Weddings

A

Alladin121

Messages
709
Name
Louise
Edit My Images
Yes
Im about to have a rant so please excuse me!!

I have been looking at local wedding photographers websites and so many have huge issues with their images, to as basic as most of the pictures of the brides dress being blown completely.

How come we all beat ourselves up about little things (and i am an amateur so do try to learn to get things right) and try to get them perfect and then people are professionally running businesses and dont care about it or call it their 'style'

I have looked at so many images that have wonky horizons, peoples limbs cut off and blown pictures to name a few but they are so busy, i dont get it? what do jo public see??

Sorry rant over!! made me feel better!! hope your all having a good weekend :)
 
thing is its not just weddings, i was reading a magazine article on a particular equestrian photographer and to be honest the photos were nothing special and were all what id concider to be way over processed (think that soft dreamy effect that is being done to death).
 
who really cares :shrug:

Alladin121 said:
Im about to have a rant so please excuse me!!

I have been looking at local wedding photographers websites and so many have huge issues with their images, to as basic as most of the pictures of the brides dress being blown completely.

How come we all beat ourselves up about little things (and i am an amateur so do try to learn to get things right) and try to get them perfect and then people are professionally running businesses and dont care about it or call it their 'style'

I have looked at so many images that have wonky horizons, peoples limbs cut off and blown pictures to name a few but they are so busy, i dont get it? what do jo public see??

Sorry rant over!! made me feel better!! hope your all having a good weekend :)
Click to expand...
 
i think some not all Joe public, don't see pictures/photographs the way we do. my father commented recentley "lisa's wedding pictures were brilliant" when in fact they were terrible, they see pretty bride and groom in foucs. but i may be wrong.
 
gumbo-67 said:
i think some not all Joe public, don't see pictures/photographs the way we do. my father commented recentley "lisa's wedding pictures were brilliant" when in fact they were terrible, they see pretty bride and groom in foucs. but i may be wrong.
Click to expand...

I think you're pretty much spot on Terri. A photographer looks at photographs very differently to how the clients often do.
 
gumbo-67 said:
i think some not all Joe public, don't see pictures/photographs the way we do. my father commented recentley "lisa's wedding pictures were brilliant" when in fact they were terrible, they see pretty bride and groom in foucs. but i may be wrong.
Click to expand...

I don't think you're wrong at all. When I started out doing my sports stuff, even I thought my pics were good. I got better at understanding HOW to take better shots, and I look back now at my first attempts and shake my head. Im not a pro, but I CAN take a good shot now compared to then.

For most of Joe Public - if you can see someone in the pic it's marvellous, for those of us who understand the mechanics of the photograph, we are more critical.

Agree a little with the op though, it makes me a bit irate that some people can churn out dross, and be happy selling it for more than it's really worth. (not aimed at wedding people - it happens in all fields)

Phil.
 
Terri is pretty much right, seems some photographers have mastered the art of understanding how the public views stuff and using it....or something like that. :shrug:

Mind you, self publicity is a wonderful tool, I know at least one that is very well known and charges a fortune, but his stuff is, to me, distinctly average and NO, I wont name names, sorry ;)
 
Yv said:
Terri is pretty much right, seems some photographers have mastered the art of understanding how the public views stuff and using it....or something like that. :shrug:

Mind you, self publicity is a wonderful tool, I know at least one that is very well known and charges a fortune, but his stuff is, to me, distinctly average and NO, I wont name names, sorry ;)
Click to expand...

Ohhh go on.... you know you want to.... ;)
 
Glad that others think along the same lines :) and they are right i wont name names was just slightly annoyed.

POAH - who really cares
Click to expand...
i did say i was ranting and to excuse me, sorry if i offended anyone

and yes you are right that its all fields its just that i love weddings so look at this more often lol :)
again appologies for the rant and sorry if it annoyed anyone just wanted to shout!! :)
 
Alladin121 said:
i did say i was ranting and to excuse me, sorry if i offended anyone

and yes you are right that its all fields its just that i love weddings so look at this more often lol :)
again appologies for the rant and sorry if it annoyed anyone just wanted to shout!! :)
Click to expand...

Don't worry Louise, you didn't offend anyone, POAH is always like that :shake:

I've helped s friend find what would appear to be a decent wedding photographer recently, I witnessed much the same as you have with some of the quality out there.

But there are plenty who do take care of those little details that only us photographers really notice (y)
 
another gripe of mine at the moment are people calling themselves "joe bloggs photography" etc when they're blatently a kid with a point and shoot with a million school/clique friends that big them up.

and thats no offence to anyone with a P&S i know in the right hands they can be very effective, but these people are just plain AWEFUL.

and the thing is it dilutes peoples perception of "photographers" because every tom, dick and harry is calling themselves one these days.

/rant
 
Last edited:
Don't worry, there's quite a few of us that probably feel the same way. We pour years of heart and soul into our craft and are always striving for excellence, but most non-photographers won't immediately see a big difference unless you put the work side by side.

I wouldn't compare my work or discuss another photographer to a client, but I will try to educate them a little by pointing out what I believe a photographer should be striving for both technically and creatively. Ultimately its their choice but there's nothing wrong with making your personal philosophy regarding professional photography clear, however subjective that may be.
 
The thing I always have to remind myself of, is that I've heard it said many times, running a photography business is 85% business/marketing skills and 15% photography skills, so you don't necessarily need to be an amazing photographer.

I look at a lot of wedding photography and think it's decidedly average, but fair play to the people that can make a successful business out of it.
 
Couple of points

Some wedding togs deliberately do some 'creative' stuff so as to define thier style - nothing wrong in that.

But, most of the public cant tell the difference between a good pic and a great one, hence the rise in teh number of Uncle Bobs trying to get into wedding photography, its mainly the photographers who see things in an image that they are critical of.
 
another good one we've found recently is "photographers" passing off others work as their own.

we found one for example that had saved photos from the horse and hound website onto their facebook gallery claiming they had taken them.
 
There is a guy down the road in whitchurch who does weddings, studio, events etc who, is awful - average.

The portfolio shots on his website are awful, badly lit, backgrounds running out so you can see the studio behind, limbs missing etc. I've also worked along side him at a wedding, a wedding that took place last June and the couple have just received their wedding album (that has 80% of my photos in it). But he's always busy, go figure!
 
Never having been married and not been interested in wedding photography I had not looked up any wedding togs on the net. That was until I read this thread.....

.... I looked at three of my local ones and have to agree with the OP. The first one was pretty good, but that can't be said for the others:shake:.

One of them even states that they are award winning and a member of a couple of professional bodies. In fact, you have to get round a few pages of blurb telling you about this before you get to the galleries.
 
grum said:
The thing I always have to remind myself of, is that I've heard it said many times, running a photography business is 85% business/marketing skills and 15% photography skills, so you don't necessarily need to be an amazing photographer.
Click to expand...

This.
 
Wookee said:
One of them even states that they are award winning and a member of a couple of professional bodies.
Click to expand...

Problem is that last time I looked, you can just buy your way in to these professional bodies, even if you aren't a pro tog.

The good ones you have to pass a panel for + yearly sub.
 
neil_g said:
and the thing is it dilutes peoples perception of "photographers" because every tom, dick and harry is calling themselves one these days.

/rant
Click to expand...

a freind of mine on another forum has the signature - "owning a camera makes you a photographer in the same way as owning a guitar makes you a musician"

and yep its in every photographic feild, there were some god awful sports photos on the back page of our local press this week
 
I cringe when i see some examples, particularly selective colour (which makes sad!).... but thats what some people like, they like a grey photo with bright pink photos, cliches only beocme cliches through popularity!
 
I was having this discussion only this evening with my wife. We've attended three weddings now where I have taken my camera been happily snapping away, and have always given the couple all of the shots that I have taken included some that have gone through elements of post-production - just the ones I was most pleased with. In each of the instances, it has been my photos that have been framed, or used on thank-you cards and have received the best comments.
I don't consider myself a professional photographer - I use a Nikon D5000 and inexpensive lenses that adequately serve my purposes, and I take photos of things that interest me - but I do think that a handful of 'good' photos that a Bride is happy with is enough to make people forget about the hundrede or so other mediocre photos that were taken.

Doing weddings is something that I would love to do, but would never attempt to do it on my own, and especially for a fee, until I was TOTALLY confident that I was skilled enough to deliver every dream of the day in pictures.

I think there are a number of very, very good wedding photographers out there. I also think that wedding photography is another field where you cannot become great without practise. The trouble with that of course, is that some poor unfortunate couples have to be that practise, and you only get one chance to get these shots right...
 
I completely agree with all of you and glad we all have the same round about opinion. With reguards to the comment of feeling sorry for the couples who get the average photographer to practise on them I completely agree but in the same instance the couple must have seen work and are willing to comprimise stunning pictures because of a low fee - go figure. Along with venue, photography would be my main priorities but then I bet you would all say the same lol

As I said I am an ameteur photographer and was asked to photograph my friends wedding for them, they are getting married at a stunning venue so I jumped at the chance - on the condition they hired the professional photographer who I second for and we do it together, which they were more than happy with. I just wish there was more of an education on poor and stunning photographs.

I like the statement that photography is 85% business and 15% skill and this is probably true, i just cant give out images that im not happy with even though friends and family like them and I know my shots are far from great even when finished, it just baffles me!

I could go on and on but I wont, that you all for your contributions to my rant :)
 
Louise you may find that the professional will not be happy working with you! I don't mind myself at weddings when someone tries to take shots of poses I have set up but when its ten or fifteen guests standing beside you and you cannot get the attention of the bride and groom its a different story. Hopefully he will then the wedding party to a private area for these type of shots and you can tag along. Alternatively taking candid shots that the professional would miss might be the way to go. The bride might be over the moon about a shot you might take that the prof would never see.
 
neil_g said:
another good one we've found recently is "photographers" passing off others work as their own.

we found one for example that had saved photos from the horse and hound website onto their facebook gallery claiming they had taken them.
Click to expand...

There was one on here recently.

She's taken the pics down now, but was on a number of sites displaying a flashy Audie that my mate did all of the PP for, She couldn't do it so he did. Next thing it's on a lot of fora as being her own work.
Eventually we got to her and she removed all her pictures and disappeared from everywhere, or re created herself as someone else.
 
String said:
There was one on here recently.

She's taken the pics down now, but was on a number of sites displaying a flashy Audie that my mate did all of the PP for, She couldn't do it so he did. Next thing it's on a lot of fora as being her own work.
Eventually we got to her and she removed all her pictures and disappeared from everywhere, or re created herself as someone else.
Click to expand...

we reported this one to H&H and the page has now been removed so i suspect facebook took it down or the girl deleted it.

the "female dog" had the cheek to spam our FB wall offering free work too. that amused us no end.
 
Louise you may find that the professional will not be happy working with you!
Click to expand...

Hey Liam, the photographer that is doing my friends wedding is a photographer i have been working with for a while now, seconding at weddings with her and was more than happy to take the wedding on as a learning curve for me with professional backing as she would like me to progress with her. I wouldnt arrange for another tog to go along and just turn up with my camera lol :) thank you for your feedback though.

That is outragious about this lady passing off work as her own that is from others, how can people do this?? shocking!!
 
Alladin121 said:
That is outragious about this lady passing off work as her own that is from others, how can people do this?? shocking!!
Click to expand...

seems pretty common on facebook.. we had a spate of what appears to be teenagers who have "photographer" fan pages that all of their friends are fans of, they then offer out free work and spam professionals pages.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top