Hit Me with Your Best Shot(s) August 27, 2012

We take our wedding clients out to dinner for our first meeting to get to know them, but more importantly, to hear their “story”.  And  once we know how it all began, we start discussing the personal details of the big day.  How the day will play out, where we’ll be doing formals, which family always runs late so we’ll have to tell them the call time starts 20 minutes earlier than it really does, etc. etc. etc.  The next words out of my mouth normally are, “I know we may be a while off, but you should start thinking about your shot list.”

And the look and corresponding response I get is typically a mix of confusion, fright and humor.  “Wait…we have to tell you what we want you to shoot?”


The answer is a little bit yes, and a little bit no.  But more on that later.


When you hire a professional photographer to document your wedding, or Bar/Bat Mitzavah, we bring with us the knowledge of weddings past.  Neat and interesting shots we may have gotten by accident that have since become staples for us on weddings days.  We know all the important shots to capture because the law of averages tells us so.  We know there’s going to be a ceremony and to get that first kiss.  We know that at the cake cutting, there’s a 50/50 chance that someone is going to be blowing icing from their nose for the rest of the evening.  We know that if there’s going to be a garter tossed, we have to don our helmet and pads and get in there to make sure we get the shot.


What we don’t know are the things YOU do.  Your history.  What makes you two…well, YOU!  Weddings are like snowflakes.  Same composition and effect…but no two are exactly alike.


Are your bridesmaids and groomsmen school friends?  Is the groom (or in some cases, bride) the kegstand champion 4 years in a row, and you’d like to recreate a particular part of that one crazy HISTORIC night that is STILL talked about?  Is it family tradition to slap the groom upside the head as he walks down the aisle?  And of course, nowadays…EVERYONE is dancing their way down the aisle.  These are all silly things that (while ALL true stories from former clients) should end up on your shot list.  It is part of your history, and unless you tell us…we’ll never know!


The shot list is also our roadmap for the day.  It ensures that we can roll through all your formal shots in short order because we know who is currently being photographed, and who is on deck.  The Bride & Groom basically get caught up in a tsunami of people getting shuffled around them.  If this is being done before the ceremony, we like to breeze through it so you have a chance to rest before the ceremony.  If it’s AFTER…then you’re going to be staring at your watch looking for the waiter with the cocktail weenies and drinks to roll in if we don’t have that list to follow.  If it takes even longer because we don’t know where people are, or who we’re supposed to be photographing…it can get ugly quick.  That’s not what your day is supposed to be about.





So…while you don’t have to write down every single part of the day that needs to be captured, there are certain things to keep in mind when putting your shot list together:


1)      If it’s important to you, then it should be important to us.  We’re there to capture your day, and we’d rather err on the side of caution beforehand than miss something entirely the day of.  If it’s important to you, then make sure it gets on your list.


2)      Don’t try and write your list all at once.  The two of you should write separate lists over time.  Keep a small notebook with you, or tell Siri.  Then about a month before the wedding, you want to sit down with your soon to be, compare lists, take out the overlapping names, make one big list and then send it to your photographer for their input and any questions. 


3)      Be as specific as possible when listing your formals for your photographer.  While we may know you may have a brother or sister…we’d much rather call them by their name than “Hey…you!!”


4)      Don’t worry if you miss something.  While it’s great to have as much as possible already written down prior to the wedding, there are pictures you’ll forget you want until you’re in the moment.  DON’T PANIC!  Just because it’s not on the list, doesn’t mean we’re not going to take it.


We’re aware you have plenty of things going on in the months and weeks leading up to your wedding.  Fittings, hair & makeup trials, cake tasting (our personal fave)…but in those spare moments you have, taking the time to help us help you will make sure that all the preparation that went in to making this day perfect, will be documented forever.


And let’s face it…it will be a lot less embarrassing than kegstand shots your friends just found and posted on Facebook.





 


As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences – EMAIL US!


About the author: Brian Miller is the owner of Chorus Photography in suburban Philadelphia.  To his knowledge, he is NOT the winner of any recent kegstand competitions.

Call Of Duty – How I Had An Epiphany At A Wedding August 20, 2012

I had a revelation this weekend that I probably always subconsciously knew, but never confirmed until now.  Being a photographer is not only what I do, it’s who I am.  It’s what defines my life.


My wife and I attended the wedding of one of her college friends this past weekend in Baltimore.  A very sweet woman who had been an integral part of my wife’s college life.  Together, they sang for Pope John Paul II at Camden Yards.  She is as far from a Bridezilla as you can get.


I’m not going to lie; it was nice to go as a guest for a change instead of working one.  I had my camera with me of course, but at least I wasn’t on the clock.  I’d be happy to document some reunions, group pictures…maybe a shot or two of the wedding.  But I wouldn’t get in the way of the photographers working the event.   They’d have enough problems with people who had their cell phones up and waving around.  They didn’t need me in their way.


When we got to the ceremony, I casually eyeballed the photographers to superficially gauge their level.  Pro-level equipment and a few too many toys that were completely unnecessary, but overall I at least felt confident that at first blush, on the surface, they appeared to be the real deal.  Not the new breed of “fauxtographers” that have invaded our industry.  I could breathe easy.  They’d hired pros.


Now…this blog is not about all the things they did wrong.  I won’t go into how the second shooter spent the majority of cocktail hour planted near the crudité table and just ate.  I won’t bore you with the fact that the lead shooter was most DEFINITELY in the poor video people’s frame the entire first dance.  I won’t even get into the horror of the lead shooter leaving long before the end of the reception without even saying goodbye to the Bride & Groom (who I’m sure paid handsomely for their services).  I won’t do any of that.


I am just going to repeat the words the Bride said to me in a VERY apologetic manner as I was enjoying some of the meal she had been so kind to pay for; “Brian, we can’t find our photographers anywhere and I REALLY need a shot of some people with me before they leave.”  My heart immediately sank…and then I got angry…and NOT because I had to stop eating my filet.


I got angry because the people that she PAID to be there that day had let her down.  I got angry because these are people in MY profession…they are PHOTOGRAPHERS.  They were hired to document and tell the story of what arguably was one of the most important days in her life.  They were hired to be there for her and now she couldn’t find them.


I smiled, grabbed my camera and started taking some shots that she wanted.  I immediately when into work mode, and didn’t stop until she needed me to.  I didn’t stop when the people that had been paid to be there finally meandered back into the room.  I would never DREAM of doing this at any other event, or to any other photographer, any more than I’d hope one wouldn’t do that to me.  But these people forfeited that right the moment they disappeared.  The unspoken code normally understood between photographers was broken the moment the bride had asked me to step in and help on her big day.  They were nothing more than fauxtographers in professionals clothing.


It’s not my place to say how I would have done things differently had Chorus Photography been the company hired.  I don’t know the details of the contract, and I don’t know what had been understood between the Bride and Groom and the studio.  I will say that at two or three things that should be normal…


–          The old adage of “if you have time to lean, you have time to clean” always has its place in any industry.  If you have enough time to sit there and support a wall, or shove your face full of food, then you should be getting detail shots; group shots.  You should NOT be just standing around.


–          Dinner breaks are mandatory with most studios for long days.  However we (as I’m guessing most other studios) leave one shooter on the floor while the other shooter eats, then swap.  Yes, chances are you don’t need many shots of people eating their dinner, but we should be on standby if the bride or grooms needs us for anything.


–          If you’re contracted for X amount of time, and you’re leaving your second shooter there, then have the common courtesy to THANK the people who have hired you before you leave.  Phantom fades are never acceptable.


People ask me all the time why I always have my camera with me.  “Why don’t you just leave it at home for once and enjoy yourself?”


Because I’m a photographer.  It’s what I do, and it’s who I am. 


 

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences – EMAIL US!


 

About the author: Brian Miller is the owner of Chorus Photography in suburban Philadelphia.