure.
3. What you 'really want to do' is make your clients happy.

I hope that doesn't sounds like a downer. It's not. But I've had gigs that where shot under the same parameters and found it hard to break out. Later I realized that we can already do whatever we want and that my desires to make people are happy are way stronger than
...Show more


Hi Tony

1. But it has to be what the couple expects from us. We canīt go over the top and do something totally new. The way Iīll do it here the couple gets what they expect and still I am free with no obligations to try anything I want.

Of course I often try new things at weddings. I get the safe-shots, then I do something different. But these save-shots put me in a state of mind that is not good for being creative. I have not the freedom to really "see" and "feel". Here I hope I can let go...


2. I know, thatīs why I wrote I will produce a load of crap. But itīs a start.


3. see what I wrote in response to glort. I want happy clients, but I also want to be a happy photographer. If that means I need to evolve/change or whatever so be it. Then I might get different clients in the future but they also will be happy, because they chose me because of the images they saw.


heiko



Aug 04, 2016 at 02:54 AM
glort
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding



You have very lofty aspirations and even more pure dedication to what you do.

I would say your couples are lucky to have you do their pictures.



Aug 04, 2016 at 02:55 AM
heikoM
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


TTLKurtis wrote:
I sort of do whatever I want already. I have no desire to do certain things I feel would be disrespectful to the friends and family in order to get something 'different' or 'more intimate' - the types of things we talk crap about other photographers and videographers doing. And I'm not too interested in the gimmicky stuff.

What I -want- to do is capture images that they will enjoy for many many years to come. I couldn't care less about awards or prestige, what's important to me is to capture solid, timeless images, end of story. I'll let other photographers
...Show more



Totally fine. But I guess your clients are not mine. (0:


heiko



Aug 04, 2016 at 02:56 AM
heikoM
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


jeremy_clay wrote:
How could you have this and not end up just half-assing it all day? I'd be too worried I'd care *less* without constraints.



Good question.

Because Iīll put pressure on myself.

If I say I shoot not with the client in mind but try to do something new, for me, then it better has to be something.


Too often I fall into my routine mode. There is a situation, I capture it like I have done many times before. My first thought is "gotcha!" nailed it. My second one is "man, you could have done better!"


heiko



Aug 04, 2016 at 03:02 AM
jmraso
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


The pressure you put on yourself, under this scene, is, utterly, of a different nature than the pressure when you have the deliver certain kind of material to please your clients and to accomplish the requirements they put on you and expect to receive.

You, basically, wanna go "playing" to your client's wedding !.

heikoM wrote:
Good question.

Because Iīll put pressure on myself.

If I say I shoot not with the client in mind but try to do something new, for me, then it better has to be something.

Too often I fall into my routine mode. There is a situation, I capture it like I have done many times before. My first thought is "gotcha!" nailed it. My second one is "man, you could have done better!"

heiko




Aug 04, 2016 at 05:10 AM
Depth of Feel
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


I don't know if anyone remembers jesh de rox but I think he would advocate the playing approach. Lately I've been padding timelines so I have extra space to play around while also working with a little pressure of structure.


Aug 04, 2016 at 05:33 AM
jmraso
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · imagine you could do whatever you want - at a wedding


True, but go "playing" the entire wedding ( if this is what Heiko is describing) is a different story.

I dont see my clients, who booked ME by some references, being happy knowing that, at their weddding, I will be playing, investigating ... with no pressure at all eventhough I put a couple of photographer to get the job done !.



Depth of Feel wrote:
I don't know if anyone remembers jesh de rox but I think he would advocate the playing approach. Lately I've been padding timelines so I have extra space to play around while also working with a little pressure of structure.





Aug 04, 2016 at 05:41 AM
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