Are you new?

My first wedding that I photographed was in the 90s, as guest at a family wedding. However it wasn’t until 2004, long after I finished school and was working in advertising as a commercial photographer that I photographed my first wedding professionally.

Since then, I’ve travelled to eleven countries, shot well over five hundred weddings, and have shot weddings with as few as five guests, and as many as eight hundred guests. I’ve photographed Hindu and Sikh weddings over a dozen times, Orthodox, Catholic and every other variation of faith and religion several times over. Jewish weddings? Yes, of course! Many of those as well.

I started this blog post with “are you new” because that’s what someone asked me recently when they saw my Instagram account that has a whopping 158 followers. They based their impressions on me, my work, and my experience on THAT number, not the work I was showcasing on there or on my site.

So no..I’m not new. I just really don’t do shit on Instagram and do not have any interest in trying to grow that number. It’s not something that I feel is important to do. For me, for my life, and for how I choose to be a photographer of weddings. Besides, almost every one of my clients lately either don’t have an instagram account, or don’t post much. For some, social media is a way of life, for others it’s a distraction, and for a certain group of people, it’s not even something they pay attention to, and what I’ve noticed is that more people lately are opting out of that space.

I am not new. In fact, at almost every wedding I shoot, I’m by far, the most experienced vendor in the room. Even the wedding planner! And I think that’s what it should be like anyway! Your photographer should know more about the wedding traditions, schedule, events, and how to handle all things that could go wrong.