Geez, at the rate that most wedding digi pros shoot - they're practically doing video! Checking for "lazy eye"! The friggin' black dot function of Photoshop will take care of that - and, yes, BTW, CS2 (are we up to CS3 yet?) does an auto-check for red-eye BEFORE it loads the image to the screen.
Please, don't treat us like we're idiots here.
Simple fact is that "chimping" is hominoid nature. That's why they call it "chimping". The chimpanzee is the only other hominoid who's been shown to recgonize her/his own image and the image of others of his/her species! Oh, they also recognize we humans - and likely have a properly low opinion of us!
If I were to buy into David and your concepts of wedding photography then it would seem the "profession" only began after the digital age!
There is a difference between red eye and lazy eye. Mainly, lazy eye is when the eyelids are semi-closed making the person appear to be drunk. Red eye is when the pupils appear to be a strange red color. These ae two very different things.
I understand your frustration and hostility toward computers and new technology in general. I too was like that at one time until I realized that digital is just another way to capture an image. Think of it as the new film for the new millenium. It really is a lot of fun if you give it a chance!
Again, I stand by my reasons for chimping. I see absolutely nothing wrong with verifying exposure, focus, white balance, etc. on the LCD display. I am sure there were many photographers in the past who have been suspicious of new technology like in-camera meters, hinged camera backs, glass prisms, etc. I can equate them to those first humanoids who saw fire for the first time and thought "this is bad! it will never serve us any real purpose!"
And as far as "wedding digi-pros" are concerned, that is a perfect example of bashing a fledgling photographer just because he or she was unfortunate enough to have started photography after the digital age began. As far as I'm concerned photographers are photographers no matter what medium they use (after all, it is the final image that counts).
Many years ago when I started photography I had the luck of being able to pick from different film cameras in different formats mostly because they were available new on the market. Today things have changed and film is not as readily available as it was back in the day. Even the traditional labs have gone digital! Look at the add section of any photography magazine and I can bet that you will find 99% of the equipment for sale to be purely digital. New photographers have no choice but to invest in digital if they expect to make any sort of profit in wedding photography nowadays.
Yes ,(before I am bashed by torch-wielding film afficionados) some profit can still be made by shooting weddings with 120 film. Problem is that with the new era of digital album design it is impractical. It worked back in the day when we offered prints in a post or pin-type album, but in order to create that magazine-type, photojournalistic look produced by printing companies, they need digital files. Try batch scaning 120 size negatives after a wedding. I have. It is time consuming and costly.
I am not trying to turn this into a film vs. digital debate. I am, however, sticking to the original post of how negative comments by photographers with bad attitudes impact photographers who are just starting out. I have used film for years and I have now embraced digital for work purposes. It is practical, convenient, produces high quality images, and keeps me competitive with the other wedding photographers out there. It keeps me in business. I like to shoot with film for my persoanl stuff because I have the time for it. Business is another matter. Just because I like the look of film or was fortunate enough to have worked with film does not give me the authority to look down upon a new photographer who comes to me for advice or suggestions. I get asked many questions by different people everytime I shoot a wedding. I never talk down to them or say anything rude to them. They usually approach me during the down time when the couple is eating. I am usually downloading files saving them on a laptop at that time, so I have no problem talking to upcomming/curious photographers at that time.
