Wedding Photographer

I'm currently so busy with my work but I know I have to get this on the blog before I totally forget AGAIN...

A few weeks ago, one of my online buddy had her wedding in Bankers Club and she hired a very professional photographer (PG) to capture her memories. Mind you, this is not the normal freelancer who takes up photography as passion and turn it into money making business. This particular PG has secured his name with WPJA (Wedding PhotoJournalism Association) which is suppose to be a big WOHOO!! The $$ she paid was way more than my whole package with Bridal Shop, my shoes, my Actual Day services (PG, VideoGrapher) and probably a lil more to have my invitation printed. A whopping RM7k. I actually thought with this amount of $$, her pictures will turn out to be wedding of the year. Her made-to-measure (MTM) wedding gowns, shoes, hand bouquet, hand made favors, ballroom decoration, invitation cards and other tiny detail were so unique and lovely and ......(fill in all the nice words) and this will absolutely definitely not miss out the eye of PG. The deco itself brings up to a few $Ks. Oopps, I actually left out this....she had 3 PGs for her wedding (they come in a package).

Sadly, the eager waiting Mrs. faced with a hugantic disappointment when he gave her full set of the picture online for proofing. First of all, 3 PGs just had a total of less than 500 pictures captured. Secondly, the pictures that matters to her most were not capture; i.e. the WHOLE wedding gown, the FRONT of her shoes, bouquet toss, bridesmaids pictures and many more personal shoots. She was furious and sad when she found out all those. No doubt the fine art (selected photos with touched up) he upload in his blog were amazing and jaw dropping. I was a bit (OK, a lot) envious when I saw her fine are in the blog. I wish mine will be at least 50% as nice as hers (although I'm paying only 20% of her price). Hey, who would not want that right? Anyway, it turn out that only a handful of pictures will be the fine arts pictures. Other than that, they are pretty basic.

I had the privilege to peep into her proofing pictures and BOY! I was in for a shock. The pictures indeed are so normal it looks more like what my PG is offering. I was so thankful I didn't pay so much to get the basic pictures. Hey, that's not the end of story.....at least not yet. It seems that the fine arts will not be returned to customer. If they wish to have them, they can purchase the file separately. Then what is the use of touching up but the customer have to pay for them??? And do you know when she confronted her on the missing pictures that were suppose to be captured in any wedding, then only this pro PG manage to find 150 pictures somewhere in his database. After much ranting and lectures to the PG, he will compensate with an extra storybook album. HELLO!! What if the customer didn't make any noise and kept all the frustrated feeling to themselves? Then they are the one who lose out a lot of thing.

Excerpt from my favorite wedding website.

"Anyone who’s been to a wedding knows there’s nothing simple about the pictures. A wedding photojournalist, whose goal is not to just photograph the bride, the groom, and the family and friends present, but to capture the energy and the variety of emotion that surround the event and the important details for the couple thru the wedding prep for the wedding AD itself.
Deep photos, like any good wedding cake, are made up of multiple layers of people, objects and emotions that make for compelling photographs and, for those involved, memories that will last. A photograph with depth is complex--it shows and it tells the story. And as with many great images, it takes a little bit of luck and a lot of skill.

here r some points in getting ready session:

1. Wedding gown, Bouquet, Jewerly, Wedding shoes,veil are very important components for bride. (every gal has her own dream of the white dress, white shoes on her important day)--this can tell CL's prep story for keep in her memory forever when she see these in the future or showing her grandchildren.

2. Another thing miss out is CL's make up artist and bridesmaids assist with the final touches on her hair and makeup, mom checking how her pretty daughter look like(first time the parents see the bride in the wedding dress & that has the potential of being a real moment )and the bride steps into her wedding gown with chimuis helping and shoes wearing..(i think he can do something more on this scene).

3. On the parents putting veil on bride...i think can do some more memorable potrait there. and how chi muis react at the time when looking the brides with parents. (he can aware of all the elements in a scene and working the angles to present the most complete story with 2 assistants)

Some importance for getting ready session:
Getting ready can be a monumental task for the bride and her entourage, and an event in itself. It’s a time not only during which the women share their excitement and happiness, but also one in which they can smooth out any bumps in the road that may arise, from mending an ill-fitting wedding gown to soothing an overwhelmed bride. The application of cosmetic agents, hair, skin, nail, and other treatments, final tuning of clothing and accessories; this seemingly endless array of beauty products and treatments makes for a very hectic and intense prep session."

Although with a compensation, I still sincerely feel bad for her. With this guide, I'm so sure my photo will turn out nice. "Hey Universal, I'll have nice wedding photos during my wedding,ok? " this is how The Secret (I had blogged about this post) taught me.