Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Keep Uncle Bob Away from Your Wedding Photography!!!!!

I realize we are all under pressure from The Global Crisis, Inc. (hereafter referred to as ‘the Global Thingy’) and that we all must cut corners. I also recognize that a lot of my work falls under the category of ‘luxury services’, i.e. ‘not bread and butter necessities.’ However, people will continue to get married and they will continue to want photographs of their wedding.

But if I read one more email from a client who got cold feet and decided to have a family member take their wedding photos—I’m gonna give up my 15 year career as a photographer and become a florist or a baker. At least THOSE craftspeople are still doing a brisk trade at weddings—and people respect their work. Yes, Uncle Bob got a fancy shmancy new Canon digital recently. Yes, he took some photos of his trip to Thailand and most of them were in focus. But UNCLE BOB MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO TAKE THE MOST IMPORTANT PHOTOS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVEN OF YOUR LIFE.

‘Why not?’ Well, probably for the same reason that if I suddenly got a Baker’s Super Duper French Oven, I most certainly will not be able to give you a five-tiered wedding cake with all the flowers and icing and cute little skating bride-n-groom figurines. I’m pretty sure you’d get a soggy cupcake. The same goes if I were to get a stack of flowers and chop ‘em and mix ‘em and stick ‘em in a bucket for you. Et voila, le fleurs du wedding. Right.

This post is not a plea for your wedding photo dollars in a tough Global Thingy world. I get by alright. This is a plea for respect for the Arts. The first thing on the chopping block in every recession is the Arts. It is also an urgent request for you to respect your wedding day. The cake will be consumed in 4.5 – 20.5 minutes, depending on the size of the cake and the crowd. The flowers will wilt in 12 – 24 hours, depending on the amount of lacquer applied to the petals.

But the wedding photos are forever, baby. If you let a drunken Uncle with a new camera trample through your wedding, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Especially if you value the fine art of photography and the wonderful magic it can provide you. But if you are one of the growing number of victims of the Global Thingy who regard photography as something anyone with an expensive camera can do, then I am saddened. Of course, I should get used to the idea that those people may be right. If so, I’d better get myself a fancy shmancy French bakery oven and get some blueprints for the five-tiered wedding cake. I mean, how hard can it be? Flour, water, sugar and a hot oven, right?