Weekend bridal show recap, followed by a bit of a rant

This past weekend was one of rushing hither and yon, the highlight of which was spending Sunday in my hometown at the Columbus Bridal Expo. The Wife and I were there, of course, representing Lisa On Location photography. The Wife had a mighty impressive display set up, complete with gallery wraps and a flat-screen television playing a dazzling slideshow of her wedding-themed "Greatest Hits." As was not entirely unexpected, the parade of perspective brides "oohed" and "aahed" over The Wife's inventive and eye-catching trash the dress portraits. Those shots really stand out, and The Wife even blogged about it. She spoke with pretty much every bride that came through, the only exceptions being those who regretfully admitted they'd already book a photographer prior to the wedding show.

For me, however, there was added incentive in participating in this particular wedding fair. You see, despite growing up in Columbus, I'd never set foot inside the historic Stafford Opera House before--the venue of said expo. Hard to believe, I know, but all the years I was growing up in Columbus, the Opera House was always in a state of perpetual restoration, with fund raisers being the norm. It was until 1990 that the decades-long restoration was complete and the venue opened for performances. I was eager to see what the inside looked like, and I have to say I came away impressed. First of all, the second-floor theatre is much larger than it appears from the outside. Secondly, it's not anywhere near as ornate as, say, the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, but it's got a restrained elegance all its own. I can imagine photographing a wedding reception here would be quite fun.

Overall, I was impressed by the quality and quantity of the vendors who turned out to this event. There were impressively upscale venues and caterers and florists and even a wow-your-socks-off destination wedding provider. But one element utterly baffled me--the number of photographers there selling wedding packages who had absolutely no wedding experience. Now don't get me wrong--there's plenty of weddings in this world to go around, and The Wife and I generally try to go out of our way to meet other wedding photographers, network, trade war stories and compare notes. But wedding photography isn't something you just jump into on a whim, because if you screw it up, you have botched someone's wedding day. There ain't no mulligans, folks. Consider that The Wife has 20 years of photographic experience, having cut her teeth on film and spent many, many hours in chemical-laden dark rooms prior to making the switch to digital imaging. And how, even then, she attended multiple weddings as a second shooter to learn the ropes before daring to book even a single wedding on her own. And invested considerable amounts of money into professional level equipment--including backup equipment--to ensure she could do the job right, and continue to do the job even if some disaster befell her primary camera. And how she continues to work to better herself as a photographer, studying and learning constantly (as evidenced by her recent ass-kickery during the PPA certification exam) and her memberships in Professional Photographers of America, Wedding and Portrait Photographers International and the Texas Professional Photographers Association. She's got her state business operating permit, pays her sales taxes quarterly and has insurance and indemnification.

Contrast this with one photographer who was proudly showing off their equipment, which consisted of a Canon Rebel, pop-up flash and a kit lens. Now I don't want to come off as a snob or anything, but I see a huge train wreck in someone's future, akin to this sad episode of Judge Joe Brown:



The first wedding The Wife ever shot as the primary photographer, the officiant came up before the ceremony and announced she wouldn't allow any photography. At all. The bride and groom had attended months of pre-marital counseling with this pastor, and not once did this little tidbit come up. Yet The Wife, with her years of photojournalism background and experience as a wedding second shooter, was able to calm down a livid bride and groom, recreate the "forbidden" shots after the fact, produce a stunning wedding album and save the day. Far more common is the officiant who allows photography, but not flash in poorly-lit church interiors. In these instances, The Wife's knowledge of ISO, aperture and shutter speed allows her to manually adjust the settings to capture the shot. Of course, she's using expensive "fast" glass with a wide aperture that allows the camera to take in more light, and also her beloved Canon 5D mark II, which has a full-frame sensor that captures gorgeous color as well as offering amazing low-light performance. Then for the reception she breaks out the shoe-mount speedlites for either off-camera lighting triggered by remotes, or on-camera bounce flash with an array of specialty diffusers to choose from. She's used my Canon Rebel as a backup body in the past, and while it is wholly capable of taking fine photographs, it has very clear limitations, even when coupled with fast, professional lenses (which an inexpensive kit lens is not). I am utterly and completely baffled as to why anyone would trust something as important as wedding photos to someone with little or no wedding experience, but moreso, how anyone so ill-equipped and inexperienced could offer themselves up as a professional to trusting brides. Honestly, it boggles the mind.

Now Playing: Clandestine The Ale is Dear
Chicken Ranch Central