Re: Digital Cameras

[David Spellman <david@photopro.com>]

>
>
> Slightly off thread here in this already off topic thread, but I was on another
> wedding listserv, and a guy from the UK thought that North American
> photographers were crazy for shooting 600+ shot weddings. He said that the
> average in the UK was about 150 shots per wedding. He just couldn't understand
> why so many shots were necessary. I must admit, when I first became aware of
> what wedding photographers shoot, I was shocked. I had the same thoughts he did.
> It almost sems like the philosophy is to shoot so many shots, that if for no
> other reason than brute force and shear luck you're going to end up with a
> substantial number of good shots.

    There's a coterie of photographers who have dubbed themselves "journalist"
wedding photographers and who are using (mostly) 35mm cameras and available light
(claiming that flash is "obtrusive" -- which is utter nonesense at a wedding where
the guests are flashing away like paparazzi already) and refusing to pose anything
claiming "purity" of the wedding experience is true art and a bunch of other BS.
Truth is, they have motor drives and like to hear the sound of the little suckers
burning film through the camera <G>
    In any case, they're tilting the camera, shooting lots of little detail kinds
of things  and trying very hard to produce "artsy" results. When they succeed, some
of the shots are very charming, but as you note, they shoot a lot that's shredder
bait. In the main, modern brides sorta like the approach, but the moms and aunties
are horrified by it.
    Having said that, there's pressure on the "journalist's" arch-enemy in the
marketing game, the "traditional" photographer who uses medium format and bigass
strobe and poses gorgeous painting-like shots, to bring some of the same lightness
and spontenaity of the other approach to his work. That usually means shooting more
film and flirting with shredder bait as well.
    When I started shooting weddings, we were appalled if we shot more than 10
rolls of 120 on any given day. Times change.

    I wouldn't worry too much about those UK types -- if they start getting
infected with the shotgun approach to shooting wedding photography, they'll be at
it as well. But they're a little more hidebound and tradition-oriented and their
wedding photography looks like US stuff did 25 years ago. Hell, they still whack
their wedding cakes with a sword and their top layers are still fruitcake.

    You might want to note in passing that it has been the color labs who have been
extremely interested in sponsoring these "journalist" types as speakers at
conventions and seminars, and you might also note who it is that benefits from
proof orders expanding from 150 shots per wedding to 600 and 900...<G>

    david

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