As a photographer I photograph families, and family events such as weddings. It is job full of love and happiness. It saddens me when I hear of customers who choose their wedding or portrait photographer based price alone.
There are many so-called professionals in our industry who we call back-yarders or “shoot and burners”. You know them; they provide their customers with a disk of files for a family portrait or wedding and nothing else. Yes! As a customer it is great to have the disk to keep. However, I feel as professionals we should finish the job. Create something for our clients that will last a lifetime; something tangible, something crafted with expertise and love!
Photography is so accessible these days and that is a wonderful thing! Digital cameras are relatively cheap and very easy to use. As a photographer who started with film photography and printing in a darkroom I now use digital cameras now that can produce digital files that can be printed to wall size.
I love the industry but have seen a huge change since the advent of the digital camera, the computer and the internet. In the past photographers had a certain mystique; producing amazing prints in the darkroom and customers having to wait to see their proofs.
There was a sense of anticipation. Maybe I am showing my age but I worry whether there is any romance in what much of us are doing these days. There is certainly no romance in just saving files onto a dvd. As professionals we need to recapture the mystique produce beautiful prints, books, albums that separates us from our customer base, something which is becoming increasingly difficult.
We need to continually learn better camera skills, better photoshop practices abut also educate our customers and the public how important it is to have a print of their family event and not just a dvd that may get scratched, lost or corrupted. Recreate the gap between the industry and the masses and get paid for our skill. In the end our customers will have a beautiful keepsake for generations and we will be proud of the art we produced and finished.
Why, you ask? Well, I feel even as domestic photographers it is socially and historically important. We record history and a sense of place, though many of us wouldn’t see it that way. When perusing familial history archives it is the images of people that stand out and tell us a little of who we are and where we came from.
I really worry that in 50 years time there will be a gap in our family history because there are no prints or albums, from this moment in history. The computers and cameras will have been superceded and the images lost! Data management is a huge thing for professionals let alone the mums and dads on the home computers.
Recently, I had a look at my parent’s wedding album. They have been married now for just over 50 years and their album is still in pristine condition. It was wonderful to get it out and have a look at it. In a way it is like a time capsule. Looking at it brought back many memories from the day and I had a good laugh at some of the fashions.
However I must say my mum looked amazing in her beautiful lace dress and my dad was pretty handsome in his day! It is stuff like this that brings families together and isn’t that what we want? To move forward in this world we need to look at the past and if there is nothing to reference then what have we got? Memories?
So, I am on a crusade, whether you are photographer running a business, an amateur photographer experimenting or a parent with a camera, to print out those files! Disks don’t last but beautifully printed photographs do!
This word “professional” is fully loaded when attributed to photography. Does it mean one who has a BA in Photography or a membership of the SWPP (or others), or does it mean someone who draws their income entirely from photography?
I would propose instead that professionalism is a behaviour regardless of certification (and perhaps experience) and that brilliant photographers just are “brilliant”. Photographers who care passionately about their work will want it showcased in the best possible manner (in print, in albums etc). And of course, this is just weddings! What about stock photographers, are they sell outs too?
I agree completely with the DVD vs. album argument but am compelled to ask “what is the customer buying” and “isn’t the customer always right?” and if you draw your income from photography, does it really matter as long as your bills are paid? When does your art prevent you from living your life?
Finally, is it the job of the photographer to educate the client in the art of taste or how they should consume your photographic output?
Admittedly, I have more questions than answers here, but it’s a fascinating conversation nonetheless. Bob Dylan said it best, “The times they are a changin'”
Well said Hilary
Speaking from my own experience not as a photographer but as a married man, I’m not even sure where the disc from my wedding is, but I have a beautiful print sitting on my desk that I look at every single day…
Sure it’s great knowing that I have all the files stored away somewhere, but unless there’s something tangible that I actually look at, what’s the point of even having the images to begin with!?
I work at a pro photo print lab where we work with wedding photographers all the time and with their clients sometimes. Clients come to us when they choose to buy only a DVD of images but no prints and no album. Eventually they realize they’d like more than just a DVD. Did you know the industry standard is 2 to 3 years before a couple decides to make their own album or get some prints?
Do I think it is the job of the photographer to educate the client in the art of good taste. YES I DO!