New here. an observation... (wedding photography and Negative Comments)

billydoo73 · Aug 10, 2011

I see SO MANY posts on SO MANY forums from first time wedding shooters. The threads always end up with many old-school long time wedding photographers posting stuff about how wrong it is to not shoot as a 2nd photographer for months or years first, etc. It gets tiring. I am a NooB here, but not a NooB in life.

Here it is...

There are a lot of talented people out there with an artistic eye and a creative edge. Camera prices have fallen into the affordable range and you can take 1000 shots with little fiscal penalty. The result is many happy bride and grooms. Seasoned pros that switched from film are angry. I guess I can understand, but, oh well. The world has changed. I used to record music and now there is no such thing as analog tape!

Enough already. i see people post their first time wedding shots and they look awesome! then, some seasoned pro chimes in that the light under the left eye was 10% too dark. ok. the bride LOVED the shot...so, therefore, the shot was 100% perfect. THE END.

I have practiced medicine for 10 years and when I was new, nobody yelled at me saying I have no right to practice until I have done it for "blah blah blah" length of time. I did it and got better and better. now, i am a seasoned pro. but, there are some young guys and gals with skill and I respect that and encourage them as they grow.

So, accept the fact that the field of photography had changed and anyone with some skill and business sense can enter the field and too quite well. don't discourage. instead, encourage. I would rather hire a young gun with skill to shoot my wedding rather than an old schooler that goes through the motions with a chip on his/her shoulder.

I don't mean to offend. just an observation.

Kerbouchard · Aug 10, 2011

Well, I think you did mean to offend, but we'll ignore that for now, and concentrate on everything else that you said that was wrong.

Let's start with the practicing medicine thing...You just woke up one day and decided to practice medicine? Heck no, you had 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 3 years of residency. More if you are a specialist. During all that time, you had to observe procedures, be observed performing the procedures, etc, etc. I'm not going to pretend that wedding photography should require the same training that you had to go through to practice medicine, but neither are something you just wake up and decide to do. With any profession, it makes a lot more sense if you have the proper training and the proper guidance when you are starting out. Especially for wedding photography. If you give me a bad diagnosis, I can always get a second opinion. If the pro at a wedding screws up, the bride doesn't get to just redo the wedding with another photographer. It's a once in a life time event, and the photographer should have enough respect for the couple to not screw up the one thing that they will be able to show their grandkids in 50 years.

As far as who you would rather hire or whether or not you think it's okay for a guy to go buy a camera, shoot 1000 photos, give the bride a DVD and hope there are some on there the bride likes is a bit besides the point. Sure, there are photographers out there that fill that market segment. Most of the enthusiats or pros on this forum don't cater to that market and we would hope that the people who frequent this forum want to offer something a bit better.

katerolla · Aug 10, 2011

well said Kerbouchard you took the words out of my mouth.

and to
Billydoo

you can't just buy a stethoscope and call yourself a doctor just as you can't buy a DSLR and call yourself a photographer, I studied photography at university for 4 years and worked as a second shooter for two years. there is so much more to photography then what people think I still find myself looking thinks up asking photographers questions buying books and studying lighting techniques I will never in my life time know every thing about photography no matter how much I want to.
I know photography is not as a big deal as medicine since it can’t kill anyone hopefully, but a wedding is a one off event and don’t you think if you wanted it photographed you would hire someone who knows what they are doing and not someone who bought their first DSLR and got a few lucky shot.

Overread · Aug 10, 2011

I'm going to pre-emptily lock this thread, not because the site does not welcome healthy debate, but because this is one subject that gets done to death, almost every time there is a newer photographer approaching weddings. The subject generates a lot of contention between members and, in general, its rare for it to go anywhere positive once the debate starts to rage.

If there are members reading this and feeling that they could and do want to engage in debate beyond simply slagging matches you can PM me and if I get a good showing of members intending to have a proper, serious, debate I'll re-open the thread (on the condition of course, that it remain a debate and not a slagging match).

I don't mean this as any slight on you billydoo73 and I welcome you to the forum and hope to see you around the site and hope that you enjoy your time here.