"Love at First Look: The Ultimate Guide for Brides-To-Be!"

Welcome to your go-to guide for first looks on your wedding day! Planning the perfect wedding involves countless decisions, and one of the most debated topics is whether to have a first look or stick to tradition. As a seasoned wedding photographer, I've seen it all – the tears, the laughter, and the moments that take your breath away.

In this article, we'll explore the pros and cons of having a first look, but spoiler alert: I'm a firm believer in the magic of this modern tradition. However, I'll leave it up to you to decide what's best for your special day.

Curious about how a first look can enhance your wedding day experience or interested in having me capture every heartfelt moment? Let's chat! Contact me to learn more about first looks and how we can make your wedding day dreams a reality.

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Yes or no? Here’s a quick list to sway you.

Pros of Having a First Look:

• More time for photos: Get the most out of your wedding day by capturing beautiful moments before the ceremony kicks off. This means you can snag those stunning, candid shots without feeling rushed, leaving you with more time to enjoy the rest of your big day.

• Emotional moment: Picture this: a quiet, intimate moment shared just between you and your partner, where you get to soak in all the emotions before the whirlwind of the ceremony begins. It's a chance to calm those pre-wedding jitters and create a memory you'll treasure forever.

• Opportunity for creative shots: With a first look, you have the freedom to explore different locations for photos, whether it's a charming garden or a romantic cityscape. This opens up a world of possibilities for capturing unique and unforgettable images that reflect your personality as a couple.

• Calmer nerves: Seeing your partner before the ceremony can be a soothing balm for those wedding day nerves. It's like having your built-in support system right there beside you, ready to share in the excitement and ease any pre-wedding jitters.

• Flexible timeline: By doing a first look, you're giving yourself more flexibility in your wedding day schedule. This means you can breeze through formal photos earlier on, leaving plenty of time to mingle with guests, sip champagne, or sneak in a quick dance before the main event.

• Private moment: Imagine stealing away for a moment with your partner, away from the hustle and bustle of the wedding day chaos. It's a chance to share a quiet, intimate moment together, away from prying eyes, and savor the anticipation of what's to come.

• More relaxed ceremony: By seeing each other before the ceremony, you're taking some of the pressure off that big walk down the aisle. Instead of nerves, you can focus on the joy and excitement of the moment, making for a more relaxed and enjoyable experience for both of you.

• Maximize natural light: Taking photos earlier in the day during the first look means you can take advantage of that soft, flattering natural light. Say goodbye to harsh shadows and hello to photos that glow with warmth and radiance.

• Extended celebration: Completing formal photos before the ceremony means you can get a head start on the celebration. Whether it's joining cocktail hour or stealing away for a quiet moment together, you'll have more time to soak in the love and laughter of your wedding day.

• Greater variety of locations: With a first look, you're not limited to just one location for photos. Whether it's a scenic overlook or a cozy corner of your venue, you have the freedom to explore different settings and capture a wide range of stunning images.

Cons of Having a First Look:

• Tradition: For some couples, the idea of not seeing each other until that magical moment as you walk down the aisle is a tradition they don't want to mess with. It's a time-honored tradition that adds an extra layer of excitement and anticipation to the ceremony.

• Less anticipation: Seeing each other before the ceremony might take away some of the excitement of that first look as you walk down the aisle. Instead of that heart-stopping moment of anticipation, you might find yourselves feeling more relaxed and laid-back, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's something to consider.

• Logistics: Coordinating a first look adds an extra event to an already jam-packed day, which can be a logistical headache. From coordinating with vendors to making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, it adds an extra layer of complexity to your wedding day timeline.

• Family and guest dynamics: Some family members or guests might have their hearts set on witnessing that traditional first look during the ceremony. Deviating from this expectation could lead to disappointment or confusion among your loved ones.

• Risk of rain or bad weather: If your first look is planned for an outdoor location, you're at the mercy of Mother Nature. Rain or bad weather could put a damper on your plans, forcing you to scramble for a Plan B and potentially impacting your overall experience and photo opportunities.

• Breaking tradition: For couples who hold tradition dear to their hearts, the idea of seeing each other before the ceremony might feel like breaking the rules. It's a sentiment that's deeply ingrained in wedding culture, and deviating from it could feel like going against the grain.

• Logistical challenges: Coordinating a first look requires careful planning and coordination with vendors, which can add stress to an already busy day. From scheduling hair and makeup appointments to making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, it's a logistical puzzle that requires careful attention to detail.

• Potential for heightened expectations: Building up the first look as a magical moment could set the bar impossibly high, leading to disappointment if it doesn't meet expectations. From the perfect backdrop to the ideal lighting, there's a lot of pressure to get it just right, which can be stressful for everyone involved.

• Less time for last-minute preparations: Spending time on a first look means less time for those final touches and last-minute preparations before the ceremony. Whether it's fixing a crooked bow tie or touching up your makeup, every minute counts on your wedding day.

• Limited time for hair and makeup touch-ups: Getting emotional during the first look might require extra time for touch-ups, potentially impacting the overall schedule for the day. From dabbing away tears to reapplying lipstick, it's important to budget extra time for those unexpected moments of emotion.

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First look with your dad. (I’m pulling on those heart strings here to make my case)

A first look with dad is a deeply emotional moment that holds special significance for many couples. For daughters especially, the bond with their father is often one of the strongest and most cherished relationships in their lives. As the first man they ever loved, seeing their daughter on her wedding day is a poignant and bittersweet experience for many fathers.

During a first look with dad, there's a palpable mix of emotions in the air – pride, joy, and perhaps a hint of sadness as they realize their little girl is all grown up. It's a moment for fathers to express their love and support, to offer words of wisdom and encouragement, and to share in the anticipation and excitement of the day.

For daughters, a first look with dad is a chance to honor and celebrate the man who has always been there for them, through every triumph and challenge. It's a moment to express gratitude for his love, guidance, and unwavering support, and to create a lasting memory that they'll cherish for a lifetime.

Whether it's a tearful hug, a tender exchange of words, or simply a shared smile and a knowing look, the bond between a father and daughter during a first look is a beautiful reminder of the love that will always be there, no matter where life takes them.

Here’s how to make it happen!

Classic First Look: One person stands with their back turned, while the other approaches quietly. As the anticipation builds, a tap on the shoulder signals the reveal, and they share a moment of awe and joy as they see each other for the first time on their wedding day.

Parental First Look: Before the ceremony begins, one partner chooses to have a private moment with their parents. This heartfelt reveal allows them to express their gratitude and share in the excitement of the day before walking down the aisle.

Sibling First Look: For couples who share a special bond with their siblings, a first look with brothers or sisters can be a touching addition to the day. Whether it's a hug, a high-five, or a few words of encouragement, this moment strengthens the bond between siblings and creates lasting memories.

Grandparent First Look: In some families, grandparents play a significant role in the couple's lives and love story. A first look with grandparents allows the couple to honor this relationship and share in the joy of the day with those who hold a special place in their hearts.

Best Friend First Look: For couples who consider their best friends as family, a first look with their closest pals can be a fun and meaningful moment. Sharing laughs, hugs, and maybe even a few happy tears, this reveal celebrates the bond of friendship and the journey leading up to the wedding day.

Pet First Look: For couples who consider their fur babies as part of the family, including them in the first look can add an adorable and playful element to the day. Whether it's a wagging tail, a happy bark, or a loving lick, pets bring joy and excitement to the moment, creating unforgettable memories for everyone involved.

Surprise First Look: Adding an element of surprise, one partner may blindfold the other before the reveal. This unexpected twist heightens the anticipation and excitement, leading to a priceless reaction when the blindfold is removed and they see each other for the first time.

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First look timeline

So a year or so ago I made up a template to show a bride who was curious about first look. I wrote it out very quickly and never intended to use it with another bride. I had it laying on my desk and had another bride ask about first look and before you know it I was showing this off regularly.

I am terrible at making infographic information. But here it is, this should sell you on first look. This will add more time to your wedding day and help spread out the busy parts of the day and to more MANAGEABLE chunks.

I finally sat down and messed around on Canva to produce a little more more detailed example of a first look on a wedding day for everyone. Feel free to use this for your own wedding or to shop to your brides & grooms (if you’re in the business of weddings).

If you’re opting for a first look on your wedding day, it isn't just about breaking tradition; it's about embracing a modern approach to love and celebration. As a photographer, I've witnessed firsthand how this choice not only eases the flow of the day but also enhances the overall experience for everyone involved. Whether you're part of a beautiful couple, the first look offers an intimate moment to connect, share joy, and create cherished memories together.

By choosing to see each other before the ceremony, you're not just setting the stage for stunning photos; you're setting the tone for a day filled with love, laughter, and unforgettable moments. So why wait? Let's capture the magic of your first look and embark on this journey together. shoot me a message, and let's make your wedding day dreams a reality!

First posting

Imagine if it was your wedding and the photographer, dj or make-up artist got to announce to all your friends and family (that night or the day after) that you got married and share the most iconic photos (the professional ones) with everyone before you got to announce it?

One of my favorite things to do with my photos is to share them. That means with bride & groom, venue, dj, florists, hair & make up. But i’ve found that I have to provide a little context of how and when to share these photos. I’m making this post because I have had vendors take the initiative and post anywhere from a single photo to dozens of my professional photos of the bridal couple before the bride and groom have had a chance to arrive home and unpack from the wedding day.

Give the bride & groom (groom & groom, bride & bride) first posting (explaining further). That doesn’t mean you can’t post photos of the wedding day or night. This just means that you don’t tag them the first few days or so. You want to give the bridal couple a chance to announce to the world (friends, family) that something big went down (their wedding). When I make my initial posting about the wedding day i’ll usually post one or two of my favorites and tag the venue, quick little excerpt from the day and that’s about it to start. Once I see the bride and groom are posting days later or a week later thats when I allow myself to tag them on social. Remember that due to some social media privacy settings if you do tag them then all of their friends and family will see it in their newsfeed before they’ve made it public.

The night of the wedding they will expect their friends and family to post photos of where they are, tagging the lovely couple and including selfies and shots of the two at the alter. The following day they’ll still receive photos from friends and family on their social media, they’re riding high with all these posts. The two might make a post thanking everyone (sometimes vendors, I love it when this happens), this is when a formal photo is uploaded of their choosing or dozens of photos put up. The two have spent months, a year or two planning this big day and now they get to revel in all the likes, praises, congratulatory talk that one expects and accepts for just a tremendous day; don’t ruin it for them by taking away any of that thunder.

So now that the official photos are up and the bride and groom (groom & groom, bride & bride) have made it clear the they’re married, now you should tag them. I usually like to wait until after I see posts on their end dying down. I like to give them their due fifteen minutes of fame. I know that it won’t get lost amongst a sea of cell phone photos during the week of the wedding. This is a post i’ve wanted to make for awhile. It’s hard to explain to someone in person about when they should post and why. I’ll summarize it briefly below in simpler terms for ease of use.

If I’ve given you the link to the teaser photos for the wedding, it’s because I want you to have them, I want you to use them. You don’t even have to tag me in them (although I do love it when you do. You don’t even have to ask permission beyond this point).

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Wedding day: Thank the bridal couple, tag your business, maybe a selfie with them or a cell phone photo

Following day: Thank the bride couple, tag your business, maybe a selfie with them or a cell phone photo. A professional photo without tagging them, tag your business, venue, other vendors

After you see the newly married couple posting the professional photos: You’re golden, post whatever you would like at this point and tag them.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post and will take it into consideration when you make posts in the future. I only put this together because it’s really hard to explain to someone who might be in the same room as the bridal couple about how they can use my photos (I give everyone the link to the teaser photos, I want everyone to win)

This is not a post dictating what to do with my “art” (shudder). I don’t have enough time to police all of my photos and patrol Facebook for infractions. This is just me saying “let the bridal couple enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame”.

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Your first camera setup.

So this is one of the questions that I always seem to get asked but never take the time to make a template for. I have templates (prepared answers) for most every question I get repeatedly asked. I’ve in fact put together several Amazon wish lists of what I would suggest. But these lists also have to be explained to people otherwise it seems like a bit much.

So in this blog i’m going to share my Amazon wish list and also break down my choices and reasoning behind each selection. Link will be included with each section so that you can go and purchase whatever your little heart desires. I’ll also include alternate selections that will either be pricier or more affordable, I break it down either way so you can decide which is best. The end of this blog will also include a conclusion that should hopefully make you feel like you’re not making a purchase that you’ll regret. ❤️

Canon rebel t7

CAMERA

The first thing you’ll need to get started is the actual camera body. This particular camera body isn’t going to break the bank. This camera is going to get your feet with having a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflux, i’m totally flexing here with my photography knowledge). One of the main benefits of these cameras is having an internal memory buffer. So instead of the camera writing directly to a memory card it will instead route the photos to an internal memory buffer which then pushes files to the memory card. This means faster photos which turns into you taking more photos, at least thats what studies have said. DSLRs also have the ability to swap out lenses. So you can change the focal length and aspects of your camera which makes it a bit more fun that a fixed lens system.

The Canon Rebel T7 also allows you to shoot in a mode called RAW. This is a setting that most professional photographers use. Instead of a 7mb JPEG file you are shooting a 20 mb RAW file. That means more data to play with on the back end (we’ll get to that later). I’m not going to get too heavy into the specs of this camera beyond these few things that i’ve mentioned. The menu system on this camera is fairly simple to learn and the best thing is how it’s the same on every Canon system. So if you upgrade to another Canon camera someday you won’t feel lost. You’ll also be able to start out on Auto on this camera and move to shoot manually (you decided aperture, iso, shutter speed).

The camera also has what’s called a hotshoe on top of the body. This is for a flash gun (a flash, ignore the gun term). With an external flash you’ll be able to better light your subjects without having it come out looking like a photo from a crime scene. The camera has a built in pop up flash (pop up flashes are garbage, don’t use them unless you have to).

The Canon Rebel T7 also has a screen that tilts away from the body. You can either use this feature for interesting selfies or getting a better angle low or high. It also flips to hide the screen to protect it from scratches (don’t bother trying to protect your camera from scratches, each scratch is feather in your cap). There is also built in WIFI and NFC into the camera so you can download photos directly to your camera while on the go. I use this occasionally just to share photos with friends quickly but rarely post anything straight out of camera.

This is a great starter camera. If you’re serious about getting deeper into photography and looking for something thats a little bit “more” out of a camera then I would suggest the Canon 6D. The Canon 6D is a full frame camera that won’t break the bank. Has a full frame sensor which means you’re pulling more information into your photos like color, saturation, sharpness, contrast, low light shooting. This is the least expensive full frame that Canon currently offers.

Whichever camera you decide on, don’t forget to buy lots of extra batteries. I use genuine and also off brand batteries for my camera. I always have at least two or three extra batteries. You never know when you’re going to leave the screen on or if a battery didn’t properly charge the night before.

The green box in the camera is the actual camera sensor (full frame). You see that it is much larger than the canon rebel t7. better for indoors, low light and professional grade photos.

Amazon: Canon Rebel T7 (Body only) Feel free to buy used or renewed. Most people take care of their equipment and when reselling cameras or most electronics it is tested before being sold again. Just make sure to run the camera through it’s paces in the first weeks in case there is an issue and you need to return it.

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LENSES

So i’m going to be very vocal about this, do not get the 18-55 lens that this camera is often bundled with. The 18-55 is a garbage plastic lens, quality sucks from it and it has what’s called a variable aperture (not going to explain this one, above your pay grade at the moment). It’s what’s called a kit lens (whatever lens is bundled from a company with a camera) and if you’re buying a DSLR to get into photography then I assume you want to be creative and learn about photography, this lens will only allow you to zoom in on things and get mediocre photos. The lenses i’m going to suggest for you are two prime lenses and also a super telephoto lens (zoom). The goal is to get you super excited about photography and I think through these three lenses you’ll get there.

Canon 50mm 1.8

This lens is a must own for any photographer. It's great in low light, for portraits and landscapes. It will get you thinking creatively because you won’t be able to zoom in on subjects, you have to be the zoom, you have to move. With a 1.8 aperture you’ll be able to get professional looking photos with lots of bokeh (the blurry background of a photo when you’re focused on a subject). The bokeh is usually enough to encourage anyone to keep taking photos. This lens is also very light and you can even purchase a lens hood with it. A lens hood helps stop any light leaking into the lens from the side or above. It also makes the lens just a little bit cooler looking.

Amazon: Canon 50mm 1.8

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Amazon: Yongnuo 50mm 1.8 is also a very comparable lens that will get the job done and save you a little bit of $.

Canon 35mm f2

This is great for indoors, portraits, food photography. On a cropped body such as the Canon Rebel T7 this is more so a 50mm in disguise. There’s a small magnification with a cropped sensor cameras such as the T7 and a 35mm is more like a 50mm and a 50mm is closer to an 85mm. Regardless, this lens when you use it is proportioned to what you see from your eyes (you’ll understand once you use it). This lens also has great bokeh and is very solid. I would bring this to a wedding in a heart beat.

Amazon: Canon 35mm f2

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Amazon: Yongnuo 35mm 1.8 is a super affordable lens. I’ve bought this for friends who didn’t believe me about how awesome it was.

Canon 75-300 f4.0-5.6

So you still have the need to zoom into things either for portraits or landscapes. This is a great affordable lens that does have a variable aperture but that won’t matter much because the majority of this lenses use will be outside. I’ve used this lens to get photos of sunsets, sunrises and the moon as well as people, places and things.

Amazon: Canon 75-300 f4.0-5.6

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Amazon: Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 if you want something that’s a little bit more. The lenses are the things you hold onto with any camera kit. The body is what gets changed out.

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FLASH

Yongnuo 600EX RT-II

Having an external flash on your camera verses the built in flash will make a world of difference in your photos. Just using light, even incorrectly will let whoever is seeing the photo know that the photo was taken by someone who has a little bit more knowledge than the average person. You can use this flash which will sit on top of your camera to angle the light to more interesting places such as a wall, ceiling or even put a colored gel (really thin sheet of colored plastic) to get interesting effects.

This particular flash is one of my favorites because it’s a knock off that is identical to the four hundred dollar Canon 600ex-rt II. I own eight of these flashes. You can actually control multiple flashes from a single unit. This means lots of interesting lighting once you get the hang of things. I’m not going to get into how to hook up multiple flashes or off camera lighting in this blog. You can purchase other modifiers for your flash like the MagMod system as well which will allow you to flex a little more.

Amazon: Yongnuo 600EX RT-II

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Amazon: Canon EX RT-11

As you can see they are nearly identical. Both perform excellent and can be used to trigger one another when on the same channel.

Lots of buttons to play with and learn. It’s a lot easier than it looks. Most of the time I shoot on manual power (I always know how the flash is going to fire) and I just change my camera settings from there.

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EXTRAS

Now that you have the essentials like the camera and lens we can talk about the extras that are going to make owning a DSLR that much more fun. These are things that I myself have and wouldn’t go without.

Think Tank Airport Commuter

This is one of my favorite purchases ever. I’ve owned many backpacks in regards to camera gear. This is by far one of my favorites. Great for lifting from the side or top. Built in security (has a wire built into the bag that can be used to wrap around objects to prevent your bag from traveling far). Tons of storage for your small things and also very customizable interior. I’m constantly changing my layout for different needs. I also use this as a hiking backpack when I bring equipment because I can compartmentalize my gear very well. This bag also has a waist strap and chest strap to stop any wobble when you’re hiking or moving quickly. It’s $199 but it’s very worth it. Consider that you won’t have to upgrade to a bigger bag as you get more and more accessories for your camera. Highly suggest the Think Tank line of backpacks they offer.

Amazon: Think Tank Airport Commuter

Lots of room, organize, shift, move it around. The blue bag has a rain cover inside.

Fits tons of gear

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The R Strap

There are plenty of cheap knock offs and imitators, but this is absolutely a must buy. This is a great company who i’ve used their products for almost fifteen years now. Instead of your camera dangling around your neck you can have it rest securely at your side. Simply screw the attachment into the baseplate of your camera and tighten it as much as you can. Now while you’re not using your camera it rests under your arm, you’ll have it ready much quicker when the moment arises. When you’re ready to shoot all you have to do is reach down to your camera and it effortlessly slides up the strap to meet your eye. Instead of taking your camera in and out of a bag or worrying that you’ll knock something over when you bend down, this is the answer; R strap. The company offers lots of different options, some can take on two bodies (cameras) and others have a strap that goes under the arm as well for a more secure fit.

Amazon: BlackRapid R Strap

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Storacell battery holder, AA Eneloop batteries, Titanium 16 bay AA charger

If you’re using an external flash then you’ll need AA batteries. I love these battery holders because you can either sit the battery positive or negative side down to indicate if it’s charged or uncharged. They’re also great to throw indoor pocket when you’re out shooting and need to change batteries quickly. The ENELOOP batteries are awesome for external flashes because of they low discharge rate, it’s meant to go in a flash. I will say that they are pricey but worth it. I never use throw away batteries. Most of my AA batteries I have are over five years old and still hold their charge. I pair these batteries with the Titanium 16 bay charger which charges AA & AAA batteries. Charging takes only a few hours and I own three of these chargers actually. (When you shoot a wedding you end up with a lot of dead batteries afterwards)

Amazon: Storacell AA Battery holder

Amazon: Titanium 16 Bay charger

Amazon: Eneloop batteries

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So I do plan to make a wish list on Amazon so I can include that here at the bottom. But for now you’ll have to click back and fourth to get to Amazon and add everything to your cart. The most important thing is you’re investing in a hobby or profession. You’re not buying something that will be outdated in a few years. My current camera a Canon 5d MKIv is almost five years old and i’m still getting miles out of it. The above selections as far as camera and lenses are to get you excited about shooting. Anyone can pick up a Canon Rebel and put it on Auto and walk around with the kit lens and get okay photos. But if you want to get good then you’re going to play with the prime lenses (35mm & 50mm) and start to play around in manual mode (selecting your aperture, iso, shutter speed). When you take good photos you will be rewarded with compliments from friends, family and strangers which will only encourage you to take more and more photos. The items that I’ve picked out are for kids getting into photographer or people my age getting into photography. I buy used as well, so if you see a deal out there, go for it. Feel free to message me with any questions or give me a call. I’ll eventually add more to this blog and clarify any points you might be curious on.

Please do not buy combos like this. 90% of it is garbage. May seem like an easy choice to make, save money, bundle… no… stop, garbage!

Click here to view the complete Amazon list for this camera starter kit.

Corvid-19 update

First off, I don’t have the Corona virus.

If you’re a current bride or groom: I won’t be canceling any of my weddings or engagement shoots. I am however ready to take on any new business from those who are unable to. A majority of what I do, can be at a safe distance. Even my meetings have been switched to Skype & FaceTime. Most venues aren’t choosing to cancel dates but have mandated to do so by the government. Feel free to give me a call when rebooking with a venue and I can let you know on the spot if I have your date available. Try and work with multiple dates from a venue if possible. More likely to be able to stick with you through all this with more options.

I am currently under self quarantine. I spend the majority of my day currently thinking about what I’ll eat and when and which YouTube video i’ll watch along with that. I’m also keeping busy by organizing, editing, sorting and building infrastructure as well as marketing. This shut down of the American way of life has affected me the same as everyone else, unexpectedly. I’ve always been somewhat prepared for extended stays at home. As a wedding photographer I have to wait for my payday. I don’t ask for money up front or portions of it leading up to a wedding. I couldn’t imagine the pain of being a photographer with a canceled wedding who has to give back a large retainer or deposit. So because of not taking money before a wedding I usually am stocked up on toilet paper, soaps, cleaning supplies and food. This only meant that when I went to the store to pick up a little extra last week it wasn’t imperative and more luxuries I was partaking in; sweets, meats and salty foods.

I depend on weddings to make payments to all my bills from mortgage down to my Spotify premium account (I just can’t stand those commercials). I have yet to see any cancellations from any of my forty four brides and grooms. I’ve already shot a half dozen weddings this year with the majority set to begin at the end of April. I’m looking forward to getting back to normalcy and keeping myself nice and healthy in the meantime; taking my vitamins, exercising, resting and waiting. This post is more to let my current brides and grooms know that i’m not planning on going anywhere, fleeing to the Corona virus free island off of Massachusetts. If you have any worries, then just call of course.

I’m not going to go much further into how bad it could get or what’s already happened because of this shut down. I’ve seen too much of that on Facebook as it is and don’t need to contribute, it’s bad. I’m just waiting for the spring, summer and time to pass so I can get back to doing what I love. I feel terribly for those who are going through financial hardships as well as the mental. There’s so many businesses i’ve seen who I thought were rock solid that are being hit so hard. Some laying off employees temporarily and others struck with the possibility of having to close permanently. Those of you in the beauty industry and food industry that interact with people directly have lost their income abruptly and I wish the best for you. I hope this is all over as quick as it came.

Stay safe and #StayTheFuckHome

Here’s some of my favorite photos i’ve taken at weddings.

Dumb tricks that get photographers hired.

THIS IS AN ENGAGEMENT SESSION I DID IN DOWNTOWN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND WITH AN UPCOMING WEDDING. THE ENGAGEMENT SESSION IS A REALLY GREAT TIME TO HANG WITH THE BRIDAL COUPLE.

So this will be a quick little blog. It’s poking at some practices that we (not me) as photographers sometimes do to bait potential customers. I’m just listing a few that you might see at a bridal show, online or a face to face meeting. This also will touch a little bit on style of photography as well (some tricks that I do employ to a degree). If you’re a photographer, bride or groom then you may agree or disagree. Feel free to comment at the bottom. This is really only my insight from over ten years of shooting weddings and developing my approach. This is my opinion and of course there are many roads to Florida (my analogy I most often use). I know a photographer, lets make up a fictional name and call him Bill G. He would get soo mad whenever he saw anyone doing photography different than he did it, it wasn't the proper way he would always mutter. This photographer only happens to shoot a few events a year now while I have shoots a few times a week. Anyways.. all roads eventually lead to Florida. Every photographer has a different method and this is only to highlight what some of the masses do when they’re not trying to stand out.

Free engagement shoot with all new bookings! Okay, I always offer an engagement shoot with every wedding, that’t only normal to me because i’m going to be spending the entire day with you and… I want to know that you’re both semi-normal and that we somewhat get along and like each other. The engagement shoot is also a great time to run through poses, get a few nice photos for save the dates.

So back to how this works at a bridal show. Everyone is going to give this away and they’re going to put a “value” on it or an exact price or possibly use the word bargain along with this. The engagement shoot costs the photographer nothing but his time and when you bundle up your fee for the wedding day along with any tangibles (flash drives, albums), then a little extra time on the front end isn’t a big deal. Every photographer is going to include this, you might have to poke and prod a bit, but get it. But never think that the photographer is some sort of saint for offering this.

Positive side of things, take the engagement shoot with the photographer you want to book your wedding with, it’s a good trial to see how you vibe with each other. Even if in the end they charge you for it as extra it’s still a small investment to know that your wedding photos are going to be what you want.

Dates are filling up fast, better book with me now. This may be true. I had to turn away almost forty brides last year because I can only shoot one wedding at a time. If you need a few days or a week to mull things over then that’s totally reasonable and responsible. There are popular dates out there that happen every year. Typically i’ll have one or two dates that people are pining after every year, but only those who book early get it. If someones offering a one day deal only then pass on it. This is your wedding and if your photographer can’t wait a day or week to book you then maybe they don;’t have that much business to begin with or too much business to properly accommodate you.

Free album with all 2020 bookings, an eight hundred dollar value!!! OMG, you better book right now, that’s a killer deal. Wait! There’s the internet, With absolute certainty I know that any of my brides can find a decent album for two hundred dollars. I also know that once I send them an album they could do a little research and figure out who I use or… just ask me directly. When I book a wedding I do the albums at cost, give or take twenty dollars, this means that I have no incentive to up-sell you on getting one. It’s not that I don’t want you to have an album, in fact I do. I just don’t want to charge you eight hundred dollars or more for one and lose a wedding over a book, I also don’t want you to say “we aren’t interested in an album” and all of a sudden i’m taking eight hundred dollars off the total. So for me it’s always easier to just be super transparent on this. I would much rather charge for what matters, the photography. I’m putting value on my time and skill, not the material things. You’re paying for someone to show up, not mess up and deliver some amazing images.

Quick photo I had of an album that I had made for around two hundred and fifty dollars. fifty pages and glass cover.

To be completely transparent and honest I will say that there are eight hundred dollar albums and northward out there. Some of them are amazing companies that put out a quality product. I have friends that sell using these beautiful albums and that’s great. I’m only warning you about people that are pushing a free album in attempt to make you “Buy now now now!”. A great salesmen is going to present, not pressure. A traditional mark up on products is three hundred percent of their original cost if not more. It’s much easier for me not to have to explain the price increase if someone ever tracks down where I get my albums, so I do it at cost.

So if you’re a photographer you may have a problem with this next part. Multiple packages and A la cart pricing. So this allows photographers to move things around and still keep the price in their favor. This also can add to some confusion when trying to figure out the price. Sure, I can add this, let me give you a deal on this other thing or this is going to cost more because it’s not bundled with this, so you want this but not this other thing, or that’s an additional charge because of…

It’s too much to shift all these tiny pieces around all the time. I always want to make sure you get a good deal so I just find out what you’re looking for and give you. price on that, putting the majority of the fee on photography, not the tangibles or things that don’t cost me anything. A la cart pricing “can” be a way to steer you back to the packages. Once you add up everything that you want you realize that the price is more than the package. So now you’re considering the packages again and now you’re back to shifting things around. Again, going to play myself up again. I only offer one package so that I can just take away whatever brides aren’t interested in vs. shifting packages around or slowly building up the bill.

Gratuitous photo of myself.

Additional photographer, more coverage. Okay. This is true to a degree. You end up with more photos, more people in more places. My goal is never to up-sell you on what you may not need. If you’re getting ready near each other somewhat or if you have under a hundred and fifty guests then it’s pretty easy for me to accommodate you. Most brides that come to me are pretty educated on wedding stuff by the time they get to me and I know they’ve researched me and my work, so I’ll never want to push something on them that they already have an inkling that they don’t need. Your photographer should be pretty up front and either say yes or no, not yes and yes to a second shooter (our term). If you want photos of you walking down the isle from front and back then you’ll want a second shooter. If you want photos fo your grooms face as you walk down the isle and you walking down the isle, you don’t need a second shooter. If you’re both getting ready at a hotel and you want coverage of the both of you then you don’t need a second shooter. If you’re getting ready four towns away from each other and want coverage of the both of you… you may want a second photographer.

When I use a second shooter (photographer) I usually charge whatever money i’ll actually be giving them. They have an easy job, they show up, have fun, shoot and eventually leave sans memory card. I’m only using a portion of their photos in the end, we all have pretty high standards when it comes to photos and we’re all very picky as photographers. Be weary of any photographer pushing services that you don’t think you need on you. Do your research on this subject, ask Jeeves (old reference).

I couldn’t find any of my photos with crazy filters on them, so I’m using a photo of a wonderful meal I had, yes I have a cell phone case with my logo on it. I’m branded up.

Here’s what else grinds my gears, yes I went there. Everyone calling their photography their style or vision when… they’re just using a downloaded preset (sometimes they even pay for these) on every single photo or desaturating the photos. I’m not going to say I don’t like these photos, some of them are great. I love the look but, yes there’s a but. Someday in the future when you want to see what that moment actually looked like without grain and desaturated reds and oranges and way to much work on highlights and shadows you won’t be able to. Because that filter is there for life. What I like to do is capture the actual colors, correct color temperature and exposure. It takes seconds to throw a filter on, but I don’t think I could ever call it my “style”. I’ve wrote a bunch more about it here.

So here’s what i’m trying to get across, look at their skill as a photographer. Do you like the way they frame a photo, is the exposure at least correct. Take a look at their whole portfolio, not just weddings. See their range and skill as a photographer because a wedding is essentially a marathon of photography. We’re constantly pushed and pulled throughout the day to get operate in any conditions, bad lighting, difficult people and situations, hot and cold and also our gear matters. I’m getting away from my point but basically if a photographer is calling his desaturated photos his style and trying to play up how artistic he is… take a second look. If he’s saying he’s a natural light photographer.. run! One more warning sign to look for is selective color, thats when a photographer turns down all the colors except for one. This makes everything black and white except for those red roses, making it an iconic photo. This is gimmicky, simple and a stupid trick that people can now do on their cell phones… so why would a wedding photographer be doing this? Steer away from white vignetting as well, that’s a huge warning sign that your photographer is behind the times in style.

So this is a shot THAT A NATURAL LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHER COULDN’T GET. THIS WAS SHOT WITH TWO OFF CAMERA FLASHES. ONE FLASH BEHIND THEM ON A SNOOT SO THAT THE FLASH DIDN’T SPILL OUT ONTO THE BRANCHES OF THE TREE AND THE SECOND LIGHT BEING HELD BY ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER WITH A TIGHT GRID TO FOCUS THE MAJORITY OF THE LIGHT ON THEM.

A natural light photographer is a scary thing for a wedding. There’s only so many hours of the day that are bright during a wedding. Eventually it gets dark and then what? If someone’s mastered how to take photos in daylight, that’s great. But you’re going to want your entire wedding covered and if they can’t navigate around a flash and some interesting light then you may want to look elsewhere. Again, they’ll have some amazing photos and they may be a talented photographer but please for wedding sake make sure your photographer uses lights! Imagine if you bought cabinets for your kitchen and the cabinet maker told you that he can only put the hinges on the outside of the cabinet and not inside because that’s not his style. I love a good analogy.

Depth of field, making something sharp and something pretty damn smooth. At a quick glance you already know this wasn’t taken with a cell phone, so automatically it’s already leaning towards the only conclusion you could make, a professional photographer took this with a professional camera.

Here’s another trick that I do employ. Shooting at a very low depth of field. This means whatever i’m focused on is sharp and the rest is out of focus. It does make for a pleasing photo. I also know that regardless of the situation when I use this little trick that whoever sees the photo regardless of proper assessment sees a professional image. They know that a good camera or good lens is somewhere in the equation and whoever can afford this good lens or camera must be a professional photographer. Quick example, lets say I tattoo’d someone and it didn’t look half bad and I show off that tattoo. To those of you who don’t know, I might be a professional tattoo artist, but look at the rest of my work and realize that maybe… not so much. So again, look at someones portfolio, if that’s their style, everything shot in low depth of field, then maybe pass. It’s a simple trick that I do use, but only when it’s called for. These lenses are primarily used to work in extremely low light, not just for a blurring (bokeh) effect.

So here’s an example of my Canon 200mm 1.8 lens. The reason this looks unique is because of the size of this lens and also the hefty price tag. This isn’t a lens you can pick up in your local best buy.

So i’m going to admit to something horrible. I use my gear to get brides and grooms. I have some cool lenses. I have a fisheye lens that is pretty much useless except for some random cool photos here or there. It’s sometimes fun to use during a wedding reception or sometimes in tight spaces but mostly useless. I also have a two hundred millimeter lens that is no longer produced that can shoot at an incredibly low depth of field which produces a spectacularly amazing image that looks like non other. I have many others which I could list. I use these lenses to get new business sometimes because I know the common person will see the image and be wowed. But the main thing I want to point out is that I can still use the most basic, boring, cheap lens to get an amazing image regardless of depth of field or any other curiosity the lens may entail.

So to round this out, investigate your photographer, get to know them. Don’t go with a photographer because they’re rolling back the price quickly or throwing in a freebie as soon as you blink or move your chair in the meeting. Make sure you love their work, that they don’t use car salesmen terms in regards to your wedding package. If you see the word budget, value or deal then calmly and quietly get up and say that you have to make a quick phone call and get out of there. Just like then you buy a house, car or anything of value, research, know the terms, know the differences between photographers and make a very educated choice on who you go with.

Click here to see some of my photography or call me at 508-471-0069 to ask me any questions you might have.

Bride, groom, photographer and.... i'll come help!!!!!

I wanted to recap on something I run into every fifth or sixth wedding. An entourage of family and friends that want to help during the couples photos. This sometimes is following the ceremony or a more private moment sometime during the reception. I'm not going to specifically reference exact details but wanted to tell you how most circumstances unfold. This is for informational purposes / venting purposes... i'm only human.  :) The photos in this blog do not reflect any specific weddings where this occurred, they're just pretty photos. 

     I really like to write exactly like I talk and this is a story i've told brides and grooms before. I wanted to take the time and write this out for other brides, grooms and fellow photographers who may or may not yet have encountered this moment. 

Please hold your phone side ways to read it to correctly view the conversation's proper exchange.  Otherwise this post will just sound a little too weird. 

Here's a few moments with just the bride and groom to help give example to special moments that unfold during these private photos.

Me to bride & groom: Okay, the clouds just parted way to beautiful sun rays and a deep blue sky with a rainbow... let's go run and get a few photos. Okay.. ready. Let's go. Sweet!
 

Me: Totally cool. You just have to stand back a bit because I need their complete focus.

BRIDAL COUPLES PHOTOS START

Friend or family member: (talking on phone) Yeah, we're behind the building, come on over.

Friend or family member: (one minute passes) You should both hold hands and do this thing where you make a heart and...

Friend or family member: That looked really pretty, you should have them go over there next and stand on that rock. Oh hey Jim (another family or friend walks over). 

Me: Could I have you folks just give us a little bit of room so I can have their complete focus while I do the photos. Just for a few minutes.

Friend or family member: Hi Denise (now a third family member has joined because they saw the five of us standing over here and wanted to see what we were doing).

Friend or family member: I'll come help. I'll come and watch. I want to take a photo with my phone so I'll come along with you. 

Friend or family member: Of course, no problem. I'll just stand back and won't say a word.

Friend or family member: Hey you should take photos over by the wall there. Tim and Diane got their photos there.

Me talking to bride & groom: Okay, look back over here. Okay, I need you to move slightly over to the left and focus on each other and..

Me talking to bride & groom: That's perfect, I just need you to slightly turn a little bit more this way and... perfect. 

Me talking to bride & groom: Okay, look back over here again. (looks over at family or friend and reaffirms the need to stand back and not converse). Okay move slightly over to the left and focus on each other and move in slightly towards a kiss but don't kiss yet.

Me talking to bride & groom: Let's take a walk down this path over here and what i'm going to have you do is do a slow walk, hold hands, talk and have a moment to yourselves while I take photos.

Friend or family member: What are you guys doing, are you taking photos right now. It's very pretty over here.

Friend or family member: (All the friends and family): Totally, no problem. We just want to hang out and watch.

Me: Could I have you all step over this way while I do their photos, I only have about three more minutes before we have to head back.

Friend or family member: (Two minutes pass) Hey (directed towards bride and groom), are you both going over to the hotel after or heading back home, Rob is texting me and wanted to know. Hey can we get a photo with you over there in a few minutes.

You get the point. 

     What really happens is the bride and groom don't actually get a private moment to themselves for these special photos that they're going to have for the rest of their lives. Think about your parents or grandparents wedding photos and now imagine that they could have had a dozen other special ones equal or greater than those ones. 

     Everything always starts off with good intentions. I'll hold your drink, let me hold up your dress, I want to come and watch, I have a quick question, can we get a quick photo, can I take a photo with my friend, this person wanted to know this question, what are you guys doing. 

     I've had a bridesmaid rush in after each test shot to fix a brides dress. When i'm setting up a magical photo that will be hung on their wall from now until the end of time i'm going to put a little extra care into everything. I'll be adjusting power levels, exposure and position of lights for maybe a dozen photos before I even think about a final pose. Before i'm even ready to start posing a bride i've had the bridesmaid try and jump start the photos by posing them and positioning them and after each test fire (too bright, not bright enough, not in the right position, add a second or third light) run in and turn a two minute photo session into a ten minute "are we done yet" sorta mood.  This is just another example of moments that I run into. :)

     I'm never going to be rude to a bride & grooms wedding guests, family, friends. I'm never going to be rude to the wedding coordinator / planner who wants to stand next to me and count down every single minute of our remaining time (This happens usually during formal photos). You in fact will never know if you got in the way. If you make a weird suggestion or try and hijack a moment i'm most likely going to humor you and go along with it and a smile. It's always going to be easier to say good idea and take a photo or two and then move on to my shots.

      Every single wedding I've made it part of my routine to borrow the bride and groom for additional photos post reception moments like bouquet toss or cake cutting. Most of these moments go off without a hitch but occasionally I get someone who wants to tag along. During your wedding day you're going to be surrounded by people the entire day, ball & chain to a schedule of events and have the same thingss repeated at you for hours (wheres the honey moon, do you feel different, you must be tired, congratulations). This is typically a moment to breathe, have a bit of quiet and also a special moment with your husband or wife. 

     I know this post most likely won't change how the next twenty years of weddings go or in fact anyone will actually read this. But it's therapeutic at best and helps keep me sane in moments that I cannot control. These are moments that brides & grooms don't know about until their wedding day and it's actually happening. They're very much on my side when i've had to occasionally shush off people. So if you ever see a bride, groom and photographer head off to get photos I can almost guarantee that they will be just fine if you wait to talk to them when they return. 

     In the end i'm there to take beautiful photos and be nice to people even if they are stepping on my feet. I hope this wasn't too offensive and if it was, you might be that person tagging along during photos. ;)

Who steers the ship

     If you decide that you know more than the photographer it may cost you. That's not meant to sound like a threat, it's more of a small rant that will help put some of your wedding day into perspective.  It's a fast paced day with lots of moving parts and lots of different vendors who do not want to mess anything up, this means everyone is making sure they perform exactly what they were hired for.

     Most weddings will go off without a hitch, there are the small little hiccups which do happen. People arriving late, corsage mishaps, wrong colored shoes, missing socks. But most photographers have been to a few hundred more weddings than the bride and groom they are tasked to take photos of. This means if you decide to intervene throughout the wedding with ideas and direction it can cost you time and photos. One of my favorite parts about a wedding is guiding a bride throughout the day because i'm with her the entire day. I'm able to say that we're running on schedule or we're going to head back here and you're going to have a little break and then get introduced into the reception. 

     On your wedding day a wedding photographer will never argue with you, you're the boss. We've been hired to take photos and not to negotiate/argue on how you want it done. I totally understand the intervention that may happen when a bride thinks she needs to. It's a high stress day for the bride because she wants everything to be perfect. In my experience most brides don't relax or breath until after they've sat at the reception.  My goal is to get amazing photos and maybe jump through a few hoops doing so. I also want to keep the bride and groom happy throughout all this. If your face shows stress on your wedding day it's going to show in the photos. You may not even remember doing this or ever see those photos because I will make sure they don't make the final cut. 

     During formal photos I have thirty to forty minutes to get the photos that you'll be hanging on your wall and passing down to future generations. I have a method, a path that I follow and a flow. We start off big, break it down, switch it up and eventually end up with just the bride and groom. If you decide you know better then the photographer we're going to let you do so. I've had brides direct formal photos before and we started with family and then bridal party and then back to family and then back to family and then the bride and groom and then bridal party and double the time. I write this as a warning to other brides to let the photographer steer the ship at certain key points. You've hired us for a reason. I certainly wouldn't be offering suggestions to a plumber or mechanic. I want to get you as many photos as possible.

     On your wedding day, relax, enjoy, experience it. You don't have to keep track of everyones whereabouts, put someone in charge of that. Consider the day a stack of dominos, line them up and let it happen. You wouldn't start the line of dominion by tipping them and slowly readjusting them as the dominos fell. If you look worried or like you're yelling at people in your photos it's going to look just like that in your photos. I really want the best of you on your wedding day. It's not just a paycheck or an honest one if I don't think i've done everything possible to get you the best photos. So pucker up, smile and let your wedding day happen and enjoy your friends and family. No guests will ever notice the mistakes, I promise you.

The flying photographer

ThinkTank Airport Security. retractable stroller handle so you don't get stuck carrying through the airport.

ThinkTank Airport Security. plenty of space to fit my 200mm 1.8, two bodies, 4 other lenses, two flashes and tons of batteries and accessories and laptop.

usually one body and 3 or 4 lenses and a flash. Also has room for a 15inch macbook

smaller things like cables and usb devices in here

This keeps my macbooks cables organized in my bag and easy to get to.

     No this is not a blog about drones even though I may have link-bated you. This could either be about drones or a magical flying photographer or X-Men based sort of mutant who can take photos while flying. I just wanted to write a little bit about my experience traveling as a photographer.

     So traveling as a photographer can be a bit difficult. I'm not traveling with a few thousand dollars worth of gear, usually it's tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear; hope you liked that humble brag. This means that i'm not checking my gear, we've all seen those videos of luggage handlers tossing and pitching suitcases into and out of planes. This is my exact nightmare, having someone toss a case or bag filled with two bodies and several lenses with accessories into a mishmash of storage space that is being optimized for space which means fitting and squishing into place when applicable.  

     When you travel somewhere as a photographer you really don't want to leave that one tool home that you realize later you needed. So this means we will often bring everything and the kitchen sink. I regularly will travel with around eight lenses, a few flashes and two bodies as well as batteries and everything else. 

     The next nightmare is for a TSA employee somewhere along the lines to inspect my gear and pull out the smallest maybe unnoticeable item somewhere along the lines. Even when I don't have anything important in my checked bags I regularly get luggage back with either one or two locks missing or telltale signs of rummaging. How easy would it be for any of them to simply place an object into their pocketbook or vest pocket. I may arrive at my location and notice I don't have an adapter or lens and now I'm questioning if I even packed it or maybe it fell out when I was retrieving my car charger for my phone at the airport. It may be a week or two before I can verify a stolen item and the amount of baggage handlers could very well mean than I cannot narrow down a point where it was taken.

     So how I treat my equipment is having it with me on a carry on bag. This is the stuff that cannot be stolen, it's with me; the guard. On most flights you are allowed a carry on, a backpack and a small item. The carry on size is different between international and continental USA. I do have both sizes of carry on for my camera equipment. I have bags from ThinkTANK and highly suggest them.  I have the ThinkTANK commuter, airport security v2, airport international v3 and the retrospective 30 and 10 shoulder bags. One of the neat things as well is the similar bag shapes which mean they look awesome when they are all put away. They are boxy, padded and have all the right features that you need. Order on Amazon and check one out or take a trip to B&H in NYC and get hands on with it. I've had a bag collection for many years and this past year i've actually started to thin out my stash because I fell in love.

Screenshot from TSA website. In the past three years I have had four locks DISAPPEAR and have never received an inspection notice. 

So when traveling with your gear, keep it with you. If you get the ThinkTANK bags they mostly all include a cable that is attached to the bag that you simply have to loop to any pole, seat or other stationary objects to secure as well as zippers than can be locked into a stationary lock. 

ThinkTank Airport commuter. solid bag that fits enough gear for a wedding

Thinktank Airport commuter. great for a carry on and durable enough for hiking.

Somewhat disposable TSA locks (They like to throw them away)

Keep alot of my chargers in here when i travel

Why would you hire me?

Here I am wielding not one, but two flashes. #ExpertLevelAchieved

Trigger warning: bad writing. 

Sometimes I start off with a really solid idea and then I branch out into ramblings. I apologize ahead of time because I believe I slightly did that here. 

     Why should we hire you... MIKE. While I don't get asked this exact question, it still hangs in the air throughout the meeting. I've done enough meetings with potential brides and grooms to read their expressions like a packet of Cliff Notes guide to meeting with wedding photographer.  

     So first there is the nodding expression where they are thinking "This is going to be expensive" . In truth it is going to be expensive. You're hiring me to document a day that can't be repeated, it's high stakes. I'm also showing up with enough equipment to put a downpayment on a house with. 

     There's the other hinting of body language and facial expression that spell out we don't want anything extra, book, flash drive, online gallery; we just want the digital photos. That's great that you know what you want and yes, just say that right off the bat.

     Sometime's I meet with just the bride and sometimes with the bridal couple. Meeting with one person is always easier because you have their complete focus. I'll also be completely honest in saying that the bride to be usually makes the calls when it comes to the details of the wedding. When I have a potential bride and groom in front of me throughout my pitch they will sometimes show their cards. When we get into price and start talking about what they're looking for. I'll start running through the different options and when I run across something they don't want they instinctively look at each other. They say it with their eyes "we talked about this before, I don't want this" and with a look back i'm able to course correct and steer them with options they do want. 

     The meetings are really just to see if we vibe, I already know I can shoot your wedding blindfolded and you know I can too. It can come down to a few things for a bride, i'll name the top three. First, do you like me? I'm going to spend all day with you and hopefully we get along right off the bat because I will spend more time with the bride on her wedding day than the groom. Secondly, do you like my photography? I have lots of different lenses and I'm with you for the whole day so I tend to have lots of different looks to my photos. Third, does my price work for you? I'm flexible on price to a point. I really want to shoot weddings and make people happy but it costs money to be a well rounded photographer. 

     Okay so I wanted to convey a little bit about the meetings above. But here's the truth of why you would to hire me as your wedding photographer. I'm committed to getting you awesome photos on your wedding day. My goal is to keep you on schedule, be your cheerleader, help out where I can. I've been known to bustle a dress, fit a corsage, straighten ties, deliver flowers, escort grandmothers and dance with kids. This is my full-time job, that means you message me at ten at night, i'm most likely going to be responding by ten ten. I've even taken the time to write out every single question that I've been asked in the past few years, sometimes a bride won't actually voice these questions so I've found it helpful to write it all out. I have enough gear, equipment and batteries to shoot three weddings in a row without recharging. I've been shooting weddings for over ten years. I actually like photography and do that in my spare time.. for fun. When I do a good job with weddings it leads to more weddings which means better equipment, sharper photos, more unique aspects. I'm constantly rolling my money back into my photography, so developing myself more. Every year I add a few more tricks to my wheelhouse. I also travel a lot, eighteen countries and twenty four states; that means I don't mind flying to your wedding to shoot. I would be happy to give you any bride and groom's contact info and have them tell you how much fun they had with me. Friend me on Facebook, Follow me on Instagram to see exactly who you would be getting as a wedding photographer; I won't disappoint. 

     So i'll use an analogue to describe wedding photography. When you go to Best Buy and stand there and look at all the TVs you can see the difference between each one pretty easily. They're all next to each other, same dimensions, same brightness, maybe color is different on this other one or another is a bit smoother with the resolution. When you eventually pick out a set you're getting it because the price worked for you. When you get that TV home you're going to fall in love with it and brag to your friends about your big tv. I will say that I certainly don't think back to that Samsung with the high gloss black finish when i'm sitting watching my tv. 

     It's partially the same with wedding photography. We're going to all do essentially the same thing, capture photos of you on your wedding day, the best we can or know how. If you stack me up next to other photographers you'll see i'm better than some but not than others. All I can offer is my uniqueness, perspective and skill. But when you have your photos, your memories you won't be second guessing who you went with. I imagine you're going to be pretty happy. I can't really trash other wedding photographers because most are not terrible, most just do it a bit differently then I do, different equipment, different focus or limited or unlimited experience that they may have. Most of my friends are actually photographers so I have that unique viewpoint of knowing how lots of other photographers operate.  So do you research before you commit, drill your wedding photographer, ask me a million questions. 

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Any of the above will make me happy.

I made the bride's daughter cry

Okay. Now that i've link baited you i'll quickly tell you I didn't do anything wrong. Okay now that we've got that settled I can continue with the story. I also did get my bride's permission to tell this story because I didn't want to come off as mean in any sense or be disrespectful to anyone.  I'm not going to name this venue and if you recognize it then you know they have amazing prime rib and corn fritters. I have shot many weddings here as well as my first wedding and I will be back. 

     So first off, me and the bride's daughter totally hitting it off. She's nine years old and I took the time to help her find some things in a Where's Waldo type of book at the hair salon and I let her use my camera.  When we arrived at the wedding venue (I'm not going to use their name here because I really like them) I started doing detail photos while the bride ran around and made sure everything was in order. I asked my bride's daughter is she wanted to come and hang out with me while I do photos and carry the veil. 

     My little assistant came with me while I hung the dress all around the property but there was no area that was really conducive to what I was looking to do. Inside and outside I only found a few spots but nothing that blew me away.I found one spot that worked amazingly, from a chandelier by the front entrance. I hung it, tipping the lights sideways a bit but the dress was light and no troubles. I took a few photos and it looked amazing. I decided to have Sam stand in a chair next to the dress and maybe some directly behind it. I had her on a chair and I was instructing her not to touch the dress whatsoever because of the chandelier. Just as I was doing so a nineteen year old waitress rushes over with her hands up saying "I'm sorry, I just, I, you can't, sorry, you can't"  to which I replied we'll just be a few more minutes and then we'll be out of your way. She then started to reach for the wedding dress which I grabbed before she could touch it. We stood there in a small stale mate and I explained that I just needed to get a few photos and I would be leaving the area and she said that I couldn't hang the dress there (several employees had walked by me or watched me prior to this). She pointed out two places where I could hang the dress. One being on a coat hanging area with high chairs and the other by the front podium where there was no place to hang it.

     I pointed out those to areas and questioned them, over there??? She eventually walked away very quickly and I was left alone with Sam. I walked back over to rehang the dress and continue with my photos and was blocked by Sam. Sam told me "No! The lady said you can't" to which I replied, yea I know but it's okay. So I moved into position again but was blocked by Sam "She said no". Now i'm being impeded from doing my job. So I got down and tried to explain to her that the worse thing that can happen is I get yelled at again. I tell her that i'm going to be taking the photos that her mom will have for the rest of her life and I have to make them as perfect as I can. Now Sam is actively trying to take the wedding dress fro me. 

     A family member of Sams comes in the front entrance and says hi to both of us. I ask if they can take her upstairs so that I can finish taking photos. She stands there with arms crossed. She is unresponsive to her Aunt and Uncle. I ask  if she doesn't want me to take photos of the dress, she is quiet with arms still crossed "Do you not want me to hang the dress up" yessssss. Tears start to drip down her face so I say "Okay i'm going to go take photos over here, but you have to head upstairs okay". So she leaves and I walk over and rehang the dress and get a few more photos.

     Afterwards I head up to put the dress back and my bride is there to greet me. She says "So you made my daughter cry...".  She then follows up with telling me that she talked to Sam and that for the money she paid me and also the venue that I can do whatever I want and that's what i'm paying for. So Sam thought that the nineteen year old waitress was going to cancel the wedding and kick everyone out. I did talk to the coordinator for our wedding and she said she was aware of what happened and it wasn't a big deal at all and was fine with it. 

     My main goal at any wedding is maybe not following all the rules but instead getting the best photos I can without being too disruptive. I'm always on the bride and groom's side and am looking to do the best I can do.  I've included some photos of the dress below, I did only take a few shots inside of the dress.

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See if you can pick out which photo I designed and shot and which one was suggested to me.

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Wedding workflow

So this post is purely for photographers, maybe geared more towards wedding photographers perhaps. This is not going to be a blog where I incorporate lots of visual aids, i'm not a Buzzfeed article. If you know Lightroom or have just started using it then you will be able to follow along. If you're a bride or groom and don't know what Lightroom is then this probably isn't for you.

     So what I concentrate on is keeping things simple. It can be very easy to misplace a photo if you don't know what you're doing in Lightroom. You can add a filter that doesn't show certain types of flagged photos or you might not have photos from 2016 or 2015 included and miss a photo that you needed asap. Okay, so i'll go through everything from the beginning.

     So first off, any of my edits have usually been thirty seconds or less on a photo. I'm working with four thousand photos when shooting a wedding and between sorting, processing and delivering I have gotten pretty efficient. I'm mentioning this because I want you to understand that I don't treat my catalog like a golden goose. If my catalog becomes corrupt or has an issue and I have to restart from scratch, it won't be the end of the world. I may lose all of my edits but i'll always have my photos which is the most important part.  

     I sort my photos by YEAR, MONTH, DATE. If I need to get photos of a race from two years ago all I have to do is search my calendar on my computer or phone for RACE. Once I have the date I just look through my catalog for these photos.   

     I do have two catalogs, one on each computer. My main computer is used for managing storage between two eight terabyte external hard drives. This catalog has everything from 2007 to 2017. I'm currently teetering around five and a half terabytes but it goes up and down each year depending on how harshly I treat my past work which i'll explain more about in the next paragraph. The second catalog I have is on my MacBook Retina, this is my workhorse. It's fully loaded and meant for travel and speed. I'm able to take all my wedding photos and work through them non stop without being confined to my office or apartment. My favorite place to work is actually Starbucks. So this catalog of photos and edits on my MacBook is stored on a Lacie Thunderbolt hard drive. I'll talk more about what I do with these photos later in this blog.

     Another benefit of having everything in one catalog is access. You can keep doing triage on your photos, sorting through them and pulling out the bad photos. When years go by and you get better at photography you will be better equipped to judge your past work more critically. Every year I spend a few weeks to go back through my old photos and trim out the chum. God forbid I expire before i'm suppose to and someone is charged with sorting through my photos and see all my bad photos (I mean bad composition, blurry and other issues). I've heard other photographers talk about how inexpensive storage is, it's not trust me. I upgrade my hard drives every year due to concerns of proper backups. Hard drives fail so you should regularly upgrade. I use my hard drives pretty heavily as well. If I have a bride or past client that wants photos from their shoot I don't want to give them any bad photos. If you even show a client a bad photo there is a chance they may think it's great. Here's what happens when you show that bad photo, they say it looks great and you know it doesn't. They start showing that bad photo and telling everyone who took that photo. So I really only want my good photos out there. If it's something important then yes, save the photos, no biggie. But for me I don't want to have sixteen terabytes of good photos mixed with bad photos.

           Sorting, yes, no. It's that simple. Yes to a photo, it's good and you like it and want to share it and you want people to know it's on of your photos and i've used too many ands in this sentence. No means that you don't like the photo, it didn't come out good, bad composition, un-saveable, blurry, unflattering. When you get rid of a photo you're also saving the environment. You're also saving your wallet from having to get a bigger hard drive prematurely. So for those of you not in the know... P is for Pick or YES, X is not Reject or NO. While in the library module you have to make sure Auto Advance is clicked on under the Photo menu at the top. Okay, so now that we have all the photos and we're selecting P or X and working through the photos we realize it may not be going as fasts you would like it. This can be for two different reasons. You have to make sure all standard previews were built for the photos. Otherwise you will have to wait a second for the photo to render each time you click through the photos. Control A and then Library menu, Previews, Build Standard Size previews. Now wait and once it's finished restart your sorting process. Another reason the photos may be going slower as you pick through them is you're in the DEVELOP module. You will be able to sort while in this module but it will be a little bit slower.  

     The best part about sorting with P and X is you can do it with one hand. The more you do it the faster you'll get with it. I promise once you've done it with a half dozen shoots you'll be a master. Now here's what you do once you've selected all the bad and good photos, once you've flagged everything as a YES or NO. Now you can DELETE REJECTED PHOTOS. Now keep in mind once you've deleted these files they are moved to your trash bucket on your computer or Mac. Please please please make sure you don't have deleters remorse over your photos. This is just how I work and if it works for you then it works for you. Lightroom really allows everyone to process and do their own workflow the way they want. This is just how I work. Okay moving on.

     Once you have deleted the rejected photos by clicking the Photo menu at the top of the screen and scrolling down to it you can repeat this whole process again. So what you'll want to do is go through all of the photos and repeat this process of saying yes or no to all of the photos. I will typically do this several times if not more just because I want to make sure that my client or bride & groom get the best photos they can. You'll start to notice that you now have just really nice photos in your catalog. It will be a pleasure to show, friends and family your photos without having to delicately explain why some of the are bad.  

     Now that you are down to just your good photos you are ready to start editing. I don't use presets btw for anything. I process my photos a little bit differently and don't want everything to look exactly the same as every photographer on Instagram or Pinterest with a yellow decontrasted light flared photo. So here's what I do next. I take one photo and I apply a few general edits on it. First I add anywhere between +5 to +15 on contrast (This helps give enforce a more sharpened look) and then +5 to saturation (You should be shooting RAW and your phot may be a little flat because of it) and then +1 or +2 on clarity just to add a little bit of edge to everything. I'll also make sure Profile correction is on and sometimes i'll add increase sharpness and add a little bit of noise reduction. Once i've done this singular edit to this photo i'll want to apply it to all of the photos. I move back to the main Library loupe view by hitting the G key. Select All (Control A or Command A) and i'll mouse over to the side triangle to reveal the window to the left where it says Sync Settings. I select Sync Settings and I make sure everything is applied. Keep in mind if you decided to adjust exposure on this first photo it will apply to all of the photos. So once all these basic edits are applied to everything I can start going through with more edits. if you've noticed I don't do much with my editing. I really try to get everything correct when I actually shoot the original photo. I don't try and follow up my work with corrections. It makes my life a lot easier when I take a good photo and work from that to make minor adjustments. I'm not huge on filters, fake looking scenes and such. I would much rather get the correct tonal range and add some lights in the scene to break a subject from the background or add a dynamic little flare by using my flash a certain way. It's way too easy to add all these afterwards.   I wrote about that a little more here.

     While in the DEVELOP module you can navigate your mouse over to exposure and it should change the color slightly from Grey to white notifying you that your cursor is selecting this certain option. While the mouse sits over exposure you can now use the arrow keys to adjust exposure and also move between photos. This means you can go through all of your photos with out having to move around your mouse non-stop. I like to apply all of my exposure edits to all the photos like this. I'll eventually go back and do cropping on all of my photos to make it more pleasing to the eye. Some photos may require additional adjustments like Shadows or adjusting highlights. 

     Once I have done all my edits and i'm happy with my work i'll export the photos to a custom named folder. Once the photos have made their way to where they're suppose to be. This is usually my website IShotYourWedding.com which is made through Pixieset.com. Any photos that I really like will end up on my Facebook or Instagram. I'll also take a few photos that i'm happy with and put them in a separate folder called "Images", I know i'm super creative. This is just a folder that links to my Wallpaper and Screensaver that allows me to keep seeing my good photos. When i'm done getting the photos to where they need to be I delete the JPG files. I have no use for them. I have a finished copy on my website if I need to show them and the really good ones I have in a folder and on social media. I find it's much easier to get rid of them and it also keeps my desktop very clean and provides a really nice focus for me to get work done now.

     After most shoots, always weddings I take my photos and back them up to my Lacie thunderbolt hard drive. I sort through them as quickly as possible and then those get backed up to two eight terabyte hard drives. When I am no longer using the photos on my MacBook or travel drive as much I delete them because I have them backed up in two separate locations. This allows me to keep my computer relatively clean. If my computer ever gets stolen I don't lose out on photos and because I have a MacBook and good practices it's very quick to get back on my feet as far as editing goes. 

     I hope this is helpful to the photographers out there with a massive workload. This is a little bit of the magic behind my smoke and mirrors. This is not a shortcut to work, this still takes a great deal of time to do correctly. I'm not breezing through any photos. In fact most  weddings I take four to five weeks because I'll work on the photos every few days that way I'm looking at them with fresh eyes and processing everything in my head on which is a good photo and which is a bad photo. I always want to make sure my best foot is forward. If you don't have Lightroom yet i would highly suggest you go and sign up for Adobe's photographer plan which gives you Lightroom & Photoshop for only $9.99 a month.  Feel free to leave me any comments or criticism on this post. 

Marketing

     Okay, I probably don’t know that much about this… or do I. I may be a marketing genius or maybe just incredibly lucky when it comes to getting business. I really favor the later in this but i’ll tell you some of what I do to market myself anyways. This is a blog post for photographers or other people in similar businesses.

     First of all I really suggest being yourself. You’ll never have to put on an act or be someone who you’re not. I am myself when I go through my day, my week. If there’s a chance to do good I do it, sometimes people are watching. First off, everyone is going to want to throw a nice guy some work. I also don’t mind doing charity either, it makes me feel good and helps other people as well as karma brownie points. People pay attention when you’re consistently doing the right thing, the honorable thing and helping out where you can. 

     Another strange thing is following your passion. PEOPLE NOTICE! If you’re into candles and constantly posting about new candle making techniques or a new fragrance you made and how excited you are people may think you’re strange but they know you’re genuine. If you dig something, if you’re over the top in it for the passion then the money will come. I’ve never made my focus about the money, it’s really just a nice symptom of having a passion for photography. I’ve also turned down money as well which I suggest once and awhile, pay it back. You never know when that person who you hooked up is going to have an even better way to hook you up. Quick story, this year I had a call from a waitress who said I took her photo seven years ago. I was at place on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester (basically forty restaurants within a mile stretch), I was hanging with my friend and I was taking photos of my food and then I asked to take a photo of this waitress. I asked for her e-mail and sent her the photo. She called me up this past December and booked me for a wedding in January. Another story just for an example. I was shooting a wedding a few years back and took the time to chat with one of the guests about cameras and then handed off my very expensive camera and let them try it out for a few minutes… he booked me for a wedding last year. So by being friendly and sharing my passion I’ve landed work. 

     So now the more practical things you can do for marketing. Post about what you’re up to on social media and act excited about it, hey maybe you are? Maybe post on Instagram or Google+ because there are sects of people that still use these platforms.  If you post on Google+ then you might get featured as a news article when people search for certain keywords which essentially draws people back to you. Instagram I use to post my best of the best photos. I don’t post any chum there, it’s all my processed work or things that I’m proud to share. Instagram isn’t for my photos of Starbuck Mochas or cell phone photos. Everyone treats Instagram a little bit different and some people even go as far as to color grade against everything they already have up there. A big thing is following a theme, at least thats what I hear. Myself I post what I’m really into, travel, weddings, food, abandoned buildings, building facades. There’s a lot of people who will have the best ways to gain followers and how to make the best Instagram, but I believe you can do it just for you.

     Okay i’ve started a new paragraph so this must be a pretty good topic. USE FACEBOOK! Use Facebook for the free advertising of you and your brand. Your friends may know someone who’s looking for someone just like you. You can also maintain a business page as well as your personal page. I’m sure we’re all over posting about what we do on a minute to minute basis but why not include a little bit of business in with that pleasure, right? I also use Facebook as a tool get to know my clients. I can figure out their personality a bit and hopefully fit in better with them at the wedding after we share a few dozen memes. I also encourage my friends to share the posts that I really need them to, such as information about my business or deals I might be having. 

     One more thing on Facebook which i’ll give away to you. I only share all this information in the hopes that some of you will get really good and force me to up my game even more. So Facebook has that awesome algorithm that fits all you most important friends in and if a new person comes into your life you might start noticing them more on Facebook as well. Facebook judges how long you look at someone’s posts or how quick you scroll over someones post, if you’ve clicked on their page or their post. Facebook will now think that they should include more information in your newsfeed about this particular person, get it. So if I’m out there posting photos of abandoned buildings or amazing photos of cupcakes then I bet some of you may slow down or even click on my posts. This means you’re more likely to see my future posts, my future posts about my wedding photography business. 

     Another one of my tricks is simply posting all the photos that I really like, Europe, traveling, food, abandoned buildings, hiking, cityscapes, landscapes and then peppering in wedding photography. This works wonderfully with Instagram and Facebook. So start doing it. People notice when you have a passion. I know this because I continually get told this by brides.

    You can market yourself like a bad ass but the question is if you can keep it up for years. I do this non stop. Day and night, vacation or laying in bed I think about how to get my business even bigger and better. There's a lot of times when I make a purchase and i'm thinking if it will benefit my photography. Even when I buy food i'm thinking if I could take an awesome photo of it.

      I don’t always look at what everyone else is doing, I look at what they're not doing and then I see if I can fill that gap. One of the biggest things i’ve had to deal with and figure out was not listening to other people. I’ve listed to too many people who had ideas about my business who in all actuality knew nothing about my business.  Other photographers have told me how they do things and what has really helped is to be different from them. I’ve gone in the wrong directions way too many times from people telling me that “it won’t work”, “you can’t do it like that”, “the way you’re suppose to do it is…” and a million other negative or non helpful comments. When you’re starting out you have the freedom to throw it all against the wall and see what sticks. I still change the way I do things regularly, be adaptive, don’t have a set policy on anything. If your customers are all asking for something or expecting something a certain way then go with the flow. 

     So I don’t want to give away anymore of my secrets but I hope this helps you. I help a lot of people out with other businesses because some of this marketing advice really can translate to other fields. Feel free to leave me a comment.

Procrastinating is when I do my best work.

So i'm pacing around my apartment right now. I'm leaving for Hawaii in a few days and I have multiple deadlines to hit and also three meetings in the next three days which will all require follow up work. I put on a fireplace tv app on my Apple TV to help me focus and hear myself think. It's an optimal environment to finish up the work I have to do tonight. While pacing around I have my Polar seltzer and decide I need a salty snack. It hits me that i'm procrastinating even in these ideal work conditions which i've set up for myself.

     I tell myself "Sit down and focus", a phrase that was repeated to me very often in elementary school and high school. It never did help though, the phrase, a mantra, I just couldn't focus. I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a kid and took pills off and on again into college years and beyond. You may not believe it's a real thing, I know people out there can fake having this or just say that famous phrase of "I have ADD". But it really does exist and it sucks. My cleanliness at home is thanks in part to it because I am soo good at procrastinating that I have to take away ways to procrastinate from work. I will stop what i'm doing to clean, so if I keep my place clean I can't rationalize stopping work for that. But I find other ways. Stay with me, this blog has a quick point which you'll enjoy.

     What I'm trying to relate to everyone is that we're always moving forward even when we procrastinate. Sometimes my procrastination's have led me to meet new brides and grooms or to just find a deficit that I should be correcting in another area. I always felt bad as a kid when I couldn't sit down and focus and that just came back to me a few minutes ago. What I told myself to sit down and focus it just brought me back to elementary school and high school when I had my parents or teachers telling me that I need to focus. Pacing around my apartment theres a fireplace on my TV and it may feel like a wasted moment I guess but it was allowing me to work things out in my head as far as priority goes. When I think back to elementary school in high school all of my grades were predictable. I would not do any work in the beginning of the semesters and at the end when I was threatened with failure I would rise to the challenge and pass that semester and with high enough grade to bring up my failing grades from the previous semesters. I don't really do this much in life now, I don't do a crappy job in then make up for it later but what I do well is work under pressure. I found that working under pressure really helps me focus.

     So when I say I get all my best work done when procrastinating I really do mean it. It just may not be the work that I was working on.

     I hope you enjoyed this, this phrase just really brought everything back from me and I felt like I should write about it. As a kid with ADD I was always told to sit down and focus now as an adult I am pacing around my apartment but finding many different outlets to conquer. We're always moving forward even if it isn't on the specific tasks that you've started.

Business cards and why mine is the best.

Here's a few business cards i've put together.  You can see the evolution of my design.

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Brace yourself for a long winded rant about my business cards. You kinda asked for it... those were a lot of Facebook comments. 

      So Zazzle who I typically use for my business card had a little bit of a trimming mishap when producing my cards. They upgraded some of their behind the scenes editing software and it ended up pushing some of my text outside the cut lines. So this mishap meant they took care of me with credit and that allowed me to go back and readjust the cards. Additionally the thickness or weight of the card was so thick that during the cutting process the sheets shifted slightly. I had text very close to the edge and it showed any slight deviation. I only noticed it while dropping off a set of business cards. 

     I do want to preface this all with Zazzle is awesome. I've used other companies and I really have had good experiences with this company. The customer service is always top shelf. There has been times where I've made a mistake and other times where they've made a mistake. They have humans who work there and it turns out humans can make an occasional mistake, totally okay with that. I've had soo many people message with me various other companies that they use and I have to decline the help because I really do love this company and the fact that I have everything all ready and designed for print here.  So with this current mishap Zazzle took care of me and just recently sent me an additional box of cards which was done unpressured and just a show of appreciation. So I ended up with double the amount of cards. I've been using Zazzle since I started my photography business and it's nice to have a steady supplier like them. 

     So I've put this out to my friends on Facebook, the designing of my card. I was mostly looking for feedback on my red hat that I want to include. I've spent a lot of time designing my card to stand apart from everyone else. Typically everyone does the same exact thing. Name, Phone, E-mail, logo and maybe a slogan. Think about how many business cards look exactly the same. 

     The design of my business card has been the same with minor adjustments over the past five years. One side is always a large image of my logo, large enough to read if it's on the ground or a table. I've chosen the chubby size cards instead of the standard for two reasons, it stands out and doesn't fit behind other cards nicely. The second reason is it's different, it's usually been a tear-proof material which is always an interesting challenge to my clients to tear it up. 

     So I appreciate everyones input for the cards. Some of the advice I totally understand. Use a beautiful image you've shot, use this font, why is the phone number so big. This is not a card which I've put together quickly. It's been made to stand out from the pack.  A thousand cards will probably last me most of the year. Brides and grooms who typically end up with my card end up with it because they are in my office. Most people are finding me on Google, Facebook, Instagram or a random phone call. If these were being used for a wedding expo I would probably have something a bit different. 

     One of the biggest things with photographer is everyone happens to use a camera aperture for a logo (myself included, guilty). So I changed my logo a year or two back to something a littler bit more reflective of who and what. It now includes the words wedding which is my focus. I also have the dot come in the logo as well so now I don't have to do any additional dot come references elsewhere in the card. The main goal of my card is for it to stand apart from everyones no matter what business's card it's next to. My business name was believe it or not an AIM handle back in 1996 which was unity1818. Unity is an Operation Ivy song, not a Queen Latifah jam. It ended up as a placeholder for my website because I eventually needed one. Unity happens to work as a name for a business name but unity photography is actually taken by another photographer named Ken who I've actually met in real life. Anyways the reason I mention this is logos are hard and also very much essential to pull together a website, business card and any branding you may want to do. I didn't get to do anything cute like Two cranes photography or jumping cat photo. I based mine off a teenage Aol Instant Messenger name. 

     The giant phone number is something that takes people a second to grasp sometimes. I've had lots of people pick it up and say what is this and then it clicks. Then I have a few different sentences fit above, in-between and below the giant phone number. So whoever has already picked up my card because they don't understand the giant numbers at first and now they're reading all these sentences i've put on my card which is done is a very small font.  So they've spent anywhere from fifteen seconds to twenty seconds reading this side of my business card. I just times myself doing it from picking it up and skimming through everything. 

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TEXT LISTED CURRENTLY ON MY BUSINESS CARD

Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Facebook. Visit my website to find all my social media links.

Wow, this is a very impressive business card. Thank you, I agree. If you find this impressive then wait until you see my photos.

The number on this card is my phone number. Please visit my website to send me a more formal message.

Don't lose this card. Int has your future wedding photographer's contact info on it.

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There is a rhyme to my reason.... is that even a saying?

     So think about how long it takes for you to usually comprehend information on anyones business card. You look at a logo, an address maybe, hours possibly, phone and e-mail. I've already gotten almost twenty seconds of someones time. I've told them where they can find my social media links. I've directed them to my website to send me a message. I personally don't like a random e-mail from someone with a simple sentence "HOW MUCH" "WHAT ARE YOUR PACKAGES". So I love to direct people to my website where I have a proper contact form and more importantly all the information.  I've also included a little bit of my humor by saying how impressive the business card is. If you didn't get what the numbers were or skipped over the numbers in favor for a full sentence then it's explained here with the above text. I've also told them how important the card is and not to lose it, it has your future wedding photographers info on it. Okay, that last sentence is a little cocky but it's cool, I know I rock.

    So if you found this card and and saw all this information you would be able to get a quick snippet of who I am, personality wise possibly. As a wedding photographer i'm the person you'll have the most contact with during a wedding day. I'm literally with a bride all day long give or take some distance. The big thing I try to convey when I meet a bride and groom is the attitude of easy going. I'm very easy going, in fact most of my meetings i'm wearing that red hat and a hoodie. More meetings happen in the winter time. I'm also friending all of my brides and grooms on Facebook at some point. Since i'm spending the entire day with someone it totally benefits me to keep them in a good, relaxed and happy mood. Some of that comes from the informality of most of my approaches. I have brides contact me at eleven at night with a simple question or on Facebook on a Sunday afternoon. I'm very accessible and I make sure the bridal couple knows this. My goal is to have it feel like a friend is shooting your wedding. 

     With my current design i've chosen to remove some of the text to focus more on branding myself with my favorite object, a red hat. Affectionally worn for the past six years solid or so. I'm regularly recognized everywhere for this hat. Currently it's a red winter hat from American Eagle but i've also had many other variations of this red hat. I can't really wear baseball caps when I shoot outdoors and fedoras or these winter caps have always hung around me. I've actually gotten to meet a lot of my Facebook friends in public because they spot me somewhere in Worcester, Boston, NYC. It's a very bold color and my attire doesn't really have to match the hat. What i'm doing by including the red hat with my business cards are training anyone who ends up with this card to eventually be able to spot that exact red hat. Think about it. You have this random card with a red hat, phone, name, wedding photographer and you see a random photographer with the same exact hat. Chances are you are going to come up and say hi and tell me about how you ended up with the card. 

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I'm going to meander a bit, follow along.

     So beyond wedding photography I actually do a number of things. One of those things being web design. When I meet someone who asks for photos or video the first thing I ask is what it's being used for. They tell me they want to put it on their website or Facebook. The next question I ask is to see their website and from there I see their website is angelfire or geocities hosted (antiquated reference, totally worth googling). So from there I talk to them about web design in addition to photos. So I can put togethers someone website pretty easily with a few photos and rearranging information. Here's the other thing I do, consulting work. 

     What is consulting work as it applies to you? Okay, thats a question being asked to me if that didn't make sense there. What I do is interview a business owner and pull out content to add to their website. Often times while explaining things it leads to other questions which inadvenrtuly conclude with a change in their own business's infrastructure. One of the best questions you can ask someone is "What would this look like if it were easy". It's a question you can ask any business owner. It helps them identify a problem area and provide the easiest solution and then we can work on the actual route to getting there. I also will call out an weak areas in their dealings and suggestions I may have to changing routine. 

     So I deal with many different businesses and these owners all happen to be around Worcester and Boston and every once and awhile I get recognized in a Starbucks or while on the job shooting somewhere. I'm training everyone as well as brides, grooms to recognize and associate the red hat with Michael Hendrickson, wedding photographer. 

I have time.

So hopefully everyone will understand my reasoning a little bit better now. It's not simply a harsh design choice. I've slowly evolved it from the very simple to the more complex. My goal with my cards are to stand apart from everyone and I fear being similar to everyone else will make me blend a little too much. I've spent a few minutes to design some of what everyone's asked for in a business card just to appease some.

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I've made a few quick mock-ups of what some think would make a good business card. I've also reverted the size back to a standard business card size. This is not a dig on anyone. This is suggestions i've gotten on the initial thread on Facebook as well as in private messages. 

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Okay. So here's my final design. I did put some thought into this. If you've read this entire blog then hopefully you've fell on my side of the wall. 

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Hoodie and winter cap.

Have you ever been forced to wear a tie or dress shoes. Sure, you look good in them and it looks good from a clients perspective. But is it really necessary? 

     Whenever I meet with a client I usually am dressed as comfortably as I can be. I have sneakers on, a hoodie and my favorite winter hat. This is just something that has worked out very well for me. By dressing down I think I might be giving our meeting a little less high stakes feel and more relaxed vibe. My clothes don't sell me as much as my reputation and my photos do. In ten years and countless clients i've only had one objection to my clothing and that was from a single guest who was a bit oppositional and probably just had a bad day. Most of my clients are dressed in their everyday lounge clothes and the occasional Sunday best but ninety five percent are dressing comfortably so why would I be?

     My meetings are also the same as my dress, very informal and relaxed. I'm not pitching to anyone as much as i'm casually interviewing a couple to see if we're a good fit. I usually ask a dozen or two questions and click through a couple hundred photos. Spotify is playing a modern wedding playlist and the bottles of water are flowing. 

     The first question I have for any couple even before they meet with me is their wedding date. I often have people who get to me a week or two late and I'm not able to shoot their wedding. But in most cases I have the date open and we end up meeting. My office is in the second floor of Gerardo's Italian Bakery, it's a long story of how I got there. I have my books, some forms and a big tv to show my portfolio. 

     I do have a set package but I regularly adapt it to the couple sitting in front of me. The biggest thing for me is to be fair. I can't charge someone who has fifty people coming to their wedding the same I would charge with two hundred people coming. If I have an easier day ahead of me then the price can reflect that. I walk you through a typical wedding day which is usually from hair and makeup all the way to the last dance. Now you probably weren't interested in any books but I'll show you a few anyways. They're not as expensive as you thought in the end, most times. 

     So there is three things I hear from every bride and groom. We're really relaxed, our wedding is informal and unique, we're on a budget. I agree to all of these, you don't even have to tell me in fact. I'm going to capture beautiful memories regardless of budget or if you're a ball of stress. I like hearing about peoples visions for their weddings.It's easy to match someones enthusiasm about their weddings because I really am excited to shoot weddings.  

     By the end of the meeting I run across the price and I've gotten enough information to build a contract. I don't need an answer right now, i'm not a monster. I hope that we clicked and I leave the ball in their hands. 

     By the end of the meeting you never saw my dress shoes and we might have had on the same exact hoodie so you know we both have amazing taste. I send off an e-mail later in the day with details of our meeting and a contract with some instructions attached with it. 

     Hope to have you booking your wedding with me in 2018. Have a great day / night. :)

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Filters are for the lazy.

Believe it or not, no filter. This was shot with a Canon 90mm TSE (Tilt shift) lens

WGBH Live on Boylston Street

Government Center MBTA Canon 8-15 Fisheye

I just got this question recently when meeting with a bride and groom.

Why don’t I have black and whites, sepia tones, filters on my photos? This is very simple to answer, look back in your phone a year or two. Do see all the random filters that you were using on your Instagram photos / Facebook posts; they’re awful.

     Tastes change, styles adapt and people move on from trends. These are some of the most important photos that you’ll have of yourself, why would I put a trendy filter on and especially one that is so overused by Pinterest focused wedding photographers. De-contrast, playing with the highlights and adjusting the color temperature to be a bit more yellow doesn’t make a classic photo in my mind. I’ve also seen a lot of photographers use this as a crutch when a photo is mediocre or missing something.  

     Sometimes converting a photo to black and white looks great provided you do it the correct way and know what you’re doing with levels, curves and also saturation of colors and a number of other things. But here’s what we photographers know, this doesn’t make any photo a classic or immortalized image. Being honest, the only time i’ve actually made a photo black and white in recent history is when I absolutely couldn’t do what I wanted with the photo due to a number of reasons. I reluctantly changed it and adapted it because it was a moment that I did not want to throw away. I will never myself change a color photo to black and white though just to wow someone. One more example, white or black vignetting on photos… cringe. 

     Now here’s the part where i’m a dick and say mean things about other photographers. I really do try to be positive, like way too much.. usually. I know a great number of photographers that are shooting the exact material they were two or three years ago. Most photographers that I know get better every few months, years or just plainly have breakthroughs of creativity that make me very jealous. But I see some wedding photographers that never try new things, never purchase new equipment or develop their post game (editing).  Wedding photography is simply put a gym for photographers, you’re regularly pushed to adapt, learn and get better, faster, stronger at your photography.  I can look back every year and see my deficits or where i’ve made improvements. So here’s where I tie that back into what i’m saying, filters are a huge crutch for someone trying to hide the fact that they aren’t developing themselves. For the sake of the bride and groom you should be taking the payment and rolling a good portion back into your own development and/or equipment. This is your one chance to capture someone’s wedding and why would you put an ugly filter on such a beautiful day.

     What I try to accomplish with my wedding photography is creating accurate representations of what the scene actually looked like. I use different lenses and compositions to showcase different moments. I’m trying to achieve as close to as possible correct color profiles, your flowers are rarely neon or muted colors; it’s somewhere in-between I hope. It would be too easy to add filters to my photos and claim that I’m an artist and that this is my art. What I do is document and record moments as beautifully as I can. I don’t have a particular unique skill that no other photographer could ever attain. What I bring to the table is knowledge, personality, skill and a pretty good amount of equipment to back it up. I do use some creative editing techniques that highlight certain aspects of a scene or cast a cold blue morning as a more warn and sunny one. The best editing in my opinion is the kind you can’t detect. 

     If you want to add a filter on your photos you’re always welcome to do so but as I started out saying, look at your images with filters and effects from a year or two ago.. cringe. :) Imagine your parents wedding photos and imagine what it would look like with correct color or your grandparents images if it wasn’t shot in black and white (yes, I know that may have been all that was available at the time). 

I shoot weddings and would love to shoot your wedding.

Click here to see my website and learn more.

Moore State Park,  Canon 200mm 1.8

My cafe mocha. Shot with Canon 35mm 1.4

A thousand images!

So this just popped into my head, this idea of a thousand images or more for wedding photos. This is something I support, I've always support this from day one. I am writing this for brides, grooms and fellow photographers.

     There will always be criticism about the amount of wedding photos you share with clients or on the other end of the spectrum receive from a photographer because more often than not you wouldn't mind a few dozen or hundred more to look at or a bunch more to share.

    So originally I would give upwards of fifteen hundred images because I felt like I was holding images captive. If I had fifteen hundred images but only gave them five hundred, why? I prided myself in giving this extra value to my brides, grooms, clients, friends and family. Everyone was very happy after all at all the extra photos.  

     So the images that are completely cut from a wedding that are not used are the following, peoples backs, unflattering faces (not to be confused with a funny face or two which the bridal couple will enjoy), bad micro-expression, unflattering light, blurry photo, obscene, unflattering photo of bridal couple, duplicates of same pose unless there was a significant change in facial expression or posture possibly, bad hand placement during group photos. This is only a small multitude of examples of reasons.

     The remainder of the photos are variations of moments, different angles, views and composition. These are the usable photos, the ones that can be saved, shared and looked back on.  Some of the photos are a series of an event happening and not just the pinnacle of the moment.

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     So i'm going to start with the downside of sharing this amount of photos.  We as wedding photographers typically take more photos than we need. We do this because we don't know who's going to blink or if someone will suddenly have a horrible twitch in their face or move their hand to look like a t-rex's arm. Lots of photos, lots of options, lower risk of fucking up, better chance of getting something damn near close to magical. With all these photos you have to go through and perform triage, saying yes or no to which photos live and which ones die; a very important responsibility. More photos to look through can mean longer wait times for clients and also longer processing time for photographers.  

     Now when you give someone fifteen hundred photos that means they have lots of options, maybe too many options. The first dance photos maybe two dozen instead of a select six. When you have two dozen photos verses six that means that the most outstanding, perfect photo will take a bit longer to catch your eye or stand out. It also creates the perception that you quickly edited the photos and are giving them everything without selecting the bad ones to get rid of. You are also putting your photos up against your friends photos or other bride's photos where they have gotten the top fifteen percent of the wedding photos that were taken that day.  

     Let's use a box of donuts as comparison. I'm going to present you with a dozen donuts, some are chocolate frosted, a few chocolate frosted with sprinkles and maybe a chocolate glazed as well as the jelly, a french (You actually only capitalize french if it is a product of said country) cruller, and an additional complement of donuts. Now lets take that nice looking dozen and put it up against six good looking donuts, jelly, chocolate frosted, french cruller, blueberry, glazed, old fashioned. So you have a perfect assortment but maybe not a bunch of variations on donuts. 

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     So here's the upside of sharing as many photos as is reasonable. The most important reason first, you don't know who is important to the bride or groom. We don't know if they've seen their uncle or aunt in the past twenty years. We don't know if they don't get along with their parents and have reconciled for the sake of family and wedding. We don't know if their parents are divorced and this si the first time they've been in a room together in ten years. Their parents may live on the other side of the country, their sister may be in the army and home for the first time in two years. 

     So when you make the choice to not include a photo of Uncle John giving a hug or crying at the wedding then you forsaking a once in a lifetime moment.  You are the judge, jury and executioner when it comes to the selection of photos given. Why not lessen the risk of incorporating beautiful moments that you might not realize are happening right in front of your lens.

     I once had a wedding where I was going through the routine of getting all the moments, all the guests and performing top notch wedding photography. I spent around a month editing the photos and ordering the flash drive and finally presenting the photos. I found out that the bride's aunt had died shortly after from cancer and she was only in maybe three or four photos. She asked if I had more. Apparently the aunt had raised her since she was a preteen, she had meant more to get than her own mother in some sense.  I had no idea and this killed me that I couldn't do more for this bride. I'm only sharing this because I want to really impress upon you that we don't know who is special to the bride or groom and we have no idea the great history in everyone's relationships. The wedding guests are chosen very carefully and they're there to witness a huge landmark in a person's life. 

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     So when you give variation, option, choices you are allowing them to choose the best version of themselves in photos. You are giving permission for them to remember moments that they will most likely have missed on their wedding day. It's a little bit extra work to edit a few extra hundred photos, but you get better and faster at it.  Is it all worth it, sharing this many photos? Damn right it's worth it and I don't regret it for one second. Those extra photos usually mean that everyone who attended that wedding can find a flattering, fun and amazing photo of themselves or someone they love. This means they share, they brag and hopefully they say who took their photo. 

     I always argue about this with fellow photographers, I think I always will. I started giving out these extra photos as an added value to my product but through the years i've learned that this added value isn't quantity, it's beautiful moments that I didn't know were happening. 

How to be a successful photographer.

So I just spent the past hour writing this blog out and decided that It dragged on too long. It didn't have a point or it touched on too many. I'm going to make this clear, simple and short. I have given this speech to multiple people who ask me how to get into photography. I get asked quite regularly to take people on as an assistant or to bring them to a wedding i'm shooting or show them how to make money with photography. This is what I tell them.

     If I was a painter, a mason or made money doing carpentry I would pour all of my efforts into it. I would have the best brushes, watch videos on painting, try out different canvases, learn to make my own canvases. I would make sure everyone knew I was a painter, I might even have my own studio space just to paint. I have all the coolest painters clothes, aprons, gloves, hats to keep my hair out of my face. I have a cool logo that lets people know i'm a painter with my name in it and website.  I would also write about my paintings, enter them into shows. I would make sure I was on all social medias and I would pay someone to scan or get copies of my paintings online to share with everyone. I would make shirts and broadcast what I do. Everyone would want to come to me to have a painting done because they know i'm a painter because that's all I talk about. You could find all the books on my shelf have a common theme, painting. My instagram would feature my own paintings and a link to my website which has my work and also ways to purchase my paintings. I also would love to go to Meetup.com gatherings to meet other painters. My good friend is also a painter from Boston and we talk a few days a week on the phone and he does some things similar to me and some different things from me but we both love painting regardless. We regularly talk about how to price our work and what people will pay for it and what's fair and how to treat people who don't pay.  I would also be doing some work for charity with my paintings, maybe a themed project to help support a group, cause or person. When I do charity work, that gets shared on social media and talked about and every once and awhile my name will get thrown out to a commissioned painting or a series that someone will auction on. I love to go see famous painters speak as well and I always check in to whatever place i'm at to brag about my painting related activities.  

     If you truly love what you do and want more of it then show the world. Focus all of your efforts on it, leap without looking, live without the money and success and know that it's coming and it will. I'm where I am right now because i've made sacrifices with my time, money and relationships. I have had multiple people over the years tell me that it won't work and that you can't make money being a photographer. When I hear this all I can think of is how sweet it will be when i'm sleeping in or in a foreign city while they are scheduled to be sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer for the foreseeable future. 

     I love what I do and wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't have the friends I have, the life I have without buying that first camera, without shooting that first wedding, I regularly take all of my profits and roll them back to equipment costs and take work off and go on a "vacation" where i'm just taking photos so I have interesting stuff to share on social media. I also give up time with friends and family to spend with strangers taking their photos.

In the end i'm doing something important, i'm capturing memories that someone will have forever.  

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Canon Professional Services

So i've invested a little bit of money this past year in my infrastructure, one of those being Canon Professional Services.

I've belonged to Canon Professional Services for a few years but relying on the free or basic service. Mostly it's been nice to keep adding gear and watching my points go up. This year I upgraded to platinum which comes with a lot of benefits.  So you need to be an employee of a photography business or have your own and have at least fifty points in your CPS account. You get points by the amount of gear you own. So if you own a Canon Rebel with an 18-55 lens and a third party flash you're probably not going to cut it. Own a 5D mkIII with a 50mm 1.8, you're getting warmer. Basically you  have to be committed to photography and Canon to belong. If you have a basic rebel and kit lens and drop it, just buy a new one.  I have seven L lenses and two bodies and three flashes so I'm well above the mark for getting in.  So when you join for the low fee of $300 you get the following:

• New Member Welcome Kit: Welcome Letter, Exclusive CPS Platinum Gift, CPS Member Card, 2 CPS Pro Straps, 2 Rear Lens Caps, and 2 Camera Body Caps (contents subject to change) 

I received a Thinktank Laptop bag which has been really useful and the extra lens caps and body caps have been nice to stash away fro a rainy day. I don't really have any use for the two CPS Pro straps (You're welcome to buy them from me). I have Black Rapid and Spider holsters.

• Priority access (over Gold members) to Equipment Evaluation Loans (Try Before You Buy Program)*

I fell in love with the Canon 200mm f2. Thanks Canon for enabling me!

• Expedited 2 business day service turnaround** on CPS PLATINUM REPAIR LIST products

Dropped my 580ex II & 5d MKIII. Had it fixed before the following weekend's wedding. It was a damn good excuse to buy the Canon 600RT. The repair actually got back to me faster than the new lens, but regardless my accident enabled me to buy new toys.

• 30% discount on repairs on CPS PLATINUM REPAIR LIST products on up to 15 items per membership term

I have plans to ship out some lenses with a tiny bit of dust in them.

• Repair Coverage Loans***
• Free shipping both ways on CPS PLATINUM REPAIR LIST products sent in for service

I still have to find out more about this.

• Complimentary Product Maintenance Service**** on up to 10 Pieces per membership term

I will be shipping out some of my gear very soon before the wedding season starts! You could spend around $15 plus $40-60 for a cleaning for a single piece of equipment, why not get a bargain on this and sign up!

• Onsite event and show support, as listed on the events calendar
• 24/7 CPS Support Hotline (domestic and international)*****
• Discounted admission to select Canon Live Learning seminars and workshops

Anyways it's a good deal and you should give it a try. If you're a professional and want to know that someone is in your corner backing you up in the event of an emergency then this is the program for you.

This is also a good program for you to get to know lenses better. Sure you can watch Youtube (DigitalRev has some of the best reviews in my opinion) or you can read reviews on FredMiranda. But signing up for CPS and getting to use those lenses for a week and then paying the $15 to mail it back to Canon is even better. I've "evaluated" four lenses so far. One of those being the canon 200-400 f4. It was amazing and the looks you get from everyone is even better, priceless. 

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So my first lens rental from CPS was the Canon 200mm f2. I figured what better way to showcase this beast than putting it on the Canon EOS M3. Let me tell you, it was amazing. The image was creamy in the bokeh and tack sharp. I was able to shoot handheld in NYC at ISO 200 at night.  (Photo Below)

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Want to become a better photographer? Shoot weddings!

So the title pretty much sums up what I want to say. I'm going to keep this brief, mostly because I was just on my way out the door and then inspiration hit and I have to get this out before my Venti Mocha happens. 

     So if most of you don't know already, I'm a wedding photographer. People usually say one of two things, that's awesome it must be a fun job or I would never do that, i've tried before and it was too stressful. So if you've said either of these things you're both correct.

     This is a fun day, you're spending it with two people on the happiest day of their life; unless of course they have a baby or have just spent way too much at B&H (photographer reference). Everyone's happy on their wedding day despite the hiccups of the day and the hectic nature of the schedule sometimes. The bride and the groom see all their friends and family, get to show off dance skills and force everyone to watch them eat the cake; it's a wonderful time. As the photographer I'm also in a good mood. I've done enough where my day feels like i'm hanging out with new friends and just doing what I love.... taking photos. I get to share this beautiful day with two brand new friends of mine and I get to eat with all the rest of the people. I get unrestricted access to the best photos during the ceremony and reception. I'm not fighting anyone for the best shot of the bride and groom and when the dance floor opens up i've been known to dance with an aunt or grandmother too. At the end of the day I get to thank the bride and groom for inviting me to shoot their wedding by sending a dozen or so shots. It feels good to send those off and see all my photos pop up on their social media (I get tagged and I love it).  So again, to reaffirm, this is fun.

     So the other half of the coin, it's stressful and you don't think you could ever do it. Shooting a wedding is a marathon of photography. Sure you may have done an hour or two shoot before or two portraits in a day but imagine shooting six to twelve hours. When people think that it's going to be the most stressful thing, it's not... maybe the first dozen times. But once you realize that you're the one in control the better off you are. Often times or not my job feels like a photographer / chaperone. I'm typically reaffirming the bride & groom about how the day will unfold throughout the day. Okay, you're getting makeup done and afterwards we're going to take a big group photo, yes, not in your dresses yet or okay directly after the ceremony you'll have the receiving line we're everyone hugs you, shakes your hand and while that's happening i'm going to set up over here and then we can..... You get the point (excuse my run-on sentence), i'm guiding the day and reaffirming their schedule and letting them know if we're good on time or not. 

     So the way weddings make you a better photographer is this, you change settings location wise and on your camera hundreds of time throughout the day. Light changes, difficult people added into the mix, someone doesn't like the way their arms look or you found an amazing location that's a ten minute walk away that you have to convince everyone of. Shooting a wedding will make you a better technical photographer (unless you shoot on Auto). You'll constantly be changing angles, lighting and learning posing. You'll change your settings on your camera non stop and after awhile you can dial in whatever you need at a seconds notice. During the ceremony i'll have on a certain setting but as soon as that announcement happens introducing Mr. & Mrs. Smith i've already shot my few photos and now i'm changing everything on my camera to get those photos of the bride and groom walking up the isle in a bit different lighting situation. 

     The most difficult thing for me is looking at photos i've shot and asked myself why didn't I just drag the shutter a little longer or why didn't I just ask that lady to move out of the photo. So each wedding I improve on all these little details, I know that I'm just going to ask someone to move out of the photo, i'll yell at someone who's mugging too much for the camera. When people are difficult or uncooperative and say something like I don't like photos or are just ruining a group photo I remind them "These photos aren't for you, it's for Mary & Tom". The location's aren't always the same either. You may be shooting at a beautiful hotel in Boston and get to take photos around Boston Commons and some of the urban areas and then the next wedding is at the Elks lodge with a giant parking lot around it. This is a challenge but not unconquerable. You find other locations nearby and suggest that we take a ride up the road to the beautiful lake or go across the street to the bridge or if all else fails, embrace what you have. Take photos of everyone outside in front. Showcase where the bride and groom are, set up some awesome portraits inside, make it fun for everyone.  I also am constantly changing what I bring, some weddings I bring all my super telephoto lenses and others I just bring a few prime lenses. I'm constantly challenging myself, can I shoot a wedding on just a 50mm 1.2, damn right I can. Could I show up to a wedding with a Canon Rebel and kits lens, hell yes and I would have the best photos there. 

     So hopefully you're looking at this in a different light or I just got happy and excited for you for nothing. So to recap, each wedding is a six to twelve hour shoot (I don't put a cap on the time and I don't ask them for more money in the middle of their wedding, they just get extra time, thats it) where you get to shoot the same subject from wherever you want and also the subject is willing to go with any ideas that you put down. Let me rephrase this, imagine doing a photoshoot for two people and having eight hours and not nailing it, it's almost impossible. Regardless of how we all feel about our own work and how judgmental we can feel, the bride and groom are going to love their photos, they're in all of them! So long as you try your hardest and are honest about everything with the bride and groom about what they're getting they'll be happy. 

     Want to get better at photography, shoot weddings.