The Pet Shop Shoot

I was visiting my local pet shop the other day and thought I would ask if they wanted any photos done of their reptiles.  I explained i would like them for my stock site and I would give them a copy of the images taken for free.  After a quick talk about what this would take to make happen a time and date was set for the shoot.  I thought that it would take about an hour, but in reality it took nearly 3 hours.  Both myself and the owner of the shop get very excited and we photographed every thing.
Now this did take a lot of my time, both in the shoot and post production, but I also got a paid gig photographing a pony club event that will shortly take place, from a recommendation from the owner of the shop.
I love animals and this was once of the best days I have yet spent, and boy was it hot in the reptile section.  I got images of several lizards, even got to hold one of the biggest Monitor lizards I have ever seen, snakes a tortoise, frogs and some spiders.
I think you need to be always on the lookout for potential clients and interesting photographic opportunities.

Here is a small selection of the images from the day.

My Camera, My Time Machine

Have you ever considered that you have the ability to gaze into the past, as soon as the button is pressed and an image captured?

When we sit and look through photos of our childhood we are looking back at our past, we can had the sounds and feel the emotions that we once experienced all over again.

When I sit with my son and daughter and show them images of their great grandfather and grandfather, both died when they were very young or before they were born, I can tell them stories about them and they have a face to relate to, eyes to look at and smiles to see. All provide them with the tools they need to experience events and people who they never met.  Just a short trip with My Camera, My Time machine.

I was looking back on photos of my wife and children, spanning a little over 20 years, not very long in the scheme of things, but it feels like several lifetimes sometimes.  Looking back helps me to reestablish the feelings that started me out on this journey as husband and father, to remember us as a young couple, with we knew not what experiences in front of us, we started a new adventure together.  The arrival of our children, my son is now 20 and my daughter 15 and when I look back on them as very young children I remember thinking a lot about what sort of people they would develop into, what the future held for them.  I think the journey for them so far has been interesting and rewarding, but their journeys end is still a long way ahead of them yet and I wonder what they will remember when they to look back on these photos, as well as the new once we take along the way.  Will they take that short trip in time with My Camera, My Time Machine?

We should all remember the value of the recorded moment.  Video is wonderful, but I think it provides a separate, but equally valuable, view into the past.  The video can be a little overwhelming and perhaps transmits to much data, whereas the photo is a freeze frame of a moment, where our minds have to work to remember and provide a link between the present and the past.  The photo will always be the preferred medium for me taken with, My Camera, My Time Machine.

First Wedding Bookings of 2012 and what we can expect to face in 2012

It is now February and we have completed two wedding fairs and taken 4 bookings for weddings, three this year and one in 2013.  The wedding fair circuit has proven, for us, to be the best form of marketing so far by a long way.  I think when you are relatively new to an area, or new to this form of photography, you do need to get your name out there as quickly as possible and at wedding fairs you do get a one to one with potential clients, who are there looking for a photographer and are interested in what you have to sell.  Of course we are living in times where everyone wants to have as much as they can for as little spend as possible, and there are many 'photographers' out there willing to give it away for nothing, but we are here for the long haul and will try and weather out this storm.

I do think the storm will blow over as more and more horror stories of failed wedding shoots emerge, here is but a small example;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218248/Newlyweds-win-court-battle-1-500-wedding-photographer-shoddy-pictures-include-missing-heads-car-close-ups.html

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/872387/couple-sues-over-disastrous-wedding-photos

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8292164.stm

There are many many more where the couple just did not want the fuss of suing the photographer and lets face it, suing in not going to suddenly provide you with the images that we not taken or poorly taken on the day.

I have just been reading a fellow photographers blog regarding the price you can expect to pay, against the level of competence the photographer will have.

http://www.niccleave.com/wedding-photography-prices-uk/

I must say that I think he is a little out with his figures by a little, as he is providing price comparisons against ability, when the price these days is more directly linked to the number of wanner be photographers working in an area that are willing to charge very little for their efforts, forcing the rest of us to rain back our prices or move out of the area altogether.

This current situation does remind me of what it was like for tradesmen back in the late 70s and early 80s. This was a time when there were large numbers of electricians, builders, plumbers etc all out of full-time work and claiming benefits.  These out of work tradesmen then offered their trade skills direct to the public at a fraction of the normal price.

These people were not relying on their trade skills to pay the bills, the government were doing this for them via the benefits system, and they had no over heads to pay except travel costs.  I remember many legitimate tradesmen being forced to cease trading or go bankrupt as a result of this kind of work practice.

photographers are currently finding themselves in the same sort of position, especially at the lower end of the wedding market where money is a little more constrained.  The cheap wedding photographers that are now plying their business mostly have full time work, normally outside of the photographic industry, and use the wedding photography as a means of generating extra cash on a weekend.  These people seldom have any insurance, normally are equipped with limited equipment and have no fall back plan should they be sick or otherwise unable to attend the wedding day.

Well for now I think all we can do is hunker down, demonstrate the reasons why a full-time professional photographer is always the best way to go and wait for the wannabes to fall by the wayside, and more importantly the public to wake up to the fact that this is a very important aspect of their big day and should not be treated with any less importance than the wedding dress, cake or car.

Why pay for a professional wedding photographer

I have lost count of how many brides and grooms I have met and read about who fail to see the importance of a professional photographer covering the big day, or paying a realistic price for that service.

They spend hours, if not months, selecting the decorations for the room, the table layout, the venues, the cars, the cake, the grooms suite and the brides dress etc, etc, act.  Booking a photographer is normally one of the last items on their preparation list.

But lets face it, without the photos of ALL the detail that has gone into the big day, what is the point.  24 hours after the event and most of your guests will not be able to recall anything about the room decorations, the food or the clothes worn on the day.

Also we consistently hear brides and grooms complaining about the cost of a professional photographer.  Why do we pay so much for someone 'just' to take photos, surly anyone can do that?

Well should they not also ask, why are they paying for someone to make a cake for them?  there must be plenty of people in the family who can cook!

Why are they spending all that money on a hand made wedding dress, there are plenty you can buy second hand, lets face it they are only ever worn once so how much wear and tear can there be.

And why pay for a vintage car to take you the 10 - 15 minute drive between venues, there are plenty of family members who have cars and can do that just as well.

And the price you are willing to pay for the food, it's just cooking and we can all do that surly?

The reason! You all want your day to look different from every one else and you want the cake 'to be right' and not just hope it will be ok on the day.

You want the dress to fit right and every one to look at it and there not to be another quite like it.

You want the car to separate you out from the rest of the world on that day so people will know you are getting married and not just another member of the public going about a normal day.

You want to know the food is going to be right and not just hope it all turns out OK.

Obviously the list can go on and on and lets not forget you are also looking for some form of assurance and guaranty that the day will pass off without disruption or disasters and the bulk of the strain to be taken up by others while you and your guests get on with enjoying the special event.

So with all this careful planning and preparations why would you take any risks when it comes to recording the event for prosperity?  Lets face it that is what the photographer is doing.  The wedding service will be all over is an hour or so, the car journey over in minutes, the food eaten and forgotten in an hour, the cake cut up and consumed in no time at all and your dress, well that will find it's way into some box in the attic never to be seen again, certainly it's very unlikely it will ever be warn again.

But your wedding album you should expect generations to come to be able to sit down with it and look back on your day.  You want to relive those moments with your children and your children's children.  And your future descendants will also be looking back on this important document with keen interest and you still want the emotions of the day to shine through, even then.

I have seen people hand cameras out to their guests to record the day, great, so just to clarify, you are happy to 'hope' that 'luck' is with you on the day and you get 'some' good snaps!!

What will you do if there are no good snaps?  There is nothing wrong with this if they are in addition to  the presence of a professional photographer, whom is going to ensure nothing is missed or left to chance.

And all photographs need editing of some description, even if it's just cropping or colour correction, who will do this for you?

Do you want 'photos' of your wedding or do you want 'snaps'?

What will your album look like?  Will it have the quality to last at least several generations?

Just because such and such has a new top of the range digital camera for christmas does not make them a professional wedding photographer, it does not even make them a good photographer.  

My wife bought me a top of the range oil painting set up for christmas, does that mean I now expect to find my work hanging in some gallery any time soon?  Or people to be lining up to purchase my work?  Of course not.  

To become a professional artist takes time, training and a natural ability.  Why would you assume this is any different for photography?

Most cameras have an 'auto' setting on them these days, which will pretty much produce good snaps, but it cannot allow for the users inability to compose an image, inability to understand the various properties of light and it's effects on the image, understanding the dynamics of posing people so they can look their best in the image.

Your wedding photographer should be a tried and tested professional, who can cope with whatever the weather conditions are, whatever lighting is available and whatever the physical environment you find your self in to produce the very best images possible on the day.

If the professionals camera fails for any reason he should have at least two other cameras to fall back on, if his flash stops working he should have a back up and batteries and memory cards to cover the whole day, with some to spare.  He should have reflectors and tripods and know when and how to use both.

In other words the professional photographer should leave nothing to chance.

This is, we all hope, a one off event in your life and there are no second chances for a reshoot if something goes wrong.

All that effort that you have put into creating this wonderful day, the months and months of planning, the number of suppliers you checked before ordering, the number of venues you looked over before booking, where will all that effort be recorded?

The current state of affairs is not being helped by the number of so called professional photographers out there willing to perform work for little to no financial remuneration.  These people normally have no insurance and no contracts will be signed to provide protection for all concerned.  They are also very unlikely to have the ability to store your images for several years, in case you have any mishaps and need copies, the ability to order high quality wedding albums or the time necessary to concentrate on your requirements fully, as they must surly be running a second job in order to cloth and feed themselves and they families and your wedding will always take second place to this.

Please take as much time selecting your photographer as you have the other suppliers contributing to your big day and leave nothing to chance or luck. Take the time to understand the different styles of photography and which you think suites your personalities.  And the photographer, lets not forget you will be spending quite some time in their company throughout the day and you must be able to get on with them and like them as people or the day will be a little strained to say the least.

Check out our web site page;
http://www.oakfield-photography.com/wedding-gallery/

Here you will find plenty of information to start you off regarding styles of photography along with other useful tips and advice to help you make the right decision.