A Wedding Photo Story
As Printed in Catholic News Services in their "annual wedding
suppliment" sent out for inclusion in all the Catholic Newspapers in
the United States and Canada.
By JOHN STRANGE
Bill Collins is the life of the party at most of the wedding
receptions he attends. That's because Collins, a professional
photographer in Richmond, Ind., spent the day shooting the wedding
and the preparation before the ceremony, on his Nikon D-1 digital
camera. During the reception, his digital photographs are available
for all to see on his laptop computer. It's not rare, he says, for
the bride to sip her wedding day champagne and click through
pictures on the laptop, a crowd of guests gathered over her
shoulder. Nor is it rare for guests to order favorite prints
directly from him, either in person that day, or online later. Such
arrangements are becoming more common, says Bill Hurter, editor of
Rangefinder Magazine for Wedding & Portrait Photographers
International, a professional association of about 3,000
photographers. As digital camera technology advances quickly,
nearing or surpassing the quality established by 35mm cameras, it is
also moving into the field of wedding photography, offering new
choices for the bride and groom and new opportunities for the
photographer.
"It's giving the photographer a whole new way to sell prints," says
Hurter, of Santa Monica, Calif. Many photographers will leave their
cards, complete with Web address and phone number, at each place
setting. Later, guests can log on, see the pictures, and order
professional prints. Even >better, the long-distance uncle or
cousins who could not attend can see what they missed just a few
days after the wedding online.
"It's very hip and efficient," Hurter says. Perhaps more
importantly, says Collins, digital cameras allow more images for the
photographer and bride and groom to choose from. With film
photography, he said, each time he pressed the shutter cost him
about $1 in film and developing costs. Digital photography allows
him to shoot two to three times as many images as before. There are
more images, no wait for developing, and more people to see and
appreciate the pictures. With film photography, "if you're lucky,
five percent of those who attended the wedding ever get to see the
pictures," he says. Today, few guests at the reception leave without
looking at the laptop "slide show." "It's the hit of the evening,"
he says.
Collins, who lives and works in the triangle between Indianapolis,
Cincinnati, and Dayton, Ohio, offers his customers a $1,095 digital
package which includes five CDs with high-resolution images, which
the bride and groom can print, place on their own Web site, or
otherwise reproduce, an album of 36 8-by-10s, and a posting of the
photographs on Collins' Web site for eight weeks.
RESERVE TODAY
before your date is unavailable.
Request a hold for your wedding date
by calling Toll Free (877) 811-7608.
