Photography jobs?

Zazen999

ringo_24601 wrote: »

When i take shots with my flash, pointed towards the ceiling to bounce downwards, the pictures look so much better than from a '10mp point and shoot' it's remarkable. Same goes with portraits, with a very low aperture that a point-and-shoot can't manage, you get lovely blured out backgrounds with pin-sharp faces.

Exactly, which is why the OP needs to learn the ropes before venturing on any weeding missions

andygb

TizzyDizzy wrote: »

You maybe right, but I hope not. I agree that out of 1,000+ snaps you are going to get some good ones, but to rely on guest photos (even with decent cameras) would be a little ambitious/foolhardy?

I suppose it's like saying that everyone has access to the internet and design software now, so there won't be a need for designers anymore (coming from a graphic and web designer - I really hope not!). At the end of the day, you are not really paying for the equipment, you are paying for the talent and skill of a professional photographer. I for one would not have been without our photographer on the day

I have an old Nikkormat 35mm, and I bet that I could better the results from most 10MP cameras. I was chatting to a guy in a local camera shop the other day, who I hadn't seen for twenty years, and he reckoned that 35mm film (Fuji Velvia or Kodachrome 25)shot through a decent lens, using a tripod, would be equivalent to a 30MP camera. So, I went home and looked through some old slides - the contrast, colour balance and sharpness is truly something to behold.
A really good photographer (and I am not including myself), will bring the occasion alive with stunning prints.

paulwf

To clarify I should point out that I agree the megapixels numbers game means nothing and that quality outweighs quantity, however this is the views I've got from other people. Basically;

- pro photographers cost a lot of money
- pro photographers often annoy their customers by restricting the number of photos available or do prints only, not many will give the customer the full photo shoot in digital format
- some people don't like the formality and faffing about of posed photos
- even if a pro photographer is used for the main wedding shots there is little need to hire them for the whole day to cover the informal evening shots

Essentially the market is likely to decrease in the next few years unless photographers adapt. Perhaps more photographers need to move with the times and offer their customers the entire photo shoot in digital format in the price, and even offer to put all the photos on Facebook and even collate photos from all the guests. Just creating a formal wedding album and charging for that looks very old fashioned now let alone in 5 years time.

andygb

paulwf wrote: »

To clarify I should point out that I agree the megapixels numbers game means nothing and that quality outweighs quantity, however this is the views I've got from other people. Basically;

- pro photographers cost a lot of money
- pro photographers often annoy their customers by restricting the number of photos available or do prints only, not many will give the customer the full photo shoot in digital format
- some people don't like the formality and faffing about of posed photos
- even if a pro photographer is used for the main wedding shots there is little need to hire them for the whole day to cover the informal evening shots

Essentially the market is likely to decrease in the next few years unless photographers adapt. Perhaps more photographers need to move with the times and offer their customers the entire photo shoot in digital format in the price, and even offer to put all the photos on Facebook and even collate photos from all the guests. Just creating a formal wedding album and charging for that looks very old fashioned now let alone in 5 years time.

Paul, are you a photographer?
"some people don't like the formality and faffing about of posed photos" - some people do - the bride and bridegroom, and they are the most important people at the wedding!
Do you want to pay the photographer nothing for a good job?

[Deleted User]

From what i've seen (after spending months going to wedding shows), the majority of wedding photographers are moving towards a mix of formal portraits and 'photojournalism style'-shots. A lot will now provide a package which gives you all your photos on a DVD

I think the OP has been scared away now

PasturesNew

I know somebody who just "wanted to be a photographer" and because he was living in London and "knew people", he got asked to be a photographer's assistant (he had no equipment, experience, qualifications - in fact he'd even been booted out of his English degree several years before) ... this guy had NOTHING going for him except: location (London) and contacts (old boy network).

Within a year he was doing huge shoots as a photographer for national newspapers, magazines and books. Actual commissions.... and was hanging out with Page3 models at parties most weekends. He was being paid to go off on location around the world. Oh - and his photography isn't THAT good, he was just being very lucky.

So, you can do the proper thing and study hard, work towards it, be better than the rest etc etc ... or you can move to London and work out who "the right people" are, schmooze them and blag it.

teabelly

Top idea PN

Photography is easy to do. Everyone does it so you have to be exceptional to stick out. Having seen some of the efforts of pro wedding photographers I think there is still a market for high quality pictures as to be honest a lot of them are just plain average. Same old boring shots and poor lighting. They don't seem to add anything to the event. They also can be intrusive and irritating. The best photographers are ones you don't notice. If you don't really remember them being there then they're doing a good job!

Jo_R_2

I know a little about this as my ex photographed weddings.

As PN said, you can get in by knowing the right people (that's quite a story!) You can go the traditional route, and generally to get into professional photography you need to study, preferably to degree standard, as this not only gives you the theoretical knowledge and practical experience you need (and helps greatly with contacts - the lecturers are usually involved in photography as a profession or involved in 'allied' careers such as graphic design etc) but enables you to join one of the professional bodies, which you can use the logo of when advertising, and there are very strict restrictions on how to become a member and practice as such a professional.

A great way to get experience as mentioned is to work as a wedding photographer's assistant. My ex did this with a respected professional photographer, and eventually was given the reponsibility of certain portions of the wedding photos. There was the stipulation with this however, that any photos that were deemed suitable for the happy couple's collection were property of the main photographer but would be appropriately credited.

This paticular photographer rarely advertised incidentally; although he had the professional accreditation, he got nearly all his wedding work by word of mouth.

Hope that's of some use!