At the very VERY basic level of professional photography, we must provide “photos that don’t suck.” From there we can move to good photos, then great photos, then ground-breaking earth-shattering photos. But first, we must make sure that EACH photo we provide doesn’t suck.
For example, I’ve recently had several weddings/receptions held in venues with high, dark ceilings. It’s relatively easy to take great pictures when the venue is conducisve to photography, but more of a challenge when conditions aren’t great. So, I have adopted the following mantra: “Grainy” is acceptable, “blurry” is not. Direct-flash is acceptable, washed-out is not.
Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely do NOT want to provide my clients with grainy photos, and I want to use lighting techniques that make folks say “wow.” I want every shot to be technically sound as well as artistic. But you could spend half a reception trying to set up and balance lights without really helping yourself. At the very VERY least you have got to end the evening with a card full of DECENT shots. If the client complains about high ISO or direct flash, you can explain the situation. How will you explain hundreds of blurry or severely underexposed shots? It may not be perfect, but get the shot.
Bryan LindseyBCL Photography
Houston Wedding and Portrait Photographer
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