Becoming a better Wedding Photographer
This year will be my 13th year of photographing couples weddings. Am I still striving at becoming a better wedding photographer? Answer… “yes, without question!”
One of the ways I have found to inspire and push my photography over the years is through attending workshops.
In 2013 I attended my first John Stanmeyer workshop in Varanasi, India. The memory of this trip is as vivid in my mind now as it was then. It was a kaleidoscope of colours, smells and sounds! John is a brilliant visual story teller and although this workshop wasn’t ‘weddings’ focused, it taught me so much!
I focussed on street photography on this trip. I was mesmerised by the extraordinariness of Varanasi and the people and animals that it was home to. Everyday, scenarios played out in front of me which I could never have expected or at times, imagined . The critiques John would give on my work enabled me to look at what I was doing with a better understanding of what I was trying to achieve.
My second workshop with John was in 2016 to Gyumri in Armenia. This was an entirely different experience from India. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I found this workshop far more challenging. With a wedding, a story is unfolding in front of you. Here I was to try and find a story and I’ll be honest I found it difficult.
Which brings me to the here and now. In March this year I will be attending my third workshop led by John, this time in Merida, Mexico. After some initial research and correspondence, a story is starting to form. I know I will be pushed and inspired, good for me personally and equally so for my photography!
