Hi everybody,
I’ve been thinking about blogging in english for quite a while now. I draw so much inspiration from all those wonderful photographers out there, and I always regretted that if some of those guys (or anyone else from anywhere in the world) stumbles over my blog, chances are that they don’t understand a single word of what I’m saying. Well, usually I’m sparing with words anyways, but from time to time one actually has something to tell that might be of interest for someone else, and for this reason, I am going to slip in a few english blog posts in the future.
Obviously, my english is far from perfect, and I’m already looking forward to the moment when somebody tells me that I just cursed the pope instead of praising life because I confused prepositions again (as I do all the time), but nevertheless, I decided to give it a try. In fact, I’m really looking forward to it 
.
The reason for this blog post was a location scouting with Tina and Christian we did for their upcoming wedding. Since we were all guests at a wedding that took place just before we started, I did not bring my own camera. The whole scouting trip was planned to be no more than a rather quick tour to check the light in “their” church and to find a few beautiful places for the wedding portrait session somewhere near that church.
I am sure that this plan would have worked out well if those two cuties had not started being just the sweetest couple ever. We barely made it into the church before all their excitement and thrill of anticipation resulted in one of the most touching couple interactions I have ever seen. They were giggling so hard that we were afraid to be banished from the church, and I was permanently kicking myself for not bringing my camera. Having no real camera at hand was really annoying, but that’s not the moral of the story (even though it re-taught me a lesson I had somehow known but ignored over the stressful last months: ALWAYS bring your camera, otherwise something’s gonna happen that will make you regret that you didn’t).
After we visited the curch and their venue, we went to a nearby park, and they just would’nt stop amazing me. On the edge of despair I started taking pictures with my cellphone, and the whole situation evolved into one of the most inspiring photo session I’ve ever had.
We had so much fun that the pictures happened completely natural. The tiny camera in the phone did not make them feel photographed, and even though they did definitely realize that I was taking pictures with the cell in my hand, they clearly did not take my efforts seriously.
This whole experience made me think. I am definitely not one of those you-gotta-have-the-best-equipment-available-or-your-pictures-will-suck-guys, but nonetheless I spent the equivalent of a small car on cameras and lenses over the last years. As a student, that’s a lot, in fact I basically invested almost all the money I ever earned in my photography business since I bought my first camera at the age of 16.
Obviously, the technical quality of those pictures is rather low. The resolution is tiny, the data is certainly not good enough to have those pictures printed or use it for one of the weddings albums I usually create for my clients, and the word “bokeh” is certainly not in the cellphone’s dictionary, either. Nevertheless, those pictures mean a lot to me (and the couple as well).
I did not draw my final conclusions yet, but this unplanned cellphone shoot already taught me a lot about myself, my photography and the way I want to run my business.
- Firstly, I am definitely going to use more prime lenses in the future. I’ve planned to do so for quite a while anyways, and the boost of creativity I got from the limited possibilities of that cellphone lens encouraged me once more that this is the way to go.
- Secondly (and I do see the irony in this point after thinking about #1), I will consider putting a little bit less effort in building up a collection of the best equipment available on this planet and seek after technical perfection all the time, but rather trying improve my people skills and my ability to create an informal, natural and creative atmosphere during the shoot.
- Thirdly, it’s all about the people in front of the camera. Once they feel comfortable, you can hardly go wrong. It is really important to keep that in mind and thus focus on their wellbeing rather than questioning one’s choice of aperture, focal length or other technical aspects of photography all the time.
Tina and Christian, I want to thank you so much for this wonderful experience. By being the great couple you are, you taught me more about photography than I have ever learned before in such a short time. I can not tell you how much I am looking forward to capturing your wedding!
