p.1 #1 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
Hey all....is there anyone else out here beside me that still caters mainly to the folks who prefer the...Traditional Style....Monte Zucker Style...what ever you want to call it style of wedding photography?
Here in the Mid-West I find alot of ppl getting married in their 30's or are walking down the aisle for the second and sometimes third time that prefer that style, am I alone on this?
George
p.1 #3 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
Tony Hoffer wrote:
There's TONS of folks still doing that type of work. Most of them don't seem to frequent photography forums, though, in my experience.
p.1 #4 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
there are some still here in the Virginia area. Were still considered the south. However more and more couples are getting married at younger ages and the most recent trends attracts them and plays off in their style of wedding.
p.1 #5 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
You should have some classic, traditional photos, in every wedding you shoot imho. I'm not talking the god awful ugliness of years past, but something that will still look beautiful thirty years down the road.
p.1 #6 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
Traditional wedding photography's fall from grace has occurred partly because when it's done badly, it is truly awful: lame poses that look like prom photos, family photo sessions that drag on beyond a reasonable person's patience...
...
But when done right, a formal portrait becomes an instant heirloom. When else in your life are you going to have multiple generations of your family together in one place, all looking their best?
...
Granted, many of the best photographic moments at weddings are unscripted. But any photographer worth his salt should anticipate and catch them. Capturing emotion is not the exclusive domain of the photojournalist. It's what any good photographer—traditional or not—would do....Show more →
From "A Defense of Traditional Wedding Photography"
p.1 #9 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
jeremy_clay wrote:
I consider my style more modern, but very few brides don't want at least a few formals.
I haven't shot a wedding yet which hasn't called for the "family at the altar" pics... we usually try and get them done as efficiently as possible. By efficiently, I don't mean rushed, but the main point is not to have grandma standing there for 20 mins while we arrange everyone.
p.1 #10 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
Thanks guys. I get the fact that most weddings will consist of a few formals but, what I was getting at is where the posed formals and a few romantic artistic shots are the most important...the rest is just sauce for the goose so to speak.
A couple of examples....I saw a pic here ( e-session ) where the young couple was kissing while sitting on a city side walk with their backs against a Starbucks and the photo was shot between the tires of a passing bicycle...to me...that pic could have very well been in a mag with the caption..."Your never to young to love Starbucks" as opposed to it being an engagement pic.
Another pic was of the wedding party in full dress...outdoors with a few of the party members standing on ladders leaning against trees...I could see that pic in a hardware mag with the caption..."Stanly Ladders...there not just for cleaning your gutters anymore" as opposed to a formal wedding pic.
Disclaimer...if these sound like pics you have taken...there was no malice meant in anyway....I just used them as a point of reference...in fact, I think these and many like it are very creative.
Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts.
p.1 #13 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
in western mass, i know of only 2 other photographers who are contemporary, and like 200 who are.
I actually like some traditional work though, and I love talking to the traditional guys as they have a lot of good business advice that is pretty real, i have respect for dudes who have been doing this for 30+ years and like to pick their brain sometimes.
p.1 #15 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
Inku Yo wrote:
Who's Monte Zucker?
If you aren't joking, just google him. Monte Zucker
Funny that the second link is to "Who is Monte Zucker?" which is the bio on his site:
Few people know who Monte Zucker is today. He keeps reinventing himself. Photographs that he continually creates ...some within just the past few weeks ... carry his unmistakable signature only if you know his signature style.
Monte's images are simple, direct, and emotional. Each of them makes a simple statement. There is nothing in his photographs, except what should be there. All distractions were removed before he snapped the shutter. What you see is what he wants you to see. It's usually a face or a collection of faces. When It's a photograph of an individual, you will immediately know that person. When It's a photograph of a group you'll feel and experience their involvement with each other.
Based on classical tradition, Monte's portraiture has never strayed far from his original intent - to capture a moment in people's lives and memorialize it for posterity, In his own words, "I don't photograph the world as it is. I photograph the world as I would like it to be....Show more →
p.1 #17 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
Chris Fawkes wrote:
I'm pretty traditional.
Evan Baines does contemporary work but is definitely a master of classical posing and lighting as well.
Your style is unique in todays world and has a mystique feel..Strong emotions come through and I appreciate the feel of your portraits..well done..Bruce
p.1 #18 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
brucem48 wrote:
Your style is unique in todays world and has a mystique feel..Strong emotions come through and I appreciate the feel of your portraits..well done..Bruce
p.1 #19 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
I always do some classic lit portraits in nearly every wedding, bridal and HS Sr session. Classic short loop lit stuff goes back before Zucker to Zeltsman and others, however, Zucker arguably made it famous.
I attended a couple of Zucker sems over the yrs; one about in the early 90s and one in the mid 00s, before he was diagnosed w/ pancreatic cancer. He was a powerful and polarizing figure for decades in wedding photography and the PPA, or PPA of A as it was known back when I first started in this biz. He was until his death, a Canon EOL and provided images to Canon for advert. Some of those images appeared as recently as the 5D brochure. Zucker was one of the first to teach classes and seminars was a great marketer and a relentless self promoter.
Some of the best examples of classic images are done by Clay Blackmore, a MZ assistant in the 80s, in/near DC and Michael Barton in Batavia, IL. Agreed the done poorly, as it has been, it becomes cliche. Zucker was so copied that mcuh of what was called classic portraiture was not. The posing, lighting pattern, expression and composition were lost and the result was crap. Yet, when done well as Baines and Fawkes have shown, it is a timeless enhancement to the work a client receives.
I still feel a need for my clients to perform some of this work. It is often why I am hired, however I do mix in a more current feel to the work I perform for clients.
Final note; chuck gardner, who often posts in lightin forum was a Zucker asst in the 70s. Often when I read one of his posts, I can hear a bit of Zucker. Chuck, in my humble opinion, is brilliant with the technical aspects of lighting and protraiture and goes beyond what I ascertained from MZ over the years.
George, I believe it still has a place in this biz.
p.1 #20 · Anyone else still do traditional style weddings?
I just had a step-mother in law order about $200 worth of prints. All "traditional" style family portraits. I hated every one of them. It's what she bought. Are you in this to make money? If so you'd better be doing at least some traditional. IMO.
