have you been to a wedding where there are disposable cameras at the reception for guests to capture some candid moments?
many years ago i was asked to be a wedding photographer. i had a canon rebel t2i (branded 550d outside the usa). it was a consumer camera. or so i was marketed to believe. it wasn’t a real/professional camera, and that was the excuse i used to politely say no.
in fact, it was a perfectly capable camera. i still have it. but, this isn’t about that camera. or any other camera.
i declined the invitation because the thought of wedding photography simultaneously terrified and did not appeal to me. this was before the social media age, but it seemed that society and american culture at large accepted that weddings were held to be fashionable and glamorous events. (anybody remember “glamour shots“?) weddings are beautiful and emotional. not because of staging, posing, scripting, or perfectly followed schedules. they are beautiful and emotional because of the people involved. and most times they are kind of messy, too.
i still don’t do wedding photography. i photograph people. in all their emotional chaos. gathered together. for a wedding.
