I'm the first to say that Sergio's style is not to my liking or tastes, and I tend to agree with vickieB to an extent, however I will also say that he has done a remarkable job of branding his style. In addition, serg is quite adept at capturing what I feel is the emotion of a wedding. He does this far better that me. I don't think serg's technical skills are that good but I give him the benefit of the doubt in that he likely chooses to ignore things like creating good lighting. He would be last on my list of what I consider "great technical photographers" but he would rank near the top if I were looking for a great emotional photographer.
Sergio has created style all his own, copying no one. He has stood fast by his brand, offering no excuses, and for this I think he is to be commended. My hat is off to him for being who he is and true to his style.
to the naysayers:
Trying to be too technical gets in the way of capturing spontaneous unforced emotion. I think we could all take a lesson in stepping back from "the rules" and just thinking with our hearts.
Because we know how and what is technically correct, doesn't mean it looks or feels best.
There is a difference in not having strong technical skills and choosing to employ a very specific set of them in a very specific way.
The dude is very consistent. People with bad technical skills can't pull that off time after time in different situations.
I'm sure Evan for example would like to see Serg (and me, most likely) stop down every now and then. But I don't want Evan's clients. And I'm sure Evan doesn't want Serg's. And so on.
If there should be one goal in this industry, in my opinion it should be to attract the right clientelle at the rate you desire. That might well be a very different set of clients for each of us, but nevertheless, few have attained a perfect client stream. Hell, most people on here probably take any couple that will pay their full rate.
Sergio seems to be coming really f***ing close to his perfect clientelle. I suggest you tune in on tuesday to his talk with TRR, and take notes.
We actually eloped in Jackson Hole this Feb. We couldn't find a photographer who was willing to spend an hour or two with us for under 2k on a weekday... so we ended up having a wildlife photographer friend take pictures. Its my biggest regret as our pictures are beautiful but lack the emotion. The emotion you capture in these is stunning.
Boom... I actually checked this set out on your blog the other day. really nice. I really dig that type of processing and love the day before shots. Peace
One thing that I dont think I've ever heard Sergio get credit for is 'who he is'. I hear a lot of people say something to the effect of 'wow, I need to shoot weddings like this'. The fact of it is, this wedding is who Sergio is. Its how he and his friends live their lives. I can see VERY FEW FM members being invited to an event like the one covered. Actually, I see very few people period being invited to an event like this (just look how small it was).
I believe that shooting 'weddings like this' is much more a function of who the photographer is rather than how he shoots. Hang out with Sergio for a bit and you'll see what I mean.
To haters on this thread, I am pretty sure Sergio's clients have seen his previous work and they all are expecting it. If I give a set like this to my clients, sure some of them will say "wth?", but I am sure if Sergio gave my set to his clients they would say the same thing. There are only a few people on this forum who have a very unique style and you can kinda guess who shot it, Sergio is one of them.
Diane Arbus was a lousy technical shooter. Seriously. Her exposures were all over the map, her composition sucked -- her "Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park" has another person growing out of the boy's head for God's sake. Her use of light is questionable at times -- A Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in The Bronx, N.Y. 1970 is a simple flash shot, probably with no modifiers and shot straight on, and has horrible vignetting. I could go on.
And yet, she is one of the most famous and well respected photographers of all time. Clearly, there is more to this art than simple technicalities.
Here is what I know about Sergio. He is young, and he is influential. As time goes on, his influence will most likely only grow. His revenue stream will more than likely include him teaching workshops as that influence grows.
There have been a lot of threads on this board dealing with the future of the business. Also there have been a lot of threads dealing with Uncle Bobs and how horrible it is that everyone has their camera phone out at all times. If people haven't figured it out yet, these two things are actually related. The next generation of clients coming up will be from the camera phone instagram hipstomatic generation. Their understanding of photography as a whole will be based on that. This, crudely stated, is what they will know and value. Yes, there will be people who still value timeless classics, as well as the mason jars-VSCO-faux-vintage type as well, but there will need to be a shift for this next demographic.
What Sergio has done with this set is answer the question of how to incorporate good photography with the feeling of spontaneity and intimacy of a camera phone. He has provided the rest of us a road map. There will be other routes to take, for sure, but this route is likely to resonate with this upcoming generation in a way that other routes won't.
I don't know if I can do what Sergio does. I don't even know if I like it. What I do know is I have started an instagram account to see both how the pro photogs are using it, as well as the masses. I am specifically looking at composition that gets a lot of likes and comments like "cool shot, dude." I also look at what type of party shots are expected from this crowd.
Finally, I know I won't be a leader in this trend shift, I will be an imitator in the same way that everyone here who uses VSCO (for artistic effect) is an imitator of someone else who actually started that trend.
Food for thought. Now I am off to shoot a little boy watching fire trucks in a parade.
canerino wrote:
I believe that shooting 'weddings like this' is much more a function of who the photographer is rather than how he shoots. Hang out with Sergio for a bit and you'll see what I mean.
Chuck gets it.
