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Home >> Learning >> e-Book on Wedding Photography Table of Contents Wedding Photography e-Book - Introduction So you wanna be a wedding photographer? Wedding photography seems to be a lightning rod for opinions and attitudes from photographers and non-photographers alike, some good and some not so good. It strikes fear into the hearts of some photographers who would just as soon face a poisonous snake in the outback than deal with the bride’s mother on the wedding day whereas others turn their noses at the whole wedding photography industry as being beneath their skills. Haughty attitudes will find their way towards the men and women that do plunge into wedding photography. They make too little to justify the time and energy spent building up a business, or they make far too much for so little work, as reported in 2003 by a CBS reporter (which caused a wee bit of anguish and consternation by the wedding industry). There are enough comments and opinions that it can make one dizzy from all the contradictory statements and make one wonder why anyone would “want” to punish themselves by becoming a wedding photographer.
Wedding Origins
Over the eons of time, every culture has developed its own customs and traditions that the bride and groom follow, or are encouraged to follow by friends and family. Weddings are usually associated with religious ceremonies, symbolizing the sanctity of the union before whichever God the bride and groom follow. It’s an obvious association given the near absolute power of the church in past times, though diminished in the 21st Century, still has great power and influence. Today, religious ceremonies are still commonplace, but now weddings are legal contracts between a man and woman and once the government has been satisfied with the required bureaucratic paperwork and attendant fee, the couple can choose a religious or civil ceremony to conclude the legalities. Looking at the history of weddings, one can see much symbolism and much superstition over some of the traditions. This is written from a western perspective, so you’ll forgive me for not mentioning customs specific to other ethnic or religious groups. As already mentioned, a church ceremony represents the couple’s commitment not only to themselves, but also to God for their holy vows.
The word “bride” is apparently old English for cook – take that for all of its connotations in today’s world J Having witnesses at the wedding dates to Roman times when similarly dressed attendants were required to confuse evil spirits from knowing exactly which man and woman were the wedding couple. No matter what the custom and tradition, weddings encompass the whole social strata of humanity. No matter how limited or unlimited the budget, there is a desire to celebrate the union and joining of two families. From the very simple to the lavish, there is a style of wedding for everyone and of course, there is a wedding photographer that can be found for each type. Although I always get butterflies in my stomach prior to a wedding shoot, I’ve usually enjoyed the event. It’s wonderful to be amongst so many people being happy, having fun and celebrating the union of two people. Like many other photographers taking the craft seriously, there inevitably came a day when I was asked to take photos for friends at their wedding. Rather than instantly shrink away from the request, as other seem to do, I agreed and went headlong into it trying to learn and follow through the events of the day. After that, it spiraled from there into trying to do weddings more seriously and formally. As of now, I am not formally running my own business, but I am involved with another photographer’s wedding business and assist him as second photographer. It keeps me active in photography and presents challenges to improve and learn new methods and styles of photography. In short, it’s fun and I enjoy it and while dreams of my own business dance in my head, I’m in no particular hurry at this time. While I’m no veteran with hundreds of shoots under my belt, mere dozens only, I thought I could offer some general comments on how to pursue wedding photography from the perspective of a part time photographer for other part time and amateur photographers interested in becoming involved with weddings. |
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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Weddings
are probably as old as civilization itself, the joining of a man and
woman into a monogamous commitment (or man and man, or woman and woman
in a few jurisdictions in the West, but let’s not go there, since same-sex
marriage is still very controversial in many areas 
The
wearing of white by the bride represents the purity of the bride, as
well as to ward off evil spirits.