What Makes a Great Image?

Steffi Smith

A month or so ago Chris Fawkes, founder of Facebook Wedding Photographers, and I decided to raise the bar and create a more advanced forum for wedding photographers. We really hoped we could involve a group of more skilled artists and in turn stimulate more complex discussions and images.
 
The requirements are that you have to have a wedding website or business Facebook page and have been in business at least three years. While it's often hard to determine how long somebody has been in business, the work tends to speak for itself. 

A part of what's keeping the bar high is the enthusiasm of the administrators. It's a terrific team with Brian Malloy, Steffi Smith, Brent Watkins, Joe Maher, Dawn Davis, Paul Robison, Chris Fawkes and yours truly. This little group has contributed a lot as we come up on 500 members, who represent some pretty intense and passionate artists.

Okay, so that's the background on where the following images came from, but here's the question that got me here today in this post.



In Advanced Wedding Photographers I asked:

"Take a look at your best images for the past year and show us your favorite. Pick out that one image that would get you hired..."

Here's what has me so intrigued...What I thought I would get is a lot of stunning classic solid portraiture like Steffi Smith's image above. She commented, "This image got us two more weddings in the same venue, the clients told us they loved this photo."

What people have shared has been incredible, but far more than just beautiful traditional images. Here's what I honestly forgot:

I forgot about images that capture emotion. I forgot about moments that capture a memory and show a little of the soul of the photographer as well as the subjects. I also forgot about humor as a marketing tool.

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Carole Honeyman-Huff wrote, "This image from a same sex wedding brought more business through my doors this year than any other."

Christine Bentley wrote: "I get a certain kind of bride here in OC, they LOVE To be in front of the camera, and this couple did an elopement and session after . I get more requests for this shot than anything, most couples wont do this on their wedding, rather their engagement......"

Ruth McConnell Trevaskis commented: "Not sure if it is that 'one' image, but this is on the wall of the nearby venue that hosted the reception. sends quite a string of brides my way."

Erik Hornung was actually the first person to jump in with an image and what he wrote really makes a point about the power of humor, "This strange photo has landed me many jobs for next year!"

Alexandra Stead wrote, "More brides bring up this photo than any other when we meet."

And, it's more than just humor, but artists who make it a point to connect with family, people and life styles. It's an amazing variety of work that has helped each photographer establish themselves with their clients. Over and over again it's been a combination of styles and storytelling, but two things have consistently been common denominators, the skill set of the artists and their passion for imaging.

This is the first in a series of posts I hope to share with you over the next few months. Each image demonstrates something a little different as they go back forth from a more traditional look to photojournalism, reminding us that every client and event are unique. You owe your clients the very best and as we head into a new year, you need to work to have a skill set that allows you maximum flexibility with every photographic situation you run into.

A BIG thanks to all the artists joining us in Advanced Wedding Photographers and sharing some of their favorite images. Each one tells a different story and that's the beauty of the business we're in with each of you working to be the ultimate storyteller.