Professional equipment, patience and understanding are the key things needed to work in wedding photography, but a keen eye for detail and an artful approach can mean lasting success. The field is highly competitive and as with many occupations, there are good and bad people working in the field, but wedding photography is meant to be a permanent record of a couple’s happiest day at the biggest event in their lives.
Hiring someone not experienced at wedding photography can cause a lot of memories to be lost and not represent the day, as the couple would hope. Additionally, some photographers lack the patience and understanding to deal with children in the wedding, doting parents and demanding relatives and should probably stick to landscape or still-life photography. In wedding photography, the photographer and usually a helper, plan to spend the entire day with the bride, from her getting ready for the wedding through to the couple leaving the reception at day’s end.
Ideally, a person working in wedding photography will not only have a good reputation as a photographer, but will also have the personality needed to provide fantastic customer service is a usually stressful situation. Remembering that the photographer was hired to create a photo record of the bride and groom’s special day and will do whatever it takes to make the day go smoothly, from the picture standpoint.
Speedy Service Helps Grow Customer Base
One of the biggest complaints about wedding photography is the past has been the time between the wedding and receipt of the pictures. With many photographers, it can take up to two or three weeks before the proofs of the wedding are available and as long as two months before the final picture package is delivered. In the past, many photographers performed their own darkroom duties in processing pictures, but as time passed, they began outsourcing their developing business, allowing more time in the field taking pictures.
With the latest technology of digital photography and the quality of the pictures being near film-quality, the wait time is quickly being diminished. In many cases, the wedding photography proofs can be delivered in electronic format, such as CD or DVD with prints ordered and delivered within a week or two.
Additionally, by using digital cameras in wedding photography, the photographer can review the pictures before they are printed, reducing the cost of processing tremendously. If the bride or groom has their eyes closed in one picture, it may never see the light of day and there is no cost for and unused print.
