Photo Fusion: A Wedding Photographers Guide to Mixing Digital Photography and Video

Introduction

Wedding photography is a fast growing industry where the barrier to entry often seems no greater than a decent camera and a Web site. So often we hear seasoned veterans of the film age, and newer photographers alike, complaining about the rash of competition in their area, and the standardization that has come to wedding photography. So, the need to set yourself apart as a wedding photographer has never been greater.

When we came to weddings in 1999, we were the "crazy kids" shooting on our 35 mm cameras. We were running and gunning, off tripod, with fast glass and available light. We didn't know it at the time, but we were on the leading edge of a trend that would ultimately sweep wedding photography. Quietly, in different markets all over the world, the medium format cameras were being put away, and the 35 mm was becoming the choice for the latest entrants to the market.

Web sites and blogs were non-existent. Clients found their photographers through the old - fashioned methods of magazine ads, bridal shows, and word-of-mouth. Photographers developed their craft, essentially in isolation, independent of what others were doing (one example is shown in Figure 1 on the next page). Those of us who were wedding photographers before the digital age may seem nostalgic for the "good old days" when wedding photography was as much about the craft as it was about the business.