Photograph Weddings for Yourself
It’s the couple’s wedding day;
is it selfish to photograph someone else’s wedding day in the way that you want?
I don’t think so.
I’ve always been told and read on sites that as wedding photographers you can’t embrace your true style because you have to give what the clients want. There is an expectation set for wedding photographs and you are expected not to deviate from that.
Who sets the expectations?
The wedding industry pumps out what the expectations are for wedding photographs and the difficulty is understanding what your style is among an industry.
Do you have to buy the same presets or photograph with the cameras as the successful photographers?
Do you give what apparently “the people want” and shut that artistic voice you have, or do what you want and worry that “the work won’t come in.”
A long time ago, I felt as though I had lost my style and vision. There was a lot of pressure to edit with a certain preset and to pose couples in a particular way. Websites like Pinterest while are inspiring can have the very opposite effect. It can limit the imagination.
A perfect example.
It seems as though these are the photos that get the most attention on wedding platforms. That thought can prove to be discouraging. The feeling of sacrificing your own style to gain popularity can surface.
When I was going through this “figuring out” process I felt like I had a list of photo templates to shoot on a wedding day as if they were to be checked off of a list. After a while I began to notice each templat-ed photo could be interchanged from one wedding to another. If you are shooting the same photo on a different day, what is the difference?
I realized that clients were actually missing out on how their story
should be told based on their day which is how I truly wanted to photograph.
Instead, I was following following expectations.
Set the expectations yourself.
It was around this time I had watched an interview with David Bowie.
Sometime in his career he said he had “lost his way.” This resonated with me. I realized I had lost my “voice” and by not photographing for myself that people were receiving the standard.
If I truly loved the photographs I took and photographed the moments and things that actually caught my attention, then the people that hired me would be receiving the best I could give. My heart would be in it.
I’ve navigated my approach to one that excites me most and works with my personality the best. I was told in the past that I was too quiet and that I could never be a wedding photographer because of it. I “needed to be bubbly,” because this is what people expected of their photographer. The “photographer set the mood” they told me.
Instead of changing my personality, I learned how to use my quietness to my advantage.
My quiet, observant nature allows me to simply co-exist and remain unnoticeable so I can photograph easily missed scenes. Because of this we end up working with a lot of couples who are on the same wave length. I would miss out on that if I tried to be something that I’m not.
The amazing thing about you and your business is you create your own individual product.
Whatever you naturally are - outgoing, charismatic, quiet, odd, awkward - enhance that through your business. If people request photographs or an approach that doesn’t align with the style or vision you want to offer, don’t feel like you need to change. The reality is; the brides and grooms out there have a sea of photographers to choose from.
What about your vision and voice?
Most likely that thing you are holding back in your style, approach, editing, branding, whatever - is lacking in the industry.
And someone is looking for it.
That is why I think photographing for yourself isn’t selfish but it means giving your best work.
Now, I leave you with the interview that particular David Bowie interview. It’s worth the watch.
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