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Today’s guest shutterbug is Scottsdale, AZ based photographer, Melissa Jill.
This is generally a non-issue for brides who hire me but for those of you brides-to-be and wedding coordinators out there–let’s all agree to kill the photography shot list once and for all!! Who’s with me?
There are photographers and brides out there whose weddings a shot list might be appropriate for. For instance–possibly a traditional film photographer who will only be shooting a certain number of photos on the wedding day. Or a bride who prefers traditional staged photography. But if you want to hire a photographer who is going to tell the story of your day in an artistic manner–capturing the emotions and moments as they happen–it is of utmost importance that he or she be free to shoot whatever it is their eye and heart is drawn to. As an artist I would hate to come to a wedding and constantly need to be referring to a list throughout the wedding day. It would kill my creative juices entirely.
Now, I do make an exception for formal portraits which I do at every wedding. There is a very short list of standard portrait groupings that I make sure to cover at each wedding, and I am happy to customize this list as each family is different. Also, if there is something unique about your wedding that you want to make sure I know about in advance such as a special relationship with your father or a sentimental story behind the favors or something of that nature, I would love to hear it! The more I know about you ahead of time, the better your photos will turn out. But let’s all agree to kill the detailed shot lists that many of the online planning sites and planning binders give you these days. It’s really in everyone’s best interest if you want quality, artistic photos that capture the emotion and the personality of your wedding day.
Remember–when you hire a photographer–you are hiring an artist. When looking at different photographers make sure you hire one whose photos cause you to FEEL something. You are hiring an artist with a specific eye and heart. You want to resonate with how they see and capture the world around them–specifically relationships. If this is accomplished, you can then feel free to trust that they will capture the important shots of your wedding day. Trust is of utmost important in your relationship with your photographer. And if we have your trust, we do not take it lightly. I work extremely hard, shooting an unlimited number of photos throughout the day to make sure that every detail and moment is captured in order to preserve your memories of your most important day ever.
If anyone has thoughts or comments on this–please post them–I would love to hear from you!
I trusted our photographer, and I was such the low-key bride that only my husband met with him before the wedding. It turns out that he didn’t get one shot of us exchanging rings, which makes me a little sad! I have wondered if I should have done a shot list.
I think that they can be overkill. But to me, there might be things that seem like common sense to one party (like a ring shot), and need to be spelled out.
I’ve done a shot list. I’ve heard too many stories about photos being missed at weddings and after all you can’t go back and re-do! My list just means I get the photos I absolutely want and the photographer still has plenty of time to be “artistic”. I think a list is a good thing for you and for your photographer
I totally love my photographer! I didnt have a shot list and he of course knew the general pictures to take. But there were still a few missed out on/ a few key people pictures that I regret not having.
I agree you are an artist. But now looking back I wish I did have a list of a few non-traditional pictures that were important to me to give to my photographer.
In my eyes as the bride that is paying for the service it is just helping him out and giving me less stress.
I’d say that maybe a full blown shot list isn’t the best idea, but the best idea (which I am doing in the next few months) is to talk with my photographer, give them my short “must-have” list, the style I like and why, and brief bios on my party members and all the important people and tell him that I want formals as well. I think that it all makes sense and I bet a lot of photogs out there would love to have their clients do that.
I agree that a full-blown list is not ok, especially since I hired a photojournalist, but i’m going to make it clear that I want all of the big moments documented - speeches, exchanging rings, first kiss, and lots and lots of details.
I don’t see it as any different than a band’s must-play and do-not play list. I’m not composing their entire reportiore, but I know what I like, and I can’t put my trust 100% in someone I hired a few months back.
I’ve decided to take this approach will all of my vendors. I’ve found the absolute best vendors I could afford, given them some general directions, and now I’ve set them free to do what they do best. Time will tell if I have any regrets, but right now I’m one stress-free, happy bride!
Hi Melissa~
This was a big looming question for me…should I have a shotlist? To me its just another headache on a list of a billion things “to do”. I wasnt sure about how my photog would feel also about “dictating” to him what I wanted, because, yes, I trust him. On the other hand, what if i didnt get the shots I wanted? I think for my wedding i actually WILL have a small shot list, despite your advising me not to 
Just small details (not people) that I DIY’ed that maybe a photographer might overlook…because I’d die if i didnt get any shots of this or that that I spent a billion hours crafting There are lots of elements in my wedding that I’m not sure my photog would know I made (versus bought) …and especially because I like to blog about details, I want to make sure there are lots of pictures of them WITHOUT people in them…typically not exactly what people would want in their “must take” photos.
Great post. I’m also glad I wont have to MAKE a shotlist….BORING! I was really clueless as to whether this was something that a photog actually likes or doesnt like to have
are there any photographers out there actually appreciate a “must take” photo list or do you all in general despise it? As a videographer, to be honest, I actually appreciate it…but thats just me. I want to be sure my clients get exactly what they want. I would hate to try to “guess” what my clients are looking for in their videos. I dont promise that i will get EVERYTHING they ask for but I try my best to do what they tell me to do. But thats just me.
I agree to a certain point, except when it comes to detail shots. We also had lots and lots of details, the only way to find them all was with a list. It’s not such a bad thing to ask for pictures of the handmade corsages or the customized drink menu; they would otherwise be easy to overlook on a busy day.
In addition, we structured our shot list like a schedule so that our photographers would know what was going on at what time and where. It kept everyone informed of our special family rituals and our photographers were there to capture everything, even in our multi-story reception facility.
I don’t regret giving out the list and my photographers seemed to appreciate having guidelines. In the end, I got tons of candid photos and along with all of the ones I asked for.
we didn’t necessarily have a list, since my photog assured us that she’d capture the important (typical) moments, but we did add additional moments we wanted (a shot of my roommates & i, a shot w/the g-mas, etc).
when we saw the proofs online, we discovered that our photographer hadn’t gotten one shot of about 85% of our guests! when i asked her why she had omitted them, she explained that she liked to take “action shots” (as in, folks dancing on the dance floor), not just shots of people sitting at the table…um, great, expect for all of our older relatives or guests that prefer to not to or can’t dance!
in retrospect, i would’ve provided a more detailed shot list, instead of *assuming* that she would consider capturing ALL of our guests as typical.
I would have added a shot of our wedding rings (off our fingers), more shots of the guests and the food because I love pictures of the surroundings.
i don’t think it hurts to have a list of key shots that the couple would like to have on the wedding day. not everyone wants the same poses; thus, it could be a good guide to what the couple likes. i would say it is better used as a guide/suggestion list than an absolute check-off list. but it’s nice to have b/c if there is something/someone didn’t catch, you can skim it quickly to see if you missed anything. i think it is especially important for weddings which incorporate traditions/customs that the photographer may not be as familiar with…it is not out of disrespect that lists are given, more so, here’s an idea of what we like. please try to keep these in mind on the wedding day, while we trust you to do your thing. part of a vendor’s job is of course making sure you meet the requests of your clients. as long as the bride/groom is reasonable, i dont see any harm providing a list of photos that have special meaning.
I don’t agree with staging “moments” that the photographer has to take, afterall that is what you want a photojournalistic style for, but I think if you are paying THOUSANDS of dollars for something and it’s really important to you to have a picture of your bathroom baskets or whatever then by god speak up! This is your money and your photographer is working for you! The photographer may not even know that you put 80 hours into kleenex packets so how can you expect him/her to take a picture of it unless you tell him/her?
Also I think we’re all assuming that everyone has a super high quality photographer who knows all the shots to get…i’ve heard of brides whose photographers missed their first kiss as man and wife and another one that never took a full length shot of the bride in her dress.
Better safe then sorry…you live with your pictures for a lifetime. The photographer’s artistic feelings are only hurt for a second.
As a followup, I think as a photographer instead of thinking of it as sufficating the artistic spirit the photographer should see it as an artistic challenge. How can you make this totally boring shot that the bride only cares about look unique, different, cool. How can you play with the light, angle, aspect, whatever to make this challenging for you.
I agree with BaghdadBride. Not all photographers are so experienced. Also not all brides have ginormous budgets. Yes, some brides probably hire their photogs on their artistic vision alone. But for most, the choice also has to do with availability and budget-friendliness.
Personally, I hate the idea that just because a bride has a way that she wants things done she is automatically a bridezilla, as you seem to imply in your post. Sure, giving a list of 293 photographs or staging things is a bit much, but listing things like the toasts and photos of certain guests is not so much to ask.
I think the difference is, our wedding is not just an artistic event to be filtered through the photographers vision. It is a wedding, not a scenic shoot in Bali. I have chosen a very talented photographer, but no matter how beautiful his photos are, he won’t know to make sure to grab a picture of all the DIY elements that my mom and I slaved over, or to get a shot of my mom and dad dancing or any of the other details that are really important to us.
One of the most common complaints on the Knot after the brides recieve their pictures, is that the photographers missed key things. And not during the traditional portrait session, but throughout the day. The photographer can get caught up in catching the things *he* thinks are important, instead of making sure to catch the things *I* think are important.
I hired my photographer for his talent, his attitude and his experience. Not for his mind reading capabilities. As a result, I will be providing him with a shot list. I’m the one paying thousands of dollars for his skillst, and if I want him to apply those skills by taking pictures of the menus and table numbers, then I’m going to make sure he knows it.
Do people really spend 80 hours making Kleenex packets? I hope this was facetious!
I had a list of three “must-take” photos, and we missed one of them. As a ratio, not too great (and I genuinely lament the lack of that shot), but I have hundreds of shots I love.
I think this is part of a bigger problem, the micromanaging bride. I have the receipts from my parents’ wedding, where their contract with the caterer was for “dinner,” and with the florist, “bridal bouquet.” It was beautiful and memorable and the only person fretting about flowers was the florist, ie, the person who has made a career out of fretting about flowers.
The one big memorable problem with our reception, the showdown with the caterer in the middle of the tent, boils down to him being used to being micromanaged. We wanted vendors who we could send a check and they’d do their damn jobs, and it turned out that he was the only one who couldn’t handle that. I’m sure he will never ask me for a referral, but I would be honest: the food tasted great, and if you’re a bride who wants to control all the minutia of your wedding, go for it. If you want to pay a guy to cater and have him cater, without any hald-holding, look elsewhere.
On the other end of the spectrum, solidly in Melissa’s camp, is a coworker of mine who does a lot of wedding DJ-ing on the weekends. He actually backed out of a wedding (over a year in advance, don’t worry) because he couldn’t stand the bride’s constant niggling. His explanation was, “you need to find someone you can trust, and clearly that’s not me.”
If you really feel that your photographer (or any vendor) needs that much hand-holding in order to do his or her job, maybe you should put down the shot list and spend some more time finding someone you can trust.
I totally agree with the guest shutterbug/OP. After you have done your research and hired a photographer you like and trust, simply sitting and having a conversation which communicates the things you find important (which on this board here seems to be lots of detail shots of DIY projects) should be enough. Yes, you are the client, but at some point it does smack of micromangement to specifically dictate what the photographer should focus on. It becomes no longer a photojournalistic approach (that is an artists viewpoint of the event), but rather more like a PR/Press Junket. One has to allow for a little spontinaety–it is often those unexpected shots which are most cherished–not a picture of your programs or welcome baskets–however lovely they may be.
I don’t think it should have to be an either or scenario. I believe a talented photographer will be able to capture the unexpected moments, or beautiful shots of the light coming in through the window, without having to sacrific the details. Providing a list of things that are important shouldn’t take away from the spontinaity. How long can it take to grab detail pictures of the reception before all the guests start to arrive? Espescially when you’ve hired two photographers?
I would never hire a caterer and just trust him to pick out the foods he thinks I would enjoy, just because he’s a talented chef. I know whatever food he creates is going to taste good, but you better believe I’m going to tell him that I want a filet and that I can’t stand mushrooms.
I agree that I want MOSTLY spontaneous, creative shots. But I do plan on having a small shot list… not to get shots of my welcome baskets. But to make sure that my friends and family are in some photos.
I had my same photographer at my engagement party and we had the most beautiful photos. But older people like my parents wanted more traditional shots and were a little disappointed. So they made sure to tell me to get more friends and family at the wedding. And really, I think when I’m paying $10K+ I should be able to have both.
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Shutterbugz Feature Launched: May 15, 2007 About: A guest blog written by professional photographers. Shutterbugz contribute ideas, advice, stories, and of course, photos to the Weddingbee community to give readers a vendor's perspective.
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