DOES MY PHOTOGRAPHER NEED A SHOT LIST?

So why is this important?

Because this makes it a widely spread idea, which actually has the potential to harm you. It’s poorly informed and to be blunt, I think everyone deserves better than some scripted idea of life. My clients understand that I photograph the moments which will mean the most to them, and not just a list of stock images. But for everyone else, it’s easy to get bombarded with misinformation.

We have so many images thrown at us through social media. The sheer frequency of this can almost devalue the power which a single photograph can hold. But as you’re planning your wedding, you’ll search for ideas & inspiration, and find images that you absolutely love. You’ll see photos that are so beautiful & moving that you just wish you could have something exactly like that.

In this case how you get there is actually more important than the end result – bear with me. It’s the end result that always counts, right? Well what we might be thinking of as the end result, a photo, isn’t where it really finishes. Remember looking at those photos you “pinned” or “liked” and seeing something… that isn’t just skin deep, but a moment which throws out emotion and moves you? That makes you feel like you know how the people in that photo feel?

Well, stop right there. Imagine you are the person who really was there, who actually lived that moment, how would that photo then make you feel? Incredible. A feeling completely unique to you, to the people you shared it with and the life it is from – that is the end result.

The moment you start trying to replicate, mimic or stage the idea of a photograph, you’re denying yourself the chance to live your own life-moments. And you’re missing out on the end result, that feeling of your own meaningful photograph.

So how do we get to these photographs, these feelings? 

Live them, don’t try to manufacture them.

Then you need a photographer you can trust with the vision & skill to actually see and photograph your life.