The Pro Photo Business Forum

Is there anything more memorable then an amazing portrait of a bride and groom on their wedding day? When I look at wedding albums usually the first thing I see is great shot of the newly weds gracing page one. It sets the tone for the rest of the album and builds anticipation for what lies inside. Instantly the memories of the day will flood the minds of the viewer and chances are the bride and groom will never look this good in a photograph again. It’s a huge responsibility to be sure, but one I always look forward to and strive to improve on with each and every wedding I shoot. 

With that in mind we as photographers can’t afford to take such images for granted, we couldn’t allow ourselves to just show up and hope for the best. What to do? If you’re like me you spend countless hours searching the websites of other photographers, or maybe you’ve subscribed to a few wedding photographers blogs via RSS. Or, maybe your regularly thumb through the pages of Grace Ormond, The Knot, or some other wedding magazines. It’s a great way to get ideas and see developing trends from people in the business. It’s called cognitive stimulation, and there are many hidden benefits to this activity.

Stimulating your cognitive senses is like visual Viagra for the photographer and when put to good use can be just as satisfying in an artistic sense. Several things happen when you feed on a well balanced diet of visual input. First you are making constant deposits in the bank account of your sensory perception – basically your feeding the artist within. Images you like stay with you and are there to withdraw when you need them. As an example, many times I have found myself walking through a venue looking for visual cues for dramatic photographs, an archway, a chandelier, a row of columns, whatever. Unfortunately not every venue has such architectural characteristics and this can leave you feeling somewhat disheartened. However, there may be things that you may not have thought of before, ways of shooting that may not have crossed your mind, or you simply have not used. However, when you have a large amount of images stored away in your cognitive bank account you may remember seeing a similar setting that when lit correctly looked amazing. Believe it or not, those images will pop back into your mind when you need them.

I had recently viewed a blog post by Jasmine Star, wherein she blogged about inspiration. She had posted a photograph of the wall behind her desk that was littered with images, some wedding, some fashion. Were they images of her best work staring her in the face every day as a constant reminder of how good she had become? Nope. Were they their for her clients to see how many magazines she had been published in? Nope, nope… The images on her wall were the works of other photographers she admired and wanted to emulate, the direction she wanted her imagery to head in. Each day that she sees those images the more likely they will be locked away in her mind for future reference. A cognitive billboard on the roadway of her creative process.

Now if you’re thinking that you need to develop your own style or be true to yourself, an original photographer who works are solely your own, don’t give up on this idea. Why not? I’ll tell you a brief story and then you decide if this is for you or not. Way back in 1993-94 when I had decided to renew my love affair with photography I enrolled in a couple of photography classes at the local college. My instructor encouraged us to show him our best work, so I took him up on the offer and brought in an album of what I considered to be my best work. He flipped through the pages of the album much like Jack Nicholson when he was portraying the Joker in the movie Batman. As he thumbed through Vicki Veils portfolio all you could hear him say was crap! While Lee didn’t verbalize that particular term, his saying, “All I’m seeing a bunch of family pictures and a few dime a dozen-landscape shots” was just his polite way of saying crap! He didn’t have much else to say but he did take us to the library and dropped a bunch of photography books on the table. “Look through these.” he said. “This is art.” There were allot of books, far more then you could look through in the hour or so that we had to do it. So I made it a point to visit the library before every class and spend an hour really devouring the imagery of such great photographers. One day I came across a book that included landscape photography and it got me to thinking. “What if I tried to take pictures like these guys?”

Not long after, I subscribed to a few landscape photography magazines to feed the starving cognitive child that had been borne within the confines of the right side of my brain. I began to cut out the pictures I liked and paste them in a folder that I would take with me when I went out to shoot. When I saw a scene that looked like the ones in the folder I would try to shoot it in the same way that those images had been done. Before long I was able to recognize the visual cues in the landscape and how to arrange them in a way that was artistically pleasing. This process went on until I no longer needed to rely on other photographs. Before I knew it I was relying on previous experience and the ability to pre-visualize the image in my head.

A few years later I had entered an image I had taken at Canyonlands National Park called “Days End – Candlestick Tower Overlook”, (google it, it’s all over the net) in the local art museums annual art show. To my surprise the image won the LMAC Award. It’s like winning an Oscar in the photo community of the Antelope Valley. My photo teacher was the only other photographer that had ever won that award. Now here was the student beating out the teacher, and for me the circle was complete.

Interestingly my photo teacher had once said to me that you will need to shoot 100,000 images before you will develop your own style. This is so because no one is a natural born photographer. Think about it, have you ever heard of a child photography protégé? I never have.  This is because photography is a learned medium that takes time to develop. This isn’t to say that you can’t be born with a pre-disposition to be a great photographer, but there are so many technical and aesthetical properties involved that the ability to create amazing images with a camera is a learned skill. Learning by proxy is one way to get on the fast track to developing your own unique vision of the world and allowing your style to emerge.

The other aspect of photography that you are going to have to learn before your style will be allowed to blossom is the nuts and bolts behind every image. You need to learn your gear, and acquire the tools to make it happen. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get by without them, but they sure make the job easier and nine times out of ten better.

The first image is a perfect example of having the right tools. After the ceremony and formal shots were done the bride and groom wanted to get some shots alone on the beach. No problem right? Wrong… The sun had set and it was getting dark. I needed a few things to be able to get a usable image for my clients. First I needed to introduce an artificial light source to illuminate my subjects. Second I needed a way to trigger that light source. And third I needed an assistant to make adjustments and hold the light source. Take away any of these tools and no image, no usable image anyways.

The process of this image had begun long before the day of the shoot. Having and knowing how to use those tools is essential, after all do you really want to be learning how to use your wireless flash setup on paying customers? From previous experience I know that the camera manufacturer’s IR triggering system wouldn’t work at this distance, so I used a set of radio slaves. Having an assistant who knows how to adjust your strobe is definitely a lifesaver. A little training and practice ahead of time is all that’s required.

When I had booked this event the bride had informed we before hand that she definitely wanted images taken by the ocean. Being new to the area I had never been to Galveston before so this required a little homework on my part. Simple stuff like how far was the beach from the venue, what time of day, how much time would I need to schedule in between the days events.

Although I had never been to the Galvez, the other two images were the products of pre-visualization. As I walked into the lobby of the hotel I instantly recognized several areas that I could use to create some dramatic portraits with the right lighting. This was a direct result of the cognitive bank account I mentioned earlier. Once I saw them I could see other images that I had locked away of similar settings and I could see how to use those setting to achieve a similar result but in my own unique style.

So if creating dramatic, romantic, wedding day imagery is your goal, remember to feed the artist within a steady diet of the work of those you admire and get familiar with the tools you have at your disposal. 

Houston Wedding and Portrait Photographer - Scott Villalobos www.rsvpstudios.com