Gareth Richards

Technology and Wedding Photography

Having just taken delivery of a lovely new Canon 5D mk2 I am very keen to put it through it’s paces at a wedding. However, I sit here and ask myself who are all those extra megapixels for? Would a Bride (or Groom) notice the difference if their wedding day was photographed using an 8 Megapixel camera as opposed to my new 21 Megapixel one? The answer is probably not. Many of the albums I show wedding customers contain images taken with lower specified older equipment. In their day though, they were cutting edge.

So what’s the point? As a wedding photographer I think there is a certain expectation or even assumption, by the Bride and Groom that the equipment used on their big day is up to date. By the same token, I believe the photographer has an obligation to provide the highest possible quality in terms of creativity and technical picture quality. If you were to ask a wedding photographer if they can see the difference between older technology and new I think most would say that they could and for me that is important. It gives me a certain level of confidence that I am providing my wedding customers with the best that is available.

Wedding photography is after all, about the quality of the final image and I think that current higher level digital cameras have much to offer in the hands of the right photographer.