It’s hard to be the best wedding photographer in the world. It’s hard to be a great wedding photographer. It’s even hard to be a decent wedding photographer. In fact changing minimum acceptable standards make it hard to keep up in any field of endeavour.
Consider the world of freestyle motocross where motorbike riders risk injury and death to perform aerial tricks and stunts on motorbikes. Just over 10 years ago the first Superman Seat Grab FMX trick was performed. It is a trick that sees the rider completely abandon the motorbike, fly like superman, grab the seat and land back on the bike. He was the only person in the world to do this trick. Fast forward to the present day and the trick is almost seen as an entry level stunt. It has spawned variations that include performing spins while off the bike or doing it upside down in the middle of a loop.
In order to make the cut as an average rider you now have to be better than the level that could have won the world title only 10 years ago. Same thing goes for wedding photography.
The standard of wedding photography in Australia is incredibly high. The best in the world. The invention of high quality, low cost digital cameras has seen a huge influx of new wedding photographers to the scene. Some have low skills and super low prices that see them disappear quickly. Others bring a fresh perspective to photography and help to make wedding photography an even more vibrant art form.
For already established wedding photographers like myself, we have to constantly work to improve, to evolve and to embrace new ideas. Just like a motorcross rider this means taking time to experiment and push the limits of my gear and skills. Also to scout new locations, visit unfamiliar churches and check the routes to be travelled on the wedding day. Then, when your wedding comes along, the skills, locations and techniques are second nature. No-one wants to see their wedding photographer crash when doing a no hander lander back flip.