Hi all would love for all you great guys and gals to share the main reasons that you chose wedding photography above all the other genres...?
Was it
1.The challenge...?
2.The Money...?
3.The creative/artistic element...?
4.The aspect of the social/people interaction...?
5.The prestige...?
I'll start the ball rolling for me its definately the thrill of creating beautiful images for people that have entrusted you to share and document such a magnificent day and milestone in their live's.However the greatest buzz is bucketing all the images into your computer after a long hard day of shooting and the excitement of reviewing them whilst reliving the day all over again...God i love my job...!
I agree with yours, and I'll add that it's nice to take photos of people who (generally) are dressed up, happy, look great, and actually want to have their picture taken.
Edited by imperial on May 23, 2007 at 09:37 AM GMT
With me...First it's the sale. I have worked in some type of job that interacted with the public where goals were set and expected to be met. I almost always met them. It's the driving force and a high when I get a signed contract. Today, I see my fouth bride in our new office. So far, three for three, and I'm hoping to make it 4 for 4. My mind is always spinning on what to offer, what to show, and how to get the bride in front of me.
Second, its the callenge of seeing the picture unfold. It may not be what someone else likes, but it's what I see and I like. I may shoot as fast as possible trying to cature it perfectly. (the little girls with the dress is my all time favorit. It's been a big hit in the studio as well, and I can't wait to see how it does at the show)
Third, it's having the couple in front of me looking at their pictures recalling the details. That's about as high as someone could get seeing happy couples.
It's not about the money in weddings. I spend too much reprinting to make any. It's about the money in commercial jobs. I love doing those. I wish I could do about 2 of those a day and then a wedding every other Saturday instead almost every Saturday. Yvette
Edited by dennisyvette on May 23, 2007 at 08:02 AM GMT
for me..and Im relatively new to making money from my photography - its because I'm doing a job I love and getting paid for it - it doesnt actually feel like 'work'! The bonus is the social interaction, being able to capture someones very special day for them and the positive feedback I get just gives me the most amazing high :-)
So, I guess for me its not about the money (although that is a necessary part of making the business work!), its about doing the job I love.
Sales? Yuck... That is by far my least favorite part. I have been in high end sales jobs in the past, and loathed them. The main things I love about wedding photography are the reward of seeing a bride gush over her photos, and the fact that shooting engages both the left and right side of the brain. I call it a "technical art". But, back to the reward. I used to sell millions of dollars worth of stock, and none of my brokerage clients ever cried and thanked me profusely because the stocks were so beautiful.
I do weddings because it is fun, I get to express my artistic view while capturing one of the most important days of their lives.
I definately dont do it for the money or I would be charging more than $2000-$3500 for a wedding. This year, 39 weddings at an average of $2700 per wdding really isnt that much money. I make more than that at my day job.
I thought about just doing portrait work but then after looking around my hometown, I realize there are a lot of portrait places that are just photographers and not artists if you know what I mean. They are alllike the rest. I dont wan to turn in to that. I feel with weddings, it is a fast paced, constantly changing to stay above the rest and weddings tend to follow fashion trends which seem to never go stale and fall back in to a rut. Unless your one of the old school wedding shooters who refuse to change your style and adapt to the new ways of photography.
Anyways. I love it, I do it because it is fun and I love be a part of the change in the business as it happens. Just from 6 years ago when I started in weddings, things have drastically chaged. A friend of mine has been shooting for 22 years and said things have really changed but for 15 years they were about the same. So if things are now changing mch faster, sometimes even within a year. I can just imaging what is going to happen in 20 years from now. I am glad ot be a part of it all.
For me, it started with crappy wedding portraits of my own. Sort of a Scarlet O'Hara moment where I shook my fist to the sky and shouted, "As God as my witness, people will never have awful wedding images again!". It was a longer road to actually BECOMING a photographer, but while getting there, I never forgot how it felt to receive my own in the mail and to have my face drop with each new one that I pulled out.
Right now, it's about the art of it. I love looking for that unique angle or exciting moment. It can be really difficult around here... but my goal is to walk away from each wedding with at least one "gasp" shot. As I get better, I want the ratio of "pretty" to "gasp" to improve.
unblinkable wrote:
For me, it started with crappy wedding portraits of my own. Sort of a Scarlet O'Hara moment where I shook my fist to the sky and shouted, "As God as my witness, people will never have awful wedding images again!". It was a longer road to actually BECOMING a photographer, but while getting there, I never forgot how it felt to receive my own in the mail and to have my face drop with each new one that I pulled out.
Right now, it's about the art of it. I love looking for that unique angle or exciting moment. It can be really difficult around here... but my goal is to walk away from each wedding with at least one "gasp" shot. As I get better, I want the ratio of "pretty" to "gasp" to improve. ...Show more →
My favorite response thus far and one I relate to very much. Excellent response!
Well think about it... I love photography and I get paid to spend a day with a stranger on the most important day of their lives....doing what I love. It really doesn't get any better. Sure it's stressful and sure I sometimes have to deal with a "bride-zilla" but really overall it allows me to be creative and meet a tonne of great people almost every weekend. So that's the "warm & Fuzzy" part...but lets not forget the business part. Lets be honest, there is a lot of money in Wedding Photography and there are not many other jobs that you can make (before taxes and expenses) upwards of $6-8000 in a day. Anyway I love it..every wedding is unique and every couple is different and it's a great feeling to give couples images of them..that they love
People love to look at photos of themselves.
And when they see a great photo from their wedding day, dressed up and looking their ultimate best...the reactions are so awesome. The images you capture on that day have so many emotions and stories. It's their own personal Super Bowl event. And you were the sole person who helped capture that. It's a great trip!
Just theoretically speaking, would I get kicked off this board if I say I do it for the bridesmaids? If the answer is an overwhelming yes, then that thought never even crossed my mind.
I am just a hobbyist that lurks on your board. However, I have to say that in my life I have never seen a group of people so universally happy with what they do.
It is ironic to me because one of the reasons that I never considered photography as a profession was my experience 20 yrs ago working with a guy who did wedding photography. (Notice I did not call him a wedding photographer.) He was a jack of all trades - t&i at schools, baseball teams, weddings - you've probably run into a couple of these guys.
Anyway - he HATED his job. My interface with him was through journalism and yearbook and it really stuck with me that going any further with what I did would be a bad decision.
I read the sports forum, the landscape forum and the people forum and other than the guys that shoot pronish nudes (who seem a little weird and creepy imho) no one loves their jobs like you guys do.
For me it is being a part of the emotional experience. I love being there right in the mix like I am part of the family and capturing that the best way I can to share with others.
I love the challenge and the fact that wedding photography draws from almost every photographic discipline so one needs to be well rounded to do it, which also fits into the challenge of the whole thing.
Tony Nguyen wrote:
Just theoretically speaking, would I get kicked off this board if I say I do it for the bridesmaids? If the answer is an overwhelming yes, then that thought never even crossed my mind.
After working in motorsport photography for almost 5 years getting no real thanks or appreciation for my work, it's great when a couple sees their images and love them and let you know that!
Aside from that, yup the money aspect is good (getting better for me!) the fact every wedding is different and a new challenge is also great. And I'm finding I love designing the albums afterwards. So far so good for me in my 1st year!
