Weddings
Originally uploaded by John Setzler.
My father is thinking about retiring from his current job before too long. The thoughts of retiring have him thinking about what he wants to do with himself when he’s not working a normal grind anymore. Since he used to be a professional photographer, he’s considering going back into wedding photography as a retirement career. He’s serious enough about it that he lined up a wedding to shoot this past weekend to get his feet wet with it again. He asked me to shoot with him, so I did. As a secondary shooter, I spent my time shooting ’secondary’ photos rather than the typical wedding shots.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a fan of this type of work. People tell me I’m crazy, because there IS excellent money to be made shooting weddings. I get asked somewhere around 10 times a year to shoot a wedding for someone, and I always refer them to some of my friends who do that sort of work professionally.
If my dad gets back into wedding photography, I feel like I’m going to be pulled into it with him to some extent. As I sit here writing this, all of the things I don’t like about wedding photography are swirling around in my mind. I have never been in a church where there was adequate light to shoot without a flash. The wedding I shot on Saturday was in better light than I would have expected to see, but it still wasn’t adequate. I found myself shooting at f/2.8, ISO 800, and shutter speeds between 1/40″ and 1/60″. During the ceremony, most churches do not allow flash photography, so it’s a lot of hit and miss work. Some local churches confine the professional photographer to a balcony during the ceremony, which puts us anywhere between 100 and 200 feet away from the ‘action’. That, coupled with poor light, creates problems in my mind.
Another issue that I noticed while working this wedding on Saturday was the number of people at the wedding with their own digital cameras. After the ceremony while my dad was shooting the long list of posed group photos that the wedding couple wanted, there were at least 7 or 8 people on EACH side of him shooting the same photos. If I was a professional wedding photographer, I would probably have huge issues with this. Selling prints is part of the ‘bread and butter’ of a photographer’s work.
My biggest problem is that I’m a photo ’snob’. Photography is a passionate hobby for me. I have professional friends in the area who started out this way too. A few of them are very successful professional photographers now. They make lots of money. They have weddings booked every weekend just about all year long. They have long waiting lists for senior portraits. They also get top dollar for prints. Success, for most of them, seems to have come at a price though. They aren’t shooting much of anything for themselves anymore. When they go on vacation, it’s to get away from the camera rather than to become ‘one’ with it again :)
My dad has been through this burn out already too. When he got out of photography, he didn’t touch a camera again for a long time. When I got into photography, it seemed to rekindle his interest in it just a little. Obviously, my interests and his are significantly different, but at least he’s giving it a try again :)
If people are asking you to be their wedding photographer, then it must be that you’ve made a reputation of yourself in such field. But why are you hesitant to do it? It’s hard to go around asking people to take your services. In your case, you need not sell yourself because you’re already known for your wedding photography expertise.
You know why you’re good at it? That is because it runs in the blood. So no matter how hard you try to snob it, the calling is still there. You’re in fact lucky.
Your dad also needs your support. To become his secondary photographer is more than enough to show how much you value his efforts. Don’t fail to support him because the worst thing that an old folk can experience is when he’s treated as if he’s useless.
I haven’t made a reputation in the wedding photography industry. I have photographed at exactly two weddings EVER. I really believe that people as me because they think I’ll do it for less money than a wedding photographer.
Hey man.
This is a great post. Might get a ton of people thinking.
Since moving to CO I’ve met some great photographers at the top of their profession. Some with Pulitzers under their belt and they are all still searching…as a photographer you never stop searching. Searching for the right story, searching for the right light, the right angle, the right assignment that will sky rocket you to the top of your game.
Photography started as a hobby when I was a International Business major in college and look what happened….you are doing what you love to do and that is worth more than any high paying job or corner office. Consider yourself lucky to be able to do what you love for a living, be it small or meager. Never mind those folks with the point and shoot digitals because your images will be better and those that understand that will buy your photos :)
I understand those photogs that need a break from behind the lens. If you don’t then you lose that edge. Go for a hike or a week without shooting something. Look at the world as a person and not from behind the camera it’s very liberating and you begin to see again.
I feel sorry for those photos that burn out or fade out. Love what you do. Do what you love!
Nathan