WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR when taking pictures?
Another tough question from a client here: "What do you look for when taking pictures?" Here's the answer, that I hope will give you some insight into how I work and give you a bit of help choosing a photographer that's right for you at the same time!
Wedding photography, for me, is so much more than just taking pictures. That is the overall goal, mind, but having a nice picture of a couple is not why I do it. I don't like "nice pics", that's not really what I'm after. This is why I, and many other photographers, loathe family formal pictures quite a bit. These are just "nice pics". They don't show any emotion, feeling, romance or love. They are "stand over there and smile", type pics.
An incredible photograph doesn't have to be shot on a tropical beach, with a stormy sky and lightening crackling on the horizon. Of, course, I'm not saying that this isn't a recipe for an incredible pic, it can be, but all you really need is a couple who love each other and a car park. When you capture the fierce look of love sparkling away in their eyes as they look at each other; the way they hold one another; the way their lips curve up in a smile before they lean in tenderly for a kiss; when you see all this in a photograph, and really feel it for yourself, that's when you know you're looking at an incredible picture.
I'm after incredible MOMENTS, because these make incredible pics. When a couple say they have relived their day when they look through their picture set, I know I've nailed my brief. They've FELT, not seen, their day again. This is the magic of photography - a photographer should have an uncanny ability to capture images that evoke the very thing that makes us human, our feelings.
Peeps, when you're looking through all the pictures that on your prospective photographer's website or Facebook Page, even mine - forget the websites, names, comments and recommendations for a brief moment - when you look at an image, don't forget to stop, just for a second, and take notice of how it makes you FEEL, because this is the mark of an incredible photo. It might not make everyone feel that way, but if it pulls at something inside of YOU, then this person may just be the kind of photographer you're looking for.
The image below evoked something in the couple I captured it for. They saw it and felt their love for each other all over again.
And, guess what? It was captured in a car park.
