The Bumpy Road

I was feeling a little bummed since the wedding I shot on Friday night. But I just got an email that put me on top of the world!



The wedding itself was a lot of fun. As I packed my gear bag and ironed my clothes, I felt like I was preparing for a show where I'd be playing the part of the photographer. It's fun to get to the hotel when they're just starting to get ready -- it really does make it feel like a theatrical performance. And I like that people are letting me into their lives to photograph the big event. It's definitely a good thing to meet with the couple beforehand, so I have a little feel for them before "showtime". It was the first "national" wedding at the hotel since I've been photographing there. The bride and groom live in the States, but the groom is originally from Guadalajara and the bride is 1st generation Mexican-American. They hired a big band, and had a dance floor installed and it turned into a really fun party.


But I got home kind of late and started going through photos and noticed a few things. The bride's dad blinked or looked away from the camera in nearly every shot! How could I have not noticed that? And the bride is probably about the grooms height to begin with and for some reason decided to wear spiked heels that made her tower over the groom. Damn, that rule of photographing the bride closer to the camera because she's smaller backfired!




But worst of all, I unpacked my flash and noticed what appeared to be a large burn mark on the LCD. After talking to Nikon, it seems it might have gotten "bumped" and have impact damage. And there's no authorized service center in Mexico so to fix it, it needs to get to California. Which means about $50 mailing with DHL or UPS because the mail in Mexico just doesn't work (I'm long overdue for a blog rant about that!).




All these things and the lingering bad feeling that the wedding hotel guy is taking advantage of me financially made me a little bummed. But then tonight I got a digest email from a Puerto Vallarta Yahoo group I subscribe to. Someone had written that a friend's son was getting married in Vallarta and asked if anyone knew a good wedding photographer. My friend JR wrote back that I was one and gave my website address. This made me happy enough. But then unexpectedly, the following emails appeared:

"We recently got married in Puert0 V@llarta and used Chr!stine. She did an EXCELLENT job. Her website is: site. She is an American (from NY I think) that has relocated to Puert0 V@llarta."

and he posted another that said:

"My name is M. and I was married at [PF] on May 20th. Chr!stine was our photographer and I thought that she did and exellent job... If you notice on Chr!stine's site, we're the couple in the foreground of the fireworks. I thought that I would "plug" Chr!stine as she exceeded my expectations."

Wow!! And that was the groom who I was a little worried about because he's very businesslike and seemed like a bit of a hard-ass when I first met him. It makes me feel good that I did a good job. So good that they'd write to others about it. And that it gets me a little free publicity too. Makes me feel like I am doing the right thing and moving in the right direction.

I still have a lot of work to do in terms of getting my business really going. I need a real website where I can post photos for the couple to view and choose from if they're getting prints. I also need to establish a relationship with a videographer to provide a package if people request that (which someone already has). I'd also like to have a business relationships with other wedding photographers so I'd have a backup person if necessary. We could share business if we were booked and had multiple requests. I know this will all happen but it seems a little daunting. But hey, I've made it this far. I guess I just need to keep working at it.