Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Things to consider when hiring a Wedding Photographer

Most people who are seeking after wedding professionals have never encountered the special things they do. Before my wedding, I can say I knew nothing of wedding cakes, outside of how to take a picture of them, so before we bought one Kate and I went down to look at and eat some samples before we decided. You wouldn’t buy a cake for your day unless you tried it first right? The fact that you’re here to read what wedding photography is about, is much the same - you can look at a photographers pictures and appreciate them, or not. Just like a cake. However, why you may or may not like those pictures goes deeper than just emotion, there is a reason why they appeal to you. The over all goal of this blog is to help you find the right photographer for you day, it is not my goal to convince you we are the right fit, we may not be. We want you to learn who is so we have done our Job in making sure your wedding is what you want it to be!

A certain level of work or lack thereof, and the personality and shooting style of the photographer that went into those pictures you have been looking at, are the reason you feel the way you do. My hope is that by reading this, it will help you understand why you feel the way you do, and your choice for a wedding photographer might be made easier by having knowledge to accompany your emotion. Just like tasting the cake will solidify your choice, reading this may help you in the same way find what you desire.
Wedding photography is a very deep subject, I have written a lot here about it, so I have broken it down into sections to help you navigate as you may not be interested in everything I say here.
However before you skim over I would like to put the size in perspective. Let’s say the first section “while you search” is a 15 minute read. And let’s say for an easy number you have 2000 dollars to spend on wedding photography. If the section does what it is intended it will help you get what you’re after. Someone who does not research a product runs the risk of not getting their monies worth, so we can say then that the first section is worth a potential 133 dollars a minute in value if it helps you get what your after. The second section is about Zekar, I will let our value speak for itself if you decide to read it as well.


Section one. While you search


1. What to consider in a photographer.

a. Personality
b. Investment
c. But weddings are so expensive!
d. Price reflects process

2. Questions to ask a potential photographer


Section two, About Zekar Photography.


3. Who is Michael as a Photographer and Kate as an assistant?
4. The priceless moments you get and why we get them.
5. Our Work Flow
6. Going beyond the pictures.





Section one. While you search

1. What to consider when hiring a photographer


A) Personality


Your photographer is typically one of the first things you book when you are starting your wedding planning. Sometimes they can be with you for a year or two, and even longer if you have them shoot your family as it grows later in life, they should be considered as a potential professional friend. So their character is the first thing you should consider, speak with them in person before you reserve your day. Are they excited for you? Do they have a passion for weddings? Are they interested in your day and all the unique specifics? Do they sound nervous, board, or act like talking with you is just run of the mill? Ask yourself, could this person be a friend, or at least someone I will smile for? Next to your fiance the photographer will be beside you the most on your day, their presence should make you comfortable. I can't tell you how many times I have talked to brides maids or others at weddings who said something like. "my photographer was so boring or depressing I wish I had been more thoughtful about who I picked!" A look into their character will give you insight into how they both work as an organized person and how they will fit into your plans. Are they a take charge type of person, are they laid back and observant, a combination of both, what do you need to help you? Some people simply want their day documented so a laidback yet very observant photographer may fit best. Or you may want them to conduct the pictures, promote a moment; a more take charge vocal photographer may fit you then. Ultimately if you feel comfortable with your photographer your pictures will be much better, so your comfort level should be paramount. If there is no connection it will translate into the pictures. If you don’t click with them, when they click, you will see it in the picture! You want genuine smiles not forced ones, right? Your interview with them must go deeper than looking at the work they produce.


B) Investment


Wedding photography is one of the hardest forms of photography there is. A wedding is like sports photography, fashion, portrait, product, architecture, and landscape photography all in one, happening fast, and often at the whim of situations like weather or unique lighting conditions and the rush of emotions of those involved. Nothing but experience can prepare a photographer for this, and this is before they even edit and compile your story together. So it makes sense that excellent wedding photography has a price and should be considered an investment. I feel it’s important to say this, and therefore I should talk about price and product and how they are related as it governs most people’s choice in some way. Most couples do not know how to price wedding photography as they have usually only encountered it for the first time after their engagement. Let me clarify something before I go on - when I use the term cheap in this blog, I mean this. Once you have read this, and you understand what it is your looking to invest in, cheap will mean someone who claims to provide all the things mentioned at an exceptionally lower price than you typically see as the average.

I would suspect there is something to be couscous of if their cheep in the manner I am speaking about, the chance that it is a photographer who offers everything required to create pictures with lifelong durability seems unlikely to me. All cars are generally the same in concept, yet we all know when we sit in a luxury car it has higher value, why is that? It has seats as all others do, and engine and body, why do we know it’s different then? It’s because there is time, energy, and quality going into the small details, it may have all the same things as other cars, but the small things are so much better. There are many aspects of photography that come into play in a photography package, engagement session, extra photographers, equipment, videos, editing, albums, prints, and experience are just a few to list, all have worth and will dictate the price. So by cheap I mean the combination of these things up against price, if you saw a new BMW priced the same as a KIA I think you would stop and wonder "this is to good to be true". An experienced photographer has learned the work involved and there is both value to them and yourself in this fact. Why one will be priced the way they are will depend of these factors, so you must consider which factors have value to you and then seek after those things the best you can within your budget.

Although it may be true that you can get similar packages for a wide range of prices I do not think you can get everything wedding photography offers cheap and end up happy unless it’s an unusual circumstance. However, you can get less for cheaper, and be happy, if that’s what your budget dictates. You can have things cut out of the package to lower the price, this is a different cheaper all together, lets call it budget savvy. Photography is not like a product from a superstore; you can’t buy it in bulk and sell it for cheap, it is an art, a one off, so expect to pay for it, and when you do so with understanding you will get your monies worth. Like all things quality and price are attached at the hip in some way, in wedding photography they are related intimately.

As I grew in the industry I knew from study of good photographers that it was very involved, the more I got involved however I saw there were so many more techniques I would have to acquire than I could have imagined. By going cheap as I mean it, or bargain hunting, you are most likely making a mistake. And your wedding is not a safe place to learn how you should have gotten good pictures. That is not to say that you won’t stumble across the next budding world famous wedding photographer, or that an inexperienced person cannot produce acceptable results. I too had to start out with no wedding experience; and those people I shot weddings for in that time knew what they were getting. My travel experience photographing new people in different cultures and countless hours with my cameras and editing software over the years prepared me well, but I still had much to learn and better equipment to buy. My warning here is about the people who claim and even possibly think they have the abilities and experience and can do all the same things much lower than the rest of us when they actually do not. You need to look out for them, that way there is no surprises or tears in the end. And there are ways for you to figure out who these people are by knowing a little about what we do as wedding photographers, which is another goal of writing this blog. Like knowing BMW is a good car by driving in one you will know why and what to ask someone who seems cheap as I have defined it.




C) But weddings are so expensive!


For Kate (my wife and business partner) and I our budget was limited, so I truly understand the problem money can be in planning a wedding. I was moving from university into a career and a new home, things were tight. With both of us having a passion for photography, our pictures had high importance to us. So our primary focus while looking was the quality of work, not the extras, quality over extras is certainly something you want to consider. We decided for our wedding that everything else could suffer at the expense of food, drinks, and photographic quality. Our photographer was there because of his work quality and personality, and we still have a relationship with him to this day. It was not the extras he offered, in fact we received nothing but pictures on a DVD in the end because that’s all we could afford after booking him for his quality. I was willing to have a computer full of good pictures, over an album full of crappy ones. What good is a ton of prints if you don't want them on your wall, or they remind you of a photographer who treated you like the next part in their production line. You simply cannot risk feeling your heart sink every time you look at your wedding pictures for the rest of your lives. You have spent countless hours, emotions, and dreams creating the perfect wedding, looking your very best, having the biggest party of your lives, make sure the memories captured reflect the beauty of your day.

If your budget is the bottom line and you cannot bend, you may be able to find someone who can give you good results for a lower price, but expect that it will have risk involved and you may just get what you pay for. If someone is inexpensive, expect for them to say that they are inexperienced, that they are looking to build a portfolio, or they don’t edit their pictures afterwards, find out why before so you don’t find out why the hard way. However, everyone has to start somewhere, so it’s not always a bad thing, just be aware.

However, in saying that I do not mean to take away from the value the extra's have. Most of the time the products Photographers offer like albums and prints come from labs that only work with professionals. The time and energy that goes into producing these products cannot be compared to what you find online or at consumer labs. Our lab has professional bookbinders that assemble the albums by hand, and our work stations are all calibrated to their printing equipment. Each picture I put into an album is sized and sharpened properly for optimal printing, and I will even edit an image to insure it fits in with the other images on the page. Your photographer has put together countless albums and blogs, they know how to tell a story in images, they have years of experience with the programs and equipment used to make quality products. These are a few things you cannot get from consumer labs, they require time, much like the extra work in a high end car, and you can tell in the final product. Just be sure to ask your photographer about their lab, you don't want to pay boutique lab prices to a photographer who may be using a consumer lab and marking up something cheep. I mentioned that Kate and I were on a limited budget, I was in university so money was tight. After our wedding we decided to put an album together from a consumer lab online. We got what we paid for and knew that we would. The print quality is not even comparable to the lab we now use, and the pages are beginning to fall out because of low quality binding. I'm not upset though, I knew this was the case. Now that we have some extra money we will be building a new album with out lab, but if I could have I would have had our photographer do it at the time because I know the value in allowing his art to be managed and assembled by him. When I look at the album we bought I feel like I rented a Lamborghini for a photographer and drove it on a dirt road called my album. But I don't regret it because I wanted high quality images first, and that's all I could afford at the time.


D) Price reflects Process


The work that goes into a picture is extensive. The know-how begins with how to capture it, but also moves into editing and keeping your wedding in an efficient workflow. A 6 hour wedding done by a professional will not be merely 6 hours; it could easily reach 40 hours with downloading, backing up sorting, editing, ordering prints, putting your unique story together in an album, and all the other administrative work that goes on behind the scenes. My opinion on budget is blunt; inexpensive usually represents either inexperience or a sacrifice in a proper work flow. Think about it this way, would you be able to work 40 hours a week and also pay for all the product your working on for your employer, like paper, manufacturing, equipment, programs, employes, insurance, hydro, etc and do it all for 500, or even 1000 dollars? You would go broke fast, so if someone tells you that's what they do, either they don't or wont be doing it for long :) So consider the process your pictures will go through, good pictures don’t end at the last call of the wedding, they begin there and started long before. Your not just paying for good pictures, but a workflow your pictures will enter. Furthermore it is often very expensive to have a picture corrected by another professional if your photographer has not done it as part of their work flow. You could potentially have two outcomes if the photographers post production is not considered before you book. First, when you look back at it through poor pictures that could never be fixed your memories won’t be as they should be, a happy window into the past. Second, you could spend hundreds or even thousands more paying another professional to fix something in Photoshop that should have been done properly the first time.

So this leads me into questions you should ask a potential photographer to figure out if your final product will turn out as you dreamed it will. By asking a photographer the following questions you will both show them you have taken the time to learn about what they do and second you will learn the things you need to know in order to get what you're after. This way your budget will get its maximum quality. A photographer who is knows that you have leaned about what they do will be far more likely to work with you if they see you understand why the price is what it is. I have worked out wedding packages with people interviewing me, stripping them down to the bare necessities without sacrificing quality, and then had them ask if I could still lower the price to the point where I would barely make minim wage, that is if I maintained my standards.

Now I am not offended by this, it just shows me that they truly do not understand what must be done to maintain what they see in my work. Conversely, I am often approached by couples that show both appreciation and knowledge of the work involved and I do all I can to work with them because of it. Every artist wants their work in the hands of those who appreciate what is done and know it has lasting value, why would they not work with someone like that? I get extremely excited to have the opportunity to work for clients who really want to know what happens to make their day a lasting story in images, its awesome!


Questions you should ask your potential photographer.


A) Ask them if you can see a sample of a few weddings, go beyond their front page portfolio. Be sure to see that their portfolio quality is the standard not an exception. Looking at sample weddings will show you a few things. Do they maintain good quality in every situation the wedding puts forth? Can they tell a story of the day? Are all of the pictures ones you’d want to show your friends and family?

B) Ask about their work flow, how many pictures do they edit and what program (s) do they edit with? A camera takes a picture when a photographer is inspired by the moment. This inspiration is an idea; there are controls on the camera that give the photographer the ability to begin to communicate this idea but it only just starts there. You will not find a photographer who will upload your pictures and give them to you at the end of the day, if they do find another one. Why shouldn't they give them to you right out of the camera? Because they need to edit them. The camera is limited if it wasn’t we wouldn’t have a such a wide variety of editing software out there making millions in sales if there were cameras that did all the work. So the idea begins on your wedding day with the click, it is then taken back to the digital darkroom and the photographer applies their special touch through programs like Adobe Photoshop, Gimp, Lightroom and so on. This aspect of photography is as vast and as important of the workings of the camera itself, it is only when they are put together that you get a good full package.

C) Ask about their equipment, do they use a point and shoot? I hope not! A point and shoot is basic, a camera that does not have interchangeable lenses. A Camera is a tool, once when asked why he would give up composing music for photography as it didn’t seem to communicate as much as music Ansel Adams the world famous landscape photographer said, and I paraphrase. “I don’t think a camera can communicate very much, but I think a photographer can”. If your photographer is going to communicate your wedding properly they need the tools, ask what they use write it down and look it up to see if it’s suitable for weddings. Do they have off camera lighting, extra camera bodies and lenses if something breaks? However, Ansel Adams also said "There is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a fuzzy idea” The tools are not the end all, do they have vision and ability to produce the idea?

D) Ask them about their photographic history, where did they get started, how long have they been around cameras, weddings, and what made them a wedding photographer?

E) Ask for a reference, some past clients that you can talk to. See if they lived up to the standards they advertise by asking a client.

F) Ask about printing rights and watermarks. Do they require you to print with them? If they do how much does it cost? You could be confronted with some surprising back end prices if this is not considered. A watermark is the company name or photographers name placed onto the picture as a permanent mark and they may charge you a fee or printing fees to remove the watermark.

G) Make sure the photographer you meet, is the photographer that will actually shoot your day. Here is a story that upsets me – and it happens more often than you’d think. Years ago my cousin walked into a home studio, saw good pictures, and signed the contract. After meeting with the photographer, he sent them on their way and she was happy to have her/him booked and went on with other things. Her wedding day came, the door bell rang. Someone yelled “the photographers here!” and she jumped up with excitement and went to the door. Who was there? The photographers apprentice. “Who are you?” she said. “I’m your photographer Mr Never-Done-This-Before replied. “Oh no you’re not” she said “yes I am… Mr Ripoff sent me” he replied. It was never mentioned that Mr Ripoff would not be there, but Mr Never-Done-This-Before, with his cheap camera from the 70’s would be. I don’t know if the contract said this was possible but it may have, so sit with your photographer and read their contract and ask about it. If they don’t have a contract, run. Contracts protect you as much as them! Luckily for my cousin my older brother who is a very experienced hobbyist photographer was there, and his pictures grace her walls today.

Well, thank you for reading this section, I hope it helps you out while you search and was worth 133.oo a minute. The remainder is an outline of what we do at Zekar specifically. If you ever have any questions you can email us at zekarphoto@gmail.com We are happy to answer any questions you have about what wedding photography is. We have a fiduciary relationship those who are getting married and wedding photography in our community, so even if they are not our clients we wish to help all who seek out this wonderful art and service.


Section Two. About Zekar photography.


The word "zekar" is a Hebrew word that has the meanings; being mindful in the divine sense, remembering, think, record, and to make memorable. It is our goal to live up to this word in every step we partake in for your wedding day.



3. Who Is Michael as a photographer and Kate as an assistant.


My passion for photography started in 2003 when I began to travel the world. I spent almost 3 years pushing my camera to its maximum potential taking landscape and street photography wherever my backpacking feet would bring me. Having a background in machining as a career, and being a songwriter, I found the camera was a perfect fit for my personality. It allowed me to mix my passion for the technical with the arts, I became obsessive over the art of photography over those years, and still remain this way. At the time, I never would have thought wedding photography would become the uppermost passion in my life next to my wife and family. When I settled back in Ontario late in 2005 I had started collecting higher end cameras and lenses continuing my passion. It was not long before I was being asked to shoot birthday parties, backyard weddings, and newborns by those who were connected to me. My first weddings were ones that came my way through friends and family who knew of people who had a limited budget and were asking if I may help them out on their wedding day. I made them aware I had very little experience with weddings, so their expectations and my ability were on the same level.

The idea excited me as I wanted to see how I was as a photographer applied to the challenges of a wedding. What would I produce? I was blessed to have my first clients, they were aware of my abilities and lack of experience, and together we produced good results for both their budget and my growth. It was through this that I learned that my personality and life experience was built for photojournalistic style photography, and weddings were where I wanted to apply it. I had spent 4 years learning the workings of the camera, with lots of time on my hands while traveling my learning curve was steep. My subjects were always changing, beach parties, train stations, landscapes, transient friends I met along the way, I was always forced to learn in changing moments. I like to say I got my undergraduate in photography on the streets. I experienced different cultures and communities; I was forced to observe the world as a guest in the areas I was traveling. I had photographed what was around me and learned how to communicate what I saw from my heart through the camera. I feel this is what molds my professional life as a wedding photographer to this day, and brings a unique style of photography to my clients. From 05 through the present I have maintained my passion for education in photography and now apply the same passion to my business as a wedding and lifestyle photographer. When I began my travels I was a shy personality, typically watching people until I grew to know them. The fact that I was placed alone in new places often caused me to learn to open up much faster. So I would say my personality is somewhat dualistic now, I still have the shy observant character that now hides under a patina of sociability. It fits well with the type of photographer I am, I like to observe the moment, but can jump in and be part of the fun while they happen.

Kate, my wife , had dreamed of weddings for her whole life. She was definitely one of those women! :) She brings to our team something very important. I am used to observing things as they happen and recording through my camera the world as it is, so I might miss things like a dress needing to be fixed, or hair out of place. She always has her eye on the wedding as a thing of perfection and is ready to fix those little things that will make the pictures that much better. She also helps out with equipment, getting ready the things we will need for the next situation, this opens up time for me to continue shooting the important moments. After the wedding when we begin to edit she brings a feminine aspect to the table, often pointing out the emotion of the picture and how we can improve it to fit the wedding better as she felt it that day. Her suggestions and observations often find things I as a man may not consider. I feel she is as important to our process as my camera and more important to me personally in her endless support of me and this passion as we grow it.


4. The priceless moments you get and why we get them.


For most people who are looking into wedding photography it is their first time encountering photography in a professional atmosphere. Knowing what you are after can make the difference between life long pictures you will enjoy, or photographs that conger up an experience with a photographer that really did not fit your needs. I will be the first to admit I may not fit your needs; this is one the reasons for writing this blog, to help educate my clients and direct those who are looking for a photographer into the right direction, even if it’s away from me! I understand first that every photographer has different vision and methods in how they communicate a wedding day, so what I do may not fit with many people.

So what is it that I do? First we can break photography down into two categories, traditional, and photojournalistic or documentary. Early cameras did not have the ability to freeze people. This limitation caused us to pose people and record them in that pose. That’s why when you see pictures of people from the olden days, nobody was smiling, because it took up to 15 minutes for the camera to record the image – who can smile for 15 minutes straight without breaking a face muscle?? Traditional photography has a distinctive feel about it, one that may fit one person and not another.

I spend a lot of time looking at wedding photography and it seems that for the most part this would be the dominant style, or at least the majority of pictures that fall into portfolios seem to be traditional. They were controlled and posed in that manner, planned out by the photographer. There are many positives to this type of photography, it gives the photographer time to make sure the picture is properly exposed; more elaborate equipment can be used to create a different photograph. You can always redo the shot, you are given more guarantee that you will get a quality picture. And it does take a special talent in a photographer to pose people and communicate a wedding day, so it is still art.

When cameras became faster they were able to freeze a subject in a moment, photojournalistic photography was born by those brilliant minds that saw an opportunity to communicate something new, people as they were in a natural moment. At Zekar this is our primary focus, we want to capture the moments as they happen and restrict posing to only what is necessary. To be perfectly honest when I see a posed shot I can respect the technical side but looking at the people in it I feel somewhat empty, they seem like models not people to me.

However, it is a subjective opinion so I would not claim candid moments are the only photography that matters. Due to the importance of the candid moment to me even when I pose I do my best to make it as candid as possible because my heart desires to see people as they are in moments. So I would say if you’re looking for a day filled with posed shots I am not for you. Of course we have time for posed shots, it’s a must for a few reasons. A wedding is a gathering of family and friends; it may not be possible to get group shots without gathering everyone up. Furthermore, candid moments may be the couple’s desire but its safe to assume there may be people who would like a traditional picture, like mum or dad, so catering to them is important as well. However, we like to limit this for the sake of capturing people as they are during the wedding.

The weddings I am best suited for are typically laid back, I am far more likely to get a picture of the bridesmaids as they linger together and laugh while getting ready, than I am to place them someplace for a shot. While the day unfolds, I like to be unobtrusive, waiting for the shot to happen, rather than making it happen. The bride and groom are often in a tizzy, I want to provide the moments that happen around them they may not notice, allow them to see the joy that took place when they may have been somewhere else. I do not only want to help retain the memory of their day I wish to expand it by filling the gaps. My goal is to make the intangible emotions of the day, tangible in a picture, so I focus on the natural flow of the wedding over posed pictures.



5. Our Workflow


The traditional photographer who poses a couple throughout the day often will, prior to editing, set up a proofing gallery where the couple can pick the pictures they like best. After the pictures are decided upon the photographer enters the editing stage. At Zekar, the nature of what we do requires a different approach, because we focus on photojournalism and the final product is a story of the day. It is a series of pictures from beginning to end that are moments we have captured that translate what was happening. This process might seem to be as simple as pressing the button on an expensive camera and voila you have a good picture, but this is not the case. After the button is pressed is actually where the majority of work begins for us. A 6 hour wedding can involve 30-40 hours of work on top of the hours already spent shooting the wedding in post production. We begin by culling the pictures and removing any pictures that do not have worth. We are after candid moments so the pictures are often out of our control, I may try to shoot your Aunt Marge laughing and someone will walk in front of me, she may turn her head away from me, many things can happen that make the picture worthless. There are also repeats, often I will take three or four pictures of a certain moment, so they are all the same and we only need one.

These get removed at the outset. Next we cycle though the rest, some pictures may contain a person with an awkward face, but the person next to them looks great so we will crop these pictures and include them in for editing. At the end of this every picture left has worth, and now purpose in telling the story, these are what the client receives and therefore all are edited. I do not send a single picture to a client unless it has been looked at and touched up. This can be a simple as a few moments to adjust color, or it can be up to 15 minutes on a single picture. As advanced as cameras are these days they still have limitations, my work flow expands these limitations in color and sharpness to provide a picture that both exceeds a regular photograph and communicates exactly the art that my clients wedding day is. For example, a bride can spend thousands on her dress; she of course is always the centre of attention when it comes to attire. However, this does not mean the groom, and the rest of the wedding party should not be focused on in a picture. Because a bride is in white dress, and a groom in dark tux, the camera can at times have trouble capturing both in detail. The dress can be blown out (bright) and the tux looks good, or the dress looks good but the tux looks like a dark shadow. I spend the time to pull the exposure of the dress down and the tux up so that both look great.

I spend time sharpening the details on the dress, the earrings, headpiece, and veil all of these things get attention in post production. I use a tool called a tablet to edit for precision detail. These subtle touches may not be much in themselves, but when added together they really make a picture. One of my favorite landscape photographers is Ansel Adams, I am sure you have seen his work even if you do not recognize the name. He had a keen vision for composition, he also knew the technical workings of the camera, but one thing that set his pictures apart was the unique techniques he developed in the darkroom to add atmosphere and communicate emotion. From reading his books myself I feel he would agree, the darkroom, today the digital darkroom, is where much of the magic happens.

Every picture I take that has worth ends up in the client’s hands as part of the story of their day, and that picture has been personally edited by Kate and myself together using methods I learned and developed to make it the best it can be.


6. Going beyond Pictures.


As Zekar grows, the extra products we provide change and grow with us. We have beautiful coffee table-style photobooks and work with a professional archival printer for our print packages. Although we do not obligate the client to print with us, this high end printing technique follows the highest standards in color the industry offers and is a nice option to have. We feel it’s important to get the highest quality prints if you are going to hire a high quality photographer. So I have dedicated much of my photography education to understanding the printing workflow, my editing takes place is the best color profiles available so that the maximum potential is achieved in color.

I am also currently applying my machining background and learning traditional bookbinding, I will eventually be offering handmade photo albums following traditional Italian and Japanese bookbinding techniques. In today’s world everything is fast, and I feel it’s very clinical. I want our pictures to be part of something emotionally tangible; going back in time to traditional bookbinding and handmade albums offers something unique to our clients, not only will there pictures be one of a kind so will the books that contain them. Once we have begun a relationship with our clients we always remain open to communication, providing insight from both a male and female perspective.

We love keeping up to date with the structure of the day so that we are prepared. If the venue is new to me I will take the time to visit it and make notes before the wedding if it is possible, this way I can have good spots allocated out for pictures and what I will need to get them rain or shine. As a photographer I have the experience of viewing weddings from more than just the pew or pulpit, I feel this brings a unique perspective to the table in the visual side of the wedding. We like to share with our clients the things they can do to make the wedding day more visually stimulating, this helps in creating lasting pictures and make the day more memorable for those in attendance, something as simple as the position of the pastor or wedding party can make all the difference. We love to offer up suggestions in this respect and feel it helps the client feel relaxed that there is someone of experience there that they can seek out if need be.

Last I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read this, if you read from “while you search” section to the end I would I would say you have certainly made a investment in knowledge, you have now read a 6500 word blog on wedding photography. I hope that it has helped you and directs you to exactly what you need. Congratulations on your engagement and we certainly would love to hear from you if you feel Zekar may fit your needs.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Use the awkward moments to your advantage




If there is one thing I have learned over the years of shooting people it’s that the response to candid photos vs posed is distinctively noticeable in my clients. That aww or ohhh I seek to produce and long to hear when presenting my work to a client intrinsically happens with those “moment” shots, so there a must capture for me in almost every situation.  When a photographer catches a subject in its element it translates a level of emotion simply not found in posed shots. A person could be the most beautiful masterpiece of humanity and not be photogenic naturally; the camera has a funny way of changing things. However, I believe it true that there is not a single person who does not look good captured as who they are while in there element. Now there is of course always a time and place for posed shots, the family picture at a wedding for example, in fact most of the time you need to pose your subject in one way or another even if it means you are recomposing the subject by moving during a candid moment to translate the picture properly. So how is it one can inject the natural moments into the necessity of posing? Here is a list of pointers that will help.



First, the camera is their friend and not a starting gun. Remember many people you are shooting rarely in their lives have had photographic attention. Aunt Margaret with her point and shoot may be the only paparazzi they have encountered. So they like most people naturally think when the camera is pointing it’s time to perform, or turn red. I use the facts of photography to my advantage; a camera needs to be adjusted before and during shooting. Many might do this before the shoot; this is good practice of course. I always tell my clients I need to take some set up shots to get started and I continue to tell them I am resetting the camera throughout the shoot despite my previous set up time. This allows me to make sure I am right in my thinking about the settings and loosens me up a bit. Conversely and most importantly it lets them know that not every picture I am taking is for the only reason of getting a good picture of them, that beautiful Nikon click is not a starting gun. The product of this is at the outset they are getting familiar with the idea that there is time to get what we need.



Second, is simple but most necessary, talk to them. I often start a conversation with them about something they are excited about while I set up, their wedding, when and how they met, hobbies, career, ect. While talking you can take snap shots, this will put you in front of the camera, not behind it. It helps them realize the camera is not only a tool but an extension of a person. They talk to the camera and in their minds it becomes you helping it fade. I also glean picture ideas from the conversations, “Oh you’re a lumber jack are you, stand over here and swing this axe, whoa not at the Nikon”.



Third, their important but not all important, if you took pictures of them up against a brick wall for the entirety of the shoot and only talked about them it would isolate them out as the only thing that matters. So get excited about the surroundings, let them know what’s on your mind, don’t think to your self “that open field looks great I’ll take them there”. Don’t even say I’m taking you to, or lets go to that open field. Instead, say look at that field, look at the sun it’s so perfect on the grass, I cant believe how beautiful pictures look in the sun, rain, clouds and so on. Go ahead and get excited about the surroundings, introduce props, let them know this is also about the beauty and fun of where they are. This again gets there mind off of themselves and onto being themselves. At the end when they receive your work you want them to remember the day as a date, a walk in the woods, a gander at the falls, not a photo shoot. The pictures are just a bonus!


And last, never stop shooting, most of the pictures I end up with are useless, not because of a lack of skills but because I never want to stop my shutter. There are many reasons for this, primarily is the comfort of the client. If you have long breaks between captures it brings the camera back into the shoot as the center of attention, that thing that makes them perform. If you only ever take pictures after they are exactly where you want them they feel that photographic stage fright yet again. However if you’re always shooting letting them know all the while your messing around with settings, or in other words no need to perform, they will never feel the need to and therefore naturally do so candidly. The side benefits are you will always have the camera where it should be, in your face, thus allowing you to capture those fleeting perfect moments that are gone is less time it takes to get the camera where it belongs. It’s worth the extra cull time and the coast for extra memory in the end.

In the end there is no set in stone rule to follow, but these ideas will certainly help you bridge the divide between the camera and client. In time you will develop your own signature interaction practices. I look forward to the day I can learn from a blog you post some new and innovative ways to get that moment shot, and share in commenting on the pictures.





Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Carter's Day At The Park, September 2011

Mike and I love doing toddler photoshoots. Rolling around in the dirt, getting down on a little one's level just really embodies why we love photography so much, because it captures the tiny little seconds and makes them into major events. Take Carter here, for instance. Walking along with his favourite popper toy (which I love they even still make, I think we all remember having one of those, don't we?) he suddenly comes across this huge, amazing playground. He stops, looks up and... *cue 2001: A Space Odyssey Theme Song*


And then, it's just pure fun after that.



With a little jaunt past where the cool kids hang out...
To getting back to nature..

And back with Mom and Dad.

We had a great time...and so did Carter!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Kevin + Yuan, August 15, 2011

You know what makes Mondays a lot better? A wedding. That’s right, Kevin and his beautiful bride Yuan were married at Whitehern Historic House, on a warm and mostly-sunny Monday afternoon in Hamilton. The wedding was a small garden party gathering of all of the couples’ friends from different Universities around the United States and Mike and I were lucky enough to capture the tremendous love and support that surrounded Kevin & Yuan. The best part of this wedding was when Kevin sang a special song to Yuan, and all their friends snapped the beat to keep Kevin in time. It really was one of the sweetest things I’ve seen in awhile – you know it’s a good wedding when the photographer cries! 








Thursday, August 25, 2011

Tracy + Greg July 9th, 2011

Tracy & Greg were married on a heckuva hot day in July. They chose to have their wedding at Geraldo’s at La Salle Park in Burlington, Ontario, and I must say the food was delicious. I loved rose petal lined aisle, which was a romantic contrast to the bridal parties’ fantastically sexy hot pink shoes and black mini dresses.  Here are some of our favourites of the day, enjoy!







Notice the little girl's lips in this photo? She's practicing! :)











Saturday, May 28, 2011

Why I love engagement sessions!

I have decided to make my first blog about engagement sessions and their importance. I recently had one with a lovely couple. so it has motivated a blog. I feel it will give you some insight into who I am as a photographer, and this of course will show you who I am as a person because they are for me, inseparable. My reasoning in this comes from the many goodies that proceed from an engagement session that top the list of why I love my profession. At the top of this, is the joy I get from meeting new people under these circumstances. For my last engagement session one of these two beauties was actually a distant relative of mine; far enough away that it becomes hard to explain. I was introduced to my family tree and saw the joy of their life, adding something special to this shoot.

Zekar Engagement


What is special about an engagement session is it drives me to ask questions I might not have the chance to get to in a regular encounter. The fact that I am doing something special for a couple gives me the desire to know about their history together; what it is that makes them who they are? This is very important when taking pictures- I want to capture the essence of their relationship, so hearing about them helps me get emotional about what I am doing. In this case they were childhood friends that time blossomed into a courtship that is being united in marriage. For the sake of their privacy I won’t spill more beans on all that they shared with Kate and I, my wife and partner in Zekar. I like to leave the discretion of how their life is exposed up to them :) But I will say the importance of knowing these things is twofold, it brings richness to my life in knowing people on this level, and it drives the motivation and excitement of my photography. Can I translate what they are telling about themselves into a picture? This is the challenge at hand and one I can still grow in but feel I’m coming along nicely!


Zekar Engagement



Another goody is that an engagement session is more often than not a couple’s first exposure to professional photography. Before meeting me the most they may have ever seen of themselves with respect to pictures is your typical point and click shot… Oh and ladies, I must say, that camera-and-yourself-in-the-mirror picture, or camera-above- your-head looking up into it like you’re on a convenience store security video, it’s really not flattering!  I love getting to experience the reaction of what might be the first high quality photograph a person has ever seen of themselves in their element. So again it’s a special thing for me to be the first to introduce them to photography as it is on the professional level.

Zekar Engagement



And finally, the one thing this type of session provides is the opportunity to meet again, if they have requested my full service for their wedding of course. First and most importantly when the wedding day comes the prior engagement session has manifested a new friendship for them. This allows my clients to know my true goal, which is to be a new friend hanging out with them for the day, not a stranger. Another benefit is often in post production where I learn something about how a person’s emotion translates into a photograph. After the engagement session I know I will have the opportunity at their wedding to continue this process, and that is exciting for me. I believe a photographer could spend a life time on one person and continue to learn how to express who they are in different ways, the engagement session allows for this on a small level.




So hopefully this helps explain a little to my massive blog audience what it is about me and my camera that makes Zekar what it is.

Michael. Zekar Photography