Tag: wedding

The Trend Toward Real Time Photography

wedding photos
Brides waiting three weeks for photos is a relic of the past - by Joxemai

Justin Ng is a photographer with over 130,000 people on his Facebook page, numbers that would make some Fortune 500 companies blush with envy. What’s funny is that Justin didn’t even start out life as a photographer, he started out as a Windows developer and PHP programmer.

Now he’s getting between 50 and 60 inquiries a month to shoot weddings.

But Justin managed to hit on a trend in wedding and event photography that has been building for some time; the trend toward real-time display of event images, as the event is happening.

Justin Ng developed a smart phone app that guests and those unable to attend the ceremony can download and watch the wedding photos pop up in real time. There’s even a feature that allows guests to download high resolution copies of the images they like.

The trend is not a surprise and anyone in wedding and event photography should be educating themselves about the technical realities of how such a setup might work. While you may not be able to develop your own smart phone app, you could still use an assistant with a laptop and wifi connection to do almost the same thing.

Other options may include gadgets like Eye-Fi’s wireless SDHC cards. There are also attachments for your camera that will transmit files wirelessly. The tech pieces are out there and the market will belong to those adaptable enough to figure out how to use them.

The trend is making itself known in subtle ways. One feature many brides are opting for are monitors at the reception that play slideshows of the wedding photos. Other services, such as having a CD or DVD with wedding images ready for guests by the time they leave, are gaining popularity.

Social media options are also gaining popularity. Having at least a few of the wedding photos up on Facebook and other social media sites the same day, is almost an expectation with many tech savvy couples today.

All of these real-time inroads will put pressure on everyone in wedding and event photography to step up their tech game, both in terms of real time photos and turn-around times for image processing. The days of waiting three months for wedding photos are a footnote in history, even waiting three weeks is out of the question for many brides. Many are calling about their photos in three days and are annoyed they have to wait that long!

Regardless, the time to start exploring your technology options is today. Waiting until the services are pre-bundled and available commercially could well be too late.

4 Reasons Not To Shoot A Friend’s Wedding

wedding photographer
If he falls off the ladder, who's responsible? - photo by Alethe

One of the touchy moments for any photographer is when friends or relatives ask you to shoot their wedding.  To me the answer is obvious, but for you, when the situation arises, the answer may not be so simple.

The hard cases are when friends are asking out of economic necessity.  They can’t afford to hire someone so it’s you or no one, or maybe it’s a relative in the same situation.

When those situations arise, it’s good to review your mental checklist of why it’s a bad idea before you answer.

1) You won’t get to enjoy the wedding.  Shooting a wedding right is a ton of work.  It’s more than just taking a few snapshots, but that’s what your friends will say to try and convince you.  “Ah, come on,” they’ll beg.  “Just take a few quick pictures.”

Only it won’t be a few quick pictures, because if that’s all you do, you’ll miss many of the expected shots and your friends will be disappointed.  Don’t kid yourself, if you take on the job it will be a day of planning, shot cards, dress shots, the entire ceremony, the formal shots and the reception.

2) If something goes wrong you’ll never be able to escape their disappointment.  Data cards can fail, cameras can have problems, things can go wrong.  If you’re shooting a friend’s wedding you might be tempted to cut corners and skip the backup body and second photographer.  Something that will almost guarantee a problem with your regular camera.

3) You’re putting your equipment on the line.  When dragging all your gear to a wedding, you’re risking having it lost, stolen or broken in an accident.  Part of the reason you charge for doing weddings is so you can carry insurance against loss.  When you watch your Canon 5D take a slow-motion tumble from the second floor balcony, you’ll understand this concern in a much clearer light.

4) You’re putting your financial freedom on the line.  If by some bizarre circumstance you injure someone or damage something, you could end up being responsible.  Organizations like WEVA exist to help photographers obtain liability insurance at reasonable rates.

Sometimes the answer might still be a yes.  If you’re new to the business and want to build your portfolio, or if it’s a charity case and you’re willing to accept the risks.  Just remember, in those cases you’re lumping the time and accepting the expenses and associated risks.