January 13th, 2009 in The recognition of your peers is something to be proud of. The New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography has run Wedding Album Awards for only two years, but I (we) have won both times.
Now there’s talk of changing the competition rules. That’s OK, but the word is that some photographers feel I shouldn’t be allowed to enter next year …
For what it’s worth, as I see them, here are the secrets of my success: Flow, Rhythm, Storytelling, Pace and Creative Expression. If you think about these words again they not only relate to album design, but are also about music. Music is the other secret ingredient!
Both years I used Photojunction to prepare the designs. The software gives me the freedom to design a contemporary book within realistic parameters. I used Queensberry Duo albums so I could combine the freedom of a digital magazine style page with the classic beauty of a matted page presentation.
I listen to music when I put together an album …. not just any old music … sometimes its Johnny Cash because it has to be … and sometimes it’s somebody like Emiliano Torrini because she has a sense of fun in her music… or sometimes its Gomez.
How does music affect the design? It’s about something called ‘Flow’. Flow is when you get into a creative space that lets you ignore formulas, and design by your feelings. The music is good to exclude other influences that interfere with the creative process. The best is when it clears your head, inspires you, and engages you with your visual environment.
After Flow there is Rhythm. Rhythm creates a life for the album. It’s true! The rhythm of the album is the delivery of the story in a manner that keeps the viewer’s attention by balancing the presentation of the images with the layout and page density.
Rhythm is really the poetry of the storytelling.
As the wedding photographer I must also be the story teller. That’s what makes an album such a wonderful way to bring the parts of a wedding together.
I feel strongly about the poetry and rhythm of an album. I try to pace the presentation of images to allow for the natural flow of the story being told. The story must be as strong as the photographs.
I like to vary the pace. Sometimes the viewers can stroll through quiet pages with few images. Sometimes there will be busy pages, with many images, where they will need to stop and browse, but these will always be near quieter spaces. There is a flow that feels right. What I am trying to say is that the album should read well and not be cluttered.
Then there is Creative Expression. This should start with the making of the images, because in truth creativity is not the use of random spot colours or some filter applied after the fact.
Both my competition albums were for brides who were reluctant about photography. I think this helped me because in each case I was encouraged to look at the entire wedding as a story. The entries represented only a part of the full albums supplied to the clients but told enough of the story to give a sense of skill, creativity, style, design, and emotion.
Wedding album award 2008 (click the image to see more layouts)
Finally, wedding albums should always be independent designs that reflect the subject matter, as well as the personal style of the Photographer. Not the Photographer’s style as seen through the images of somebody else’s wedding.
So there it is … I do want to give my best but I always strive to be better. I haven’t decided whether to enter next time …. maybe I will.
Best wishes, Johannes
PS I said ‘we’ won because the rest of ‘me’ is Moda Fotografica, our wonderful studios just out of Christchurch in Lyttelton. And it is through our combined effort that our studio strives for excellence.
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