The quality and production skills of these people are generally very good and sometimes exceptional.
But I wonder where there is room in all of this to actually stop and consider the actual event, a wedding, taking place.
It is a commitment before God and witnesses of a marriage between a man and a woman.
It is something instituted by God.
It is a sacred event.
Some photographers and video operators are very intrusive in their attempt to get the the magazine type shot that can be found in the world of fashion.
There is one video showing the still photographer standing on a bed ,towering over the bride, to get the shot. Uggh!
I know the people who pay top dollar are looking for this look but there is something about it that is so false.
No matter how good you look on your wedding day those pictures are going to be poison on the day when your marriage might be in tatters and you are facing a crisis to hold it together.
A more important record may be of the prayers that were offered for the couple and a transcript of the Minister's sermon or homily.
The book that someone gave you as a present about how to have a successful marriage might be better consulted on a regular basis than the wedding photos.
See my vision for wedding photography on this blog.
You will also find a link to my photography blog with sample wedding shots.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/geoff-thompson-my-vision-for-wedding.html
http://geoffthompsonphotographics.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/wedding-photography-gallery.html
I have nothing against wedding photography and admire great work that people do but be prayerful and/or considerate as you go about your profession.
There is a future for Wedding Photography.
What I am suggesting is that practitioners don't get carried away with their craft to the point that they don't respect the institution of marriage.
PS.
Since I posted this topic it has attracted a lot of page views.
If you are professional in what you do I am sure you can deal with the issue of so many trying their hand at wedding photography as there is such good technology now available.
When I entered the workforce in a large Government organisation in 1964 we all regularly used the typists in the typing pool to type our letters.
Now everyone does their own typing and the typists had to become mainstream in their careers.
Now though, their are specialist "Typists" in he form of PA's or Secretaries.
You will need to find the things that set you apart if you want to make a living out of Wedding Photography.
If you want to be a part timer I am sure there will always be opportunities in wedding photography and other photography genres.
I only ever went full time for about 9 months in 37 years as a wedding photographer and in that time was very busy but I opted to have a dual career as a Public Servant and a Wedding Photographer.
I recently attended a seminar by a successful wedding photographer who was mainly coaching about the business side of Wedding and Portrait Photography.
I was struck by the fact that most of the attendees were young female photographers.
This is a good thing but it was interesting in that if I had attended something similar 10-15 years ago they would have been mainly male photographers.
My most recent wedding I did(dec 2012) highlighted the the amount of photos mow taken at a wedding.
By the time I delivered my package to the couple about 2 weeks after the wedding they had already received 100's of images on Cd's from their friends.
There is a lot of competition so you do need to make sure you have a professional product.
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