Like it. Not that you can do anything about it but the child on the hourse is 2 much

I wholly agree. It’s almost ironic that such a visual culture will accept such mediocre standards when it comes to their wedding photography. Part of what we must do as wedding documentary photographers is to educate the clients and show them the difference between what is conventionally produced and what we can provide them. Raise the bar and people will also rise to it. Keep up the good work and I hope our paths cross soon. I am truly inspired by your work and vision.

Hi Sephi… I’m so glad found you and your website. We’re so much alike. I too am a documentary photographer, applying this art primarily to wedding photography in the commercial realm.

Yeah, the use of flash is almost considered mandatory if you need to be seen as a professional. “Regular” photographers, seeing that I don’t have a giant flash strapped onto my camera, will always enquire whether I’m an amateur. The flash means so much to them!

Seshu: I have to disagree that we (in India) are a visual culture. We are a noisy culture, i.e. we have learned to accept noise, both aural and visual, in every facet of life. But yes, as regards wedding photography, we’ve got to be higher standard that we expect to see, to paraphrase my hero.

Mahesh, It is true that India is a noisy place and a noise-loving country, or maybe have simply learned to accept noise somehow, but this has nothing to do with photography.
The subject may be noisy and flamboyant but the way we shoot it does not have to be.

Honestly, I don’t care one bit what someone thinks about me in terms of how professional I look. I can’t believe you even bring it up. who cares about what other photographers think about the way you work? and do you keep a flash on the camera to look cool in their eyes??? this is very unprofessional by itself, wouldn’t you agree?

I’m always the second photographer at weddings. There is the “regular” guy who does the traditional stuff (because the parents and extended family expects it) and then there’s me, in charge of the candids department. So there’s always this unwanted competition and the other guy can sometimes get really aggressive.

Of course, I don’t care what he thinks of me, but I always get asked whether I’m an amateur at every single wedding, and that’s why I brought it up… as a joke I hope there’s no further misunderstanding!

Mahesh, echoing what Sephi has already said, our job is to cut through the clutter – visual or aural and really focus on what’s important. To be honest with you, having seen your work, you already do this very effectively. So, it’s a little bit of preaching to the choir here.

Regarding the use of flash – the OP – well, yes, I have been asked as well, even here in the US, whether I shot the picture because my clients didn’t see any “light” coming off of my camera. Thanks to digital, it’s easy to turn that camera body around and show them. We’ll be discussing this, I am sure, at the forthcoming workshop in Chennai. Off-camera lighting is becoming more and more important to me; using it to flatter my subjects AND retain the ambient atmosphere as much as possible. To those who don’t have full-frame sensors, fast lenses, and with limited ISOs, this may be the way to go to create great images for your clients.

Totally in agreement with the post. On camera flash is so dear to all the wedding photographers in India. And f11 there loved aperture. And to my surprise people trust more in those traditional studio photographers. Haha…

Dear Jeetin, it really depends on your camera and the lenses you use but in general the higher the iso the easier it would be for you to shoot. When I had the Nikon D200 I was using up to ISO 1600 but it was very grainy. I now shoot even 3200 or 6400 with the D700. You can also reduce the noise considerably in Lightroom 3. I hope this helps. Sephi

I just found this blog post, and it answers my earlier question quite well. I LOVE this image!  I also noticed that your camera bag has the 35mm f/1.4 AIS listed in it; I’m very much considering buying that lens for use on a D700!  I love the feel of manual focus, and it is not that difficult to do at wider angles.c  I already prefer the small, light, and rock-solid 24mm f/2.8 AIS compared to all the other huge, heavy, and expensive AFS options.  I recently tested the new AFS 35 and while I found it to be a flawlessly sharp lens, it’s a bit pricey compared to the AIS classic.  What are your thoughts on using the 35 f/1.4 AIS for wedding photojournalism?  I’ve also been testing the various options at 85mm and have found the new 85mm f/1.4 AFS to be *uncanny* at locking focus in near-black situations.  I would be curious to hear more of your thoughts on low-light photography…

Hi Sephi,  have been going through your website and have been reading your thoughts on the weddings. Amazing I must say. One question though, for a Nikon D90 if the source of light is not so good, will the ISO in high nunbers give me good results. I am worried about the noise here in the pics. I am against the use of flash for any sort of photos. Lightroom 3.1 should reduce the noise to a bit. What should be the ISO for a Nikon D90?