Today’s Brides are lucky. Family members, friends and even people you don’t know, not to mention your professional photographer, can take hundreds of images, download them almost instantly to sites like flickr, share them on facebook and email endlessly. But like so many things in our digital age, this is both a a blessing and a burden. After all, what does one do with all those millions of pics! It’s a little bit like the classic children’s story by Wanda Gag: Millions of Cats. In his search to find a cat for his wife, an old man is followed by
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats!
Well here’s my advice….Wait!
If you are editing your own photos for an album, to post online, display or give as gifts, the first thing to do is wait. Just sit back relax and look at your photos over and over without making any choices. There’s no replacing that fist glimpse of your photos – like a sip of great wine – and how fun it is to relive that momentous occasion, but, interestingly enough, the photos you like a lot at first, won’t necessarily be the keepers. I don’t know why that is, just a lesson learned from editing millions of pics. Some of them grow on you – again, like a great bottle of wine which opens up and breathes – you will notice new things, something more subtle and interesting can emerge. After many viewings, and some time, you don’t even have to think so much about it. A sort of intuitive process will take hold and the really good photos will emerge. Simple as it seems, that’s my my first and, maybe, best advice…. wait and take your time. Don’t be in a hurry.
Secondly, if I have a second wisdom to pass along it’s just to restate the old Bauhaus mantra Less Is More. Everybody likes a posed shot.. a flattering portrait. That’s what one expects and should expect, because why go through all the trouble of a pretty dress and luscious flowers without showing them off? But, two or more similar shots might be boring…
How about combining that classic shot, from the template, with one that’s more “off the cuff?”
Which brings me to my final point, that good design is always about subtracting…. subtracting the obvious and replacing it with the unexpected.
Here’s another couple of examples.
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