After the Pandemic. Restructuring Wedding Photography by Geoff Thompson

We are living in very turbulent times amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic.
It came with little warning and has had a huge impact world wide.
Many in Photography are commenting what they can do to survive as photographers.
For many years,as you can see from this blog, I was a wedding photographer.
I never managed to see that I could do it full time, although I did a couple of times.
But I looked at the situation realistically and knew I had a mortgage and a family to support.
If I was a standalone operator with none of those responsibilities then I am sure I could have succeeded.
Albeit with some lean times.
I knew the difficulties of making a career in anything to do with the arts.
That could be Photography,Theatre,Writing, Painter,Singer, Actor and the list goes on .
I used to work in the Australian Government and would interview people accessing un-employment benefits.
Sometimes I found myself interviewing people who were well known names in the arts but between gigs things got rough at times.
Now I am grateful for the decision I made to be a "weekend warrior" as a wedding photographer.
I had a job all those years and superannuation was accumulating.
The money I got from photography was a bonus.
I still had the satisfaction of producing good photography and often mixed with those who were full time.
Indeed I found also I had an ability to teach photography.
I occasionally taught courses in wedding photography and some went on to be quite successful full time photographers.
I hope they are coping now.
I got a leaflet in my letter box yesterday for the first time from a local portrait studio.
That is a sign things are tough.
So my proposition is that Photographers may need to shift the goal posts a little.
Modern technology is such now that I think the time has come for people to rethink how they operate.
It may take a lot to swallow some pride and do the unthinkable and seek an alternative employment but maybe the time has come.
You can still pursue your craft with much satisfaction and financial reward in a different way.
I am sure many of the photographers whose work and blogs and youtube channels I enjoy have transferable skills.
I hope and trust all of you out there at this time are healthy and doing all the necessary things to stay so.

Essential Non Photographic items to Photograph a wedding

Much is made of Camera Equipment and other things photographic when people are seeking information about getting started in Wedding Photography.
There are essential items that are overlooked and usually you will already have them.

1. A reliable air-conditioned car and a full tank of petrol.
In Australia the wedding season is usually in hot weather.
You need to stay cool and be cool when photographing a wedding and moving around the different locations.
Also if you car stops you are in big trouble.
I once went off in my Camry station wagon  on a wedding and forgot to fill the tank up before I went.
I was still a long way from home and realised the tank was nearly empty.
Thankfully I had completed the wedding.

A well earned cup of coffee after the wedding assignment is completed. Roof of my car is used as a table.

2. A GPS navigating system and a street directory.

If you get lost you are in even bigger trouble.

3. A time sheet for your wedding day.

Essential to have a plan. See my previous post on wedding timetables.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/wedding%20photography%20timetable

4. A wedding photography agreement.
 You need to have yourself covered by a contract if things go wrong.See my previous post on this.
https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/wedding%20photography%20agreement

5. Water and food.

You need to stay hydrated. You need food also to keep your energy levels up.
Your clients will not necessarily be supplying you with food and drink.
It is a long day.

6. Phone. When I started mobile phones were unheard of. Could you do one now without your phone.

7. Drivers license.

You could get stopped by police. I have been.
Ironically I was on my way to photograph a police wedding.

8. Credit card and/ or cash.

You might need to pay for  a car park  or even by something like batteries or an sd card if the need arose.

9. An assistant to help you on the day.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/working-witrh-assistant-wedding.html

Either as second shooter and/or as a helper.
I started out doing weddings by myself but found it essential as I got into it to have an assistant.

If you haven't got all these bases covered you may strike problems on the big day.

A Marriage of Technology.- Metz 45 Flash and Qantum Battery 2

Fill flash using Metz 45.

Bounce flash using metz 45.

When I was photographing weddings in the pre-digital, film days I tried various equipment until I settled on a great combination.

It was for me any way.

The Metz range of hammer head flash guns and the Qantum  Battery 2.

The Metz flashes are powerful and excellent for wedding and portrait work.

I have owned 3 of them and I still have a working 45cl4 and the 45 ct3.

The quantum battery pack when fully charged I could do two weddings in a row if required.

I only ever did that once or twice.

I could take numerous full bounce flash and fill flsh all day knowing my flash would keep firing.

I did own two of these for a while but sold one.

I still have one and recently went to use it and found through unuse the battery cells had given up.

My local "battery world" people said thay could fix it and now it is working better than ever.

This combination can be used successfully with digital cameras.

Looking Back at Film Weddings

I have a great number of weddings in my archives.

I like to go through them now and then and analyse how I went.

This particular wedding shoot of Cassie and Travis I found very enjoyable and I captured some great images(in my opinion).

It was entirely shot on film.

I had the negatives scanned at processing to produce low res files.

They were processed and scanned at Black and White Photographics which are still operating today.

 http://www.blackandwhitephoto.com.au/

I would have been using my Pentax Mzs film camera and I was working with an assistant.

My film would have been Fuji VPS 160 and Fuji VPH 400.

Some of these pics were featured on the Weddingsa website.

http://www.weddingsa.com.au/bom/jan06/default.htm#.XD6x0vxS_dS

Finally pulling the plug!

In 1975 I started photographing weddings.

I was 29 at the time.

My Dad, Glen Thompson, who was my first trainer and Inspiration in photography. The safari suit was my standard wedding photography uniform in the 1970's. This was in the Dandenongs in Victoria.

Now this last weekend I assisted a young friend in a wedding shoot and at the end of the day and into the night I suffered some terrible cramps.

I decided that now almost 70 it is time to declare my innings closed on officially shooting weddings.

I have been averaging about one a year over the last five years.

I have been thoroughly enjoying over the last 10 years the transition from film photography to digital and marvel at the cameras now being produced at a rapid rate.
I will probably in future still take some shots at weddings where I am a guest but apart from that maybe only when I am Uncle Geoff.
It has been a fantastic journey and I have made many wonderful friends in the photography industry and also been able to mentor and train some young photographers along the way.
On this blog and my other blogs I have posted some of my training in wedding photography tips from my course I developed some years ago.
If you are an aspiring Wedding Photographer you may find a lot of help there.
See my other blogs on photography.
 A lot of this training is also posted on this blog.

http://geoffthompsonphotographics.blogspot.com.au/

http://geoffthompsonsphotographytraining.blogspot.com.au/

Thanks to all who have helped me along the way.
Especially my lovely wife.

From last weekend. A beautiful wedding.

An Outback Australia Gallery

Geoff on a Sandhill Central Australia

Little Eagle

A selection of images from outback Australia. All images copyright Geoff Thompson