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You’ve gotten engaged. Congratulations! It’s the happiest of times!
Except that now you have 1,784,261 details to manage between now and the Big Day. You secretly hope the “through sickness…” clause of your vows covers nervous breakdowns.
Soon after discovering that the cost of renting a reception venue is roughly equal to the cost of colonizing Mars, you find yourself pondering: do caterers charge so much because they serve endangered Bengal tiger meat?
Most people aren’t in a position to be handing out blank checks to wedding vendors with the reckless abandon of a Powerball winner buying free rounds at the bar. More likely, you’re looking at every penny like it just pulled a knife on you and plans to liberate all of its friends.
The fact is, weddings are expensive.
Meanwhile, as the bride-to-be, you’ve been looking through wedding magazines and imagining yourself in some of those amazing photos. You’re already planning the Facebook album.
As the groom-to-be, you’re astonished that there could possibly be a market for so many wedding magazines, meanwhile, what’s playing on ESPN-37?
This is when something dawns on you: Everyone and their pet turtle owns a nice camera these days.
Recently, a wedding photography forum featured a discussion sparked by a wedding shot list.
The “shot list” is a checklist of the people and events that need to be photographed on your wedding day. Your photographer uses this as a guide to make sure nothing gets missed.
A typical shot list will include things like the order of people to be photographed for the formals (bride and groom with bride’s parents; bride with groomsmen; groom with grandma, etc.). Sometimes it includes details, like the rings or table settings.
The list that inspired me to write this was not a list like that. It was a list sent to Earth from the planet Micromanageria.
To call this shot list “unusually specific” would be like calling King Kong an “unusually large” ape. This list even went so far as to outline desired candid shots, as though the meaning of the word “candid” was something it could redefine on a whim.
To be fair, I don’t think that the poor bride who authored this monster knew she was creating the “shot list from hell.” I doubt she intended to create nightmares and possible future therapy sessions for her photographer. Unfortunately, though, this sort of ultra-specific vendor management is becoming more common.
We now live in the so-called Information Age. This also means we live in the age of information overload.
Change your status on Facebook to “engaged” and watch how quickly your sidebar ads fill up with wedding related junk. Web pages and magazines inundate you with tips and advice about how to have the “perfect” wedding. Countless articles written by experts advise you not only about how to select your vendors, but how to take charge of them.
I’ve read a ton of articles about wedding photography. A lot of them tell you what you “must” look for in your photographer and what you “must” make sure they do (or don’t).
Almost all of these articles make a reference to, if not outright include, the Shot List.
Then, if you’re a newly engaged couple, you’ll probably be looking at a lot of wedding photos during your search for a photographer. You’ll see hundreds of beautiful images that you’d be delighted to have something similar to in your own album.
You’ll also hear the stories of wedding catastrophes. Many of these stories imply that it all could have been avoided if the “right” vendor had been hired, or if the bride and groom had taken more control.
How someone comes through all of that without turning into a micro-manager of every single second of their big day is beyond me. That sort of pressure would create a bridezilla out of anyone. Maybe “photo of the bride having a nervous breakdown” should be added to the shot list.
One issue with some of the helpful advice out there, and the micro managing mindset it creates, is that you might inadvertently end up treating the professionals you hire as though they don’t know their jobs. This might lead you to more disappointment than you’d think. If you’re not careful, you might strip away the very creative talents you hired your vendors for.
The thing about weddings is that they are dynamic and fluid. This is what makes every one of them unique and personal.
Maybe you know when things will start. You rehearse the ceremony so everyone knows how to come in and where to stand. You expect there will be toasts. And a first dance. And a bouquet and garter toss.
Your photographer knows these things, too.
Chances are this isn’t his or her first wedding.
What you can’t prepare for is Uncle Larry falling asleep and snoring like a helicopter during the ceremony. You can’t predict that the flower girl will unexpectedly sit down in the middle of the aisle and dump her basket of flowers over her head. You don’t know that mom and dad will become unexpectedly reminiscent of their own wedding all those years ago and snuggle up together on the dance floor.
These are the unscripted moments. These are the moments that make the day yours.
These are the moments that get lost if you’ve got your photographer scrambling to create “candid” moments on a shot list.
I’m not saying you should ignore creating a shot list. The list is actually very important. Your photographer won’t know how important it is that you get a photo of you and your great aunt (or even who she is) if you don’t make a note of it. (Hint: it’s helpful to make someone available to point people out to your photographer.) The list is also vital for making sure no one is missed during the formals session.
But resist all urges to get ridiculously specific. You don’t need to say that you need a shot of “the bride looking lovingly at the groom while he’s looking somewhere else.” Leave that moment, if it happens naturally, up to your photographer. Maybe some moment that you saw elsewhere just won’t happen at your wedding. That’s OK. As long as your photographer is free to be “in the day,” there’s a good chance that other special moments will happen and be captured.
And you’ll be happier because you won’t be trying to manage everyone. It’s your special day, after all.
You shouldn’t be working.
This shot of Brian and Pam was printed in their Press Printed wedding album, a product Studio Orange offers.
“Why should I order photo prints from you when I get good prints from Walmart?”
This is a question I’ve been asked from time to time.
Studio Orange includes a disc of digital image files with all photography packages. Along with this comes the permission to use the prints for personal use, which includes printing. This allows clients to easily obtain prints from a wide variety of vendors, including inexpensive options such as Walmart and Walgreens.
Even so, Studio Orange also offers print products and encourages clients to consider that option.
One point I want to make is that many of the inexpensive options out there actually give you pretty decent prints. They generally use good photographic quality papers and high quality printers. For an average size print, framed and displayed on a wall, most people won’t notice a huge difference between a Walmart print and a higher-end photo print. However, it should be understood that the inexpensive options do create some limitations.
With film photography, the process of making a print required using chemicals to transfer the image from the negative onto photographic paper. This wasn’t so much a “printing” process. A better way to think of it was that it “embedded” the image onto the paper and it created a relatively durable, semi-waterproof result. For example, you can clean an old photo by very carefully using a slightly damp cloth.*
Inexpensive photo “labs” don’t follow this process. They actually print your image onto photo paper using an ink jet printer not entirely unlike the one you maybe have at home. Granted, the printers used at the labs are much higher quality, but the fact remains that the process is the same. If you’ve ever had a drop of water fall onto a printout you’ve made, then you’d know exactly what would happen if one of your Walmart prints got dirty and you tried to clean it.
So with that said, here are 4 advantages to ordering prints through your photographer, versus going a less expensive route:
Advantage #1: Real Photo Prints.
The photo lab that Studio Orange uses actually has a process to create a digital negative from digital image files and chemically develop this onto the photo paper. In other words, the prints are made nearly just as if they were from a film source. No ink jet printing involved. The result is a much more accurate and durable print.
Advantage #2: Experience.
Caleb needed photo prints to submit for an audition. Studio Orange provided prints that were high quality and durable.
Companies such as Walmart and Walgreens simply don’t have the need to hire photographers or imaging specialists for their photo departments.
Their employees merely need to be trained to operate the machines and handle the orders. If there is a problem with the way an image prints (the color is way off, for example) it’s not likely that these employees will know how to solve the problem.
This is why I very much value the relationship Studio Orange has with the print lab. They actually do have imaging specialists on staff and they review every file for potential problems. If they see issues, they can communicate this to make sure that every print looks as amazing as possible.
Advantage #3: Variety of Products.
Inexpensive labs sometimes offer additional products. They can fairly easily assemble your photos into a simple calendar, for example.
However, they simply can’t offer very high-end photo products like canvas prints, multiple paper options, press printed albums, or even specialty or extremely large sizes.
Advantage #4: Any Photo Can Be Printed.
There are just some images that inexpensive labs won’t print. If a boudoir package is ordered, for example, many inexpensive labs will reject making any prints of risque photographs. In fairness to them, their reasoning makes sense: they can’t really control whether or not other customers will see the prints as they are being made.
So there you have it. While Studio Orange happily accommodates clients’ desires for inexpensive prints, there are some valid reason why more professional options should sometimes be considered.
* Note: Water can damage any photo. The point is that real photographic prints are much more durable and resistant to water damage that inkjet prints (even those claiming to use “waterproof” inks).