An Unsolicited Warning

The following arrived in my e-mail inbox last week unbidden by me, I cannot vouch for its provenance and names have been changed to protect the innocent (or guilty as the case may be). The original message was also quite long, so it has been edited for brevity and it certainly seems like one of those pieces of Internet folklore that gets passed around.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am apology for this interruption. I would like to share my true but sad story with you. It’s all about my wedding photographer. I hope all other brides will not go through the same experience as I did...

We had our wedding reception last year and hired “STUDIO X” as our wedding photography company. I picked a very experienced photographer and everything went well. But then 3 weeks before my wedding, Studio X said my photographer get busy on my day and they’ll send another photographer to me. I have no choice and I did not have much time to search again, so I accepted their offer. I can’t believe it was our nightmare to start! My photographer was horrible and very unprofessional.  He lost our photos. When we received our wedding photos a month after our wedding from Studio X, we found that a good portion of our photos was missing and the little that they had given us was amateurish and horrific.. This made us very upset. We contacted the company on numerous occasions and they refuse to assist us or take any responsible actions. We have yet to receive any of the photos back, an apology, compensation or any type of assistance…

…Nothing can replace memories of our wedding day and Studio X have definitely robbed us of that. This horrible experience has caused much unnecessary stress, pain and sorrow as a newlywed couple. 

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Ryan Richardson's Movie Ratings for 2009 (with help from Serenity):

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and that's not just because of the recent snow storm. So n light of the season I've decided to take a break from photoblogging and talk about movies and Amy Adams just in case you need something to tide you over while you wait for the National Guard to dig you out from the impromptu igloo around your house.

The movies are rated from blech (don't bother) to meh (if you like this kind of movie it might be for you) to Oh Yeah! (which is that I enjoyed the film, but not necessarily to the degree that one would expect from the use of an exclamation point).

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Gretchen & Bobby, August 2009

Congratulations to Gretchen and Bobby Demanche on their beautiful wedding on August 8, 2009. The couple is honeymooning right now in Niagara Falls and I really wish them the best of luck because not only was their wedding a lot of fun to shoot, they were very gracious and understanding after a few things went all wrong.

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When Materials Count

The most frequent refrain you hear when you're an aspiring photographer is "it's not the camera, it's the photographer."

It is perhaps the best piece of advice that anyone can give you, because as much as professional outfits harp on the fact that you need to have "professional gear" you can't really take a good picture unless you're a fair photographer (or just very lucky). This is evidenced by all those fancy cameras that go up for auction or for sale on Craigslist, bought originally by some hapless twit who felt that if they could just get the right camera then they could quit their job as a dentist and become the next Ansel Adams (or just take dirty picture of models).

This is my camera, there are many like it, but this one is mine.

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Moments Like This...

A private moment between the bride and groom during their last dance of the evening.

It's grabbing a fleeting, almost hidden moment that really gives me satisfaction. Whether it's someone stealing out for a cigarette or a look and a laugh exchanged on the dance floor while no one else is watching. Of course it requires me to watch people more than watching where the cake is headed, but it's a small sacrifice to make in the name of that perfect shot.

Thankfully there are often many such moments at an event, all happening throughout the room as people reflect on what the day means for the newlyweds, themselves, or just as they revel in the celebration of life and love.

There's always one in every crowd, trying to get the bridge and groom to kiss again.I think that it's part of the value of having a photographer on hand. Where everyone else is busy living in those little moments and participating, the photographer is there to find them and capture them to let them tell the story of one very special day. It's not the same kind of clinical dispassion that you need for writing in the paper, but just the distance of a stranger invited in for a look at a very personal part of someone's life.

Really the best thing isn't just findng those moments and capturing them. It's sharing them with the Bride and Groom as well as the other wedding guests and getting those little notes that say how much they loved that stolen moment. Not that I'm fishing for compliments or anything, but you know you've done a good job when people make a real emotional connection with the images that you create because of the intimacy or the humor.

There are also sometimes quirks in the details, like these two loverbirds rather than a little bride and groom.