The Wedding Season !!

The Wedding Season is upon us..........at least the booking part of it. Having been in the business as long as I have,  you might think that 38 years would make my life somewhat boring within the Wedding scope. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have found that ALL Weddings are unique and challenging from several different standpoints. There are the wishes of the Bride and Groom, the locations, the "style" and "attitude of the affair, the time, and of course the season. Something that is NEVER talked about is the attitude and style of the photographer, unless everything went south and the photographs are not what the Bride and Groom had in mind.

Something as imperative as having the "right" Wedding photographer is so often over looked. Making the right choice can be perplexing to say the least. However, I've found that generally key words such as "Photojournalistic style", " Unlimited images ", and "you get the disks, raise a RED flag, and makes me want to question several issues, and wonder WHY. I'll explain.

I quite honestly don't know the number of Weddings I've photographed, too many to count, and they have been all over the U.S. and Canada. I have been somewhat limited in terms of numbers due to the fact that there is only ONE me, and I will never book more than one Wedding/Wedding event ( Dinner ) per day. I have NEVER given one of my Weddings to someone else to shoot. It's not fair or, in my mind, ethical to do so. "Morgan Studio" is Michael S. Morgan and that is all there is to it. I can't train someone to see, feel, or be as knowledgeable as I am with in the field. Please don't assume I'm patting myself on the back....I have had my share of challenges at Weddings. No show grooms ( once ), Bridal Party partying too much the night before ( generally the Guys ), Forgotten Tuxes, misdirections to Bridal Party personnel, the usual in my profession, but I always remember...I'm hired to produce the most Fabulous Album of the event possible.

Granted the "Candid" images are great, but the most sought after are the "formal" Family images. Families get together for Weddings and Funerals....I produce Wedding albums with great Family portraits. Sure, the usual, at the Alter....but the loved portraits, Mom, Dad and Family sharing the day with their Son, Daughter, and other family members. Relaxed, together, and individually, the family looks great. It's NOT "Photojournalist", there are no intrusions in the background, no surprises.

The day belongs to the Bride and Groom, Unlimited Images" is a red flag as I see someone racing around like the guy in the Nikon ad saying "Booya"with some snapshots that are of questional value in real life. REMEMBER......on TV ANYONE can be a photographer. The number of portraits I capture depends upon the Bridal Party size, Family sizes, the location options, time of day, and wishes of the couple. I will never pass up on an opportunity to capture an image, but I'm not in it for the numbers.

If a photographer is giving away his images on a disk, he must not care anything about them. The corner store with a photo department is NOT a color lab. I use the best Lab in the U.S. and have since I opened in 1972.  They ARE the leading edge in the processing market and offer services to me that I can pass on to in a finished product that you cannot get from them. They work only for the Professional side. Disks of images are not available from us.

Looking at my appointment book, I see that if all goes as it is, it will be a great Wedding year for us.
I have more to talk about concerning our Weddings, I'll return to the Blog later....I have a Wedding consultation in ten minutes.