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Celebrity photographer Denis Reggie started off saying, "In the beginning, the concept was Portraits at the
Wedding." The early wedding programs (like Monte Zucker, Rocky Gunn and Bill Stockwell) taught that all the important photos in the album should be styled as portraits - carefully posed and lit to studio standards.
Denis showed examples of how this style led to poses that in his opinion were contrived, unnatural and entirely inconsistent with the
wedding day. In particular he mentioned poses of brides on a rock in the ocean, brides superimposed over a church interior, looking down on their own wedding, and the entire party outfitted with dark sunglasses all
jumping in the air, just for the photographer.
Under the "portrait" concept, candids were shot with strobe, so every exposure was 1/125th at f8. The photos were sold like portraits - per photo, and the
photography averaged about 5% of the total wedding budget. Photographers created an inventory of photos of the wedding by taking a large number of photos, but they didn't try to sell those to the wedding
participants until after the wedding, after the money had been all spent. Denis decided a different approach was needed - one that would provide a larger reward for the photographer. He suggested that 10% of the
wedding budget would be a fair amount for photography. He mentioned that he does not spend money on any ads because the high end of the market that he is aiming at reacts negatively to advertising. He depends on
referrals and complementary quotations from satisfied clients for his promotions.
Denis then jumped into his appraisal of the wedding photography market, which he called the S.E.T.S. concept - standing for
Socio-Economic Taste Sophistication model. He divides the market into four categories, and challenged the audience to position themselves into one or two of the categories.
Category 1. This is the "working
class," typified as blue collar, earning hourly wages, and with the youngest brides from 18 to 24. The have a high tolerance for artificial products and fabrics (Naugahyde furniture and albums), so they like photos
that represent a fantasy.
Category 2. The "middle class" with a weekly or monthly salary, they like domestic cars (often GM), have a moderate education, and probably live in the suburbs. The brides are young
- 21 to 26. The have a tolerance for artificial products, and have a follower mindset. Grouping categories 1 and 2 together, Dennis said these clients want photos for their walls, and they want what is popular.
Category 3. "Yuppies" are white collar, get a salary plus bonus, and drive a foreign car. The brides are older (26 to 30+), and they have seen the world. They are college graduates, and have a very low tolerance
for artificial products - everything must be real. Their wedding confirms their attainment of position, and they have a leader mindset.
Category 4. "Old Money" represent white collar, with long-term assets,
have exceptional autos, like fine dining, and are well educated. The brides are older, from 26 up, they want nothing artificial and they ARE leaders.
Denis then described the relationship of the photographer
to these clients the wedding, which was a surprise to your reviewer. He said communication with the clients on the wedding day is "0" - there is no talking at all, especially no suggestions from the photographer. If
they want to tell you something, they will pass the information through a third person. And, the photographer does not eat at the reception - you are an employee, after all.
Characterizing the categories 3
and 4, Denis said they do not use photos on their walls - 8x10 is the largest print he makes for them - he has not sold an 11x14 in the last 19 years. He also mentioned that they demand what is unique.
Denis
then described photographers as having two types of mindsets.
1. The Proactive approach: the largest group today, they make the photo, not record it. The subject is aware of the photographer, who leads the
event. They may use the traditional or portrait approach, or he describes their candid approach as "pseudojournalism," the photographer concentrates on the people, who are mostly looking at the camera.
2. The
Reactive approach: the photographer records the event, not the participants, and tends to understate. They use a hands-off policy, with no canned poses. The subjects are not aware of the photographer, and there is
no verbal communication. To the greatest extent possible, photos are taken with existing light. This is what Denis defines as wedding photojournalism. He said it takes time to master, especially if you have been a
proactive photographer. He sometimes hires news or magazine photographers to shoot for him, because they are used to the concept. If proactive photographers want to transition to reactive coverage, Denis suggested
they start spending one hour at a wedding using a 35mm camera with no flash, and no talking to anyone.
Denis described the average wedding album sold today as 85% proactive and 15% reactive. He said a
reactive photographer's album would be 75% reactive, 10% proactive and 15% scene setters - overviews of the event that answer the question, "where." He said that if you have a category 2 1/2 family (the parents are
2's, the bride/groom are 3's), then you should create a compromise in styles.
Denis said confusion exists in the wedding photo industry, with photographers falling under one of the following:
*
Confused photographers who don't understand, "what is a candid?"
* The chameleon who is all things to all people.
* The specialist who knows their style and does it.
* Promisers will promise
anything, but can't deliver. The clients are dissatisfied, and they give the industry a bad name.
* New entrants in the wedding field include news or magazine photojournalists and commercial shooters who are
crossing over to the wedding field and find it profitable.
Denis mentioned a new form of competition that studios are going to have - the wedding bureau, which sends a news photographer to the wedding, and
handles all the rest of the transaction with the clients.
The final portion of the program was titled "Quest for Excellence." Dividing it into three parts, Denis said it has to start with equipment. Saying
there is no excuse for not using the best equipment, Denis explained he used a Hasselblad for strobe shots, and depended on Canon EOS1n (35mm) cameras and a wide selection of lenses for the existing light shots.
He emphasized there is a difference in the "amateur" and "professional" lenses of the major manufacturers. The pro lenses are designed to be sharp wide open, while the amateur lenses have to be stopped down at
least a couple of stops to be their sharpest. He uses most of the fast lenses Canon offers (f/1.2, and f/1.8), and finds them exceptional.
The second part of excellence is knowledge and technique - and that
has to be learned until it becomes automatic. The third part is taste, judgment, and soul - and those are the critical factors between average and outstanding photography. Creative judgment is a function of the
right brain, and must be cultivated. Asking the question, "What is poor taste?" Denis answered, "Velveeta cheese represents the ultimate in cheesiness, similar to making images without any feeling."
Denis
said that all his selling is done at the first meeting, not after the wedding. The client decides the level of coverage they wish to purchase, and that's what is delivered to them. He shoots about 120 exposures per
hour, and spends up to 14 hours at a wedding (that's 1,680 exposures). About 50% are delivered to the client, who can have the negatives if desired. On celebrity weddings, nothing is released to the press without
specific direction from the client. While he has been offered large sums for some photos by the press, he said if any were sold without the client's direction, his reputation would be severely tarnished.
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