why would anyone want to be a wedding photographer in the age of Public media ?

[RalphLambrecht]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-newlyweds-publicly-bashed-wedding-001932566.html

I never wanted to be a wedding photographer;way too much stress.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I'd imagine also in the day of social media, so many people filter their faces when they post online that there will be a high level of post-production expected. A lot of Millennials don't like how they really look and I'd imagine there will be a lot of unhappy clients once the images are delivered unretouched.

 

[removed account4]

I'd imagine also in the day of social media, so many people filter their faces when they post online that there will be a high level of post-production expected. A lot of Millennials don't like how they really look and I'd imagine there will be a lot of unhappy clients once the images are delivered unretouched.

several years ago i was friends with this guy who shot supr8mm weddings and he and i were going to team up, me with box cameras and him with super 8
nowadays i'd probably shoot it with my eye phone and put instagram bunny ears and wiskers and hello kitty / cartoony silly stuff and oh yeah puckery pouty lips
cause that is what they want. i don't think they want fansy schmantzy video production classic poses and lighting or reportage style wedding shoots
but something timeless, you know that you know their kids would be excited about in when they are 13.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

several years ago i was friends with this guy who shot supr8mm weddings and he and i were going to team up, me with box cameras and him with super 8
nowadays i'd probably shoot it with my eye phone and put instagram bunny ears and wiskers and hello kitty / cartoony silly stuff and oh yeah puckery pouty lips
cause that is what they want. i don't think they want fansy schmantzy video production classic poses and lighting or reportage style wedding shoots
but something timeless, you know that you know their kids would be excited about in when they are 13.

The cool thing is that since it's analog, their kids CAN view it when they are 13. Video formats are a crapshoot into the future. What codecs will still be readable in the future? Who knows?

 

[slackercrurster]

OP, some of em make good $. Problems go with jobs, not just wedding photogs.

I'm not much for weddings, but I love old wedding pix. I have a huge archive of old wedding photos. Sadly can't get to them, packed away someplace in a storage locker...many hundred of them. You can buy them at swapmeets for .50 to a couple of bucks. I got into them because they were cheap to collect and fit my meager budget.

Here are a few...

Ambrotype, about 1860's

I like the hand-colored photos

A lot of the old timers used 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 cams and made contact prints.

 

[jtk]

The cool thing is that since it's analog, their kids CAN view it when they are 13. Video formats are a crapshoot into the future. What codecs will still be readable in the future? Who knows?

MANY (if not most) weddings prioritize video over stills because, of course, the B&G want their friends to see via Youtube and similar. The supposed lifespan of static materials (film, paper etc) comes with the tremendous risk in storage and handling: The dog ate it.

If the dog eats some sort of memory chip (or whatever) that's unimportant because the medium that counts is the medium that has already delivered the video (or stills or audios) to the phones (or whatever) of everybody they care about, or that will care about them far into the future.

A declining minority do still have 1950s expectations, whether just for wedding photography ... or for marriage itself.

We'd all be better off if relationships were memorialized with words...poems...promises... love letters...which by definition are almost always found on digital memories.

 

[NB23]

I’ve done enough of that shité.

 

[jtk]

I'd imagine also in the day of social media, so many people filter their faces when they post online that there will be a high level of post-production expected. A lot of Millennials don't like how they really look and I'd imagine there will be a lot of unhappy clients once the images are delivered unretouched.

I know a lot of millennials and my impression is that most are happy in their skins, or are becoming that way. Of course that often has to do with social class and/or other social pressure.

It's amusing how many middle aged people are completely out of contact with millennials, who they often disparage.

The wedding photos they value the most are made by friends with phones (or with digital cameras). Those images are rarely retouched. Photos are, for most people, recollections more than documents. Professional wedding photographers have mostly served people's belief that photos are important to the wedding. But recollections are soft and moving and anything more becomes irrelevant...the marriage evolves or devolves or evolves and devolves and evolves into some sweeter alternative.

 

[slackercrurster]

I know a lot of millennials and my impression is that most are happy in their skins, or are becoming that way. Of course that often has to do with social class and/or other social pressure.

It's amusing how many middle aged people are completely out of contact with millennials, who they often disparage.

The wedding photos they value the most are made by friends with phones (or with digital cameras). Those images are rarely retouched. Photos are, for most people, recollections more than documents. Professional wedding photographers have mostly served people's belief that photos are important to the wedding. But recollections are soft and moving and anything more becomes irrelevant...the marriage evolves or devolves or evolves and devolves and evolves into some sweeter alternative.

A lot of the millennials and young people snub the old photogs. Just look at who they showcase on the net...all young people.

 

[jtk]

A lot of the millennials and young people snub the old photogs. Just look at who they showcase on the net...all young people.

I don't know who the "they" is that "showcases" on the "net" (the modern way to say that is "online")...

Me, I see a LOT of great millennial work here (for example) https://us16.campaign-archive.com/?e=648a55d311&u=4379ede9c1e177842009c29d3&id=bed32c481c

If "old photographers" feel snubbed they should put their beers aside, struggle up from their lounge chairs and get some exercise.

There's no snubbing for those of us who RESPECT millennials. And isn't "snubbing" a 1970s term?