Blind Rush

Another snapshot from Erinn’s wedding.

One thing I’ll have to keep an eye out on, for my own couples, when shooting weddings I’m paid there to do, is going to be to take a small amount of time away from the safety shots – the gimme’s.

What I need to do is get the portrait, the typical, desired, conventional head-shot – that’s what I’m paid to do – and then make sure I leave enough room to express my vision creatively (that would be why I was actually HIRED in the first place).

Anyone can point the zoom lens of their expensive camera at the bride and groom – not everybody is going to capture emotion with it, and even fewer are going to take note of what’s going on around them.

A second shooter can certainly take some of the pressure off getting crowd shots, and is a great resource to have; certainly one I hope to bring with me on a few gigs, but that’s an extra I’m adding to on my own: feed the artists y’know?

If you were hiring someone for your wedding, or event, you probably hired them based on creativity (if you hired them based on price, as a commodity, then you really didn’t hire THEM but their ability to push a button – no matter if that person has creative vision or not – you haven’t noticed it, or you’re not paying for it), if you hired them based on their personal vision – what ratio of “keepers” would you expect from your event?

What I’m asking is, if they weren’t concerned with the “safety” shots – the MUST HAVES – they may get far fewer keepers, but what they will get, maybe only a few (a few dozen?), I’ll wager is a piece of art unto itself, would you go for it? Or the commodity: the 10,000 most in-focus images available?

There’s no right or wrong answer here. I happen to believe both are valuable given different contexts of need, and any professional worth their salt will come away with a great ratio of both. But I am just curious of the outcome – given creative freedom – how an artist could work, and produce, in what is otherwise a very commercial setting…

Please, leave a comment – let me, and others, know what you think.

Posted on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 10:13 pm. Filed under: Portraits Tags: Bride, Groom, Indian, Ottawa, Wedding RSS 2.0 feed.