We hope you have enjoyed our previous set of articles on GREAT Website Design! In this series of posts, we’ll discuss why you need to hire a photographer for your events or special occasions. Whether you are planning a wedding, birthday party, corporate event, or other occasion of significance to your Brand or for family, you need a GREAT photographer to capture those moments for you! Read on….
“Photography Is Writing With Light”
Think about this: A photograph is composed of one main element: Light. Without light, there are no photos…. And, from a photographer’s perspective, our main “mission” (if you will) is to be able to capture light properly (which are moments in time) within the camera, utilizing it as the main element to tell a story….
Here at Unhindered Creations, photography was (and is) a skill that was learned over time. Just like all other skills, understanding photography isn’t something that happens overnight; it’s a process!…. When the company’s owner, Dorian J. Owens, started taking pictures in 1998, he honestly didn’t understand a camera’s features (especially its manual settings). However, in 2005, he purchased his first DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera.* After taking 4 weeks of photography classes after he received the camera, he still didn’t understand how to use it. But then, as he was “fiddling around” with it on a midnight on a Sunday morning, the “light bulb” in his head went off, and his understanding of photography became more apparent. As more pictures were taken, he noticed that his images were becoming clearer and sharper!…. The next thing he knew, he was being asked by people to cover their weddings and special events, and the rest is history….
So, why hire a GREAT Photographer? Here goes:
Vision
Now, a photographer could have thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment, but if the photographer doesn’t have Vision, well, you’re not quite “cooking with gas!” (LOL) In other words, if the photographer can’t “see” the event for what it is, and its significance, you may end up with some so-so images…. For instance, we’ve been doing weddings since 2006, and with every wedding, the Vision has to be established beforehand. In other words, we have to “see” the things that went into the wedding (such as the table settings, cake, wedding ceremony, the processional and recessional, the colors, how the lighting is, the bouquet, and SO much more), and then capture all those elements during the course of the wedding day. Because there is so much to shoot, by the time we finish with a wedding, we will have taken well over 1,000 images! The simple reason for so many images is because we have a Vision of how to “tell the story” of the entire day…. Which leads us to the second reason:
Getting A Shot At ANY Time
The second reason you should hire a Photographer is because he/she has the ability to get a shot at ANY time! Whether it is during the day, at night, or even in a dim room, their shots should be clear and sharp. Now, how can you tell when a photographer has this quality? Take a look at their body of work on their website. If you see “versatility” on their site (such as work from corporate, weddings, special events, etc. at different places and different times of the day….), you will know that they understand photography enough to be able to cover your event….
He/She Understands Lighting
After the two aforementioned reasons, this one is the most critical of them all…. Lighting is a major key to photography. And, creating or using light in a different direction than straight from the camera view is what separates professional photographers from novices!
Question: How do you know if a photographer has an understanding of lighting? Again, take a look at their body of work on their website. Look closely at where the light is coming from…. Is it coming straight from the camera, or is the light coming from a different direction? If the light is coming from another direction (such as from the ceiling, or at an angle), you may want to seriously consider them for your event!….
For example, take a look at the image at top. As you can see, the table in front is lit by a flash, but all the other tables aren’t lit…. Where do you think the light came from?…. It’s not coming straight from the camera; instead, it’s coming from the ceiling (yep, the ceiling!), but we didn’t use too much light because we wanted to capture the “ambient” light in the room too (which we’ll cover in future posts!)….
We’ll give you a few more reasons in our upcoming article this Thursday, so stay tuned! More is to come….
*Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras are a little bit more advanced than “point-and-shoot” cameras, and allows for a photographer to “tell the camera what to do” through its manual settings.