Photojournalists in Chicago
Suzanna Port
couple of weeks now.
although i have nearly a year until my wedding (june 29, 2000) i am
looking for recommendations for photojournalists in chicago. but my
first question is, has anyone used this style of photography for their
wedding? were you happy with the results? i take such horrible posed
pictures that i thought the photojournalist style would be better for
us. we consider ourselves "casual" and feel that photojournalism is a
good medium to convey that style. in addition, having stood up in
numerous weddings over the years, posing at the church after the
ceremony always seemed to take forever and if that weren't enough, you
had to go to the reception and stand around for even more photos.
if anyone can recommend/not recommend photojournalists in chicago, that
would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance for your help, i look forward to learning from all of
your experiences over the next 12 months
suz
Suzanna Port
in the planning, i meant june 29, 2001
suz
Nathan Shafer
>
> I take such horrible posed pictures that i thought the
> "casual" and feel that photojournalism is a good medium to convey
> that style.
Suzanna,
It seems to me as a photographer that whether or not you want a
photojournalist for your wedding depends on some nuances that your
post is not conveying. First: when you say that you take horrible
posed pictures, are you thinking of "posed" shots taken by friends,
or are you thinking of a professional portrait session (e.g., gradu-
ation portraits) you had done, the results of which you were unhappy
with?
Here's why I ask this: a lot of people get very self-conscious
when having their picture taken, and they will "freeze up" or get
very stiff and uncomfortable. A lot of times the best way to deal
with this is either a) Don't do *any* posed pictures at your wedding,
or b) Get someone who knows how to pose people to look natural, even
when they may not FEEL natural.
Now, what I am about to say is a GROSS generalization, and as with
all such, there are exceptions left and right. But in my experience,
GENERALLY speaking, photojournalistic photographers will do LESS
posing and directing, often either because they do not posess some of
the skills employed by more portrait-oriented photographers, or
because they simply do not enjoy that aspect of wedding photography,
or both.
Because of this, when faced with subjects who really "freeze up"
when they know their pictures is being taken, PJists may not be able
to do much to help with that, and consequently what portraits you
do have done will not be very satisfying. a portrait-oriented photog,
on the other hand, will (hopefully) be able to pose and direct you in
such a way that, although you will *FEEL* supremely UNnatural during
the portraits, in the final results you will actually look *more*
natural.
So, if you were referring to pictures taken by friends, it may be
that a portrait-oriented photographer is EXACTLY what you need to get
wedding photographs that you will be happy with. On the other hand,
if you were referring to a professional portrait session or sessions,
then it may be that you will want to avoid the posed pictures as much
as possible, in which case a PJist will fit the bill.
Finally: even with a very skilled portrait-oriented wedding
photographer, if you do not feel a rapport with that person, if he or
she does not put you at ease, all the posing skill in the world is
not going to help. You need therefore to find a photographer with
whom YOU feel comfortable, whom you *like*, so that when the time
comes to do those dreaded posed shots, you can feel relaxed and trust
that this person will not let you look like an idiot.
> in addition, having stood up in numerous weddings over the years,
> posing at the church after the ceremony always seemed to take
> forever and if that weren't enough, you had to go to the reception
> and stand around for even more photos.
That is a separate issue. There are several factors that come to
play in this: one is the number of portrait groupings that YOU request
from your photographer. Another is the amount of time that your
photographer will take on each grouping. I, for example, will allot
five minutes per grouping, ten for larger groups (more than ten peopl)
and twenty for really HUGE groups (example: Bride and Groom with
parents,. siblings and spouses of siblings, plus twenty aunts,uncles
and cousins on each side). Some PJists, on the other hand, will only
do a very limited group, and will get all the portraits done in
about 20-30 minutes after the ceremony. This time frame does not
really allow for the kind of "corrective posing" I talked about
above, but it does keep things quick. A third factor in the time
issue is whether or not you and the groom see each other before the
ceremony. If you do, then you can get ALL the portraits done before
and be able to go straight from the ceremony to the reception with
np delay.
Unfortunately, I don't know any PJists in Chicago (the only pro
wedding photog I *DO* know of is not a PJist, altho' he uses that
phrase in his marketing, and he's a real jerk), so I can't help you
there, but hopefully I managed to shed a little light on the PJ vs.
Posed issue. In any case, I wish you the best of luck, and if you
would like to email or post further questions, I'd be happy to try
and help.
ATB,
- Nathan
RICK5347
would be greatly appreciated.
>>
Suz,
Offhand I cannot recall any PJ photographer in Chicago that I can recommend but
I do know of a great one in Fort Wayne, IN. He travels, this weekend he is
doing two weddings in Michigan. Incidentally, it is not unusual to see the
better wedding photographers travel nationally or even internationally. In my
case, and I presume his as well, all your aditional costs would be are the
airfare and lodging. Incidentally, by working with the right photographer who
happens to be out-of-state you will not only get the quality you seek because
you didn't "settle" but you will also save the state sales tax and in doing so
the additional travel costs are often a wash.
If you (or anyone else) would like his name and web site address please email
me. I am not comfortable dragging any "new" photographers into this newsgroup
due to the attacks of our resident TROLLS.
Best regards,
Rick Rosen
Newport Beach, CA
www.rickrosen.com
Jeanne
Suzanna Port wrote:
> hello everyone! i'm new to alt.wedding but have been lurking for a
> couple of weeks now.
>
> although i have nearly a year until my wedding (june 29, 2000) i am
> looking for recommendations for photojournalists in chicago.
I suggest going to www.ppa.com, which is the web page for the Professional
Photographers Association. Click the link for "Find a Photographer" and
then set the search criteria for Chicago , IL, photojournalism wedding
photography. It will yield at least six or seven photographers/studios in
the Chicago area that are PPA members. PPA requires a higher standard of
ethical conduct from their members and enforces it via a Bylaws, Rules and
Ethics Committee which you, as the consumer, can always rely on in rare
cases of customer disatisfaction. I say, "rare" because last year, the BRE
Committee held hearings for 7 cases, only one of which was customer versus
photographer. The remaining 6 were photographer versus photographer.
RICK5347
>Photographers Association. Click the link for "Find a Photographer" and
>then set the search criteria for Chicago , IL, photojournalism wedding
>photography. It will yield at least six or seven photographers/studios in
>the Chicago area that are PPA members. PPA requires a higher standard of
>ethical conduct from their members and enforces it via a Bylaws, Rules and
>Ethics Committee which you, as the consumer, can always rely on in rare
>cases of customer disatisfaction.
While PPA is a great organization and I would also suggest doing this search
keep in mind that PPA does not and can not screen it's photographers as to who
specifically really does journalistic wedding photography, or any other kind of
photography for that matter. Lets face it, wedding photojournalism (PJ) is a
popular approach these days and I have seen many photographers try and jump
onto that bandwagon with no real aptitude in the style. It is ALWAYS better to
get referrals and then LOOK at the work of the photographer. Afterall, you are
hiring a photographer not only for his/her work but also for their personality.
Hitman Jr
that name and set up an appointment, make sure that you ask the
photographer to show you at least one completed album from 1 wedding.
This way you can make sure that the style is exactly what you want! I
prefer checking out to completed but the photographers usually don't
have "extra" completed albums laying around because of expense. Most
likely when faced with this request they will provide a recent album
they just finished but haven't delivered.
Hitman Jr
On Wed, 28 Jun 2000 12:46:43 -0500, Suzanna Port <sp...@kannon.com>
wrote:
>hello everyone! i'm new to alt.wedding but have been lurking for a
>couple of weeks now.
>
>although i have nearly a year until my wedding (june 29, 2000) i am
>looking for recommendations for photojournalists in chicago. but my
>first question is, has anyone used this style of photography for their
>wedding? were you happy with the results? i take such horrible posed
>pictures that i thought the photojournalist style would be better for
>us. we consider ourselves "casual" and feel that photojournalism is a
>good medium to convey that style. in addition, having stood up in
>numerous weddings over the years, posing at the church after the
>ceremony always seemed to take forever and if that weren't enough, you
>had to go to the reception and stand around for even more photos.
>
>if anyone can recommend/not recommend photojournalists in chicago, that
>would be greatly appreciated.
>
RICK5347
All very good suggestions here. I would recommend that whey you do get
that name and set up an appointment, make sure that you ask the
photographer to show you at least one completed album from 1 wedding.
This way you can make sure that the style is exactly what you want! >>
Excellent point about the one-wedding album. This is especially critical when
you are looking for a journalistic "storytelling" wedding photographer. Part
of his skills has to be desiging the storytelling album and putting his images
in an order that tells the story and makes sense.
<<I prefer checking out to completed but the photographers usually don't
have "extra" completed albums laying around because of expense. Most
likely when faced with this request they will provide a recent album
they just finished but haven't delivered.
>>
IMO, any professional photographr should be willing to keep representative
sample albums in his studio. Between Marcie and myself we have about ten
sample albums for our prospective clients to review. Not only do these samples
show our work but also show various album options we offer. Furthermore, if
your prospective photographer has a web site that would be a great way to
review many samples from many weddings.
tlh...@my-deja.com
grad with a newspaper background. I obviously haven't worked with him
extensively, but I did check his references and got glowing responses.
I've also e-mailed a woman who is using him in August and hope to chat
with her to get any feedback.
You can e-amil me at tlh...@hotmail.com (I often read this newsgroup
while on the stationary bike at the gym, which isn't condusive to
responding) and I can give you more information.
Oh -- by the way -- he's very reasonable. Photogs in Chicago are
EXPENSIVE.
In article <20000629013243...@ng-cd1.aol.com>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.