that last one is from a pretty pricey full-time wedding photographer's website - they start at $5k/wedding
― gr8080, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:40 (nine years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/4mtBhad.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/HDym6KB.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/A82dK0n.jpg
― gr8080, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:47 (nine years ago) link
has;l;asdb
― mattresslessness, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:48 (nine years ago) link
does a mini cooper even have anything in it that could smoke
― mattresslessness, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:49 (nine years ago) link
this photog really thinks fire is cool
http://i.imgur.com/62348mv.jpg
― gr8080, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:53 (nine years ago) link
what the
do the insurance companies know about him?
― pplains, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:58 (nine years ago) link
first one in the burning mini cooper series sets up a great many plots, none of which are "these people get married at the end"
― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 15 March 2015 19:58 (nine years ago) link
insurance companies hate him
― computer champion (harbl), Sunday, 15 March 2015 20:00 (nine years ago) link
As we made our way through more of the buildings we stumbled upon a vagrant who was taking a nap in a train car. He didn’t seem to mind us shooting photos and continued to nap.
http://i.imgur.com/OuK4T4j.jpg
― pplains, Sunday, 15 March 2015 20:06 (nine years ago) link
lolololol
― gr8080, Sunday, 15 March 2015 20:56 (nine years ago) link
o u want ruin well you've come to the right guy Matthew D Ruin at yr service let me *Ruin* yr engagement pics
― amalmer panda (qiqing), Sunday, 15 March 2015 21:00 (nine years ago) link
omg the derelict settings
Eric and AlyssaJoining Together upon the Ruins and Wreckage of Past Relationships
― drash, Sunday, 15 March 2015 21:51 (nine years ago) link
Something about that Mini Cooper series reminds me of the Costacos Bros.
http://i.imgur.com/64YrVDD.jpg
― pplains, Monday, 16 March 2015 00:28 (nine years ago) link
the stranded car scenes remind me a tad of David Lynch (eg Lost Highway)-- very auspicious for a marriage
― drash, Monday, 16 March 2015 05:41 (nine years ago) link
^^ same era though, right?
― pplains, Monday, 16 March 2015 14:02 (nine years ago) link
How is it that some couples can nail a pose perfectly,
http://i.imgur.com/3jz3fGO.jpg
while others trying the same thing… wind up in here?
http://i.imgur.com/ZMNwPjQ.jpg
― pplains, Monday, 16 March 2015 14:07 (nine years ago) link
haha
― Team Foxcatcherwatcher (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 March 2015 14:13 (nine years ago) link
the people who are obsessed with fire have a nice lighting setup, I bet
― mh, Monday, 16 March 2015 14:20 (nine years ago) link
pp furiously otm
― gr8080, Monday, 16 March 2015 14:35 (nine years ago) link
feel like the photographer could say 'wait, no. you're doing it wrong' or 'be gentle, juiceman' to that dude, though.
― Team Foxcatcherwatcher (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 March 2015 14:38 (nine years ago) link
that is why having expensive gear and lightroom/photoshop know-how is not enough to make for a great photographer
― gr8080, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:09 (nine years ago) link
also if i had to guess i'd say the first couple is used to holding each other like that and the second couple probably never embrace like that
― gr8080, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:23 (nine years ago) link
& tbh that's why i started this thread; i have nothing against an engagement photoshoot but it should capture a couple as they really are
― gr8080, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:25 (nine years ago) link
ok sorry back to the lols
is a big cause of these growing the fact that everybody has a friend who is a photographer who's at least more than a hobbyist and has some decent equip+photoshop? i dont want to buy you anything but here have some unique fotos on me friends YOURE WELCOME― brosario nawson (m bison), Sunday, March 15, 2015 3:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalinkthat last one is from a pretty pricey full-time wedding photographer's website - they start at $5k/wedding― gr8080, Sunday, March 15, 2015 3:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― brosario nawson (m bison), Sunday, March 15, 2015 3:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― gr8080, Sunday, March 15, 2015 3:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
tbh i think the reason these are growing is because wedding photographers include the "engagement shoot" as a part of the whole wedding package, it is a way for them to make some more $$
― marcos, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:26 (nine years ago) link
like you could spend $2000 for just the wedding day photos or you could spend $3000 to include the "engagement shoot"
― marcos, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:30 (nine years ago) link
The second couple seem to be closer to each other's size/height. Thinking about it that way, it's a pretty awkward position.
― how's life, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:31 (nine years ago) link
i know this because my wife and i reenacted a mumford & sons music video for our engagement shoot
lol j/k
― marcos, Monday, 16 March 2015 15:32 (nine years ago) link
wedding photographers include the "engagement shoot" as a part of the whole wedding package, it is a way for them to make some more $$
thanks for answering my question; was wondering wtf purpose of these is
what do couples think is the purpose; how do they use these photos? put up on a website? shared on Facebook? saved for future children’s parent-mocking?
to me seems like some horribly humiliating frat hazing initiation but into marriage
― drash, Monday, 16 March 2015 17:23 (nine years ago) link
I became fb friends with our photographer. As far as I can tell, she has been skiing at awesome places all winter. So I think I'll switch careers using the knowledge gained itt.
― Team Foxcatcherwatcher (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 March 2015 17:30 (nine years ago) link
Jeff and I got engagement photos taken despite being very much not what one would consider the engagement photos type because we'd never done anything like that before and I thought it would be a good excuse for it (Jeff remained opposed to it but went along anyway because he's a good sport) and then we could give photos to our families, who were always hassling us about it. We got a real professional wedding photographer who was also a friend of a friend and did it on the cheap (we didn't have a wedding photographer at all, but we had a very low key wedding).
They are arguably not very creative (on the shores of Lake Michigan with the Chicago skyline in the background! So original!) but I like them a lot and still have one framed in our living room and an outtake at work because it's hilarious.
If I had it to do all over again, we might have gone for the haystack setting, though.
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Monday, 16 March 2015 17:42 (nine years ago) link
imo it probably comes from the pre-internet tradition of running an engagement announcement (typically accompanied by a photo) in your local newspaper.
the advent of internet + social media + digital photography has changed it in to something else
?
― gr8080, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:01 (nine years ago) link
the nytimes still does wedding/engagement announcements (lower left at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/weddings/index.html) and they are totally a vanity thing. A friend's engagement was listed and it was completely because his wife's parents were very into token status things.
― mh, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:09 (nine years ago) link
"shared on Facebook" is about all the explanation this needs IMO. Presumably the photographers talk up this angle to their clients, but I doubt most need that much convincing. It lets them post something NOW, get beaucoups of likes and comments and build the brand of their wedding months in advance of the wedding shots.
I also suspect wedding photos themselves feel less personal or meaningful in 2015 than years ago when you only saw the wedding albums of people you actually gave a shit about (well, and coworkers and such) and so it was kinda rare to see images of tuxes and white gowns in front of green grass or whatever. Sorta like baby pictures. Now virtually every day I'm brushing past the wedding or baby photos of someone I don't know very well on Facebook. I could imagine couples having some (not necessarily articulated or voiced) desire to have something that feels more "casual" or "like us" or with "real reactions" to each other and/or some quirky scenario. Something with "personality" - which is tough to do in the wedding shots unless you do a theme wedding (something still way out on the fringe).
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:10 (nine years ago) link
every wedding is a theme wedding, in a way
― mh, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:14 (nine years ago) link
ours was drunkenness
― Team Foxcatcherwatcher (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 March 2015 18:20 (nine years ago) link
http://greenweddingshoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/chocolate-engagement-party-09.jpg
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:22 (nine years ago) link
I would like to think the groom was looking at a print of that picture of the bride
― mh, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:23 (nine years ago) link
PiP typically used to show another thing at the same time
― Team Foxcatcherwatcher (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 16 March 2015 18:31 (nine years ago) link
Couples can also submit their photos to magazines like this one: http://engagedri.com/category/engagements/ for some nifty pub.
― pplains, Monday, 16 March 2015 19:27 (nine years ago) link
also some half-baked theory abt the secularization of middle class american culture/ 15min of fame/ capitalism making ppl consumers of everything (even when what was once tradition)
idk
― gr8080, Monday, 16 March 2015 19:42 (nine years ago) link
I haven't been to a "cool" wedding but of friends-of-friends who had one, they had much less cool divorces
― mh, Monday, 16 March 2015 19:45 (nine years ago) link
I could imagine couples having some (not necessarily articulated or voiced) desire to have something that feels more "casual" or "like us" or with "real reactions" to each other and/or some quirky scenario. Something with "personality" - which is tough to do in the wedding shots unless you do a theme wedding (something still way out on the fringe).
that makes sense. also gr8080’s social explanation: it’s a public statement/ performance not just for family but larger community, which (for many) is now expected.photogs & couples imitate the look and tropes of on-trend engagement photos, some also (ostensibly) try to stake out some uniqueness/ originality/ authenticity.also maybe the personal family “photo album” with candid pictures has lost its aura— world inundated with e.g. stream of flickr/ Facebook images; hence need for patina of “professional” photography to mark out these photographs (and what they commemorate) as special, as an “event”
(imo the professional sheen just flattens & drains the photographs of any aura-- makes most look like stock photography)
anyway, the props
http://www.theochoink.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IMG_7473.jpghttp://stylesbyanndiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/13-SF-Bay-Area-Engagement-Session-Photography.jpg
― drash, Monday, 16 March 2015 19:45 (nine years ago) link
This is also because a lot of the photographers aren't very good though! Like very little of what's been posted in this thread really seems like it's done by photographers who (a) know their shit and (b) care about getting good photos out of their subjects (c) have the slightest idea how to do that. Not to say any of that would make them immune to photography zeitgeist and trends and so on, or that you could even really avoid that if you tried - - - most wedding photographs from the 70s (or 80s, or 90s) kinda look alike, cause of different film stock and hairstyles and so on. That can't be helped, but a good photographer should know when they're looking through the lens and seeing something awkward, stagey, inadvertently loveless, or otherwise worthy of this thread.
I know a married photographer couple in Columbus who do really solid engagement and wedding work, I think because #1 they take their craft as photographers pretty seriously and #2 they seem to actually like the couples and want them to look good.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:08 (nine years ago) link
This is also because a lot of the photographers aren't very good though! Like very little of what's been posted in this thread really seems like it's done by photographers who (a) know their shit and (b) care about getting good photos out of their subjects (c) have the slightest idea how to do that.
True! Takes great skill & sensibility to be a good portrait photographer.
Yet I think something about the genre itself (at least current incarnation of it) is intrinsically... pitfally. But this may be my (photographic & psychological) biases talking.
― drash, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:34 (nine years ago) link
Soon-to-be married couples are generally pretty awkward anyway. It crosses the line when somehow the photographer emphasizes that awkwardness.
I mean, of all the goofy shit that's been posted here, I think this thread still could be summed up by this one gr8080 posted four years ago.
http://i.imgur.com/Ow1M7cC.jpg
I mean, why why why did the photographer make those people do that?
― pplains, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:38 (nine years ago) link
xpost Sure - for one thing, the whole impulse ("our engagement is different from all the other engagements") is fallacious, and so there are any number of ways that the photos can founder. But this is true of lots of "special" events that are only special because they're happening to you or your friends/family. Maybe what's changed is just the quantity/visibility of strangers' images; realizing just how many billions of beardos are doing the same woodland authenticity photos as you are surely has to make it harder to pull off the affect without the photos collapsing into self-awareness and/or irony.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:39 (nine years ago) link
I mean lawd…
http://i.imgur.com/2Kkdgvc.jpg
― pplains, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:44 (nine years ago) link
photography is so weird, you can get the lights and exposure and shutter time right, but if you're taking pictures of people, you have to have an entirely different skillset
my friend (an architect) helped this dude who is a professional architecture photographer one time and it's amazing what you can do with technique. however, the same photographer also does portraits of people who work for the studios, and I kid you not, the people end up looking like buildings
― mh, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:55 (nine years ago) link
i could 100% believe that - - - over the past half-decade i've shifted to mainly shooting architecture, from primarily doing friendly people-pictures and candids and i've lost a whole set of skills related to the latter, even as i've improved as "a photographer" generically.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 16 March 2015 20:58 (nine years ago) link