My main goal when I photograph a wedding is to create what I think is the greatest wedding photographs I have ever created. I do this for me. It is my tastes that I am working with. My satisfaction and approval that I am looking for. My creative drive that I am trying to satisfy. My personal comfort zone that I am stretching, and leaving behind in my effort to create great images.
I am also shooting to create great images to put into my portfolio so I can sell my services to my next bride. I also shoot to add images to the portfolios of the florist, cake artist, venue, wedding coordinator, and band.
As a side benefit, trying to stretch creatively, create amazing work, and putting images into my future portfolio also ends up by delivering some great images for the client that I'm working for! As bizarre as it sounds, my business has increased exponentially by trying to satisfy myself rather than my clients!
This image was taken during the daylight with flash as the main source of light on the couple. They were extremely backlit, so I set the exposure for the background slightly underexposed to give the darker blue sky and used the flash as the main light. This was something I had wanted to try, but hadn't much until this photograph earlier this year. Now I've done it several times. The couple loved the shot. Bonus!Go forth and produce the images you want. The clients that like those images will love you for it!
3 comments:
Wow! Thanks for posting this Cory. I always thought about it the other way around- focusing on what my clients expected. I always stressed myself trying to figure out if I should go more timeless or edgy on particular shots for the couple's sake. It does make a lot more sense to shoot the images the way I like. That's why they hire us anyway right?
No problem. It was a like a lightbulb moment for me when I figure out that my clients were hiring me for my personal vision (as well as price, products, and personality). That meant that if I was creating images that fed that vision, it would make my clients happy at the same time! Thanks for posting!
Cory, I'm curious. Did the shot require HSS or did you manually set the light level to your liking?
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