Apparently, your pricey professional wedding photographer was a giant waste of money.
Chris Galvin and Jessica Pearson have learned the hard way that you don’t need to hire your very own professional paparazzi to capture your big day.
Sam Yeldham was just walking though Bradley’s Head in Sydney Harbour, when he saw a newlywed couple in a loving embrace as the sun broke through a somewhat stormy sky.
It was an image too spectacular to pass up, so being a deft hand at photography himself, Yeldham snapped a photograph of the couple.
A photo posted by Sam Yeldham (@samyeldham) on Sep 26, 2015 at 5:17pm PDT
Yeldham IS a photographer, but not the wedding kind.
He usually specialises in time-lapse photography, and was trying to capture the rolling storm clouds over the harbour. He set about trying to track down the newlyweds, as the image spread online… very quickly. Yeldham’s photograph was liked over 2,600 time, and it didn’t take long for word to reach Galvin and Pearson on their honeymoon in Hawaii.
“Hi @samyeldham you can call off the search!” commented Galvin. “This is me and my wife @jessicapearson4!!! What a great photo! Thank you so much for reaching out. Can I get your email address?”
Yeldham then called off the search, sharing another photograph and thanking the couple for being okay with having their memories “plastered all over the internet.”
Thanks to the internet my #Sydney Wedding snap traveled around the world to reach the very lovely newlyweds on their honeymoon! Thank you to everyone who shared or commented on the original #sunset photo, and to the happy couple for being totally cool with their wedding being plastered all over the internet. The lie is that the day ends. :) A photo posted by Sam Yeldham (@samyeldham) on Sep 30, 2015 at 12:53am PDT
Yeldham just happened to be in the right place at what was, evidently, the perfect time. And now, one couple have the most stunning wedding photograph we have ever seen.
So, that got us thinking, do we really need to have one person following us around all day, asking us to lift our chins, arch our elbows and ‘look into eachother’s eyes’?
For celebs, sometimes the ‘stand and pose’ style works, but sometimes it’s the candid shots that are the most moving…
Okay, granted, Galvin and Pearson were posing, for their actual photographer- Liv Style Photography. But sometimes, it’s the non-posed, the candid and the spontaneous shots that are the most special.
In the technological age we live, disposable camera’s on the reception tables have been replaced with hashtags. Guests can snap away, taking as many selfies and photos of the food they want. Between the duckface’s and blurred hands, there is a chance they might actually capture something really special.
Further proof that you don’t necessarily need a professional photo-shoot to preserve your memories is Liisa Luts, who photographed her entire wedding herself.
You can check those stunning photographs out below…
Liisa Luts Photography
So what do you think? Is it time to bid farewell to the wedding photographer?
Top Comments
To get consistently amazing candid photojournalistic moments is an art, I think it is much harder than posing. I have photographed over 300 weddings and spent years training people and myself to be professionally consistent photojournalistic wedding photographers;
Training new photographers, even out of Uni won't get amazing photos instantly every time, it usually take around 50 to 60 wedding before they are ready to even think about tackling a wedding on their own.
Yes if you want to risk everything falling into place and your friends lucking out on your day go for it.
Would you rather 'hire' get a random who doesn't have passion or anything on the line to document arguably the most special day of your life or A passionate professional photographer that spends hours every night researching, doing work shops, practising in all light condition just to better themselves.
Considering the average full time wedding photographer works 90 hours and week & these days on average books around 15 to 25 weddings, I wouldn't consider them over priced at all; Granted I have seen alot of 'dodgey' photographers out there... so do your home work and pick wisely. But that goes from people an all industries from teachers to sales men to engineers etc
We don't cost squillions.
We don't spend all day asking you to "lift our chins, arch our elbows and ‘look into each other’s eyes".
We aren't paparazzi.
We aren't a waste of money.
This couple haven't "learned anything the hard way". They hired a professional to document their day. This bloke made one viral photograph.
That's not wedding photography.
Thanks for dragging out the wedding photography tropes Mamamia, we really need the bad rap!