The documentary story - how I got the picture
Beth was eating Nutella on toast, her sister was getting her hair done, Dad put his head round the door, I stopped drinking my tea (it was a good brew) pressed the button on my camera and took the picture, no drama.
Camera settings
Ummm no idea, I know my camera was on otherwise it wouldn’t have got a picture. It was probably on auto - in fact it would have been, I shoot 95% of a wedding on auto, I can’t be bothered faffing about with settings if I do that things get missed - like brides eating toast and dads looking round doors.
The real story - the point
Ok bear with me there is a point to this mildly sarcastic post, and that point is this:
Sometimes you’ll see big long posts about pictures, lots and lots of words, a backstory dripping with emotional content, all designed to create some kind of emotional connection to a picture. Now then, unfortunately some of these stories may be wildly exaggerated, even made up (gasp I know), it’s a sales tactic designed to ultimately win your custom.
The reason I’m highlighting this, the main point is...don’t believe words you read, don’t be fooled into choosing someone because what they write makes you go all googley eyed or pulls at your heart strings - you’re not hiring a writer, you’re hiring a photographer.
Only judge someone on their pictures, if you look at enough of them (photographs) you’ll have a pretty good idea if a photographer is the right photographer for you. Talk is cheap, people can write anything, rewrite it to appeal to more people, make any old claptrap up to make themselves sound absolutely wonderful, you can’t fake a picture though....correction, you can’t fake a full set of pictures (something you should ask to see is full weddings) pictures don’t lie or make things up, they just sit there waiting to be looked at.
Don’t believe anything you read (that includes the things I write), example - if someone writes they are a relaxed documentary photographer who captures everything without intrusion yet has a bunch of awkward or clearly staged pictures in their portfolio then it’s pretty obvious they’re being rather economical with the truth, there’s a good chance they aren’t what they say they are - their pictures will shown that...pictures don’t lie, that’s the single most important piece of advice any decent photographer will give you (you can believe that bit, honest)
