Marc Bates

 

Olivia Newton John died this week, I was gutted when I found out. My first thoughts were to read the testimonials from her friends and co-stars.
My second was “I want to watch Grease”

When any artist I like passes away, I want to watch and listen to their work. I want to feel what I felt the first time, and I want to remember why I liked them. I do it all the time. When Paul Sorvino and Ray Liotta died, I made sure to watch Goodfellas. What a film! That scene where Henry and Karen are walking through the corridors and kitchen of the Copacabana, with the Crystals singing “Then he kissed me” is one of my favourite parts of any movie, ever! The cinematography is amazing. One long continuous shot, caught in one take.

When the News broke of Taylor Hawkins passing, the back catalogue of Foo Fighters became my soundtrack for that week in March.
Ivan Reitman died in January, I did a ghostbuster marathon. The passing of Fred Ward got me sitting down watching Tremors.
Nichelle Nichols passed last month, so I am making my way through the old star trek movies.

 

 

What do all of these artists have in common?

Well many of them have gone too soon, but the thing that stands out for me is that they all produced work that is timeless. Creating something that stands the test of time and continues to bring joy to people long after it is completed, is surely the aim of any artist.
It is forever in my thoughts when I photograph a wedding.

 

Photographs often outlive the people that are featured in them. The same will be true for your wedding images.

On my desk I have a photo from the wedding of my paternal grandparents, taken in 1944. Grandad died in 1979 and Nan in 2000, but 78 years later here they are on my desk.

Wedding photography is a collaboration. Together we are creating something that will last forever. It is a part of your family history and a part of our collective legacy. These photos are a once in a lifetime occurrence. They are a series of moments that can never be duplicated or recreated. They are precious and one day those moments will form part of your lasting memories of friends and family.

 

Your wedding collection is a time machine, transporting you back to that day with those people.
Just like me watching Grease, it allows you to feel what you felt in that moment.
You can go back and remember.

That is the power of a photograph.

 

 

 

But to have that ability, to own that time machine, you need the right photographer, because so many people don’t think of this when they are planning their wedding. Often the decision is driven by budget, and cost is usually the reason people don’t book me for their wedding. I absolutely understand that, but at the same time I don’t.

Long after your wedding has ended, the photos are one of the only things that you will keep. I know of so many people that have said that they wished they had spent more on their wedding photographer. And people have even told me they regret the choice, with a few even saying they wished they had booked me, but by then it is too late. It is difficult to say this without sounding like I am being self-serving, but please find someone you like and spend the money to make sure they are at your wedding. Have a meeting with them have 10 meetings if that what it takes to be sure, but please don’t choose your wedding photographer based on budget. Look at the work and ask yourself will this person create images that I will enjoy forever.

So what should you do?

Find an artist that creates something timeless, a grease like master piece that you have to watch again and again. And when you find that photographer you love, don’t think about budget, take some inspiration from Olivia Newton John and say
“You’re the one that I want”