166 Better Available Light Digital Photography
Barry has no interest in pursuing
celebrity clients, having dealt with
so many of them during his tenure
at People magazine. No security
guard is confi scating cameras at
the weddings he photographs, so
he often fi nds ways to incor -
porate guest photography into
his wedding-day storytelling. The
guest with camera in hand on the
right-hand side of the photograph
adds depth and life to the shot. ©
2007 Barry Staver.
There is one big obstacle caused by guest photography that
can hinder the professional photographer using multiple fl ash
units that are being triggered with a slave or any kind of
fl ash-sensitive triggering device. Depending on the sensitivity
of the units, the guest fl ashes may trigger the professional
photographer’s lights, draining batteries and rendering those
lights useless by repeated “unauthorized” fi rings. One fool-
proof way to avoid this: use infrared-triggered fl ash units or
ones tripped with radio- controlled remote devices such as
PocketWizards (www.pocketwizard.com) and RadioPoppers
(www.radiopopper.com).
Many people claim to be wedding photographers, and we’re
not sure why they’ve chosen this particular specialty, because
it’s one of the toughest branches of photography in which
to excel. Here’s why: The wedding photographer has to be
on his game for hours on end. In the corporate world of
commercial and advertising photography, most assignments
require prep time, setup, taking test shots, client approval,
and often waiting. Waiting for something, someone. Waiting
for the photo subject. In other words, the camera doesn’t
have to be in hand, ready to capture images, or taking photo-
graphs constantly. If you set the camera down at a wedding
ceremony or reception, it’s almost a guarantee that a photo
opportunity will present itself and be missed. Corporate and
magazine clients often need only one successful image for a
cover, perhaps a few additional images for the inside pages.
Weddings require dozens of successful images, especially if
you’re working as a storyteller.