BF Stop 2

While browsing the internet over the weekend, there was one blog article that seemed to jump off the monitor and scream “Read Me!” It was posted on Gizmodo (a very popular technology blog) during May 2005. The article is titled, “Future of Wedding Photography,” which is why it was so interesting. What were the predictions in 2005 for the wedding photography industry? Well, not good, apparently.

The funny thing is the Gizmodo blog post was actually a response to an article on another techno-savvy blog, Techdirt, which actually got the idea from this other article. Anyway, the point is that in 2005, the predictions for wedding photographers were pretty much doom and gloom.

Basically, the bloggers wonder if once everything goes fully digital (remember this was written four years ago), professional photographers will be in far less demand. The main reasons for such claims:

1. Anyone can go out and buy a really nice digital SLR camera and have some random person they know take the wedding pictures. The camera will make up for the lack of a professional photographer.
2. Brides and Grooms will only want digital images, not prints, rendering another aspect of the wedding photog’s job obsolete.
3. Brides and Grooms won’t care about spending money for expensive albums when they can keep the images online or make a much cheaper album online themselves.

It is now 2009 and it seems to us at BIG Folio that the wedding photography industry is thriving. And it all basically comes down to the responses to the three predictions of 2005.

1. A professional photographer is still a PROFESSIONAL. Not many brides want to risk getting some fuzzy prints emailed to her by her cousin after her special day. She wants to know that a real photographer will be there to capture everything (with his or her expensive, digital camera, of course).
2. Wedding Photogs figured this one out a while ago and have pretty much stayed on top of the issue. If the happy couple wants digital images, work out a contract so they can have some digital images if they pay up front for services and sign a licensing agreement (or any number of other caveats).
3. It turns out wedding albums aren’t really deal breakers. If the photog and Bride/Groom can settle on the first two items, then they can figure out a way to make the album work too.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think the 2005 predictions hold water? Or has the industry already tackled most of these issues? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.