In my many years working as a wedding photographer I have shot all kinds of unique and interesting weddings. I have also photographed couples with many different religions and customs. I have photographed Armenian weddings, Russian weddings, Catholic weddings, Jewish weddings, Jewish Orthodox weddings and many more. Which that said, I must admit I really enjoy photographing Indian weddings. There seems to be a running theme with me and wedding photography. The theme is everything is important. During a religious ceremony all the activities that take place must be captured. In my view point, it's up the the client to decide what is meaningful to them. Because you never know what is most important to each client I believe you need to photograph everything. I became aware of this attitude when I loved in Los Angeles and I started to build an Armenian clientele. Now, I'm Jewish and knew nothing about Armenian customs or traditions, However I worked for a wedding photographer who shot many Armenian weddings. When he retired I purchased his business. Along with his business came his Armenian bookings. Honestly, I had no idea what was important to shoot and what was not important, so I shot everything. Over time I found that I was booking more and more Armenian weddings. I also booked many Jewish Orthodox weddings and Indian weddings. Then one day an Indian bride and groom told me a secret. They said, do you know why we hired you and not the Indian photographer the most Indian couples hire? We hired you because you shoot everything, even the stuff that isn't considered important. The Indian photographer makes decisions about what is not important and what is important. We like that you get it all including the meaningless stuff. I believe that your photographer should cover it all regardless of what's important. When a wedding ceremony is happening your photographer should get all.
For me the photography process starts way before the wedding day. I believe that having a great wedding photography timeline should be the first order of business once the photographer is hired. Because there are several different types of Indian weddings it's critical to meet with or at least talk with the wedding planner so that your photographer know what is happening and what time.
There are many different types of Indian weddings that take place in South Florida. These include Hindu, Muslim, Punjabi, Malayali, and Bengali. They are all unique because the traditions and religious beliefs differ. In addition these variations originate for different places. Because of these differences your photographer must have a timeline and a list of what is most important, then they must capture everything. In addition to the different traditions it's important to realize that every family is unique. This is true with all weddings. Every family dynamic is unique, some families have lots of aunts and cousins, others have many siblings. Having a list of family members is a great way to make sure no-one of forgotten.
This is true for all weddings. It's very important for a photographer to understand that in a wedding situation anything can happen. Cameras break, Cars break, sometimes there is traffic. Because of this a photographer needs to prepare for the wedding days in advance. Extra cameras, charged batteries, having extra money and credit cards handy all can save a wedding photographers butt. This is just a fact of the wedding business. Traffic in South Florida can be unpredictable, accidents happen, road closures happen all the time. Just last weekend I was on the way to a wedding, I left lots of extra time thinking when I arrive I will be at least one full hour early. When I got to the exit I needed to take, it was closed. This meant I had to drive to the next exit 9 miles down the road. By the time I arrived I lost 40 minutes. Once I was on my way to a wedding in Miami, on the way a big metal piece of a truck fell off right in front of my car. There was no way I could get around this hunk of metal. The road debris ripped out the underside of my car. I had to call AAA, and the wedding planner. The wedding planner's assistant arrived at the same time as AAA. I got a ride to the wedding and my car got a tow to Nissan. The bride and groom had no idea I had a accident. When someone hires a wedding photographer dependability is most important and being ready for anything falls in to the dependability check box.
If you are reading this, my guess is that you may be a Bride or Groom planning your wedding searching for a photographer. Maybe you are just looking for some good wedding planning ideas. or Maybe you are the parents of a bride and groom looking for a dependable photographer with a great reputation. If this is the case then here are my Wedding Wire Reviews. No matter what you situation I would love to hear from you. Feel free to e-mail me or call me at 561 737-5561
Jeff
Location: 1 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139.