So Henri Cartier-Bresson was
inarguably the best reportage photographer ever, capturing the decisive moment
like no one else on earth, one reason why I admire him and his work so much. In
my way I try to adapt this reportage style to weddings. Believe me it is not
easy. The wedding ceremony may be short but the day is long and each minute may
seem to stretch forever as one waits for that moment to happen which my brain
interprets as being the one to capture. An electric impulse travels to my
finger tip that presses down on the shutter button and I hope I have not been
one-hundredth of a second too late. If it were only the ceremony a wedding
photographer can breathe easy.
However, he has to have eyes like
that of a fly, with a 180 degree view. He has to have eyes on stalks that
swivel around to watch if anything interesting is going on that should be
captured. I admit it, this is also what makes wedding photography
so interesting and appealing. No two weddings have ever been the same.
Ceremonies follow a route but the participants are different and emote
differently and in a short time I have to guess at their behavior patterns and
anticipate reactions, my finger trigger happy to shoot when that decisive
moment occurs. When I do it and present an album that is a collage of emotions,
feelings, stories, I feel happy and clients more so that in turn makes me
happier…. Job well done.
One could never claim to be the
very best reportage wedding photographer. It would be like saying one flavour
of ice cream is the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment