Wedding photography is 90% not creative.

Oh hey! I have decided to start blogging for SNAP! Because another blog is exactly what I need to add to the other dozen or so spaces I create content for. However, this is a powerful way for us to give value to our audience and help people find us. So if you are here welcome, nice to see you and thank you for your very precious attention.

I thought I would write about something that I have no doubt most people will disagree with me over but it’s something that my 13yrs of wedding photography experience has shown me and from conversations offline I know this to be a truth for a lot of us.

Wedding photography is not a creative job.

Maybe it feels more that way in the beginning when weddings are shiny and new, maybe in the first 5yrs or so depending on your progression it might feel creative as you develop your style and on occasion you might also attend a truly original wedding but this will happen less and less as your career progresses.

Weddings are a formula. They are essentially the same event over and over again. They are also where trends manifest themselves on a massive scale so the same thing will be repeated over and over. In over 300 weddings I can count less than five that were truly unique.

You only need to go on Instagram and see the endless images of couples walking in golden light, champagne towers, closeups of lipstick being applied and the endless confetti photos. The ‘alternative’ weddings are a constant repeat of Wes Anderson style symmetrical deadpan photos and documentary is not escaping this either with it’s intense close up images and layering. There is a formula to every style, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to teach it.

This isn’t a criticism but an observation. Being creative in a job that is capturing the same event, where everyone wears the same thing, does the same thing and follows traditions/trends etc is really really hard.

It’s also not a bad thing. Weddings are a tradition, they are a ritual that is practised by human beings. Most couples don’t want to be unique. They want a beautiful day with their friends and family and will largely lean on a system that they already know works to facilitate that.

(I feel a large pull here to go into the problematic nature of weddings and marriage and the capitalistic and patriarchal roots but I will spare you.)

It’s also not a bad thing for us. We run businesses. Yep we might love weddings or we might see them as an effective way to make money, whatever you’re why, them being formulaic makes it easier for us. We can predict when things are going to happen so we can be in the right place at the right time, it helps us stay consistent in the quality of our work and service to our couples meaning our business can thrive.

And couples want that. They book you based on your previous work. That’s what they are giving you money for, they don’t really want you to be that creative. At the end of the day they want a bunch of nice photos of them and their loved ones. I can see it in my online print sales. They always buy the group photos, very rarely will someone print that epic party shot or silly photo of someones Nan playing beer pong.

And that’s ok! The lack of creativity is a crucial part of being a successful wedding photographer. That doesn’t make our jobs less meaningful or enjoyable. After 13yrs I view my work this way, I am paid very well to provide a service to my couples. 90% of the work I make for them is a repeat of what I have done for my previous couples who LOVED my work. A small 10% of that work is for me to keep me sane.

Because I promise you, after several years you will get bored. This is a job, a business, the consistency makes it successful and that’s the opposite of creativity. And as a creative person (because that’s how you got into this) it might start to eat you up inside. You might be wondering why you have started to hate the amazing business you built.

And the simple answer is that it became successful. My joy for being a wedding photographer when I started was the learning, the finally getting that shot, the building and witnessing my progression. When you plateau, which you inevitably will, then you will need to shift your perspective.

I very much view my work now as a service for my couples, less and less of it is for me. And that is why I have a business that books up easily. After all the creative struggle it’s now become a source of security and that is a massive positive. I remind myself of this when I have those times where I don’t want to go to work, there are worse things I could be doing for far less money.

What’s important though is that I find other ways to be creative.

This is where writing comes in, shooting film for personal work, watercolour painting and learning new skills. Hobbies and personal work are essential in keeping me a happy and healthy human. I would encourage you to go out and get some if you don’t already.

Also, keep that 10% for you on a wedding day.

Creativity is ultimately us making mistakes. It’s trying something new and the joy of failing and sometimes getting it. We were made to create and when we become good at something and monetise it then it will naturally lose the creative element. Realising this means you can plan for it and find other ways to satisfy your need to explore and evolve.

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