Capture the moment?

“Capture the Moment” is a phrase that gets tossed around a lot by wedding photographers. In my opinion it is used far too much, to the point where I have even seen new photographers use it in the name of their businesses. When I ask photographers why they use it so frequently, I usually get a conversation like this:

New Photographer: “I want to set myself apart from the competition.”
Me: “Does your competition not capture the moment.”
NP: “They do, but I want customers to know that I don’t just do boring stiff wedding photography.”
Me: “Does your competition actually advertise boring wedding photography?”
NP: “Well no, but…”

[one_half] [single_lightbox url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0030-Merrill.jpg” image_url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0030-Merrill.jpg” image_width=”175″ image_height=”200″ title=””] [/one_half] [one_half_last] I realize that when we look back a generation or two ago, wedding photos primarily consisted of a few boring portraits at the front of the church. Photojournalism had not been embraced by wedding photographers because most wedding photographers at the time were also portrait photographers. [/one_half_last]

[pull_quote_right] Henri Cartier-Bresson published his book The Decisive Moment in 1952. [/pull_quote_right]Things are different today. Many wedding photographers these days are coming from a background of photo journalism. The entire concept of “capturing the moment” became pretty mainstream after Henri Cartier-Bresson published his book The Decisive Moment in 1952. It was a new concept to photographers at the time, but these days, that book is considered standard reading for any budding photographer.

Am I suggesting that wedding photographers should stop trying to capture the moment? Of course not. I think that is a critical aspect of wedding photography. What I am suggesting is that we stop using the phrase to set ourselves apart from completion that doesn’t exist. Unless you have competition in your area that only does formal portraits at weddings, who are you really setting yourself apart from by saying you “capture the moment?”

Instead, try using words in your client facing materials that actually set you apart from what your competition does. Look at their websites and brochures and figure out what makes your images different. Use what actually sets you apart in your marketing materials as opposed to setting yourself apart from competition that hasn’t existed since the 80’s.

[one_third] [single_lightbox url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0292-Merrill.jpg” image_url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0292-Merrill.jpg” image_width=”150″ image_height=”175″ title=””] [/one_third] [one_third] [single_lightbox url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0564-Koster.jpg” image_url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0564-Koster.jpg” image_width=”150″ image_height=”175″ title=””] [/one_third] [one_third_last] [single_lightbox url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0877-Koster.jpg” image_url=”https://www.timothyfaust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/0877-Koster.jpg” image_width=”150″ image_height=”175″ title=””] [/one_third_last]