Business Story: Ashley Interviewed!
(What's a post without a picture!? David and Ashley with some gifts from a really sweet couple!)
You ask and I deliver! If you follow me and/or Story Photographers on Facebook you know that I was interviewed by a class called "Keep Calm and Party On" at Wheaton Academy near Chicago, IL. The class was full of thoughtful ladies who had each prepared great questions for me to answer. We chatted for an hour! After I mentioned a few of the questions they asked on Facebook, I had several people request that I share my answers. Y'all want to hear my answers? You're sweet! Ok, I will share! Here are some of the questions that I was asked today...
* What is your favorite part of the wedding day to photograph?
Recently I have come to really love to photograph a first look. There is so much anticipation and excitement that leads up to this moment and often David & I are the only people allowed to witness it. To hear a couple's sweet words to each other as this is the first time they have seen each other on their wedding day, and probably the only time they will be "alone" on that day is such an honor. There is always so much happy energy and emotion oozing from the images we capture during first looks... its just so much fun to be a part of! Annnnnd I can't leave out that an all time favorite thing of mine to photograph on a wedding day is the rings. I have always loved photographing the rings. Its a time during a busy day that I get to step back, be in total creative control, look around at all the details that the couple has so lovingly chosen, and get to showcase their tokens of affection with those details as the backdrop.
* What are some of my favorite weddings that we have photographed and why?
I really hate to play favorites. We honestly adore all of our couples and their events. I am asked this question a lot though, and my mind almost always first wanders to the same wedding... Jessica and Adam's wedding it is, which took place in Vermont in September 2010 (you can see their wedding HERE and HERE). While it was exciting to travel to the Vermont mountains during peak leaf season for two people who love fall, what really made this wedding a favorite was Jessica and Adam themselves. The way they loved each other, showed us hospitality, celebrated with their family and friends was all so inspiring and comforting. We had never met them but felt a part of their circle and story instantly. These two trusted us and completely let us do our thing. The barn they got married beside and partied in was absolutely gorgeous. The mountains around the barn were covered with trees changing color. The community they got married in is committed to celebrating their local farmers and artisans so we really got to take in the culture of the Vermont mountains. Absolutely stunning, inside and out. It was just a lovely time.
* What are some trends I am seeing now in wedding decor/design?
In the weddings that we photograph, we have been seeing lots more DIY projects (if you follow any wedding planning/design blogs you are thinking DUH, but not everyone here might read those). DIY projects can be time consuming but they can really bring deep meaning into aspects of the wedding that otherwise might have been store bought or just aesthetically pleasing (I am not saying anything is wrong with either of those, I am just saying that it's cool to see people thoughtfully and creatively put who they are into their wedding). I also love the trend of involving close family and friends in pulling your wedding together, like in the concept of having certain people bring whatever dessert they are most well known for, or that might be a favorite of the couple, which leads to this huge spread of awesome desserts from people whom you love. I personally appreciate the trend of not just having "bridesmaids" and "groomsmen", but also have "groomsgirls" and "bridesmen" if you want to have some one meaningful in your part of the wedding party that might be of the opposite sex. It's all a part of the movement to question wedding traditions, to step back and say WHY! Why do I have to do it that way? I love THAT trend.
* What are my pet peeves/things that hinder me from doing my job as a photographer on a wedding day?
Ah yes. Well. First and foremost, we do everything we can do keep a wedding day a positive experience for everyone involved. That is really important to us. So the vast majority of the times that things happen that might be our pet peeves or that hinder us from doing our job, the couple has no idea. We want to keep it that way. This can be a touchy subject but lately the number one thing that has become a pet peeve and that can hinder us from doing the work that we have been contracted and paid to do is guests/family members/bridal party members that also want to document the whole day. When bridal party or family members have cameras in front of their faces all day long, that is what the couple will see in their pictures of the day... you behind a camera. Couples hire us so that family can enjoy themselves and so that the bridal party can provide help for them but also function as highly honored guests. The couple (and often the family) pay us a lot of money to be everywhere and catch everything and while we understand the need to document important life events (hey, it's why we do what we do), we also want people to remember to LIVE these moments. Smell and taste the food, listen and dance to the music, hug and laugh with friends -- let us worry about taking pictures of it all. You enjoy it. The couple paid for all of it so you could enjoy it with them. There are also times when guests/extended family members want to also extensively document the day. There have been times where this has caused one of us (another reason for their to be two of us) to miss shots because they were in our way (this can happen in various ways) and not allowing us to do our job. I would love to give more specific examples but again, I don't want any of our couples to think we have negative feelings about their wedding.
* What conditions would cause a photo shoot to go horribly?
This was a really great question and one that I really had to think about. I had to think about what would I judge as a shoot that went horribly... what does that look like to me? I would say that goes two ways -- relationally and environmentally. A shoot could relationally go horribly if there was some break down in communication, something that would cause either me not to trust the people I am photographing or for them not to trust me. Being photographed is an intimate experience. You are putting on display your relationship with the person/people that you are choosing to be photographed with. You want to make sure you have a connection with the person behind the camera and if that isn't there, then I probably won't do my best work in photographing the people, and the people being photographed will not look comfortable in the images. Now a shoot could go horribly environmentally if there is some surprise element to the shoot, something completely unexpected and out of our control. If and when these things happen I try to see if we can make these new conditions work, if not then it's time to make a new plan. I have had an out of town shoot before where we thought we had the location all worked out, then upon arrival at the shoot location we were not able to do the shoot there. I was in a place that I was unfamiliar with and was panicking. Thank goodness for smart phones and the forgiveness of the client (as it was something out of my control), we found another location and as we drove to it we ended up stumbling upon an even BETTER spot. Again, I have more specific examples but want to protect people's privacy.
* How do you handle working with clients who believe differently than you or have elements to their wedding that you morally disagree with?
This question is awesome and I was really glad to address it because this subject is important to us, especially being situated in the southern section of the Bible belt. Wheaton Academy is a Christian school and when the ladies heard that my degree is in Religious Education they wanted to know what that looked like in my job. Again, this can be a touchy subject - religion in the work place - but overall our policy is that we choose love. I have tried to make it abundantly clear on this blogsite, Facebook, Twitter, etc that our job is to document people's stories and that everyone's stories are worth telling. Period. I mean, lets not forget that it's illegal to deny someone your services based on religion, sexual orientation, etc. But really I love learning from all kinds of people what their life is like, what their religion means for them, what they have had to endure to love who they love. I think it is safe to say that we do not 100% agree with anyone that we photograph. We celebrate that diversity while still being true to who we are. If you want to know how we personally feel about a certain topic then we are always open to have adult conversations about things. We just feel like our place in this world as photographers is to show love and document love. To discover and celebrate beauty in every story.