I’ve decided I’m just not a podcaster and there won’t be any more episodes of my old podcast ‘The Positive Creatives’. I’ve deleted my account where I was hosting it so presumably it’ll drop off Spotify etc pretty soon too.
I don’t want it to disappear completely from the face of the earth so I’ve deleted the website and instagram, but moved the website content to a special area on the superchARJ website for if you’re a die hard fan of it (especially the jingle) and need a positive creative fix now and again! All my old instagram posts and reels are also on there, just for nostalgia’s sake.
It’s all part of my drive to just have a lot less going on in my head and my life! Mental minimalism!
Plus I just don’t have the willpower or desire to be a podcaster in a world of self-help podcasters. I also started to feel like the content I had on there was a bit cliche now that everyone seems to have turned into a positivity influencer.
So it’s gone, but if you want to find it, it’s here.
It’s been sunny lately. Not sure you noticed.
That means hard, harsh, extremely bright light.
In general I love bright hard light, but I don’t love trying to shoot wedding portraits in hard light.
And I’ve had chats with a few people lately lamenting the fact that they’ve had to shoot portraits in the middle of the day.
Well.
You don’t HAVE to.
You have a choice.
As photographers we are there to make the best possible photos for our clients. Yes, there’s a traditional timeline that means the ‘portraits’ (and group shots) happen between ceremony and dinner. But it doesn’t have to be that way, especially if that isn’t going to result in the best possible photos.
I’d much rather play with hard light while shooting a drinks reception than attempt to battle with it for portraits.
So I tell my couples this. Not in any great detail, but if I don’t think the conditions on the day are the best then I say so. It’s not something I prepare them for in advance, I just tell them if I don’t think the conditions are right – especially light – then we might do their portraits at a different time.
I want to tell you they thank me for my expert opinion but truthfully not many of them care. They just crack on with enjoying their wedding and just quietly trust me.
And then later on at an opportune time I take them off for their portraits.
So just a short one this time, but just a reminder that our job is to make sure the photos are as good as they can be – not to make sure that the photos are taken at the exact point of an arbitrary timeline.
Thanks for reading!
Adam
PS – Group shots I personally would never push to later in the day. I’ll do them at the end of a drinks reception at the most, because then hopefully there’s at least a bit of an angle to the light and I can either backlight them or get them into some open shade. Too many times I’ve said we can do groups later, only to be faced with a drunken rabble or dishevelled outfits!
PPS – Why are church doorways always in full sun immediately after a ceremony? And always when people want ‘a few group photos at the church’ right outside the nuclear lit doorway?
