at what point do wedding togs....

danmon_81

danmon_81

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Im well into my beginnings in the world of Wedding photography and so far so good....i feel im moving in the right direction....but i still feel i havent been able to express my 'style' on the shots im taking, especially in post production....

so when have pro's, in their experience decided to shoot/ edit how they like and let clients come to them because of what they do???

At what point did Ascough, Star, Nunn, etc say 'this is how i shoot...book me because you like me/ my style?'....

I realise early on that experience is experience and i do throw in the odd 'differently' edited shot to see if the client likes it but its horses for courses....

i dont want to get stuck in a standard wedding tog rutt early on in my career to find 5 years down the line im doing the same thing i was doing early on....its the idea that people will book me because of my style that excites me.

does that make any sense???
what do you think???

cheers

Dan
 
This is completely off topic, but I just had a look at your site. In the first sentence on the home page you've put "Im", where you mean "I'm". In the second sentence you've put "its" where you mean "it's". After wedding day in the second sentence there should be a comma. You've also put "my goals is" in that sentence, when you mean "my goals are". There should be a capital A for "all the best" and probably a comma after it.

And I know you didn't ask for critique on the site, but I just had a little explore. That bright green you use for links/some headings needs to be a bit darker, because it's very difficult to read on my monitor. I also think there should be a much, much more obvious link to your previous work/portfolio.

As for the style question, I hope the pro wedding togs here will be able to help :)
 
For me, about 3 years in. That was 2 years ago.

You have to find your own voice and how you want to shoot. Once that comes, and if you're good enough, you're on the way.
 
I'm in the same boat as you, just starting off and heading in the right direction, i have my own style and that doesn't always reflect my work, What i do is first is find out what the couple want. It doesn't matter as much what i like as it them that have to hang it on there wall or look through an album. It's nice to think someone likes "my style" but not everyone will.

That said i do apply my style to alot of my photos but i tend to do more images on DVD than prints, so i can do one style with one photo then do my style with a copy of the same photo. I'll then find out what photos the couple like the most.
 
danmon_81 said:
Im well into my beginnings in the world of Wedding photography and so far so good....i feel im moving in the right direction....but i still feel i havent been able to express my 'style' on the shots im taking, especially in post production....
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Generally at the point where you realise that what you get inthe camera is key

I am not being obtuse here, PP doesn't make you a documentary photographer, or make you anticipate an expression etc...

Shooting everything on a 50mm at 1.4 isn't finding your style either

For me it was when I realised that consistently when I was grading my work, I was selecting and choosing shots that were all of a very similar style as the "grade 1 shots". I then went and explored that style more and more whilst shooting
 
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DannyDMR said:
I'm in the same boat as you, just starting off and heading in the right direction, i have my own style and that doesn't always reflect my work, What i do is first is find out what the couple want. It doesn't matter as much what i like as it them that have to hang it on there wall or look through an album. It's nice to think someone likes "my style" but not everyone will.

That said i do apply my style to alot of my photos but i tend to do more images on DVD than prints, so i can do one style with one photo then do my style with a copy of the same photo. I'll then find out what photos the couple like the most.
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FWIW I think that's the wrong approach.

Define your style and market to the people that are looking for it. By changing for each couple you'll end up with an inconsistency across weddings. It then makes it hard for people to see what you do.

Do one thing, and do it very, very well.
 
Radiohead said:
FWIW I think that's the wrong approach.

Define your style and market to the people that are looking for it. By changing for each couple you'll end up with an inconsistency across weddings. It then makes it hard for people to see what you do.

Do one thing, and do it very, very well.
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I agree with that. Eventually, those clients will come and find you, because you have the style they are looking for
 
danmon_81 said:
snip

so when have pro's, in their experience decided to shoot/ edit how they like and let clients come to them because of what they do???
snip
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Next year:love:

I feel I need to add, that anyone that thinks that they apply their 'style' once they're sat in front of their computer, then they don't have a style.:shake:

A style starts with how you handle customers and extends through the way you shoot to the way that you process and then present. Like all things photographic in the digital age, although processing is an important part of the process, the photography is the key ingredient. It's easy for us to believe that we can produce our 'style' from the comfort of our desk, but life isn't that simple.
 
I do think there's a place for PP in creating a style for a tog but I totally agree with you guys about the shooting style/ technique being more important...with my (limited) experience im starting to find that i look for certain types of shots or moments....i can start to see my 'approach' to the wedding day start to develop. Its all a massive learning curve...I think you've hit the nail on the head Richard...consistancy is key....

in all honesty i still miss shots, i still over expose etc... i think once i can get the core techniques of weddings sorted i'll be able to think more about me and my style...

great advise!!
 
Don't get me wrong my style is TTL what i capture is what i use, but my style may involve a B&W process, "My Style" is what i see when i am taking the photo as much as after i have taken it, i may see one Style TTL but change my mind afterwards because i see something else.

Like i said i am new to wedding photography so i haven't really found my style yet, so i tend to go with what i know works during PP, My composition doesn't change to much but my PP will afterwards.

I hope im making sense, i know what i mean lol
 
I don't want to sound judgemental, I'm honestly trying to be helpful.

Your Photographic style should hang around the same ingredients that make a good photograph:
  • Light
  • Composition
  • Narrative
Of those, only composition can be altered in PP, and then only within the limits set at the time of exposure.

Whilst composing the image in front of you, it might be that you know how you'll process it, which might be similar for all your work (hopefully). But no amount of PP skills will make up for failings in the above.
 
Phil V said:
I don't want to sound judgemental, I'm honestly trying to be helpful.

Your Photographic style should hang around the same ingredients that make a good photograph:
  • Light
  • Composition
  • Narrative
Of those, only composition can be altered in PP, and then only within the limits set at the time of exposure.

Whilst composing the image in front of you, it might be that you know how you'll process it, which might be similar for all your work (hopefully). But no amount of PP skills will make up for failings in the above.
Click to expand...

Some qualities of light can be changed in PP. And you can't really change composition in PP, as such, only how the image is framed. But I do agree with you :)
 
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