The Decisive Moment

Back to the subject of Wedding Photography, again (I suspect we’ll be covering this one a lot!).

I was talking to my friend Mark, who I have mentioned before is right now going through the transition from keen amateur to professional. Mark was telling me about the half a dozen or so weddings he has covered for free, or dirt cheap, in order to have the opportunity to get a few weddings under his belt and into his portfolio. Oh, and for the experience of course, which never comes cheap in this game!

The trouble is, he is now in danger of being labelled as a “cheap wedding photographer” for the foreseeable future. Although having covered friends’ and relatives’ weddings at a special rate has lead to a number of referrals, the referred clients have an expectation of an inexpensive photographer covering the event from dusk till dawn.

It strikes me that when trying to make the jump to pro status, the photographer needs to have a plan, almost a prepared statement to read to the lucky couple getting the special deal. My suggestion (much too late for Mark, obviously!) would be to quote friends and relatives the full price you intend to charge once you have made the jump. Then, give them a whopping discount, clearly showing that this is a one-off because you are my cousin/nephew/sister/best buddy or whatever. This way, the photographer has shown his normal price and the friend/relative can clearly see the saving they get from being in the right place in the gene pool at the right time.

Will it actually work? I don’t know. I need someone to try it out and let me know! Any takers?

One of the stands I purposefully made my way to at Focus on Imaging in Birmingham last week, was the Lastolite stand. I have several of their products and their original collapsible reflectors have to be one of the best accessories ever invented.

I was particularly interested to see the HiLite Background system, which bears a passing resemblance to a huge softbox, but used as a background (the clue is in the name) instead of as a primary light source. There were several reasons why I wanted to see it:

• I’m in the market for a new background “system” and high-key is a real challenge for me as I only have two lights
• My TDM buddy, Charlie, said I should take a look and he’s often been right about the kind of gear that works for me
• I didn’t see how it could possibly be any good (sorry Lastolite - pre-judging like this is unfair) and this was my opportunity to check it out

Well, I liked what I saw. Clearly, it does work (although I have not yet got my hands on one to test it fully). However, one possible stumbling block preventing me from investing is that I don’t always want a white background; I regularly shoot low-key against a dark grey background.

Anyway, today I learned that Lastolite has brought out a set of new “Bottletop” covers to provide a little more versatility. These include black and grey versions (I’m assuming you switch the back light off, at least for the black version!) and Chromakey versions in both blue and green. Simply slip the elasticated bottletop cover over the HiLite background to produce an instant change of colour. They also come complete with a train (although I’m struggling to find out exactly how long the train actually is). Now I’m excited!

Here’s the new range:
HiLite Bottletop Cover with Train 5’ x 7’
Black – LAS 8702 SRP £54.99 Inc vat
Grey - LAS 8770 SRP £54.99 Inc vat
Chromakey Blue – LAS 8788 SRP £54.99 Inc vat
Chromakey Green – LAS 8781 SRP £54.99 Inc vat

HiLite Bottletop Cover with Train 6’ x 7’
Black – LAS 8802 SRP £64.99 Inc vat
Grey - LAS 8870 SRP £64.99 Inc vat
Chromakey Blue – LAS 8888 SRP £64.99 Inc vat
Chromakey Green – LAS 8881 SRP £64.99 Inc vat

You can find out more about Lastolite products by visiting www.lastolite.com or by phoning 01782 753304.

I need to get hold of one of these for a proper test - I’m not sure whether I will still need to get a third light to illuminate the HiLite, or whether using one of my lights for the HiLite and one for the primary light source would be enough. Still, I was anticipating an additional two lights for the background so this could still be a good solution.

I can’t deny it, I’m a bit of a “baby-bore” when it comes to my kids. I’m verging on obsessed, if I’m honest, and I tend to assume that everyone else in the family (and I do mean everyone - all the way down to step-second-cousins-twice-removed-in-law) feels exactly the same; both about my kids and their own (where appropriate) for that matter.

So, when it comes to gift-giving time I naturally assume that there could be little the lucky relative could want more than another beautiful picture of their grandsons/nephews/cousins etc. Which is also pretty handy as I have so many pictures they haven’t even seen yet! Fortunately I have my wife on hand to point out what an arse I am (that’s not the actual phrase she uses - I thought I better water it down in the interest of good taste!).

Now I’m absolutely sure that the grandparents, aunts and uncle Andy all want pictures of the boys and I like to flatter myself that they even appreciate the high quality and technical competency displayed in the images I send them. What I’m not sure of is when is the right time and when is the wrong time to give a picture of the kids to a relative as a present. Is there a right time? Should pictures of the kids simply be an ongoing part of the process of parenthood?

In my role of part-time photographer, I mostly shoot portraits of kids. Invariably about half of all the prints I supply are intended as gifts for relatives. The busiest time of all for me is pre-Christmas and many of my clients (that’s pompous talk for “parents of our kids’ friends”) tell me they are getting the pictures taken specifically for Christmas presents. Is it okay to give a picture of the kids as a present if you have a “professional portrait” shot precisely for that purpose? The photos I give our relatives are shot by the same “professional” (sorry, I can’t use the p-word about myself without putting it in quotes!) in the same set-up I use for paying clients, so where is the difference?

Being serious for a moment, I don’t really send pictures of my kids to my wife’s cousins for their birthday (what, you thought I was really crass enough to do that?). However, I do feel (no matter how much my wife protests!) that my mother (or mother-in-law) would appreciate a picture of her grandsons, expertly taken and presented by her son (or son-in-law), as a gift on Mother’s Day. Have I got this wrong?

The Digital Camera Company are offering two amazing discount codes on Canon cameras:

• Canon 1Ds Mark iii - promo code (MARK31DS) £350 off
• Canon 1D Mark iii - promo code (MARK3) £200 off

Both promo codes are valid until midnight 13-02-08.

I went to a wedding this weekend. The photographer was an old friend (that’s a friend for a long time as opposed to an old bloke I’m friends with… actually, now I think about it…) of mine. He’s just in the process of turning professional, concentrating mainly on wedding photography. We have had quite a few conversations recently about our photographic “issues”. One recurring topic is that of quality and in particular the “problems” we see in our pictures which don’t seem to matter to other people.

Now, it’s hard for me to say I am a perfectionist because, to me, that implies that I believe my work is perfect, or at least that I am capable of perfection. However, in spite of being obsessed with photography for over thirty years now, I can’t point at a single photo I have taken and say that it is perfect. I have plenty of photos I am proud to have taken, but perfection is something I strive for but don’t ever achieve.

My wife gets really irritated by me (for oh-so-many reasons, to be honest!) because I am constantly whining that the depth of field is too narrow (or deep), focus is slightly off, I should have moved left/right/up/down/forward/backward, there’s something in the frame I don’t want to be there, colour/contrast/exposure could be better and so on. She is always telling me that the people I show the pictures to don’t really see these things - they just see the picture as it is.

Anyway, Mark (the wedding photographer) said he was having terrible problems with the shadows cast by his flash-guns. He had been to a few wedding photographer’s websites, checking out the competition, and had noticed that this was a fairly common problem. In fact, when he really studied the pictures he realized that he was doing a better job of minimizing the shadows than the majority. If it didn’t bother these other photographers, why should it be eating him up? I wish I could answer that question - it would give this article more of a point!

What I am trying to figure out is whether my struggle for perfection is improving the quality of my work or holding it back. I feel sure I should be aiming for perfection - what would be the point in not doing so? But I also feel that if I am exceeding the client/sitter’s expectations then (from a commercial position at least) I am achieving a kind of perceived perfection. Photography is not how I make my living, so the commercial position is not critical for me, but for Mark it could be the difference between success and failure.

Perhaps we might describe a  perfect photograph as one which is perceived to be perfect by the person viewing it? Now I just need to find the right viewers…