I rarely have time to post wedding images on my blog or even do much marketing for my business (thank goodness for referrals from past clients, which I am grateful to say, accounts for most of my business). I choose to spend the majority of my time working on my client’s images, because I know the final product speaks for itself. My professional work ethic, easy-going and personality, experience, added bonus of makeup application and of course the images themselves, are my best form of advertising. Choosing to do all of my own backend work on each and every wedding myself (editing, re-touching, color correcting and file conversion) is very time consuming. Each wedding takes about 20+ hours of time at least (which many people are not aware of).
Many people are also unaware that it is a rare commodity nowadays, that a photographer completes a wedding from start to finish. YES, I’m serious and this trend is growing steadily. Many photographers have student interns and freelance workers to do all of their backend work after they shoot the wedding. What is most disturbing to me about this new trend, is that many photographers are choosing to send images away to ONLINE companies to complete backend work, scary! One of the ads I have seen for photographers, from an online company that offers their back end work services , is a woman in a hammock on a tropical island relaxing in the sun. The ad says, “what would you rather be doing with your time” or something similar. Maybe I am just old-skool, but I believe the art of storytelling with images is in the completion of the work from start to finish. Letting someone who did not attend the wedding in person, who did not experience the lighting, feel, mood or pick up on any of the glances or seemingly small nuances of the day, take on the responsibility of editing such an important day seems like a risky and unfair choice. Not only that, do they even know who the family members are or anything about the bride and groom’s personalities? Hum, no brainer, I choose to stick with my perfectionist views and old-skool views on this one!
My clients have selected me with great care and are entrusting me to deliver an important final product (possibly one of the most important in their lives!). I believe that the back end work is just as important as photographing the wedding, actually it takes more skill. I went to a four year college for photography and we spent at a great deal of time learning about color correcting and re-touching. The mood and feel of the photos can drastically change if too much re-touching , over-saturation or color casts are added to images (which are all current trends as well).
For brides and grooms that are not sure about what they would like their photographs to look like, it can be overwhelming to view so many photographer’s websites and to try and decifer just what it is that they resonate with or like about the images. Each field is so specialized, so I don’t expect them to know how to describe what they like. I don’t know much about cars and so I trust my mechanic’s expertise in his specialized field when my car needs to be fixed. I can describe the noise my car is making, but I don’t know why and I take my car to him to fix the problem and get me back on my way. I trust in the feelings or intuition I get when choosing someone to help me out in a field that is not my specialty or that I don’t know much about. In addition to the feelings I have, I also want to see if our personalities mesh, are our goals in alignment, what is their background and previous experience? Would you go to a doctor on a whim for an important medical procedure or would you do a little research? I’m impartial, but I see photography in this same realm of importance :).
Therefore, I would like to describe my style, so that people can put into words what they feel or resonate with when they view my work and are starting to understand what they would like to see captured in their own images. For the most part, my style can be described as documentary in nature with a focus on capturing candid moments. Some people describe my images as classic, elegant and real (staying away from too many trends stands the test of time). Because of my fine art background, there is also a creative element, that is not always seen in more traditional documentary photography. In order to best tell the entire story of the day, I also include some images that look more “posed”. These may be taken when family and friends are not be participating in the action, but are important elements of the day and to the overall story. Over the years, I have found that most people are not used to being photographed all day, therefore, I also give some direction for capturing the most flattering angles and to help people feel more comfortable. However, I only give direction when it does not interfere with capturing candid moments! For example, I give some direction with family groupings or portraits of the bride and groom alone, while still helping people to interact with each other to get a natural and relaxed look.
I hope this helps wedding couples that are spending a great deal of time on wedding planning and looking into several specialized fields (shopping for a ring, florist, cake, dj or band). Until wedding planning begins, people often have no idea how much there is to learn about each element that goes into creating an amazing wedding day experience! Over the last few years especially the photography market has grown tremendously. There are so many people who have decided to take up photography after the economy downturn or they may shoot weddings on weekends in addition to their full time jobs for additional income. My intention is not to put these photographers down or call them out for having others complete their backend work on images (I’m sure many photographers will not like me exposing this secret). However, I do think it is important to let people know what to look for when making such an important decision, as to whom they will entrust to capture their memories. I doubt that photographers mention that they send their wedding day images away to an online company for backend work, if it does not come up in conversation when speaking to a potential bride and groom. In my book, not disclosing information is not an ethical option and therefore I wanted to bring awareness to this new trend. Making a well-informed decision when time is a precious commodity is vital to choosing a photographer that best fits your wants and needs.
I offer free phone consultations and custom photography quotes via email as well, as an easy way to see exactly what your perfect package for wedding coverage would look like, along with the complete cost (nothing hidden!). Many clients really appreciate this service, because lets face it, with a job or school, most people don’t have a ton of extra time to wedding plan. With a phone consultation I get to know my clients on a more personal level, as each couple is unique, custom quotes avoid cookie cutter pre-assembled packages.
So lets chat at your convenience, send me an email to set up a great time for a quick phone consultation, skype meeting or better yet, a meeting in person!
Cheers and happy wedding planning!
Katie Klein
