Well, I guess this is a slightly different post to what I had in mind when I envisaged what these blog posts would look like.
I had imagined that they’d be more technical in nature and about what I could do to help the reader and their business in terms of photography and videography.
Whilst this post does do that slightly, it also covers something personal about a discovery about myself and why I’d been in a certain frame of mind about things for so long.
Those of you that have known me for some time, especially through networking will know that I’ve always said “I don’t do weddings!” and that I’ve been quite emphatic about that. It’s a stance that I’ve had for over a decade, since I started out as a professional photographer. The thing is, that in my mind, I’ve come up with any number of reasons to justify that statement.
But the truth is, I have shot weddings, but not very many, and I’ve certainly not shouted about it. Before recent events, I reckon I’ve covered around 5 weddings in over a decade. These have been mainly for people I’ve know well and felt that I have a connection with.
Earlier this year an old friend from networking asked me about shooting their wedding later this year and I put together a gallery of previous examples. When I actually looked at this, I thought to myself that they were pretty good, and perhaps some of my excuses for not shooting weddings might not be all that valid.
My friend must have thought that same and so she asked me to be their photographer.
Then, a few weeks ago, I was contacted by a friend from networking and to cut a long story short, I ended up shooting a wedding of a mutual friend and her husband at quite short notice.
Weddings can involve long days, lugging around a lot of heavy (not to mention expensive) camera gear. Being on your feet all day is physically tiring. Constantly modifying your plans and adopting to things as the day goes on takes a mental toll too. But although I came away pretty tired after eight hours, I actually enjoyed it!
Also, making a positive contribution to such an important day for the bride and groom was something that was immensely rewarding ands something that I’ll always cherish. Maybe, it was actually the best part of the whole experience?
It was only after this, that I came to realise that what had been holding me back from shooting weddings was actually a lack of confidence in my own ability, or what is often referred to as “imposter Syndrome”.
Looking back at my wedding work in a critical manner, and sharing my thoughts with other business contacts, has turned my thoughts on their head and made me come to the realisation that I can confidently offer a wedding service going forward.
This isn’t a complete change of direction for me, and I’ll still be offering my commercial photography and videography service, which is something I relish, but more of additional service. The weddings I’ll shoot will be carefully selected to ensure that I can offer the service the happy couple want and deserve.
So I guess that I can no longer use the statement “I don’t shoot weddings” and I’ll have to come up with a new memorable phrase?
To find out more, just get in touch.
PS. If only I could find this new confidence when it comes to writing these blog posts….
