Sounds like you made the right choice. You have to focus where your passion lies. For me, I love doing weddings. I think largely because there’s something you get with weddings that you don’t with most other photographic jobs, and that’s just how happy you make your clients. I absolutely love creating shots that mean so much to someone. I love a lot of types of photography, but it’s that that I really love about shooting weddings.
"there's something you get from weddings"....yes stress!! I did weddings for a few years after graduating, I felt it would be a form of photography that wouldn't cross contaminate my primary interests, topographic landscape. I did learn a lot of skills but never regretted stopping. The final straw came after a few years gap, when I did a very cheap wedding for a work colleague and friend. I was using my usual Mamiya RB67 with a Metz CL-4 strapped to the side, when the flash bracket snapped, leaving my RB in pieces at my feet, just as the bride arrived with her father. Luckily I'd just started dabbling in digital and brought a Pentax K20 with a new 16-50 f/2.8 lens as back up but no flash, and had to complete the wedding using that instead. To add insult to injury, the couple were happy with the pictures (after hours of editing) but the bride wanted a hefty discount because I hadn't used any film. Never again.
I bought a studio in a small town in the Midwest, USA. I did weddings, school photography ( boring) and portraits. I was the equivalent “country doctor” photographer. In short, hundreds of weddings and thousands of schoolchildren later I wanted “out” news photographer seemed a better match. I quit. Moved to the west coast in Oregon. And didn’t pick up a camera for years. No time. I was feeding a family, keeping a roof over their heads, no o time for me to do to anything. Now retired. I have time.
as a photo editor i love ur thought as u said how happy u make ur client . hey bro i m working since last ten years but work for others . i have edited more than 400 weeding catalog .. but now i want to do my own work . but i have no idea how to make my self clients. would u help me plzzzzzzzzzz
Thanks Thomas...always good to hear "how they made it" stories, from where they were to where they are now. It gives confidence to those aspiring individuals...like me!
almost 550 weddings deep in my career. My biggest obstacle when shooting a wedding after 13 years is not smashing my lens to slit both of my wrists. Im happy you are now doing a medium of photograph you love.
Totally relate to this video mate. I shot most of my weddings on film (35mm to start then progressed to 120 roll film, later on didital) the week leading up to every wedding I was on edge, constantly checking weather forecasts, checking my kit, batteries, venues, times etc etc, always always a bag of nerves. As the day arrived after I shot a couple of frames, I would just relax into it and enjoy the experience, then started the nervous wait for the films to be be processed and printed, scary days those were. Then the nerves kicked in when I handed the prints to the couple, then the weeks after a wedding dreading the phone ringing in case it was a complaint (I only ever had one complaint, not my fault though, it was an older couple who wanted the day shot solely in mono, I suggested to shoot colour then convert to mono but no they wanted mono end of, weeks after the bride hammered me for making her look haggered in the prints.....). Agreed that after shooting a few weddings you get into auto pilot, and the best wedding I ever shot bar none was the one I was most nervous about, it was a black couple in Leeds, everyone attending was colored I was the only white bloke at there surrounded by hundreds of elegant statuesque beautifully turned out people, I was bricking it for weeks leading up to the day, but it was hands down my fave wedding, the couple were amazing, the people attending were the best crowd ever. Part of my enjoyment Im sure was that I I felt I was way way out of my depth on this wedding, I was so scared of messing up the exposures, skin tones etc. When I got the prints back I was blown away, I'd nailed it thank buggering hell. Anyway to all those knockers who think wedding photographers charge like wounded bulls, I say they don't charge enough. It's a hard was to earn a crust. Great video mate enjoyed it.
You have the best Photography UA-cam Channel period. Not only you are a very talented photographer but also a fantastic communicator and storyteller (the accent gives it an additional twist). The full package. A pleasure to watch (and learn).
This is what I was like with my motorsports photography and is what actually got me into doing it professionally, I started off with a Canon 1000D with kit lenses to a large selection of gear with a 1DX and two other cameras. But I had fallen into this rut like yourself where you go into auto pilot and just get the results people want, I wasn't enjoying it anymore and for the last year before throwing in the towel I was hoping for something to turn it around. But a few months later I had a accident and that changed it for the rest of my life, So I sold my Canon kit and went into Hasselblad and got into landscapes and I have found my love again for photography and creating. I feel like the skills and knowledge I picked up over the 6 years of doing motorsports photography professionally taught me a lot but now I'm going down the landscape route as it makes me travel and see nice places that aren't just a race track. I look at things differently now as well and I have got a list of places I'd like to go to :) Your video today was nice and its good to hear from you Thomas, I don't think of you as a famous photographer like I think most would. You're just a down to earth guy that goes out and takes photos and makes a documentary of the trip along the way, showing what is actually going into each photo and some inspiration as well. I know watching some of your videos it got me to go out and create something. Now if I travel 500km and only get 1 photo from that its a good trip. Keep up the great work Thomas!
Great story Tom, thanks for sharing. The pressures and anxieties associated with ensuring that on X day you really have to get it right was brilliantly described - well done! I speak for many I think when I say, thank goodness you moved onto the peace of landscape photography. It makes a lot more sense now when you say "I'm taking one shot today" - the opposite in many respects of a wedding where you are taking as many shots as possible!
I can really relate to this. I’ve been doing wedding for 3 years and have decided to stop for exactly the same reasons. Recent wedding I knocked a picture of the wall in a church then walked into a video camera but luckily caught it. Last wedding my new 5D mk4 froze just as brides mom was about to get first look at her daughter so I know what you mean about anxiety etc!! I’m now following my passion, nature, wildlife, landscapes and it’s basically thanks to your inspiring work and videos. Also getting into Vlogging so keep up the amazing work, and thanks so much...
This was a fun little video, just shows your struggle and time spent in to this field. No one gets to top the very first day, there's often past full of failures and struggles. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Interesting video. I think wedding photography can bring a lot of pressures like you spoke about - timings, getting the key shots, being creative yet technically correct, worrying about equipment failure even though you have backup gear, organising everyone etc. etc. I think for some it's a love it or hate it thing. I think the best part about it is making memories about the most important day in a lot of peoples lives. I think landscape photography is definitely more relaxed :)
Wayne Robertson Photography the pressure, the timing, the stress.... yeah... it sounds like a JOB... like a real job xD..... most photographers have not had a really stressful job before, so they die with a wedding photography job.... trust me.... I had a stressful job before, I worked in logistics (I was in charge of about 150 trucks for a concrete company) and now I’m a wedding photographer .... and I can tell you this much.... it’s like a walk in the park compare to logistics.... 😂😂.... so the photographers that complain about the “stress” of a wedding make me smile 😊
Pablo Rogat that’s a fair point, of course there are more stressful jobs than being a wedding photographer. But I think the point here is about photography, and out of all the photography jobs, wedding photography is probably the most “stressful”. For example, many photographers worry about equipment failure at a key point of the wedding and therefor missing a key shot the client requested. Your reputation depends on doing a good job and quite rightly clients want a good job done. Even the best photographers with plenty backup gear can encounter things that cause problems here and there. Landscape photography is more relaxing is what most find who do both, but wedding photography is a wonderful job to have making those memories.
Well, I can definitely say that wedding photography will certainly teach you a whole lot about PRESSURE, working quickly, and basically doing anything to get the shot, even if you're exhausted, flustered, distracted, ...sound at all like being an outdooor photographer? Indeed, a little bit. So in that regard, I'm certainly grateful to have had the last 15 years to shoot weddings, 10+ of those years full-time. I wouldn't trade the experience for any day job. With that said, I'm absolutely ready to move on to the next stage in my career / life, and get into outdoor photography more. Now if only I could make time in between editing tens of thousands of wedding photos to actually edit a UA-cam video, or post consistently to social media, or host a nightscape workshop.... Haha not any time soon, unfortunately...
This was not what I was expecting at all but you had me hooked in less than a minute. You tell a good story, plain and simple. Great channel, thanks for sharing
Uuuuuuugggghhh! That was painful. It brought up all the feelings and reasons I no longer photograph weddings. Two years ago I started turning down wedding inquiries and it was the most liberating feeling. So happy now. Great video!
Thank you for your memories on the way to where you are.It fascinates me how folk's lives change.Your memories of weddings remeinds me of my learning to be the second person at my daughters wedding photography business. Thanks for sharing.
That was cool. Great insight. I've managed about 3000 weddings in the last 20 years so I've met many many wedding photographers. Some are still going but most of them have left the industry and moved on. As a photographer myself now the thought of the pressure of a wedding job just fills me with dread. I totally got this vid. Thanks Tom. Different but refreshing too. Keep 'em coming. :)
Did weddings 35 years ago. 12 images on a roll, anxious times. Did so many late pregnancy weddings, not a goid look with a white wedding dress. Much happy with landscapes.
Throw any photographer into 10 weddings, after those 10 they will be qualified from the university of photography life. That pressure doesn't exist in any other form really, events maybe - obviously journalism (war/sports etc), but glad to hear that you've served your time as a wedding photographer!!
Beautiful poignant!! You are a rare breed and definitely one of the type out there!! Can’t find any body else so inspirational.. thanks Thomas Heaton for helping us keep the fire burning.
Hi Thomas. Been there got the tee shirt. Imaging doing a wedding on a Saturday on Film and waiting till Monday afternoon for the results. I used to know one of the best wedding photographers period, he was very non technical but had a true artistic talent. Thanks for bringing back those nightmares (sorry meant memories) Ron
I think the phone booth photo was neat. Thomas does great work, no matter the genre. I'v never shot a wedding before. I've only been to one wedding, so I don't really know how weddings work, and etiquette and stuff. I don't know how I'd do, though. I'm not a very technical photographer. I get too experimental, and I'm not quick and precise.
Thank`s, Thomas.. you are good photographer, wedding photos, too.. fine to heard you path to landscape photographer.. I inspired you vid`s, because it give me good feelings, and we see many beautiful landscape places, when you hiking and etc.. greetings from Finland.. 👍🇫🇮
Did weddings my first 3 years in my career and was so happy to move on to a happier way of making a living with my camera. 35 years later in the school portrait and sports business I have decided to take on the Landscape challenge. So much to learn. Thanks for sharing
It's one of the only areas of photography that's getting regular steady income, but I never wanted to do that (part of it because of the hassle some of my friends were getting after photographing weddings). Your photos are awesome, even with limited gear, you did your best. Great to have understanding clients as well. It's also good that you realise when it's time to move on and do something else. That's to your credit, it makes you progress. Can't wait for the next video. Well done
I used to shoot weddings, gave it up. Always worried about things going wrong, Im not good with directing people after the wedding for photos, had a second photographer always. But the after wedding work was time consuming and I am happy to not do it anymore. Plenty of wedding photographers in my area so good luck to them
Did you hire a photographer for your own wedding and if so, do you like the photographs on an artistic level now you're an accomplished photographer yourself?
Really enjoy the phone booth photo. Although it is not a traditional wedding photo, I feel it is humorous and the couple can look back on it and remember the good memories they had making it.
Thomas, this was a fascinating video! More like this please. As for the anxiousness before work,,,,,,I get it, as an ER doc its VERY similar to what you described.....no way to live :)
Nice to hear about a different side to your exploits Buddy. I too hated the whole wedding photography thing, I hung up my hat last year after shooting in Lake Garda. The relief was immediate. I'm so glad that I won't be doing that again. Wedding photographers of the world, i solute you.
Appreciate your sharing this - I have the same anxiety "problems" and have assumed that I wouldn't like shooting wedding for the same reasons you mention. This is probably why I love shooting interiors so much. Cheers -
Hey Thomas, It's interesting to hear your experience as you grew as a photographer as it were. We've all had those moments in the early days (sometimes even today) when we dread a certain assignment and it helps to hear another voice who is going through the same... Thanks for posting! Ok, I'm rambling now... :)
The first thought that popped in my mind when I saw them was ,"He doesn't edit photos like that, its not his style." And then I saw more and I was so amazed. I still cant believe you took those photos Thomas! They were really really beautiful. :)
Cheers for the video Thomas, a nice insight and something different. I shoot weddings on the side and I agree with all your points, the anxiousness and lack of passion for the genre is what I relate to. I haven't gotten to the point where I'm on autopilot mode but I'm getting there and when I do I'm going to call it quits.
Thomas, I can relate to your video. Did weddings for 20 years and your story about the phone call on a weekend , thinking I forgot about the booking rang home with me, stomach knots. Enjoyed it very much!
This is so funny. I shot my very first wedding last Friday. I was nervous and excited. Although maybe I did not shoot the most creative images, I was still very happy with the result. And then UA-cam suggested this video. Go figure! Thank you for your open and honest story! It is appreciated! Best from the Netherlands!
I can't imagine being a wedding photographer... ever! I'd be too intimidated, worrying that I'd miss a shot, or screw up my camera settings, or not be creative enough. For me it would be very stressful. I admire the fact that you tried it. BTW, I like the photograph of the bride in a phone booth with the groom running to meet her. I'll bet the couple laughed over that one for years afterward. IMO, that is being creative. lol!
Well done for being honest about your anxiety Thomas. I suffer massively with it and could never imagine photographing a wedding. Photography is a big passion for me and I would love to be able to make a living but sadly my anxiety holds me back
Thank your for sharing. They say if you love what you do, then you never work a day in your life. And, for you, wedding photography was dreadful work. Lots of good lessons and ideas to be taken from this video.
Kudos Thomas...know your limits... I only do wedding shots of people I know and am friends or family with and I will set up "one" shot that will be artistic and definitely one of a kind. From the moment I arrive I look for that composition and start planning the shot and figuring out what gear I want or need and go for it...best part is there is never any expectations and no pressure!
I realized a long time ago that it was too much responsibility for me to shoot weddings. Too much pressure to perform and make a day special to people. Plus, my one and only experience shooting a wedding when I was very young was somewhat traumatizing. I was incredibly inexperienced, and didn't know what I was doing. I was pressured into it by my supervisor at the local paper I was working at as a photographer. His stepson and wife-to-be were looking for very inexpensive photos. Well, they got what they paid for. It was a train wreck, cringeworthy on so many levels. I had no clue, and conducted myself as if I was on a news assignment, popping flash during the service, bouncing around the altar getting different angles. Mind you, I was used to taking photos of car crashes and police busts. It was horrible.. The bride and groom said nothing, casually asked me afterward where I was having my film processed, picked up the photos themselves without telling me, and never spoke to me again. I never received a penny, but I really didn't mind, as I was pretty sure I'd ruined their entire wedding and I didn't deserve to be paid for the trouble I'd caused them. It's been almost 30 years since then, so I can laugh about it now. Honestly, it would be too much pressure for me to please my clients. And being an introvert, I prefer creating photos of inanimate objects to working with people.
people keep telling me i need to make money from my photography & i should shoot weddings.... NO CHANCE... and going on what youve said Tom... Im right to say that...
I started out with a Canon 450D and a 18-135 mm kit lens. I have now moved on to a 77D with a variety of lenses - including the 50mm f/1,4, which I do like a lot for portraits. I do not find it rubbish or a waste of space in my camera bag, but then again - I haven’t tried a more expensive lens, so that might be it. Thanks for letting us have a look into your life as a photographer - especially when it doesn’t always go as planned… I learn a lot and get to know that even the best have bad days or have made some wrong choices… even though the Canon 50mm f1,4 probably wasn’t such a huge mistake on a budget.
Super interesting to hear about your photography life before landscapes and UA-cam. I bet many people think you just got lucky with where you are at today, but it's obvious you have spent time "in the trenches" and worked super hard. Thanks for sharing...
Loved the good ol XTi.! That was my first digital when transitioning from film to pixels.Worked as a newspaper photographer back in the film days and I found covering news events very similar to a wedding where things happen very fast.When I got out of the news business I continued with weddings for about 5 years and then got out .Stopped for many of the same reasons you stated.One of the more pressing ones was working weekends all the time.With a wife and young kids ,time was precious and the wedding biz was just that , business but no fun. Only do the occasional wedding these days and certainly don't miss the stress. I have had nightmares about shooting a wedding with no film in the camera.As ridiculous as it sounds it did happed ONCE to me.Fortunately it was early in the day with the guys decorating the cars and I figured it out in time and got the shots I needed.The news/wedding thing certainly was good training and when I started doing landscapes I had to really focus on slowing down and think about what I was trying to convey and not just shoot on auto pilot.Getting out and taking it easy is my therapy now .
I've been shooting weddings since 2007 and I'm retiring from them in May 2020, I can't wait to not be anxious before every wedding, my first wedding I had a Canon 20D and a 350D, things are so much easier now ;)
It's very interesting to have another point of view about wedding photography ! Many people say that's easy but, it prooves that even a great photographer may not be at ease with this "job". Thank you for your video !
Excellent vid! Take us down the memory of how and when you first got your hands on a camera. Who introduced you to it? Also, do you have a bucket list and do you take your family out on these trips? Thanks for all your vids-you inspire me so much!
Very interesting. Thank you. One of the features of a *good* vlog, I'm coming to learn, is the gradual revelation of someone's story, or better, back story. So even though it's your approach to landscape that brought me here, it's also your human response to circumstance, to life, that keeps me coming back. (That, and some of those very spare, minimal Iceland photos recently ... )
Hehe, I'm still in that wedding boat, and hearing you discuss and talking about this is like hearing me talking to my wife before every wedding job, the anxiety, good grief. Also, laughed really hard at the reminder of not buying that lens again.. :)
Love the video Thomas. Sounds like a page out of my life. I dumped doing weddings a few years ago for the exact reasons you mentioned !! I also used to shoot, when I started in the 90's on a 50mm with a vivitar 3000s film camera. To this day I believe that you don't need the fancy tools to make things work! Just like you said, work with what you have!!
Used to get the same anxieties. Bad dreams about turning up with no film or no cameras (I know a photographer who went to a wedding sans film and had to drive back to the studio to get some), more bad dreams of arriving at the wrong venue or missing the vows. Anxieties on the morning about being delayed or just physically prevented from getting there. You would think it would get better after a 100 or so but it never did. The nerves only started to go once I’d taken my first few shots. I did forget to photograph the bride’s car once though :)
Thank you for sharing this. I thought that I like also wedding photography but after one session I really enjoy and be more creative to photograph street or make a documentary series where I can share what I see.
great video, although not really sure why!! but honest as always!!! music was funny and best line "i'd hope 2 days before that the wedding would be cancelled!!!! ha!....been watching your back catalogue from 2 years ago and this is in the top 3...!
Thomas I completely relate to this video. I reached a break point with doing family portraits in much the same way, even though I never got as established as you were. Same knot in my stomach the day before, no fun. And I look forward to wildlife photography all week by contrast.
Cheers Thomas! OMG, I had the Canon 7D and the same 50mm 1.4 lens. But, I actually really liked that lens most of the time I used it. It was my 1st real bokeh lens. Bought it 2nd hand for around $200 US and still have it but like you, it rarely gets used anymore. Maybe I unconsciously realized it's not as good as my other ones.
Great memories, when I started weding photography is was in the early eighties with film. On one occaison the morning of the wedding my Canon A1 stopped working! Fortunately I was backed up with the AE1 Program , which was an big improvement on the older AE1. It was a relief when the prints where developed; digital is better for that instant view of the image. I began just photographing a friends wedding, the same in your case, as they had booked a video guy, including the small size suitcase to record the images. However, it ended up me with me setting up all the shots. Great experience!
I actually shot two weddings with a Rebel XT, which was new-ish then. Fortunately, the clients were happy with the photos. That's a miracle, because I didn't really know what the heck I was doing back then!
I did enjoy this! Thank you for the perspective, I can definitely relate to that sinking feeling and would probably have the same problems you did. It takes a special kind of person to work this way!
I was a wedding photographer from 2007 to 2013. If I made a video about my experiences and why I eventually stopped, it would have been exactly like yours. As I was watching this, I kept thinking oh I remember that feeling. Part of the problem for me was that I was doing this while working another full time career. So while money wasn’t an issue, I was constantly busy and had no other life. In the early years, that was okay, because passion drove me. I was so into the creative side that I really wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else or doing anything else so it didn’t always feel like work, although I will be the first to tell you that on a wedding day, worked ten times harder than on the average day at my full time job. Over time though, I fell into that same rut you described and it just wasn’t fun anymore. I think as photographers we need to constantly challenge ourselves. When I’m not doing that, I feel out of sorts and usually resort to gear acquisition, which has its own set of problems. I have been doing a lot of real estate photography these days to make extra cash and I like that because I don’t have to be such the people pleaser, but it’s not the most challenging or creative genre of photography out there. I found your channel because I’ve been exploring the possibilities with landscape photography now. Things may and probably will change for me again down the road, but for now at least, it’s real estate photography to subsidize the hobby and landscape photography and adventures to satisfy the passion and and creativity that is my photography. The point to all this, I have to constantly be challenging myself to learn something new and keep the passion. Thanks for this video! ⭐️👍
Thank you for your story. That was pretty much the same with me at my time as a wedding photographer. Specially the thing whith the autopilot. At the beginning i leaned a lot but at the end i was not enjoying it to the end. The whole editing process with going through thousands of Pictures was not fun. Now i start a new business building camping kitchens in a box which i enjoy more. As a hobby i start diving more into landscape photography now. Thank you for being such an inspiration.
Hi Tom, I love your work and videos. This one reminds me of my first wedding as a photographer. Keen to build a career as a freelance photographer while still working full-time, and with my horses to look as well, I decided that after refusing to do seven weddings I would bite the bullet and say yes to the very next person who asked me. When my neighbour asked me to photograph her daughter’s wedding, purely on the strength of her loving my landscape photography, I said yes, for a fee of £400 in 2007. It was then that she told me it was to be in Tiverton, 72 miles away, in a church lit only by candles at 4.30 in the afternoon and that I would also be required to attend the evening festivities at a hotel a further 25 miles away. I got home absolutely knackered at about 3 the next morning. The whole experience was a nightmare even though I got the shots. Funnily enough some time before this incident I completed a questionnaire in Practical Photography magazine to find ‘What kind of photographer are you?’ I thought I had answered the questions allowing for an interest in people photography too, but to my amazement and their accuracy they said “You are a landscape and wildlife photographer, it is probably best to keep away from weddings”. I wish I could find that old magazine. How right they were! Cheers.
Well that story rings a bell .. I spent 7 years as a freelance photographer and one of my many strings was weddings , booked by myself and as on operator for 2 local shops .. I remember feeling exactly the same as you Thomas , I thought it was just me 😉
I agree with you about weddings. It take someone who loves wedding to be good at it. I’m not that guy. Luckily I figured it out pretty quickly. Only did two and hated doing both of them. It’s Nature, Landscape and Travel for me.
Sounds like you made the right choice. You have to focus where your passion lies.
For me, I love doing weddings. I think largely because there’s something you get with weddings that you don’t with most other photographic jobs, and that’s just how happy you make your clients. I absolutely love creating shots that mean so much to someone.
I love a lot of types of photography, but it’s that that I really love about shooting weddings.
"there's something you get from weddings"....yes stress!!
I did weddings for a few years after graduating, I felt it would be a form of photography that wouldn't cross contaminate my primary interests, topographic landscape. I did learn a lot of skills but never regretted stopping.
The final straw came after a few years gap, when I did a very cheap wedding for a work colleague and friend. I was using my usual Mamiya RB67 with a Metz CL-4 strapped to the side, when the flash bracket snapped, leaving my RB in pieces at my feet, just as the bride arrived with her father. Luckily I'd just started dabbling in digital and brought a Pentax K20 with a new 16-50 f/2.8 lens as back up but no flash, and had to complete the wedding using that instead. To add insult to injury, the couple were happy with the pictures (after hours of editing) but the bride wanted a hefty discount because I hadn't used any film. Never again.
I bought a studio in a small town in the Midwest, USA. I did weddings, school photography ( boring) and portraits. I was the equivalent “country doctor” photographer. In short, hundreds of weddings and thousands of schoolchildren later I wanted “out” news photographer seemed a better match. I quit.
Moved to the west coast in Oregon. And didn’t pick up a camera for years. No time. I was feeding a family, keeping a roof over their heads, no o time for me to do to anything.
Now retired. I have time.
as a photo editor i love ur thought as u said how happy u make ur client . hey bro i m working since last ten years but work for others . i have edited more than 400 weeding catalog .. but now i want to do my own work . but i have no idea how to make my self clients. would u help me plzzzzzzzzzz
Part of the reason you're a good photographer is because you're also a good story teller...
Michael Kilby this is very true.
Thanks Thomas...always good to hear "how they made it" stories, from where they were to where they are now. It gives confidence to those aspiring individuals...like me!
almost 550 weddings deep in my career. My biggest obstacle when shooting a wedding after 13 years is not smashing my lens to slit both of my wrists. Im happy you are now doing a medium of photograph you love.
Totally relate to this video mate. I shot most of my weddings on film (35mm to start then progressed to 120 roll film, later on didital) the week leading up to every wedding I was on edge, constantly checking weather forecasts, checking my kit, batteries, venues, times etc etc, always always a bag of nerves. As the day arrived after I shot a couple of frames, I would just relax into it and enjoy the experience, then started the nervous wait for the films to be be processed and printed, scary days those were. Then the nerves kicked in when I handed the prints to the couple, then the weeks after a wedding dreading the phone ringing in case it was a complaint (I only ever had one complaint, not my fault though, it was an older couple who wanted the day shot solely in mono, I suggested to shoot colour then convert to mono but no they wanted mono end of, weeks after the bride hammered me for making her look haggered in the prints.....). Agreed that after shooting a few weddings you get into auto pilot, and the best wedding I ever shot bar none was the one I was most nervous about, it was a black couple in Leeds, everyone attending was colored I was the only white bloke at there surrounded by hundreds of elegant statuesque beautifully turned out people, I was bricking it for weeks leading up to the day, but it was hands down my fave wedding, the couple were amazing, the people attending were the best crowd ever. Part of my enjoyment Im sure was that I I felt I was way way out of my depth on this wedding, I was so scared of messing up the exposures, skin tones etc. When I got the prints back I was blown away, I'd nailed it thank buggering hell. Anyway to all those knockers who think wedding photographers charge like wounded bulls, I say they don't charge enough. It's a hard was to earn a crust. Great video mate enjoyed it.
You have the best Photography UA-cam Channel period. Not only you are a very talented photographer but also a fantastic communicator and storyteller (the accent gives it an additional twist). The full package. A pleasure to watch (and learn).
This is what I was like with my motorsports photography and is what actually got me into doing it professionally, I started off with a Canon 1000D with kit lenses to a large selection of gear with a 1DX and two other cameras. But I had fallen into this rut like yourself where you go into auto pilot and just get the results people want, I wasn't enjoying it anymore and for the last year before throwing in the towel I was hoping for something to turn it around. But a few months later I had a accident and that changed it for the rest of my life, So I sold my Canon kit and went into Hasselblad and got into landscapes and I have found my love again for photography and creating.
I feel like the skills and knowledge I picked up over the 6 years of doing motorsports photography professionally taught me a lot but now I'm going down the landscape route as it makes me travel and see nice places that aren't just a race track. I look at things differently now as well and I have got a list of places I'd like to go to :)
Your video today was nice and its good to hear from you Thomas, I don't think of you as a famous photographer like I think most would. You're just a down to earth guy that goes out and takes photos and makes a documentary of the trip along the way, showing what is actually going into each photo and some inspiration as well. I know watching some of your videos it got me to go out and create something. Now if I travel 500km and only get 1 photo from that its a good trip.
Keep up the great work Thomas!
Great story Tom, thanks for sharing. The pressures and anxieties associated with ensuring that on X day you really have to get it right was brilliantly described - well done! I speak for many I think when I say, thank goodness you moved onto the peace of landscape photography. It makes a lot more sense now when you say "I'm taking one shot today" - the opposite in many respects of a wedding where you are taking as many shots as possible!
love the wedding back track, a bit of jazz
I can really relate to this. I’ve been doing wedding for 3 years and have decided to stop for exactly the same reasons. Recent wedding I knocked a picture of the wall in a church then walked into a video camera but luckily caught it. Last wedding my new 5D mk4 froze just as brides mom was about to get first look at her daughter so I know what you mean about anxiety etc!!
I’m now following my passion, nature, wildlife, landscapes and it’s basically thanks to your inspiring work and videos. Also getting into Vlogging so keep up the amazing work, and thanks so much...
This was a fun little video, just shows your struggle and time spent in to this field. No one gets to top the very first day, there's often past full of failures and struggles. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Interesting video. I think wedding photography can bring a lot of pressures like you spoke about - timings, getting the key shots, being creative yet technically correct, worrying about equipment failure even though you have backup gear, organising everyone etc. etc. I think for some it's a love it or hate it thing. I think the best part about it is making memories about the most important day in a lot of peoples lives. I think landscape photography is definitely more relaxed :)
Wayne Robertson Photography the pressure, the timing, the stress.... yeah... it sounds like a JOB... like a real job xD..... most photographers have not had a really stressful job before, so they die with a wedding photography job.... trust me.... I had a stressful job before, I worked in logistics (I was in charge of about 150 trucks for a concrete company) and now I’m a wedding photographer .... and I can tell you this much.... it’s like a walk in the park compare to logistics.... 😂😂.... so the photographers that complain about the “stress” of a wedding make me smile 😊
Pablo Rogat that’s a fair point, of course there are more stressful jobs than being a wedding photographer. But I think the point here is about photography, and out of all the photography jobs, wedding photography is probably the most “stressful”. For example, many photographers worry about equipment failure at a key point of the wedding and therefor missing a key shot the client requested. Your reputation depends on doing a good job and quite rightly clients want a good job done. Even the best photographers with plenty backup gear can encounter things that cause problems here and there. Landscape photography is more relaxing is what most find who do both, but wedding photography is a wonderful job to have making those memories.
Well, I can definitely say that wedding photography will certainly teach you a whole lot about PRESSURE, working quickly, and basically doing anything to get the shot, even if you're exhausted, flustered, distracted, ...sound at all like being an outdooor photographer? Indeed, a little bit.
So in that regard, I'm certainly grateful to have had the last 15 years to shoot weddings, 10+ of those years full-time. I wouldn't trade the experience for any day job.
With that said, I'm absolutely ready to move on to the next stage in my career / life, and get into outdoor photography more.
Now if only I could make time in between editing tens of thousands of wedding photos to actually edit a UA-cam video, or post consistently to social media, or host a nightscape workshop.... Haha not any time soon, unfortunately...
Hah! I'm the most excited for this video.
My favourite wedding photographer and landscape photographer in the same place 🙂. You guys are great.
Yep same here.amazing these two fellas.
Taylor! My favorite wedding photographer youtuber commenting on my favorite landscape photographers youtube.
This was not what I was expecting at all but you had me hooked in less than a minute. You tell a good story, plain and simple. Great channel, thanks for sharing
Awesome to hear your humility. We all come from small beginnings, but it shapes our futures.
Uuuuuuugggghhh! That was painful. It brought up all the feelings and reasons I no longer photograph weddings. Two years ago I started turning down wedding inquiries and it was the most liberating feeling. So happy now. Great video!
Canon 50mm 1.4... I chucked mine in the Atlantic Ocean. I hope it becomes a reef some day so finally with will be of some use.
It will become fisheye haha
Viktor Gnezdilov hahahahaha
plenty of plastic in the ocean already, huh!
Good thing you did..now it becomes "fisheye"...you can go take it back now...
I hope you didn't as that would not be very environmentally friendly.
Thank you for your memories on the way to where you are.It fascinates me how folk's lives change.Your memories of weddings remeinds me of my learning to be the second person at my daughters wedding photography business. Thanks for sharing.
That was cool. Great insight. I've managed about 3000 weddings in the last 20 years so I've met many many wedding photographers. Some are still going but most of them have left the industry and moved on. As a photographer myself now the thought of the pressure of a wedding job just fills me with dread. I totally got this vid. Thanks Tom. Different but refreshing too. Keep 'em coming. :)
You've mentioned the exact feelings I'd gone through during my wedding photography stint. I do wildlife now and it's so much more peaceful!
🙌🏻
Thomas. You are an excellent story teller. Enjoy very much. Thanks.
Did weddings 35 years ago. 12 images on a roll, anxious times. Did so many late pregnancy weddings, not a goid look with a white wedding dress. Much happy with landscapes.
Loved this video, I really enjoy hearing people’s professional journeys. We can all learn something from each other’s stories.
Well, I'm 100% delighted you've fond the passion for landscape photography not easy to quench. Fascinating journey. Thanks for sharing it.
Throw any photographer into 10 weddings, after those 10 they will be qualified from the university of photography life.
That pressure doesn't exist in any other form really, events maybe - obviously journalism (war/sports etc), but glad to hear that you've served your time as a wedding photographer!!
Beautiful poignant!! You are a rare breed and definitely one of the type out there!! Can’t find any body else so inspirational.. thanks Thomas Heaton for helping us keep the fire burning.
Hi Thomas.
Been there got the tee shirt. Imaging doing a wedding on a Saturday on Film and waiting till Monday afternoon for the results.
I used to know one of the best wedding photographers period, he was very non technical but had a true artistic talent. Thanks for bringing back those nightmares (sorry meant memories)
Ron
Thanks for your input. Seeing that someone had similar misshaps and understanding your personal struggle, reassured me a lot.
It is great to hear about the other side of you Thomas. Wonderful video that explains the photography journey.
I think the phone booth photo was neat. Thomas does great work, no matter the genre.
I'v never shot a wedding before. I've only been to one wedding, so I don't really know how weddings work, and etiquette and stuff. I don't know how I'd do, though. I'm not a very technical photographer. I get too experimental, and I'm not quick and precise.
Thank`s, Thomas.. you are good photographer, wedding photos, too..
fine to heard you path to landscape photographer..
I inspired you vid`s, because it give me good feelings, and we see many beautiful landscape places, when you hiking and etc..
greetings from Finland.. 👍🇫🇮
Did weddings my first 3 years in my career and was so happy to move on to a happier way of making a living with my camera. 35 years later in the school portrait and sports business I have decided to take on the Landscape challenge. So much to learn. Thanks for sharing
It's one of the only areas of photography that's getting regular steady income, but I never wanted to do that (part of it because of the hassle some of my friends were getting after photographing weddings). Your photos are awesome, even with limited gear, you did your best. Great to have understanding clients as well. It's also good that you realise when it's time to move on and do something else. That's to your credit, it makes you progress. Can't wait for the next video. Well done
Thomas, a great video for someone who is starting out and very nervous but enjoying it!
Videos like this are soo important!
Thank you for sharing!
I used to shoot weddings, gave it up. Always worried about things going wrong, Im not good with directing people after the wedding for photos, had a second photographer always. But the after wedding work was time consuming and I am happy to not do it anymore. Plenty of wedding photographers in my area so good luck to them
Did you hire a photographer for your own wedding and if so, do you like the photographs on an artistic level now you're an accomplished photographer yourself?
Great question!
I very much enjoy this kind of personal videos!
Really enjoy the phone booth photo. Although it is not a traditional wedding photo, I feel it is humorous and the couple can look back on it and remember the good memories they had making it.
Thomas, this was a fascinating video! More like this please. As for the anxiousness before work,,,,,,I get it, as an ER doc its VERY similar to what you described.....no way to live :)
Same here, an ER vet, so landscape photography is my escape from stress..
Nice to hear about a different side to your exploits Buddy.
I too hated the whole wedding photography thing, I hung up my hat last year after shooting in Lake Garda. The relief was immediate. I'm so glad that I won't be doing that again.
Wedding photographers of the world, i solute you.
Appreciate your sharing this - I have the same anxiety "problems" and have assumed that I wouldn't like shooting wedding for the same reasons you mention. This is probably why I love shooting interiors so much. Cheers -
Hey Tom, I really enjoy this format, telling us stories that happened off camera. Keep them up.
Hey Thomas, It's interesting to hear your experience as you grew as a photographer as it were. We've all had those moments in the early days (sometimes even today) when we dread a certain assignment and it helps to hear another voice who is going through the same... Thanks for posting! Ok, I'm rambling now... :)
You can tell the pain was real when Thomas recalls those days and he looks like he is in going to the dentist. Lol. Thanks for sharing Thomas.
The first thought that popped in my mind when I saw them was ,"He doesn't edit photos like that, its not his style." And then I saw more and I was so amazed. I still cant believe you took those photos Thomas! They were really really beautiful. :)
Thanks for your videos. They have truly been a discovery as well as inspiring. Greetings!!
Love your honesty, Thomas. When I worked for myself I sometimes used to get that gut-wrenching feeling when I'd get a phone call too. lol
Cheers for the video Thomas, a nice insight and something different. I shoot weddings on the side and I agree with all your points, the anxiousness and lack of passion for the genre is what I relate to. I haven't gotten to the point where I'm on autopilot mode but I'm getting there and when I do I'm going to call it quits.
Great, honest insight there. Most learning experiences in life are tough/unenjoyable. I guess its only when you reflect that you see the benefit.
Thomas, I can relate to your video. Did weddings for 20 years and your story about the phone call on a weekend , thinking I forgot about the booking rang home with me, stomach knots.
Enjoyed it very much!
This is so funny. I shot my very first wedding last Friday. I was nervous and excited. Although maybe I did not shoot the most creative images, I was still very happy with the result. And then UA-cam suggested this video. Go figure! Thank you for your open and honest story! It is appreciated! Best from the Netherlands!
I can't imagine being a wedding photographer... ever! I'd be too intimidated, worrying that I'd miss a shot, or screw up my camera settings, or not be creative enough. For me it would be very stressful. I admire the fact that you tried it. BTW, I like the photograph of the bride in a phone booth with the groom running to meet her. I'll bet the couple laughed over that one for years afterward. IMO, that is being creative. lol!
Well done for being honest about your anxiety Thomas. I suffer massively with it and could never imagine photographing a wedding. Photography is a big passion for me and I would love to be able to make a living but sadly my anxiety holds me back
One of the best wedding photos ever! Quirky in a good way🤓
Really interesting video, and insightful to learn how and why you made the transition from weddings to landscape. Thanks for sharing.
Tomas, you are a fantastic storyteller. I really enjoyed this video.
Thank your for sharing. They say if you love what you do, then you never work a day in your life. And, for you, wedding photography was dreadful work. Lots of good lessons and ideas to be taken from this video.
Great story Thomas. You clearly made the right decision.
Love the honesty in this video thanks Thomas.
Kudos Thomas...know your limits... I only do wedding shots of people I know and am friends or family with and I will set up "one" shot that will be artistic and definitely one of a kind. From the moment I arrive I look for that composition and start planning the shot and figuring out what gear I want or need and go for it...best part is there is never any expectations and no pressure!
Similar story, thank you for sharing it Tom. Keep up the great work.
I realized a long time ago that it was too much responsibility for me to shoot weddings. Too much pressure to perform and make a day special to people. Plus, my one and only experience shooting a wedding when I was very young was somewhat traumatizing.
I was incredibly inexperienced, and didn't know what I was doing. I was pressured into it by my supervisor at the local paper I was working at as a photographer. His stepson and wife-to-be were looking for very inexpensive photos. Well, they got what they paid for.
It was a train wreck, cringeworthy on so many levels. I had no clue, and conducted myself as if I was on a news assignment, popping flash during the service, bouncing around the altar getting different angles. Mind you, I was used to taking photos of car crashes and police busts. It was horrible.. The bride and groom said nothing, casually asked me afterward where I was having my film processed, picked up the photos themselves without telling me, and never spoke to me again. I never received a penny, but I really didn't mind, as I was pretty sure I'd ruined their entire wedding and I didn't deserve to be paid for the trouble I'd caused them.
It's been almost 30 years since then, so I can laugh about it now. Honestly, it would be too much pressure for me to please my clients. And being an introvert, I prefer creating photos of inanimate objects to working with people.
people keep telling me i need to make money from my photography & i should shoot weddings.... NO CHANCE... and going on what youve said Tom... Im right to say that...
Same for me here....Zero chance! I just hate weddings, not gonna shoot them :P :)
GilbertTV I'm sick of people saying that
Weddings and cats are the only things I won't shoot 🤣
I started out with a Canon 450D and a 18-135 mm kit lens. I have now moved on to a 77D with a variety of lenses - including the 50mm f/1,4, which I do like a lot for portraits. I do not find it rubbish or a waste of space in my camera bag, but then again - I haven’t tried a more expensive lens, so that might be it.
Thanks for letting us have a look into your life as a photographer - especially when it doesn’t always go as planned… I learn a lot and get to know that even the best have bad days or have made some wrong choices… even though the Canon 50mm f1,4 probably wasn’t such a huge mistake on a budget.
You were very good at it buddy, thanks for sharing it with us.
Super interesting to hear about your photography life before landscapes and UA-cam. I bet many people think you just got lucky with where you are at today, but it's obvious you have spent time "in the trenches" and worked super hard. Thanks for sharing...
Very interesting and very candid. If something is not your passion, you cannot possibly give it your all.
Loved the good ol XTi.! That was my first digital when transitioning from film to pixels.Worked as a newspaper photographer back in the film days and I found covering news events very similar to a wedding where things happen very fast.When I got out of the news business I continued with weddings for about 5 years and then got out .Stopped for many of the same reasons you stated.One of the more pressing ones was working weekends all the time.With a wife and young kids ,time was precious and the wedding biz was just that , business but no fun. Only do the occasional wedding these days and certainly don't miss the stress. I have had nightmares about shooting a wedding with no film in the camera.As ridiculous as it sounds it did happed ONCE to me.Fortunately it was early in the day with the guys decorating the cars and I figured it out in time and got the shots I needed.The news/wedding thing certainly was good training and when I started doing landscapes I had to really focus on slowing down and think about what I was trying to convey and not just shoot on auto pilot.Getting out and taking it easy is my therapy now .
I've been shooting weddings since 2007 and I'm retiring from them in May 2020, I can't wait to not be anxious before every wedding, my first wedding I had a Canon 20D and a 350D, things are so much easier now ;)
It's very interesting to have another point of view about wedding photography !
Many people say that's easy but, it prooves that even a great photographer may not be at ease with this "job".
Thank you for your video !
Thanks for sharing this piece of your journey! The photos looked pretty nice to me!
so interesting to see where you came from. and showing the shots!
The images all look amazing and this was a very well told story. Thanks so much for sharing!
Excellent vid! Take us down the memory of how and when you first got your hands on a camera. Who introduced you to it? Also, do you have a bucket list and do you take your family out on these trips? Thanks for all your vids-you inspire me so much!
Very interesting. Thank you. One of the features of a *good* vlog, I'm coming to learn, is the gradual revelation of someone's story, or better, back story. So even though it's your approach to landscape that brought me here, it's also your human response to circumstance, to life, that keeps me coming back. (That, and some of those very spare, minimal Iceland photos recently ... )
Hehe, I'm still in that wedding boat, and hearing you discuss and talking about this is like hearing me talking to my wife before every wedding job, the anxiety, good grief.
Also, laughed really hard at the reminder of not buying that lens again.. :)
Love the video Thomas. Sounds like a page out of my life. I dumped doing weddings a few years ago for the exact reasons you mentioned !! I also used to shoot, when I started in the 90's on a 50mm with a vivitar 3000s film camera. To this day I believe that you don't need the fancy tools to make things work! Just like you said, work with what you have!!
Used to get the same anxieties. Bad dreams about turning up with no film or no cameras (I know a photographer who went to a wedding sans film and had to drive back to the studio to get some), more bad dreams of arriving at the wrong venue or missing the vows. Anxieties on the morning about being delayed or just physically prevented from getting there. You would think it would get better after a 100 or so but it never did. The nerves only started to go once I’d taken my first few shots. I did forget to photograph the bride’s car once though :)
Thank you for sharing this. I thought that I like also wedding photography but after one session I really enjoy and be more creative to photograph street or make a documentary series where I can share what I see.
I absolutely loved watching this. It's great to hear where artists I respect come from and what's shaped them. Nicely done.
great video, although not really sure why!! but honest as always!!! music was funny and best line "i'd hope 2 days before that the wedding would be cancelled!!!! ha!....been watching your back catalogue from 2 years ago and this is in the top 3...!
I am wedding and portrait photographer and is true, is to stressfull, so when I am not working I go out and do some landscape photos and I love it.
Really enjoyed your relaying your personal experience- great format
I completely relate to your experience Thomas and this is exactly the same reason I turned more into Landscape and nature photography :)
Thomas I completely relate to this video. I reached a break point with doing family portraits in much the same way, even though I never got as established as you were. Same knot in my stomach the day before, no fun. And I look forward to wildlife photography all week by contrast.
Cheers Thomas! OMG, I had the Canon 7D and the same 50mm 1.4 lens. But, I actually really liked that lens most of the time I used it. It was my 1st real bokeh lens. Bought it 2nd hand for around $200 US and still have it but like you, it rarely gets used anymore. Maybe I unconsciously realized it's not as good as my other ones.
Great memories, when I started weding photography is was in the early eighties with film. On one occaison the morning of the wedding my Canon A1 stopped working! Fortunately I was backed up with the AE1 Program , which was an big improvement on the older AE1. It was a relief when the prints where developed; digital is better for that instant view of the image. I began just photographing a friends wedding, the same in your case, as they had booked a video guy, including the small size suitcase to record the images. However, it ended up me with me setting up all the shots. Great experience!
Great stories and insights into your background. Thanks very much
I actually shot two weddings with a Rebel XT, which was new-ish then. Fortunately, the clients were happy with the photos. That's a miracle, because I didn't really know what the heck I was doing back then!
I did enjoy this! Thank you for the perspective, I can definitely relate to that sinking feeling and would probably have the same problems you did. It takes a special kind of person to work this way!
Excellent vid. Thomas thanks, I can imagine what it was like.
I was a wedding photographer from 2007 to 2013. If I made a video about my experiences and why I eventually stopped, it would have been exactly like yours. As I was watching this, I kept thinking oh I remember that feeling. Part of the problem for me was that I was doing this while working another full time career. So while money wasn’t an issue, I was constantly busy and had no other life. In the early years, that was okay, because passion drove me. I was so into the creative side that I really wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else or doing anything else so it didn’t always feel like work, although I will be the first to tell you that on a wedding day, worked ten times harder than on the average day at my full time job.
Over time though, I fell into that same rut you described and it just wasn’t fun anymore. I think as photographers we need to constantly challenge ourselves. When I’m not doing that, I feel out of sorts and usually resort to gear acquisition, which has its own set of problems. I have been doing a lot of real estate photography these days to make extra cash and I like that because I don’t have to be such the people pleaser, but it’s not the most challenging or creative genre of photography out there. I found your channel because I’ve been exploring the possibilities with landscape photography now. Things may and probably will change for me again down the road, but for now at least, it’s real estate photography to subsidize the hobby and landscape photography and adventures to satisfy the passion and and creativity that is my photography. The point to all this, I have to constantly be challenging myself to learn something new and keep the passion. Thanks for this video! ⭐️👍
Thanks so much !! Always great stories.
Excellent topic Thomas, I never could imagine you as a wedding photographer.
Great explanation about the past, like his honesty.
Thank you for your story. That was pretty much the same with me at my time as a wedding photographer. Specially the thing whith the autopilot. At the beginning i leaned a lot but at the end i was not enjoying it to the end. The whole editing process with going through thousands of Pictures was not fun. Now i start a new business building camping kitchens in a box which i enjoy more. As a hobby i start diving more into landscape photography now. Thank you for being such an inspiration.
Hi Tom, I love your work and videos. This one reminds me of my first wedding as a photographer. Keen to build a career as a freelance photographer while still working full-time, and with my horses to look as well, I decided that after refusing to do seven weddings I would bite the bullet and say yes to the very next person who asked me. When my neighbour asked me to photograph her daughter’s wedding, purely on the strength of her loving my landscape photography, I said yes, for a fee of £400 in 2007. It was then that she told me
it was to be in Tiverton, 72 miles away, in a church lit only by candles at 4.30 in the afternoon and that I would also be required to attend the evening festivities at a hotel a further 25 miles away. I got home absolutely knackered at about 3 the next morning. The whole experience was a nightmare even though I got the shots. Funnily enough some time before this incident I completed a questionnaire in Practical Photography magazine to find ‘What kind of photographer are you?’ I thought I had answered the questions allowing for an interest in people photography too, but to my amazement and their accuracy they said “You are a landscape and wildlife photographer, it is probably best to keep away from weddings”. I wish I could find that old magazine. How right they were! Cheers.
Well that story rings a bell .. I spent 7 years as a freelance photographer and one of my many strings was weddings , booked by myself and as on operator for 2 local shops ..
I remember feeling exactly the same as you Thomas , I thought it was just me 😉
I agree with you about weddings. It take someone who loves wedding to be good at it. I’m not that guy. Luckily I figured it out pretty quickly. Only did two and hated doing both of them. It’s Nature, Landscape and Travel for me.