The glass tipi that will be the venue for Friday's wedding at Kakslauttanen © Roger Overall 2011

Apparently, the Finns have 40 words for snow. That’s as may be, but at the moment there isn’t any. Not a flake. And none is forecast before the end of the week either.

The locals are scratching their heads. At this time of year, there should be a thick layer. Nor are the rivers frozen over, which is hampering efforts to catch reindeer. Doubtless the reindeer aren’t fussed. For me, the absence of snow will severely impact on the commercial value of the photographs I take. As you can imagine, the bride is less than delighted as well.

Setback, challenge or disaster?

The financial return on my time investment will now be rather restricted. While it is undoubtedly nice to be here, the success of the whole enterprise hinges on its success in cold, hard business terms – not on how much fun I have.

When I was first approached about the assignment and the suggested terms, my reaction was to turn it down. But the bride spoke passionately about photography and I could see potential commercial revenue from the photographs. I checked the weather. Snow was pretty much guaranteed. I’m not a betting man, but it looked as close to a certainty as you could find. The combination of the emotion of a wedding and such a unique,  snow-coated location proved too tempting. Surely, the resulting photographs would appeal to outlets including tourist boards, magazines and gear manufacturers?

I’m still sure that they would.

If they had snow in them.

I’m not saying Finland is an ugly place that needs a dusting of snow to make it pretty. Quite the opposite. From a commercial point of view, though, I need it.

Options

From where I’m sitting right now, my choices are limited to one option: get on with it.

First and foremost, I must do the best job I can on Friday for the bride and groom. It is not their fault that there is no snow. After all their planning, they are extremely disappointed at this unexpected glitch.

Secondly, there is no shortage of photographs to be taken. A catalogue of images will accompany me back on Sunday, regardless.

Lastly, only months from now will I know for definite if the trip was a total bust commercially. Right now, sitting behind a beer, that isn’t a foregone conclusion. Life is peculiar. The fact that there is no snow here right now is evidence of that.

Fate doesn’t exist

I don’t believe in fate. Fate is attributed in retrospect, once things have played themselves out. Crediting fate for your success or failure takes your own actions out of the equation, leaving you powerless. Sure, you and your plans can be overwhelmed by circumstances outside your control (a rotten economy, for instance), but fate doesn’t decide what happens as a consequence. You have a say in that. Not for the full 100 per cent, because the decisions and actions of others impact on you too. But you are rarely solely the plaything of their whim.

In this particular instance of a no snow show, how things turn out from this point onwards is up to me.

This post is more philosophical than intended, but that’s how my thoughts developed as I was writing it. Feedback in the comments section is welcome as always.

Don’t forget you can follow along on Twitter as well, either in the side bar or using your favourite Twitter platform with the hashtag #LaplandWedding.

Meanwhile, here are some photographs and an AudioBoo.

The view from my taxi. The light is going to be amazing © Roger Overall 2011

Home for the next four days. Apparently, I'm sharing with the hairdresser © Roger Overall 2011

Lamp © Roger Overall 2011

It was a very revealing exercise.

Turns out, I spend a lot of time on my knees.

Below is a small selection of photographs alternating between Fergul’s photograph of me and the photograph I was taking.

(c) Fergul McClean/Diamond Photography 2011

(c) Roger Overall 2011

(c) Fergul McClean/Diamond Photography 2011

(c) Roger Overall 2011

(c) Fergul McClean/Diamond Photography 2011

(c) Roger Overall 2011

This year, my three back-to-back weddings are a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I had a verbal booking for the Saturday as well, but that fell through. In a way, I’m relieved. Four weddings in a row is probably one too many.

For the next three days, I’ll post a quick photography from each day.

Yesterday, I was in Adare. I’ve chosen this photograph because of the light, the pattern and the symmetry, and because it proves that photographers and videographers can work together.

To take the photograph, I stood behind filmmaker Maurice O’Carroll of Velvetine Studios, who had taken the low, crouched position. Maurice and I have worked together quite a few times, and we always get into a rhythm quickly on the weddings we cover together. Honestly, it’s a bit like a ballet, the way we move around each other – though I did almost run him over today in my car. He filmed the whole thing. Who knows, he may post the footage one day? Because Maurice was low he wasn’t blocking anyone’s view while he filmed. I took a quick shot from the high position and moved away so the congregation could see.

(c) Roger Overall 2011

I would choose the 24mm because I like to show context in my photographs. Rather than zoom in on a detail, I prefer to step back and show the surrounding story. It also allows me to show multiple worlds in a single frame, something that is much harder with a 50mm lens.

Sometimes, though, 24mm isn’t quite wide enough. For the picture below, I would have loved a little more, pressed up against the corridor wall as I was. Almost a great photograph.

(c) Roger Overall 2011

Is colour more documentary than black and white? - (c) Roger Overall 2011

Is it an inevitability, this sense of being a cheat?

Does every documentary photographer eventually arrive at this unsettling juncture at which they question whether black-and-white documentary photography is, in fact, a contradiction?

Big questions. The answers have great consequences.

The issue is one of authenticity. If I show you a black-and-white photograph, it isn’t an accurate reflection of reality. Reality comes in colour for humans. We don’t all see colour the same way, but we roughly interpret the same palette. A black-and-white photograph is a step away from that reality. A big, bold, long step away in sturdy, steel-capped boots.

Truth is, colour documentary photography is incredibly hard. It is for me, at least. I find that colours often get in the way of the story I want to tell. Much better (easier) to ditch them in post. That’s why the majority of my work is in black-and-white. It is purely a storytelling device.

Yet, it leaves me with a sense of disquiet that black-and-white diminishes the story. I wonder whether it makes the story less accurate.

Of course, I’m within my rights to say that my black-and-white work is an artistic interpretation of the moment. There is a great deal of truth in this. At the same time, I’m wary that it may have become a bit of a crutch. It is easier to lean on something than to stand independently. Before you know it, you have forgotten, or have dismissed out of hand, the option of not using the crutch. Maybe I have reached the point where I’m over-reliant on black-and-white; maybe I haven’t. There is only one way to find out. I need to tame colour.

That is the reason I decided to shoot my pure Aberdeen Angus beef project in colour. A year without the safety net of black-and-white will hopefully make me a better photographer.

Instance 1:

Imagine this: you are the father of the bride. You will only get one opportunity to see your daughter in her wedding dress for the first time – that moment on her wedding day that she appears in front of you, utterly magnificent, before you set off for the ceremony.

Imagine what must go through your head. Your little girl, whom you most likely cradled in your arms straight after she entered the world. You have seen her grow and flourish. Now, you are on the cusp of giving her away. Here she is, an adult and more beautiful and confident and vulnerable and amazing than ever. This is what she will look like as you walk her up the aisle. And you are seeing it for the first time.

This is a very special moment.

Recently, I saw that moment ruined before it had even happened. The father was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and the videographer jumped in the instant the bride’s foot appeared at the top. I can still hear his voice: “Come down to him now. Step towards your daughter. Give her a kiss. Tell her she looks beautiful. Look at the camera.”

I think that is very disturbing.

A moment of that significance obliterated so that he could record a fake, staged, utterly meaningless version. Worse still, he deprived the father and his daughter of the genuine experience of the moment.

Instance 2:

The most important part of a wedding day is the marriage rite. It is the fulcrum of the entire occasion. It is the couple’s single most significant act.

It deserves the utmost respect.

I don’t think that recording the rite a foot away from the bride and groom is respectful:

The wedding videographer. (c) Roger Overall 2010

I’d like to be blunt and tell you what I think about the particular videographer in the photo above, but upon reading what I’d written, my legal department (ie. my wife) informed me that I should delete the text and burn the computer the words were written on.

Instead, I’ll merely say I think it is disappointing that the videographer decided to film the marriage rite from the viewpoint he did. By doing so, he encroached upon the congregation’s view of ceremony, hiding it from many of them. Certainly, the groom’s parents’ view was blocked – their memory of the instant of their son and daughter-in-law’s marriage is the videographer’s rear end. Some of the guests will have traveled great distances to see his behind.

Sadly, both of these instances are also indicative of how some wedding photographers approach their task. You can see it in the photographs they take.

They too choose to be right up with the couple on the altar, climbing all over the scene like an altar monkey, either blocking (part of) the congregation’s view or forming a considerable distraction.

Or they’re producing photographs of meaningless moments that they stage-manage to the detriment of real moments: the groomsmen dragging the groom into the church, the lads all looking at their watches as if the bride is late, the Reservoir Dogs walk up to the church (sunglasses and all), the list is endless.

I think these photographers have lost the run of themselves. I think too many wedding photographers place their photography above the occasion and the genuine memories.

My own opinion is that this is awful and that the altar monkeys should all [REMOVED AT THE BEHEST OF OUR LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE]. We hear a lot about how the business of wedding photography is in crisis and I think a lot of it is due to the behaviour of wedding photographers themselves.

I’ll explain why in part 2 of this series of posts.

***NOTE*** So, why didn’t I move from my position at the back of the church (my favoured spot for the marriage rite)? Firstly, I initially thought the videographer was just going to pop in for a quick shot and then back off again. By the time I realized he intended to stay put, I didn’t have time to go round the side and up to the front to join the pack on the altar. Even if I had, I would have been a major distraction. Lastly, while I would have had a better view of the rite, I would also have been on top of the couple.

(c) Roger Overall 2010

There was a time when my camera bag weighed more than my daughter. In fact, filled to the brim with my gear, it probably still does.

As I get older, my body gets increasingly less tolerant of heavy equipment. I’m looking to lighten the load.

Nowhere does this apply more than the lighting gear that comes with shooting corporate assignments that have a portrait element to them. I used to bring studio lights. Then, with the help of the Strobist movement, I managed to pair that down to small flashguns. But there was still quite a bit to carry, which was inconvenient when traveling overseas on assignments in particular.

So, I stopped bringing flashguns – a move that coincided with my increasing interest in documentary photography.

Hit the play button below to find out what light I use these days and how it benefits my clients. (Takes about 10 seconds for the audio to start once you press start – my bad).

Single light source and reflector. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Single light source - the big bank of windows on the left. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Shh! (c) Roger Overall 2010

As it’s the last Wednesday of the month, the usual mid-week PictureBoo makes way for a plug for the latest episode of the Circle of Confusion.

We’ve tweaked a few things by adding more news items to the show and we’ve upped the tempo a bit.

We received a couple of emails about the volume level being too low on Episode 2. We were very conscious of volume for this episode and did playbacks on a number of machines, which all sounded okay. Hopefully that’ll be your experience too.

Producing the podcast has been a tremendous experience so far. It’s a steep learning curve, but we’re starting to settle into a rhythm. The recording and initial edit of the launch episode took, I think, about 8 to 10 hours – though a lot of that time was given over to eating an apple pie. Episode 3 took just over half that. It would have been shorter but for another apple tart.

Much of the time saved is due to Peter and me getting more used to chatting in front of a microphone. Our best conversations tend to happen off air, during editorial meetings or chats on the phone. We’d like to bring the feel and flow of those exchanges into the podcast. I think episode 3 is a step forward in that respect, though I for one find it hard to get past the Rode Podcaster microphone. It’s a big piece of kit and visually daunting with a spit guard attached, I can tell you.

See what I mean about the gear getting in the way of a conversation? (c) Roger Overall 2010

We’re very grateful to everyone who’s taken the time to listen. We’re conscious that you don’t have limitless time, so we appreciate any you choose to spend in our company. We’re also thankful for the comments we receive on the blog, which we hope will become a focal point for discussion about our profession. Lastly, we’d like to thank those of you who have taken the trouble to give feedback about the show – unless you were mean, in which case your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.

Episode 3 of The Circle of Confusion with Peter and Roger.