The blog is back! As many of you may know, I tried to do some blogging in the past, but I had a hard time keeping up. The next thing I knew, 2008 was over, and not a single posting! It’s shameful, I know. But we were busy – really busy. Still, it’s no excuse. So, here I am, back to it.

I know that it’s common convention to post a set of pictures from every recent wedding. I probably won’t be doing that, though I’ll try my best. But there’s something more important that I want to get out. I want to make sure to take the time to talk about what we do and why we do it, both here at 5 West Studios and as wedding photographers. I’ve been to weddings where I was really impressed with the photographer. Just as frequently, I was completely appalled. I’d always wonder to myself how the couple chose their photographer. Sometimes, I think it’s a bit of a crap shoot. After all, how do you know what your photographer will be like and how your pictures will turn out?

The truth is that a photographer will miss more pictures than they capture. Which is fine. It’s how things are. But the real question isn’t what will they capture. It’s what will they choose to miss? That’s where I think the real differences are.

For example, to get a really great shot of a dress during the prep period can easily take over 15 minutes in some locations. A nice shot might take just 5 minutes on the other hand. So, with 1 hour of time to catch the preparation, do you go for just a nice dress shot, which gives you 10 extra minutes documenting the interplay between a bride and her bridesmaids? Or do you get the perfect shot of the dress – something that someone may have labored over finding for weeks on end? Documentary decisions beg the same questions. Is it better to spend half an hour for the perfect expression? Or just to ask someone to pretend to do something, and get a good, but less personal moment?

These are the types of choices that define each photographer and their collective set of pictures. With about 8 hours of coverage, the day is going to be packed with choice after choice about what to shoot and what not to. In fact, it never stops until coverage is over. It is intense, exciting, exhausting, and everything in between, which is part of the fun of wedding photography in my mind. This is also the subject matter that will probably appear most frequently on my blog, in some fashion or another. How do I make my choices? What do I choose to miss?

I suppose like many a photographer, I always think the right choice for everyone out there is to hire me. When I hear that someone didn’t, I think to myself, “What? Why didn’t you choose me?!?” I’m dedicated. I don’t stop trying. Every shot matters to me, and, hey, I think I can take a pretty decent picture, if I do say so myself. But I know the truth – I’m not always the right choice. No one is, and if there is anything I hope to put out there, it’s to give everyone enough information about me, that they know what to expect and what I stand for. If I’ve done that, I’ve done my job.