Outerfocus

Devon is quite a hike from Durham, nine hours through Friday traffic to be exact. It was worth it though and I had the pleasure of staying two nights in a proper country B&B. Like a home away from home.

If the bride and groom, on their day, don't want any group shots, who am I to tell them otherwise.

I recently observed a conversation in a Wedding Photography Facebook Group. It wasn’t pretty. 

The question was asked - ‘I have a wedding next weekend and the couple don’t want any group shots, what do I do?’

Not fucking group shots, that’s what!

The comments ranged from ridiculous to even more ridiculous, with wedding photographers insisting that they tell the couple that they must have them as it’s an essential part of a wedding. 

‘They’ll regret it if they don’t, you’ll get the blame!’ 

And the pièce de résistance, ‘The group photos are the fist ones that people share on Facebook when someone dies’! Ha hahahahhahahahahahah.

When did wedding photographers become so arrogant that they think they know what’s best?

When did wedding photographers become so disillusioned that they think only their photographs, on that day, matter?

It’s like no one will have taken a photograph of Granny Smith in her life, and today is the only chance.  And what does it matter, when all is said and done, if there isn’t a photograph of Granny Smith stood beside Uncle Harry. Fuck all, that’s what it matters.

Tradition seems to override logic, and the ego of the photographer takes control of the situation. Guys, it’s not the 1920’s anymore, people own cameras, it’s thing now.

Don’t get me wrong, if my clients request some group shots I’ll quite happily oblige, but if they want every combination of family member and guest, I’m not the photographer for them. If they don’t want any at all I’m certainly not going to force an outdated viewpoint down their throat and demand that they do. Just to keep my ego happy.

there’s always something dreary and inconsequential happening in photography news, and yesterday was no exception. i’m sure that i only follow certain blogs so i can get angry about stuff.

i mean, i really don't care that a photographer dressed his dog up or a father/ photographer makes his baby into a super hero or blah blah blah....

blogs don't give a shit about what they are telling you, they just want eyes on their page and happily regurgitate the same old shit that everyone else is blogging about.

onto yesterdays BIG story:

wedding photographer does the most amazing thing ever! 

‘i bet he didn’t’ was my original thought. and i was right.

what he did, was to present the wedding album to the couple on the evening of their wedding day. WOW! cried the sheep that follow, and BRILLIANT! and RAD!

erm.......pfft!

as a wedding photographer i personally and painstakingly select every image that is presented to my clients. i have to, it’s my work and it’s about the photography!  

each image is given the attention that it deserves and processed the way i believe it should look. images are set aside for up to two weeks and then re evaluated to ensure that i’ve made the right choices and that they, as a whole, tell the story of the wedding day. not just how it looks, but how it feels.

the couple then make their final selections for their album, which is then designed by me, proofs sent, amendments made (maybe 4-5 times) to make sure its exactly how it should be, including the couple in the process.

to have a team of people do all of that work with no input from the couple is unimaginative, disconnected, a PR stunt, formulated, not what photography is about, stale, emotionless crap.

well done for removing anything personal in the creation of you sister in law’s wedding photographs and final album.

i can’t believe people fall for this kind of thing. 

the photography industry doesn't speak to me, i don't understand what it's saying anyway.

i think it's telling me that i might be wrong, that the gear i use isn't good enough anymore. i read some top tips and i'm not doing any of those things. there's rad thing that everyone is doing to improve their photography and i'm not doing that either.

mark cohen isn't telling me this, neither is elliot erwitt, or martin parr, or robert frank, or bresson, or klein, or fink. they are telling me to do it my own way, and fuck everyone else.

i don't like weddings, i’m not too keen on wedding photographers either. most (that i’ve met) have been quite literally, full of shit. their work is substandard and just because they have a bazillion followers and are shooting 70 weddings a year it doesn’t make them good.

‘but look how popular i am’! 

look how popular mcdonalds is you moron, and justin beiber! 

and by not liking weddings i mean the standard, off the shelf, i have to do this because it’s what i think i have to do weddings. come on, it’s not the 16th century it’s 2015, do what the fuck you want!

for me it’s never been about weddings, it’s always been about the photography.

a makeup artist at a wedding today,

‘some photographers really annoy me, i do the makeup and hair and they never seem to capture it how i want. i mean, i rely on them to supply me images for my website. i need them for my business’

as she’s doing the brides makeup,

‘when i’m done, your photographer will be taking loads of pictures of your hair and make up, it’s important that you get them shots. i hardly got ant from my photographer and i was really disappointed’

she goes on,

‘i did this once, i did that once, blah blah blah...........’

what the fuck is it with some people? why do they think it’s their right to have free images?

i will happily pass along a couple of images to hair & makeup people, if they’re nice and genuine and not a dick. don’t try and manipulate the situation and your bride into getting free images, i have a very strong bull shit detector and don't suffer fools. 

so you, will be getting nothing from me other than my sincere disapproval if anyone mentions that are thinking of using you. well done for being a dick.

lots of love,

there's still an argument surrounding photography as to wether or not it's art, and i can see why. no other art form has a make it great setting, and when i say great I mean ok. 

musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers, world champions etc. all have to work hard, be dedicated and give up so much to become great. hours upon hours of study and practice, but with photography there's a setting. a setting that can, from the outside, make you look like you know what you're doing. a setting that can make your photographs look great, ish. 

right, just a little something i need to get off my chest.

i was working with a wedding fair company a while back, for about a year, and here’s how it went:

i was looking too exhibit at a couple of local wedding fairs to cut down on my usual miles away weddings, so i contacted a few event companies. most of whom gave me the cold shoulder because they’d never heard of me (DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!) and had their preferred cliques. 

one responded in a friendly and enthusiastic manner so i decided to give them a go. 

all was well, they seemed to be quite new to the industry and wanted, it seemed, to do things a little differently. hurrah!

as time went on i was asked if id like to get involved in their styled shoots for their magazine as they loved my work. ok, that’s not really my thing, but if they wanted to do things a little differently, i’m in!

their new magazine was being put together and i was asked for my input, i was given a column, of sorts, and i was featured. 

‘great’ i hear you say. well, to the tune of £300 or so. hmmmm

the magazine, 10,000 copies, was distributed. full of my images from the styled shoots, me, about me, and some of my portfolio. great!

as time went on i did a couple more wedding fairs for the same company, where i took some photographs for their promotion. i also did another styled shoot. i had meetings with the owner to discuss the future or the magazine and how it could be different from the rest, where i gave my input and advice.

now, heres the thing.

from the styled shoots, everyone involved got something from me. the magazine had a feature and a catalogue of images to be used in the future, the suppliers were given images to use in their portfolio and advertising, and everyone got my time and expertise. 

what did i get?  fuck all that’s what. 

when discussing the next issue of the magazine the issue of price came up for me to have a featured shoot & advert in it. i mentioned that, from the last 10,000 magazines i had received bugger all interest, nothing, zilch. 

i was informed that i had booked a wedding from one of the models used. whoopee fucking doo! a wedding. like i wouldn’t have survived had i not worked for free.

each shoot involved me being there for the day, figuring out lighting set ups, directing people, making images that were, I'm my opinion, better than anything else that they had ever had, processing those images, formatting those images, and putting all of my acquired  knowledge and understanding of photography into someone else business. not to mention travel costs. and again, what did i get from this? fuck all that’s what.

so, price for me to be involved again ....oooh, maybe £350, or more depending on the final production costs. waaaaaaaaaaaaattttt!

i was told that for this to work, everyone had to chip in, help with the magazine to promote the wedding fairs so people would come to them and make everyone successful. 

you’ve already had £1000′s of pounds worth of my time and expertise, and i’m getting nothing, absolutely nothing. fuck that.

i’m not in the business of keeping your business afloat. 

why can’t people see that there has to be some give and take, or it just doesn’t work, and why do people think that photography is free? i was prepared to be part of something, to help make the wedding industry better, and to do that i was prepared to give up a couple of days of my time. i could have been shown the same kind of courtesy.

needless to say, the magazine and company are still doing the usual, same as everyone else nonsense that is just happy to plod along and follow popular trends blindly. 

well done for doing fuck all apart from piss me off!

lots of love,

that’s right, i did, and apparently i didn’t come across as a dick. you can have a listen here:

 http://photobizx.com/taking-a-stand-with-your-photography-business/