I give a lot of consideration to how my approach and my vision as a candid wedding photographer can provide the best end result to the couples I work with. And in so doing, I spend a lot of time pondering whether the PHOTOS or the EXPERIENCE is more important (as in, if one had to take a backseat, which would it be?). I am deliberately using the present tense here because I am hopelessly undecided. Ask me one day and I may have a different answer than on another, but I believe the true reason for this ambivalence is that ultimately the answer is ‘it depends.’ Stick with me here . . .
My entire approach to candidly photographing couples in love (which you can read a lot more about HERE) begins with the idea that our photos ultimately become our memories. For example, show me a photo of your childhood and tell me what happened right before and right after. Hard to do right? So the image of you standing next to your dad holding the fish you just caught – that is your memory because that is the photo you have from that moment. In this way I believe that the real moments are the ones deserving of being remembered. If you ever played a sport as a kid and someone candidly captured a great action shot of you it probably meant a lot more than the individual shot of you on team photo day where the photographer instructed you to kneel and then put your chin on your fist. Know what I mean? And so the lens that I see the world with as an artist is focused on placing a greater emphasis on letting the people in front of my camera find comfort and even confidence in being allowed to be themselves and making memories of that. With this in mind, I don’t approach shooting couples as a photo shoot, but rather as an experience that I provide that ultimately yields photos of them.
Additionally, I also believe that we need not try to portray a moment in our lives – one that we deem worthy of hiring a photographer for – an engagement, a wedding or other special day – as something that it is not because that simply devalues who really we really are. So, this all points to me letting people be themselves and while terms like editorial, journalistic or even candid are often used to describe this style, I call it ‘UNAPOLOGETIC.’ As in ‘we are not apologizing for who we are’ and so rather than posing couples (ie – me making you look like someone you are not on your own) like they are on the cover or a cheesy romance novel, I provide as much guidance as may be needed, but more importantly, strive to provide an experience that lets couples know they are already great just the way they are. I give them space to find comfort in being who they are and celebrating that. Does this mean that I don’t help out when something looks or feels awkward – of course not. We are on the same team in making beautiful memories for you, but I just want those memories to be the real ones – the ones worth remembering and looking back on for many years to come.
Understanding the lens with which I work, perhaps it makes more sense that my resounding answer to the question of whether the EXPERIENCE or the PHOTOS is more important makes more sense. I cannot get the work I get without providing an experience that allows people to find comfort in being themselves. So, without a doubt BOTH are important, but which gets more emphasis really depends upon each couple and of course whether we are shooting for their engagement or wedding. During an engagement I may be a bit more heavy handed and involved (if or when needed) because we are often without constraints, whereas on the day of a wedding, I am often stepping back a bit more and letting the day flow while I let the real emotion, which there is often more than enough of, flow.
So, the answer, regardless of which way I am leaning on any given day, is that capturing the real you is always the most important thing and I will walk the path that it takes to get that, because that is always what is most worthy of remembering.
Location: Salida, CO and the Amigo Motor Lodge
