In the past weeks, I have been thinking about what can be improved by most Indonesian photographers in relation to the preparation of my upcoming workshop in Indonesia.
I have seen some works of the established wedding photographers in Indonesia. I have witnessed and heard a lot of stories about how wedding photographers in Indonesia work. I heard a lot of complaints how most couples in Indonesia don’t know how to treat photographers as an artist, rather photographer is treated as just another vendor.
I also sense that most of couples in Indonesia are more product oriented (they are more interested in looking at how the album will be designed), as most of wedding albums emphasized more in the design rather than the photo alone. No wonder, most wedding photographers in Indonesia focuses more in investing creatively on their products (such as album and packaging).
In this upcoming workshop, I’ll cover how client education process takes an important role in producing photography results. The process helps me to shoot what I want rather than what they (the couples) want. It is an art to be able to do that.
For everyone who attended my previous gathering with other wedding photographers in Jakarta last June, they must be familiar with my term “We are photographer, not designer”. By this client education process, I educate my clients to appreciate my photo, not how good I am in designing my album. If you are good in designing album, it’s your plus but your photo is still the one that makes you proud to be a wedding photographer.
Here is the example of how client education worked for me. I shot this photo in an unattractive and quite a busy alley with passing motorcycle and bajaj (traditional mode of transport) in West Jakarta. But I made my couple believed whatever I asked them to do, they stepped in without hesitation. And the result was something they are proud of.
[...] Client education [...]