Well, my 2013 wedding season ended on Saturday.
It began on March 2, 2013 at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Park Ridge, N.J. and ended nine months later at the exact same church, on Nov. 16, 2013. Which is odd considering Park Ridge is a good 50 miles from my base of operations in upstate N.Y.
In between, I shot 29 weddings for the rich and the poor. So here are some totally unscientific and random observations at the end of my 40th year of shooting nuptials:
1) Bookings for second marriages were way up. I would guess one-third of my bookings in 2013 were from "second-time around" couples. Previously, these were small and quiet affairs. But not this year. Not for me, anyway.
2) "Uncle Bob's" with their DSLR kits disappeared from the scene about four years ago only to be replaced by "Aunt Mary's" with their point-and-shoots. But this year it was all smart phones all the time. Which was fine with me because not a single one of those smart phones produced one acceptable image. I know, because I can see the results on the Facebook pages of my brides. (The competition just vanished!)
3) There seems to be a return towards older style music from the 70's and 80's at weddings today. Either that or today's music just doesn't translate well for weddings. One or the other. But Journey was very popular around here.
4) Tattoos and cigarette smoking are everywhere at the lower-end weddings. At the higher-end weddings, no tattoos, very little smoking.
5) Parents are paying for the photography services more than ever. Which creates a disconnect between the couples getting married and their parents when it comes expectations. The couples want unposed photos of them having fun with their friends. But the parents expect table shots and everybody staring straight at the camera. (That's what the parents got at their wedding 30 years ago.) So I shoot both to keep everyone happy. Except when the floral centerpiece is taller than four feet. That kills the table shots.
6) I got heckled for the first time in 40 years! Some drunk dude kept yelling at me: "Instagram is going to kill your business, man." (Idiot must've been from the Fred Miranda website, I'm thinking.) Sheesh.
7) The priests and ministers were much friendlier this year. I'm guessing that after years of dealing with amateur photographers, they are happy when a familiar face walks in.
8) There is no better combination than two D700's with a pair of SB-900's attached to two power packs for weddings. (Although a pair of D3's or D4's would be just as good, I think.) With higher ISO's I only have to change batteries once during an 8-hour shoot. I did buy a D7100 halfway through the year when I needed emergency hot-shoe repairs to the D700's. But the poor thing just couldn't keep up. It was slow. It was loud. Its files were mushy. So I sold it.
9) Bands are rapidly replacing DJ's at the higher-end receptions. Some of them are quite good.
10 My equipment took a tremendous beating in 2013. Lots of banging lenses against door frames, scraped flash units, spilled drinks, etc. I even had a grandma sit on a camera when I was shooting the bride getting ready. (Good thing she was a tiny little thing.)
11) DVD's are dead as a delivery system for digital files. Flash USB drives are the way to go.
12) Venues have tightened up on their insurance regulations quite a bit. Most all of the big places wanted proof of liability faxed months before. Those numbers were up significantly this year. And I suppose, in retrospect, that's not at all surprising.
13) Cellphone texting is completely out of control among young females. You would think paying attention and keeping your head out of the phone for a short 20-minute ceremony would be simple and easy. You would be wrong. (It's almost an addiction in that age group.) So I started photographing people who were texting during the ceremony and including those shots in the delivery - just so the couples could see who the rude guests were.
14) The strapless gown era is beginning to fade away.
15) If I hear the Macarena one more time... Wait. How many weeks until March, 2014?
It began on March 2, 2013 at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Park Ridge, N.J. and ended nine months later at the exact same church, on Nov. 16, 2013. Which is odd considering Park Ridge is a good 50 miles from my base of operations in upstate N.Y.
In between, I shot 29 weddings for the rich and the poor. So here are some totally unscientific and random observations at the end of my 40th year of shooting nuptials:
1) Bookings for second marriages were way up. I would guess one-third of my bookings in 2013 were from "second-time around" couples. Previously, these were small and quiet affairs. But not this year. Not for me, anyway.
2) "Uncle Bob's" with their DSLR kits disappeared from the scene about four years ago only to be replaced by "Aunt Mary's" with their point-and-shoots. But this year it was all smart phones all the time. Which was fine with me because not a single one of those smart phones produced one acceptable image. I know, because I can see the results on the Facebook pages of my brides. (The competition just vanished!)
3) There seems to be a return towards older style music from the 70's and 80's at weddings today. Either that or today's music just doesn't translate well for weddings. One or the other. But Journey was very popular around here.
4) Tattoos and cigarette smoking are everywhere at the lower-end weddings. At the higher-end weddings, no tattoos, very little smoking.
5) Parents are paying for the photography services more than ever. Which creates a disconnect between the couples getting married and their parents when it comes expectations. The couples want unposed photos of them having fun with their friends. But the parents expect table shots and everybody staring straight at the camera. (That's what the parents got at their wedding 30 years ago.) So I shoot both to keep everyone happy. Except when the floral centerpiece is taller than four feet. That kills the table shots.
6) I got heckled for the first time in 40 years! Some drunk dude kept yelling at me: "Instagram is going to kill your business, man." (Idiot must've been from the Fred Miranda website, I'm thinking.) Sheesh.
7) The priests and ministers were much friendlier this year. I'm guessing that after years of dealing with amateur photographers, they are happy when a familiar face walks in.
8) There is no better combination than two D700's with a pair of SB-900's attached to two power packs for weddings. (Although a pair of D3's or D4's would be just as good, I think.) With higher ISO's I only have to change batteries once during an 8-hour shoot. I did buy a D7100 halfway through the year when I needed emergency hot-shoe repairs to the D700's. But the poor thing just couldn't keep up. It was slow. It was loud. Its files were mushy. So I sold it.
9) Bands are rapidly replacing DJ's at the higher-end receptions. Some of them are quite good.
10 My equipment took a tremendous beating in 2013. Lots of banging lenses against door frames, scraped flash units, spilled drinks, etc. I even had a grandma sit on a camera when I was shooting the bride getting ready. (Good thing she was a tiny little thing.)
11) DVD's are dead as a delivery system for digital files. Flash USB drives are the way to go.
12) Venues have tightened up on their insurance regulations quite a bit. Most all of the big places wanted proof of liability faxed months before. Those numbers were up significantly this year. And I suppose, in retrospect, that's not at all surprising.
13) Cellphone texting is completely out of control among young females. You would think paying attention and keeping your head out of the phone for a short 20-minute ceremony would be simple and easy. You would be wrong. (It's almost an addiction in that age group.) So I started photographing people who were texting during the ceremony and including those shots in the delivery - just so the couples could see who the rude guests were.
14) The strapless gown era is beginning to fade away.
15) If I hear the Macarena one more time... Wait. How many weeks until March, 2014?
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