Well, it’s finally arrived. www.jamesday.com.au

Go check it out, now.

JD

Writing a blog post about where I find my inspiration should read a long list of famous photographers around the world that I might model myself after. I can’t deny that there have been photographers who I have met that have inspired me, but usually the inspiration hasn’t come from their images they create. It’s people that inspire me.

When I am photographing, the only real inspiration I have is the people in front of me. I often say that I wish I could just photograph in a desert with absolutely nothing around me because I actually love it when I have no distractions of the landscape when I shoot. Sometimes the location can add to the image, but often it simply acts as a distraction if you try and make the people in front of you fit with in with the landscape with no link to it at all.

The best advice I can give to someone who is lacking inspiration is to simply be fascinated. See what you are seeing like you have never seen it before. If you go into a photoshoot thinking this is just another one of those blah blah blah thingo’s that I did last week and yeah I’ll just go to the same place and do the same thing and it’ll be easy.. then you’re really setting yourself up for failure in my opinion. You’re unlikely to produce anything authentic and you’ll get super tired of your work in 5 mins flat. I often meet photographers who are so sick of weddings yet they still photograph weddings because they like the money. They assume I’m in it for the same reason and they rarely understand my enthusiasm for photographing art of people in love. There is something incredible about creating art from love. There is nothing more beautiful than love.

Discovering an image like this of Sandy & Bianca comes from letting go of all your own agendas and allowing people to openly express their love for each other.

We live in a world where copying is so easy and I believe our society is being trained by the media to imitate. I sit here watching a guy on Ellen singing a song that has been done a thousand times before. Am I going to remember this guy? Not likely. Will people sing along and say.. “ooh I love this song”. They won’t credit you for it though. It’s more likely going to remind them what they love about the original. People are placed on a pedestal & we are told to love them, then there are products that are brought out to help us imitate them. Photoshop actions anyone?

Imitation doesn’t open you up to the world of fascination, hence why I want no more of it.

What are your thoughts?

JD

I’m often asked by new camera owners for tips on how to photograph a wedding. In this day and age lots of people who own cameras are asked to photograph a wedding. I’m not saying don’t ask a friend to photograph a wedding.. in fact I encourage it. It’s probably the best thing anyone could do for my business. The majority of my work comes from people who know people who have had awful wedding photos and have recommended their friends hire a pro! Also notice I am calling them new camera owners and not photographers! I do not call someone that buys a scalpel a surgeon.

Thought i’d add a random photo just for fun from Lashaye & Mark’s wedding for those of you that are here to see pretty pictures

Here are 10 mistakes that new camera owners make regularly!

1. Not having back up. Find out if your new camera owner has back up for all their gear. 99.9% of new camera owners won’t have this. It’s not a matter of it something goes wrong, it’s when.

2. Not having back up. But I already said that? I’m talking about different back up now. I’m talking about making multiple copies of the images in different locations in case of some sort of incident. Once again, it’s not if, but when.

3. Not having the correct insurance. It could ruin your photographer friend if something happens and they get sued. They also may not be legally allowed to photograph in some locations!

4. Not understanding light. Without light there is no photo. With a good understanding of light, you can do pretty much anything!

5. Not setting expectations or setting expectations beyond what they can reasonably do. If these people really think they can do what they have promised, then why am I getting these emails asking for help every day?

6. Not presenting images properly. One of the things that an experienced professional photographer can do for you is present your images in a way that will help you appreciate the images. A disc of unedited photos with no clear story is not ideal! Imagine going to the movies and having to watch Tom Hanks say “Life is like a box of chocolates” over and over again until he gets it right. You want to see it once, done properly, followed by the next scene that complements the story.

7. Not knowing how to set people at ease. This also applies to many professional photographers. They get so caught up in the technical aspects and fiddling with their cameras that they lose all connection with the people in the images.

8. Learning how to use your camera when you are photographing a wedding. This isn’t the time to experiment with what this button might do etc… format?… I wonder what the format button does!

9. Missing out on images that people expect. This comes back to setting expectations and exceeding them. The best way to avoid this is just to ask lots of questions and find out what they want & write them down!

10. Wasting peoples time. Generally an inexperienced new camera owner will take a long time to do what a pro can do in a split second.

For the new camera owners wanting to read more about photographing a wedding, I suggest reading the following article that my friend Antony Hands wrote on how to photograph a wedding!

James Day.
www.3words.com.au

Over the years, hundreds of people have chosen me to create images on a day that could be the most important day of their lives. The reasons why I think they’ve chosen me has changed over the years. Once upon a time I believe it probably had more to do with the fact that I was really really cheap than people liking the photos they thought I could take. I think after the events of the past few weeks, I have learnt more about why people may hire me these days.

Over the past few weeks it has been my responsibility to find a wedding photographer to photograph our wedding. You may think it’s funny, but it’s probably one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.

I found myself weighing up whos images were better suited for the wedding that Cath & I were planning, what finished product Cath & I would like to receive in the end & most importantly and I can’t stress this enough.. who I trusted most! Of course, budget also played a role.

The photographer can really make a huge difference as to how much you enjoy the day, the memories you have of your wedding & the enjoyment your guests have too.

I ended up nailing it down to 3 or 4 photographers whos work I adored, whom I would trust with our wedding photos & whos prices I could reason.

One thing that is very evident in the industry is that there is a huge difference in how much they cost & the quality of the images. I think back to what I was charging when I started and I can explain to you why I was charging what I charged back then & what I charge now. When I started I think I charged about $500 & spent weeks working on the wedding photographs. It was because I needed to. The originals looked pretty crappy & I was so scared to show the originals. These days the editing I do is more styling than photoshopping as I get it right in camera. I made some pretty horrific mistakes. I hope the people knew what they were in for.

If you are paying very little for a professional wedding photographer you have to ask yourself why they’re charging what they’re charging. If they’re charging $500 maybe it is because that’s all they think they’re worth. Also, large studios with lots of photographers may also be more competitive when it comes to hiring them for your wedding but once again that may come at a cost. Do you know if the photographer you’ve hired will actually turn up or will they send another photographer from the studio? Do you know that the images that you saw on their website will be anything like the photographs your photographer is able to create because often with these larger studios the images you see may have been taken by a photographer that doesn’t even work at the studio anymore. I’m not saying that choosing a larger studio is a bad choice, it just may be though if it’s an ill informed one.

Working by yourself does have it’s challenges as well though. I write 100% of the emails. Edit 100% of the images. Take 100% of the images. Meet with 100% of the clients. Answer 100% of the phone calls. I do it all. It certainly does make for a more intimate relationship with the client, but it means I have to be on top of my game 100% of the time. If I make a mistake, it’s MY business that suffers. If I were to have an unhappy client it’s my business that suffers. I find this means that my clients get the very best that I can offer.

The thing though that small studios can generally offer though is passion. I love photographing people in love. I love spending time with people who are passionate, in love & excited about life. I am extremely excited every time I pick up my camera & those of you who have seen me photograph have seen how I just don’t want to put the camera down. I love creating images for people that will take them back to a time in their life that they want to be taken back to.

My prices for wedding photography start around $4000. The things that are listed on the price list really don’t reflect what I offer at all. Above anything else, I feel that what I offer is an experience. This is something I just don’t know how to communicate in words. It’s something that I see & feel time and time again with the people I photograph. Together we create a space for love to be free to be expressed & for precious memories to be savoured.

When Cath & I get married in December I am so excited to have a photographer who I fully trust to take the care required to photograph our wedding. Someone who is passionate about photography, someone who I know will give me the best they can give me and someone whom I will love having there with us enjoying our special day. Thank you Simon

JD

I have WAY too much fun at weddings. It should be illegal? Maybe it is?
Thanks to Matt Barwick

james day highlight reel from Matt Barwick on Vimeo.

Dear friends

Today, I find myself in the East Hamptons, on long island New York. This is another world here. It seems every second house belongs to a celebrity and the rest of the town seems to make it’s money from looking after the rich. It’s such a pretty area and the houses are magnificent. 

I’m here seeing some clients and doing a handful of shoots. I’m only here for 2 days. I could spend months here.

Last night I went to a little mexican restaurant called the Blue Parrot, which is owned by Jon Bon Jovi and Renee Zellweger and has a few other investors too…and they’ve been known to work there occasionally… and there is reports that last week Jon Bon Jovi grabbed a guitar off the wall and started playing it for guests. Great stories.. but the food was kinda average

So, I’ll be back in Australia from the 4th of August and available for commissions from then! I’ll be in Sydney for a day or two when I return, so any Sydney people that would like to meet up, just email me!

Firstly, welcome to my new Inspiration Journal.

I think it’s only fitting to begin with Toni & Pete’s – a beautiful beginning shoot.

Toni & Pete were among the first people that I shared the Three Words project with. With their words “Faith, Hope & Love”, we created these Inspired images for them. 

After the shoot Toni and I spoke of the need for a song for the website that was being dreamt up at the time. I gave Toni the words, “Three Words, 2 People, 1 Love, and she created the song that you can now hear playing on the new Three Words by James Day website.

Toni, I really don’t know how to thank you adequately for blessing me with this song. All I can say is Thank You!

Don’t you just love the way the sun peeks just over Toni’s shoulder.

I love the soft light in this one.

A new favourite of mine.

This location is my favourite place to shoot anywhere in the world.

I have this image hanging in my studio

Yep, there are 3 Petes.

If you know Pete & Toni, make sure you ask Pete what he was thinking of when this shot was taken.

Toni is totally into Pete.

The light is incredible!

Tilt shift lens yumminess.

Ahhhh.. I love this one too!