If you’re new to the wedding game you’ll soon discover that there is someone in charge at every wedding. You may think you know who that person is, they signed a contract, they paid you money, they are picking out the products… but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in charge. No, the person that you’re working for is, to quote the movie “Swingers” the guy, behind the guy, behind the guy. 99% of the time it’s the mother of the bride. (more…)
I wasn’t always a photographer. Back in the 90s I was a disc jockey. I can remember many times getting into heated discussions with young people who had called into the station about whether or not the record companies were within their rights to sue people who downloaded music. No matter how hard I tried to explain that music was a business and record companies as well as artists had a right to charge whatever they wished for the fruits of their labor, people just didn’t get it. They acted as if they had a right to the music. They believed that once they bought a song they could do whatever they wanted with it, including reproduce it and distribute it to thousands of people.
And so it was that last weekend I laid in bed unable to sleep. (more…)
I recently was talking to an aspiring wedding photographer about gear. She has a ::amazon(“B0007QKMQY”, “Rebel XT”)::. I wrote her an email that outlined what gear I thought she should be looking to get. (more…)
“So,” I said, “How do you feel about standing in traffic?”
A few weeks ago I had this idea for a shot. I wanted to shoot a couple surrounded by blurred movement while they stood frozen in time… in their own world. The first obstacle to overcome was how to shoot a long exposure on a sunny day. A neutral density filter solved that problem ( I used a 6 but really needed a 9). Next I had to get the couple. Lucky for me I was getting ready to shoot an engagement session at the University of Tampa which sits on Kennedy Blvd, one of the busiest roads in town.
So, after about an hour and a half with my clients I finally asked them to stand in traffic. They were totally on board with the idea and stood there without moving for about 15 minutes while I stood on my own little traffic island with my tripod, shooting away. (more…)
Last Saturday I was working a Bar Mitzvah when something happened that is pretty common lately: The lights came down and the glow sticks came out.
Bar Mitzvah photographers know what I’m talking about here. The DJ at a Bar Mitzvah has one of the toughest jobs in that industry because they have to entertain a room full of 13-year-old kids and their parents at the same time. (In fact, a friend of mine who used to hire DJ’s for a national chain of nightclubs told me that he would seek out Bar Mitzvah Jocks because they knew how to play to the whole room.) One of the ways that they make the kids happy is with glowsticks.
I guess we’ve all heard that line one time or another. It seems like every time you turn around there is another “Wedding Photographer” on the block willing to sell an all-day shoot and CD for two chickens and some homemade pie. Why should anyone pay you more money than him? What makes you worth it? (more…)