The Best Wedding Photographer
Over twenty years of photographing weddings I’ve never once applied for, paid for, or even asked for any validation of my photography work. There are countless “wedding photography awards” that one can apply for (and pay to participate) and I’ve just never been interested in that way of thinking.
For me, what’s most important is that I do good work, and that you enjoy the work I give you.
If you feel that my work is the “best wedding photography in the world”, that’s all that matters to me.
One of the nicest things I’ve ever been told was “your wedding photos feel like home”. The pleasure derived from doing this work, and having my clients think that the work I’ve done for them is the best is good enough for me.
For New Wedding Photographers.
There will always be someone better than you.
There will always be someone not as good as you.
There will be people that look to you for inspiration and ideas.
There will be people who don’t know you, don’t care to know about you, will never know you, or that know you but completely ignore you.
There will be quiet observers who admire your work but say nothing. Ever.
As a creative, should any of these people actually matter in our process?
If the validation is what gets you up to create, are you creating for you, or for the dopamine hit when you see a heart beside your latest post.
If you make something, post it, and get no response, does that really mean it’s not good?
If you were to close your Instagram account or at least never post there again, could you keep creating just for you (or clients if you have any)?
Could you go a week, a month, a year without telling anyone about your work?
Do you really want authenticity?
This buzzword is used far too often in the creative world. Even more so in the wedding industry.
I even use it right here on my own site. I’m guilty of that as well.
I suppose there is some merit in using that phrase in that way, but when you hire a photographer, do you really want them to be truly authentic?
Can anyone actually be that? Or is it just an orchestrated, managed, and marketed version of that person? When are any of us really being our “authentic selves” anyway? The moment we’re born and take our first breath? Anything after that is influenced by something or someone isn’t it.
When you’re looking for a photographer that does a good job, what you’re really looking for is professionalism, experience, knowledge, but more importantly, consistency. Not authenticity.
Consistency.
I had an electrician over the other day to fix my EV charger.
I don’t know anything about him. I don’t know if he was in a good mood, bad mood, tired, excited, angry…no idea. If he walked into my house and was being “authentic” he may very well have been a raging bull, swearing and tossing tools around, depending on what sort of day he had just before he came into my house - but he wasn’t.
He was nice.
Not overly personable, but he did the job right.
It’s the third time I’ve had him to our home in four years, each time, he did the job in the same way - and that’s why I hire him, despite his hourly rate being a little higher than others.
Because he’s consistent.
And that is what you want from a photographer.
Consistency.
Their style may change, the images that they create over the years may vary in look, but consistently showing up, doing the work, delivering the images - that’s the mark of a professional.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (True story)
Many many years, ago, in a small restaurant in Toronto, my wife and I invited a couple dozen friends and family to join us for a dinner, and our wedding. We gathered together, ate good food, drank lots of wine, and being a half Greek wedding, lots of ouzo.
And as a bit of a surprise to just about everyone there (including myself and my wife), We also had a traditional Greek bouzouki band. Not just any though. Somehow my father managed to hire THE band in everyone’s favourite Greek movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Yep, that’s the dude that played at our wedding.
I never wanted a massive wedding, and this was my wife’s second time getting married, and she certainly didn’t want the big production all over again. It was a bit of a crazy experience, and a wild night, and not everything went exactly as planned - but it sure was memorable, and that, when it comes right down to it, is what a wedding should be. Unique, personal, and memorable.
How to plan your wedding day.
Planning your wedding isn’t as stressful as you would think.
Especially if you actually plan out the type of wedding that the two of you actually want to have, and don’t allow yourself to be manipulated by the wedding marketing machine.
Here are the steps.
Choose a date
Find a few venues and choose one that is available on your wedding date, that fits your budget and aesthetics and space requirements.
Invite your friends and family. How many are invited is up to you. Budget, and sometimes cultural expectations are part of this process.
Enjoy the day. Celebrate. Drink. Eat. Dance (or don’t). Soak it up. Take every moment in as it happens.
Hire a photographer that knows that the pretty things are nice and all, but that what really matters are the human interactions and relationships. Choose wisely.
That’s it.
That’s really what it comes down to. Four individual steps.
The wedding industry machine will tell you what’s on trend and what you NEED to do/spend/create for your wedding to be relevant and important and up to date, but what you really need is just these four steps.
The rest is just wedding wank.
Don’t feel pressured by some blog post or instagram reel telling you that what you’ve planned out for the past year is all wrong because it’s not trendy anymore. God, can you imagine spending all that time with a certain vision of your wedding day only to be told you’re all wrong and it’s not in fashion anymore?
No thanks, ignore all that noise and do what you want.