Just Add Alcohol !!

Over the last 2 years continuing as a die hard wedding photographer in Chile I have become aware of a very funny part of the Chilean culture, which I think is kinda cute. 

During the wedding photography of the day people are not very responsive to the camera and sometimes need a little prodding to get my required result. While everyone is derssed up , make up, hair, nails, all looking great the missing element is often a little smile. At the formal part of the day many people seem to be sooooo serious and reserve expressing their feelings. Even when theyknow there in frame and about to be shot, they will hold a poker face that could bluff easly with the worst of hands in a real game.

Just add alcohol  !!!
Now, during the cocktail things begin to loosen up and as I pull guests to produce the formal family group shots the mood lightens and the smiles start to appear, but usually just on the ladies at this stage. The men remain ties tight and serious. Asking for any fun group shots at this stage in a wedding in Chile usually does not produce the desired effect.

Add more alcohol !!!!!
The meal begins and as the wine starts to settle with the cocktail champagne the knots in the ties begin to slip and everyone starts to asume their natural smile. This is usually the best time to capture the candid photojournalistic shots of emmotions and people interacting, great chances for photographs of eye contact, laughing, touching etc etc

OK Lets just finnish all the alcohol  !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The party begins and like any good wedding the guests start to party hard, although in Chile iI find they party probably the hardest out of all the countries I've worked in. I love the wedding partys in Chile....truely a fiesta...and the dancing is awesome.  Now ...upto this point ..all but 4 weddings in Chile have produced one or two people who constantly approach me throughout the night requesting a foto. It doesn't bother me...It is my job to capture the guests doing what they do so well but I have to consider that the bride and groom most likely do not want 100+ fotos of the same person getting more and more drunk. As much as it is a very fun part of my work watching 200 people getting hammered and having a free hand to photograph them doing all sorts of crazy stuff.. As much as I love this, the artistic portraits are still my favorite.

My assistant Photographer Maurico is a party animal and he just cant get enough of the wedding fiestas. He also has his fare share of Mr and Mrs FOTO FOTO FOTO requesters and produces some perfectly timed images catching them...lets just say not always at their best, but the party is about us reporting all the fun to the clients..so be it.  So, to continue, the FOTO FOTO FOTO cries go out around my ears as I patrol the dance floor. After taking at least 60 requested images of a certain guest I asked Mauricio to step in and track her for a bit. The booze was kicking in and it was about to funny (funnier)

Approximately 3 minutes later I see Mauricio cutting a path right to me with a huge smile on his face and his camera preview screen lit with an image...I thought "he's got one already?"  surely not !!  sure enough...only a matter of time and percentages.  Oh dear...The front of the dress fell down !!

(While I hold the full Copyright and Publication rights on this image It will not be published to protect the ID of the subject)

After we gave the guest a preview of this she laughed and kept insisting on more fotos...she was awesome  just too funny.

In summary..Chile weddings ROCK !...and the guests are always awesome...Just add Alcohol !! (lol)

 

http://www.weddingphotochile.com/
info@weddingphotochile.com
Tel (0056-9) 9-992 9508
Facebook “Gardner WeddingPhotographer Hamilton”


Fotografo boda santiago chile fotografo matrimonio santiago chile fotografo casamiento santiago chile
Fotografo boda vina del mar chile fotografo matrimonio vina del mar chile fotografo casamiento vina del mar chile servicio fotografia Gardner Hamilton weddingphotochile wedding photographer santiago chile wedding photographer vin del mar chile destination wedding photographer chile fotografo britanico photography services www.fotografobritanico.com

Wedding Vina/Valpo

ok 8 hours sleep in 4 days and here i am ready to shoot again...This wedding was set in 2 awesome locations, Church on Salinas, Vina del mar and then the officers Naval Club in Valparaiso. Both locations were just beautiful, a great day and with full formal dress there will be some popping image coming out of this set or sure...I did a session with these guys on the beach...see posting from a couple of months ago...they were a little nervous and it payed off as they were great on the day...Only one image prepared just for the blog at this time...more later..i currently have 3 wedding sets and 1 commercial set of images to edit so i will be shckled to my MAC for the next 3 weeks.

Vina Wedding 21st Nov 2009

WOW...what a day...Beautiful day..great locations and a fantastic crowd !
I actually found the party of this wedding very hard to photograph as I was constantly laughing at the antics of the guests. This is definitely in the top 3 weddings attended this year, Thanks guys for making me and the team welcome.


Heres a couple of sample shots from the day.

Fotografia de boda Pichidangui IV Region Chile

Wedding 14th Nov 2009
Pichidangui, Chile
So...a 2 hour drive north into the 4th region took me to my first meeting with Paula and Daniel. After flying in from Switzerland last week they have been so busy we did not get a chance to meet so all details had been done over the phone and email. This was such a unique event, A church carved into the rocks on the ocean front was the main stage for the ceromony..Very different. Then we took off to the beach for some informal shooting before hitting the beach front hotel for the rest of the day. These guys were great...Willing to get the feet wet makes all the different for a beach shoot...Good Job Guys!...I think you both look fantastic..Next week..Recreo and Vina...watch this space











Contacto
Gardner Hamilton
www.weddingphotochile.com
info@weddingphotochile.com
Tel (0056-9) 9-992 9508
Facebook “Gardner WeddingPhotographer Hamilton”

Fotografo boda santiago chile fotografo matrimonio santiago chile fotografo casamiento santiago chile
Fotografo boda vina del mar chile fotografo matrimonio vina del mar chile fotografo casamiento vina del mar chile servicio fotografia Gardner Hamilton weddingphotochile wedding photographer santiago chile wedding photographer vin del mar chile destination wedding photographer chile fotografo britanico photography services www.fotografobritanico.com

Entering into the season

So 25th October and the wedding photo season has kicked into full swing. Wedding photographers all over CHile and no dobt the southern hemisphere are now recharging batteries friday and saturday nights until the end of May 2010.

I have finally take charge of someting I was never happy with in supplying wedding photography sevices in Santiago and in Vina del mar. Offering Clients wedding packages for their photographs. It seems so standard and boring. To me, a wedding is so unique and needs a unique approach and a unique construction to the format of the days photography. People are all so different and like different things, to try to provide a package to report such an event is really a comprimise on the part of the bride and groom.

So as of today I will take the details of each event based on what the client needs and wants, not what they can get for their buck. Through customising my wedding photography delivery I am convinced that the type of client I serve will have a greater satisfaction and also allowing me to work outwith the constraints of a package. Weddings require huge amounts of flexibility and adaptabillity on the behalf of the photographers. Packages are a ball and chain for all. Contact me for a sample price on your event. Below on this blog you can see a listing for free quote where you can fill out all your information to recieve a free quote on your wedding photography for events in Chile. for weddings in other countries please contact me directly through www.weddingphotochile.com
( fotografo matrimonios santiago vina del mar chile fotografia boda )

Fotografia de matrimonio GRATIS !!!!!!!

GRATIS FOTOGRAFÍA GRATIS de su matrimonio…… gáne sus fotografías de bodas en 2010!
www.WeddingPhotoChile.com se complace en anunciar a usted la oportunidad de ganar sus fotografías de su matrimonio en el 2010. El sorteo está abierto a todas las parejas en el mundo que estén planificando sus bodas y matrimonio en cualquier localidad de Chile, incluye Santiago y Viña del Mar.
La selección tendrá lugar el día 5 de Diciembre 2009 y el ganador será contactado el mismo día. Los resultados serán publicados en http://WeddingPhotoChile.blogspot.com

Lléne el documento ubicado en http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEg1OG9SNnV0SkRsZ1FxNXJmemxpeHc6MA..

Gane, gana, gratis, bodas, fotografía, fotografías, fotógrafo, matrimonio, Santiago, viña del mar, chile





FREE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Win Your Wedding Photographs in 2010

www.WeddingPhotoChile.com is pleased to announce to you the opportunity to win your wedding photography in 2010. The competition is open to all people throughout the world planning marrage in locations besed in Chile including Santiago and vina del mar. The selection will take place December 5th 2009 and the winner contacted the same day. Results published on http://WeddingPhotoChile.blogspot.com

Please complete the document located at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEg1OG9SNnV0SkRsZ1FxNXJmemxpeHc6MA..

Win, free, wedding, photography, photographs, photographer, matrimonio, santiago, vina del mar, chile

Wedding Dresses

Great resource for wedding dresses.
www.noviasmariaegenia.cl
Very nice people and awesome quality...very original
Locations in Vina del mar and in Las Condes.

Also have a division for amazing quality flowers....great service

Fotografo Matrimonio Boda Santiago Vina del Mar

http://www.weddingphotochile.com/

ENGLISH BELOW

http://www.weddingphotochile.com/

Bienvenido al Blog de Gardner Hamilton (www.gardnerhamilton.com) y la fotografía de boda de Viña del Mar y Santiago de Chile.

(www.weddingphotochile.com) Este blog es para compartir experiencias e ideas, conceptos y problemas con la fotografía de bodas en Chile.

ENGLISH

http://www.weddingphotochile.com/


Welcome to the Blog of Gardner Hamilton (http://www.gardnerhamilton.com/) and Wedding Photography for Vina del mar and Santiago, Chile. (http://www.weddingphotochile.com/)


This blog is to share experiences and ideas, concepts and problems with wedding photography in Chile.

In my experience, Chile has some very capible photographers but they lack innovation in composition and a deep enough knowledge of post production (eg - Photoshop) to produce the high quality Fine Art style photography required for wedding clients.


In nearly all of the weddings I have photographed in Vina del Mar and in Santiago, local clients always require an album containing printed photographs. This is obviously the tradition in many countries but, after working in several northern hemisphere countries such as United States, Canada, Japan and many locaions in Europe I notice a trend change where 90 percent of clients now only request images on a digital format (DVD / CD).

The freedom of the digital image gives clients the availibility to email and print at their own control. The problem then begins with Watermarks!!! As a pro photographer for many years I realise the importance of a photographer protecting his copyright and his work. In my opinion this is for the commercial side of photography. Many of the photographers I have encountered in Chile do not even own their own copyright yet cover there images with a bold watermark stating protection. This as in other countries is a way to ensure clients have to return and pay for more images.


In my mind and looking to the future, I see this as the rope with which they hang themselves. I prefer to give the client disks of full size, copyright free images for them to do with as they please. This means I do not make resale on the images but for a wedding, seriously...how many clients come back year after year for prints....come on photographers.....cut your clients free...


My next BIG ISSUE with images in Chile is print quality. Chile has one pro lab and to be honest it has failed me twice already. While they have state of the art equipment...they pay no attention to paper humidity levels and ink tempratures so all their fancy gadgets become useless. The turn out the same quality upto 20"x16" as the regular Kodak store in the street. For high quality large prints I still use the USA.


What struck me the most when arriving to Chile 18 months ago was the huge demand for informal wedding photography, the opposite of the northern Americas where the formal pose and fine art portrait is a key element of the event. Just last week i was shooting for a couple from Santiago who had a fantastic wedding event at Sporting Club Valparaiso http://www.sporting.cl/ A bueatiful Venue and a great event hosted by http://www.casaeventos.cl/ . This particular client wanted only informal photos, which turned out to be great as they were all party animals and were dancing crazy all night. A far change from the very rigid and formal events timed to the second in other parts of the world. Using some super wide angle lenses (10mm) my assistant, Mauricio, and I captured some very different images using monopods to shoot from different perspectives and give alternative views of the event..A SUCCESS !


Next week I am working with a Canadain couple who tie the knot on a roof top at midnight in Santiago...i will let you know how that goes.


Contacto
Gardner Hamilton
http://www.weddingphotochile.com/
info@weddingphotochile.com
Tel (0056-9) 9-992 9508
Facebook “Gardner WeddingPhotographer Hamilton”

Fotografo boda santiago chile fotografo matrimonio santiago chile fotografo casamiento santiago chile
Fotografo boda vina del mar chile fotografo matrimonio vina del mar chile fotografo casamiento vina del mar chile servicio fotografia Gardner Hamilton weddingphotochile wedding photographer santiago chile wedding photographer vin del mar chile destination wedding photographer chile fotografo britanico photography services www.fotografobritanico.com