People Skills

"You have to be a "people person" to be a wedding photographer!"

Plain and simple, if a wedding photographer cannot relate to the people he is photographing, he has no place being a wedding photographer. I don't care how much he knows about photography... there is no place for a grumpy wedding photographer.

Too often while attending weddings as a guest, I've seen some really poor examples of how NOT to deal with people by some wedding photographers. At my photography workshops, I am constantly emphasizing to attendees that it is really important to work on people skills. The success of the event depends on it.

Many of my photography friends have asked me how I have lasted so long photographing weddings. We all know of photographers who have started out in wedding photography only to move on to other areas of work simply because they have burnt out. My answer to them is simply that I LIKE photographing weddings. I enjoy the people I work with.

Now if I could not stand working with people or if the work I do simply became a "job" to me, I think that would be the time I would have to seriously consider going into another profession. But right now, I don't see that happening.

I've had plenty of years of working with people to know what to say, what not to say, what to do, and what not to do. To be good at photographing people you need to be able to get your subjects to loosen up. How you approach people makes all the difference in the world when you want someone to do something.

It's really a pity that many photographers do not understand this simple principle. I've seen photographers who simply bark instructions at people and expect them to respond with a good expression on their face for the photograph. If someone barked at me, I'd probably give them a very strange look... not quite what they wanted.

On the other hand, I have attended some weddings where I was thoroughly impressed with the photographer. There are some who really know how to work with people. Whenever I see that, I try to go up to the photographer to introduce myself and to compliment him or her on how well I think they are doing. That always seems to make their day and they always do even better for the rest of the shoot.

So, people skills are really a big part of wedding photography. If you are a bride or groom looking for a photographer, don't sign with any photographer you don't feel totally comfortable with. A good deal is not always a good deal if you aren't totally comfortable with your photographer. If you are a photographer, be sure to heed my advice and work on your people skills! Not only will your business thrive, but you'll get better looking photographs too!