Spam/Phish Targeted at Wedding Photographers

I wished I had saved all the phishing emails I got targeted at wedding photographers, and it actually surprises me that I'm still getting them. This particular one that came in a couple of days ago appear to be targeted at anyone in the wedding industry. I was amused.

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Wedding Dress
Hello, i will like to buy your Wedding Dress that cost for $1200 .. I want to know which styles you have for the Wedding Dress .I will like to buy it and I want it mail to my Cousin in Canada ..Regarding the shipping, I have a company that takes care of the pick up of my consignments for me and ship to my destination, you do not worry about shipping, the company will send down a representative to arrange the sales documentation and the pick up from your end for onward transfer to my destination.I will like you to know that I will be paying with my Credit card now for the Total cost of the Wedding Dress plus Tax...I will want you to run an additional cost of $900 on my credit card which will cover the Pick up and the Delivery Fees to my destination and I will like you to help me send this as cash to my shipping agent in Brazil through Western union money transfer and that money is to act as the shipping costs for him to come down for the pick up. So please
as soon as you you have the Credit card charged through ..email me back with the confirmation and I could provide you with the shipping agent details for you to send the $900 to the Head Office of the agent that will handles the shipment.I will really be glad if u can help me with this and then u run an additional $100 for your stress as well as the transportation fees.I will like you to get back to me with what you have in store now so that i can get back to you with my credit card information for you to put through for the total cost ...I will be waiting to hear from you

Note: Contact the Western Union Agent for the cost of the Transfer fee to Brazil and You add that to the total cost you are to charge my Credit Card.

Best Regards
Robinho

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What kind of name is Robinho?

How Should You Choose a Wedding Photographer?

Now that I made clear to everyone that I am no longer photographing weddings, instead of asking me to photograph their weddings, people often ask me: How should I choose a photographer? And I'm often brought in as a consultant to scope out a candidate's work from his or her website.

First, I would like to address the question: Is a wedding photographer absolutely necessary?

This may surprise you, but the answer is no.

If you're on a budget but you value photography as a tool to preserve your memories of the day, it would be nice to have a few good photos by a skillful photographer of just you and your significant other, and a few of your family and bridal party. If you don't have good amateur photographer friends with a digital SLR camera, make some. I suspect they exist in every wedding because I myself have never shot a wedding in which I encountered no relatives with a good camera.

If you are having a daytime outdoor/tent wedding, you'll get nice candid shots from friends and family no matter what--point and shoot digitals can usually handle these just fine.

Nighttime weddings are A LOT trickier for lucky shots that require no photography skills. If you are having a nighttime/church wedding and you value the documentary aspect of photography, then you will get a lot out of having a professional. Most people do not know how to take indoor/nighttime shots and chances are you won't get any good ones from your friends and family.

Here's how I would approach hiring a wedding photographer, if I were to choose one for myself:

1) Word of mouth. It's best when you've met the photographer from a friend's wedding, and you like the results and your friend's review of her.

2) How is the actual photographer photographing the wedding? Does she seem like he/she cares about your wedding day, or does she just want your money? Is he/she a creep?

Some large studios will not let you know who is photographing you on that particular day. I think that is a terrible idea. A bond needs to be established between the client and the photographer ahead of time. Demand to meet with the photographer if you are only meeting a salesperson.

I can't tell you how many times I've met photographers who care absolutely nothing about the clients they're photographing and it shows in their photos. These photographers are technically very capable, yet, they are completely inept around people. You will be spending your entire wedding day with this person, most likely from the beginning of your getting ready to the end of the reception. If you think your photographer is a creep, you probably don't want him or her around you all day.

If your photographers care about you, she will watch for moments that capture your personality and happiness, and truly want to make you look beautiful. This is also why you should not treat your photographer (or anyone in general) badly because if she's feeling mistreated, she's not very likely to want to capture you in the most flattering ways. Picture yourself at work and your boss is being mean to you. Would YOU be happy at your job?

3) View an entire sample album. Can you identify with the people in the sample album? Is the wedding dress completely outdated (e.g., puffy sleeves from the early eighties)? It's amazing how many wedding venues have albums sitting out with completely outdated photos.

4) Look for low light, indoor or outdoor nighttime photographs in their portfolio. I sort of touched upon this earlier in this entry, but when I judge how skilled a photographer is, I always look for how they handle low-light situations. A good camera alone is not enough to handle this. You really need a skilled wedding photographer. I generally think that a photographer should be able to capture the ambiance of a night scene. This generally means using a slightly slower shutter speed whenever possible to capture the mood. If all you see are shots with very harsh flashes and the background is entirely black, then this photographer is not very good.

5) Has a photographer been to the wedding venue(s) before? If not, is she willing to visit it with you before the wedding? Write this into the contract. The photographer needs to be sure that he/she knows how to get to the wedding. And seeing the setting will allow him/her to be more creative in working with the place. For example, in a church with a choir loft, your photographer can take a wide angle shot from above and capture the feel of the church.

It is absolutely necessary that you have a contract with the photographer. Read every word and don't hesitate to change the wording. A contract should state everything clearly so both parties will honor what they promised each other.

How does one BECOME a wedding photographer?

I've heard many stories about how people come to be wedding photographers, and I was at first surprised at how many people have a similar background to myself--that is, after slaving away for the corporate world for a number of years, we decided that we want to do something that we feel passionate about -- photography.

It sounds glamorous and liberating. For many years, I believed that myself. But to be honest, it was art that I was passionate about. Photography was the closest thing to art that can be applied in the "real world". And WEDDING photography was the easiest type of photography job to get to ensure that you can earn some money from it. It still involves compromises. And compromising prevents one from truly making art.

Nonetheless, at the time, I believed that I was doing something very radical and liberating.

I graduated from Wellesley College in 1995 with a double major in Chinese Studies and Japanese Studies and a concentration of classes in computer science. The computer science and my connections with friends I made at MIT got me a job in the IT consulting industry fresh out of college. I was making a six-digit salary when I decided that I could no longer stand the corporate world. My mother thought I went insane, but since I paid off all my school loans, she was not so worried any more.

It is amazing how many wedding photographers out there were once working in a computer-related field as I did. Photography attracts many different folks who love the technical aspect of photography (the engineering type) but still appreciate the composition and "fluffier" aspects of photography.

What would be my advice to someone contemplating the idea of becoming a wedding photographer?
1) Take pictures of your friends' weddings and build a portfolio.
2) Look on Craigslist for people looking for a beginner photographer to photograph their wedding because they're on a budget.
3) Take a photography workshop if your photography techniques are shaky.
4) Read up on wedding photographers whose work inspire you.
5) Read bridal magazines. This is helpful in understanding what the current brides are looking for. These magazines dictate the trends of wedding photography. You need to keep up with the times.
6) BUILD A WEBSITE! The web is one of the first places most brides look for a photographer. The first place is still word of mouth from friends.
7) Invest in good equipment, specifically a good DSLR and good lenses.
8) Get a basic legal book about being a photographer that would give you templates for contracts and photo releases.

Finally I'm Beginning...

I've been psyching myself up to write a blog about wedding photography and wedding photographers for a couple of years now. And since I have finally officially retired from wedding photography, I figured it's now safe enough to start blogging about the industry and my thoughts and experience. I would also like to blog about wedding photographers that I admire.

I'm not entirely sure who would read this blog. Aspiring wedding photographers, perhaps. Brides-to-be who would care enough to find out how to best work with a photographer, maybe. Whoever you are, I hope you'll find it interesting.

I started photographing weddings back in 1999. I bought my first film SLR camera, a Nikon N70, to bring with me to Italy where my best friend was getting married. I had always been interested in drawing and so composing a photograph came naturally to me. Of course, I knew absolutely nothing about the techniques of photography. I set the camera on auto mode, put in a roll of black and white 35mm film, and kept pressing the shutter. Yet, the images that came out received many praises from friends. The black and white images in this blog entry are some of the very first wedding photographs I have ever produced.

Then it became a hobby of mine to photograph my friends' weddings as a guest. From there I built a wedding portfolio. The technical skills I gained from reading and taking courses at the New England School of Photography in Boston, across from Fenway Park and underneath the Citgo sign.

I photographed weddings professionally from 2001 to September 2007 to the point I received many positive client reviews and an editorial award from CitySearch Boston for being the Best Photographer in 2007.

I'm grateful to all the support from my wonderful clients, some of whom I befriended and still talk to on a regular basis. But being a wedding photographer had its share of heartaches and I will share some of them here.