There are times when you just need to break free from the rules to allow yourself to remember why there are even rules at all.
For many, the process of editing is just as much an expression of a photographer's style, talent and vision as the image capture itself. It is another tool an artist may elect to use to convey to the world what it is that he or she sees or wants others to see in their image, their art. While wedding photography has come a long way it is still a wedding that we're photographing and we need to be mindful that we're not just creating art for our own amusement; we're there to capture and preserve the history of a couple, a family, and its relationships that spans generations. As I look back on the first time my mother shared with me pictures of my grandparents before they were married, at their wedding, and as their family grew from one to five children, I remember spending a considerable amount of time soaking up the details of every photo. Who was in the image? Where was the image taken? What made this moment so special that they took the time to take the picture in the first place? I mean, think about it - it was a far more expensive and laborious process years ago as our parents and grandparents will attest. While I absolutely love black and white and vintage toned photographs I have to admit that I really wish, at times, that I could see the colors in older prints. Colors of clothes, of cars, and buildings...of the icing on birthday cakes, wrapping paper and balloons. The colors of life.
Digital photography has come a long way in a handful of years and processing has made leaps and bounds as well. We play and we experiment as we add, enhance, or even remove color while striving to make an image "our own". Old becomes new again when we mimic the look of processes of bygone eras such as daguerreotype or polaroid. I, for one, enjoy this process, which is an exploration in and of itself, and I revel in the possibilities this digital age gives to us. But, amidst this explosion of creativity I am reminded of the way I felt as a child while staring at those black and white images wondering what the world looked like beyond light and shadow, texture and depth. It is for this reason that I believe we should give our clients the best of both so that they may explore their world not only thru our eyes but remember and preserve it as it was thru their own.
So to the world I say, go forth and create. Learn the rules and then by all means, BREAK THEM - break them whenever you feel the desire. This truly is how we grow and compel one another to become better artists. But never forget the responsibility we have as professional wedding photographers to preserve as well as to create. : )
