Wedding Photography and the Environment

Storms, floods, drought, massive tides and all kinds of other severe weather is making everyone increasingly aware of the effect our day to day activities have on the environment. Also living in between the mountains of the northcoast and Byron Bay makes you particularly environmentally aware. As a professional wedding photographer what steps do I take to ensure I have as small an environmental footprint as possible?

To start with I try not to use my car very much. Even though it is a small and highly fuel efficient vehicle, I try to ride my bicycle to my studio whenever possible.

Shooting digitally is also great for the environment. It means only those photos that need to be printed get printed. It makes me cringe everytime I see a photographer offering a package with hundred of prints included. It might look like they are offering a lot, but largely the resources used in printing the pictures are wasted. At a typical wedding I shoot well over 1000 frames. Of these only 60-90 normally get printed for the album. To print more than that and then stick them in a box or drawer is simply a waste. I’ve also started using special hard drives from Western Digital that use less energy to run.

That brings me to albums. I use Queensberry for my wedding albums. Although I could supply cheaper albums, I find the Queensberry albums are simply the best quality available. The ordering system I use is all via the internet. I don’t even have to send them a disc. I just electronic transfer everything. When it gets to Queensberry they have a whole raft of environmental considerations they employ. You can check out their blog and see the Queensberry philosophy on sustainablility and the environment.