Long story short, my photog canceled on me the day before my wedding last year so I had a photojournalism major/friend photograph my wedding last minute.

I ended up shopping the crap out of it making myself thinner, adjusting double chins on myself and my now husband, my mom, my MOH, etc...

I told him about it and though he agrees its MY pictures, I can do what I want, but HE wouldn't do it because of the ethical whatnots he learned in his photojournalism classes...

What do you guys think? I recently did an E-session and the bride to be was thrilled that i made her 'lose 10 lbs', and made her and her fiance's eyes look the same size, removed blemishes/birthmarks etc... but are some people offended at the thought? Is it ethical?

My friend doesn't even really agree with basic wedding editing like diffuse and such, which ok, I get that in photojournalism, but I imagine there are a lot of self-concious brides out there who wouldn't mind a little tweaking...

***Please tell me if this is totally wrong and nasty, but the reason I found OSP is because another unfortunate bride was victim of K&C Photography, Houston, TX. She showed me a post by one of you awesome photogs who took care of another bride last minute (also victim of said photog according to the poster). I think her name/tag was Christine. Whoever you are, you rock. I saw the pix you did last minute and they were awesome. I wish I would of known to call someone like you..... However I'm really glad I found all you guys - you rock my socks!!!!!***

Um Im not sure about ethics, but I think there is a HUGE difference in shooting from flattering angles and smoothing out a few blemishes as opposed to photoshopping someone to make them thinner, etc. If that is what you wanted then okay but I would get offended at anyone removing a permanent figure of my body without me asking such as a birthmark or my beloved ghetto booty. ; P


EDIT. To make my point, the picture of me was taken by my husband. I think I used pro retouch on my face but cant remember. Anyway, I had him shoot down and also happened to crop tight on the arms cause i have really big arms. (lots of skin, lost 100+ pounds) but anyway you get my point.

w00t! For weight loss! I've lost quite a bit since the wedding so its hard to look at myself from that time - stressful specialty school will do that to ya!

I guess his deal is that he shoots for what is good for a paper, not what would be appealing to the subject- thats out the window from what I understand. What would be an appropriate way to ask a bride/subject as to what s/he's expecting in a shoot? Like I said, I'd of been THRILLED if a photog decided to trim some of my arms off =op But I could see how others could be offended - I, like you, wouldn't be happy to have my ghetto booty trimmed off!

Would a questionaire be in order? One of such questions be "Would you like body shape editing?"

I personally would not do it unless they asked and paid extra for it and then still not sure if I would. Just my 2c. My concern is if they are that self concious than are they ever going to be happy with the photos and be able to be themselves while a camera is following them around.

There is no point in applying photojournalism ethics to wedding photography, no matter what it is called ("wedding photojournalism/editorial" etc) I applaud your friend's adherence to the strict code of ethics (I freelance for a paper and follow them as well) but there is just nothing that would bind wedding photography to the same standards.

Weird timing reading this post tonight, because I was just reading a flickr group that Christine posts on and the dicussion there was about how people have found clients and she mentioned shooting a wedding when the original photographer bailed. How odd for it it to come up twice in one evening on two different boards!

I agree with what has been said about not removing *permanent* features without them wanting it.

Generally when I meet with couples, I explain that part of the e-session is that I will become familiar with what they like/don't like about themselves in photos, and give an example that when I smile really big my top gums show-- and I really dislike it in photos. That gives them an opportunity to tell me if they don't like something about themselves.

The process of editing a wedding--- I let them request 15 additional edits after I'm done if they want anything else done creatively or want something more extreme, like removing back fat, arm fat, chin fat, etc. Editing everything for them automatically would take... FOR EVER and that is not something I'm willing to do. If I know it's something that bothers them, I'll do it on a few before presenting the photos where necessary, but mainly just shoot and select to minimize what they don't like, because I don't want to spend 50 hours photoshopping their fat down in every photo.

ok. i'm confused. who is christine?

Well, I will of course remove blemishes, I will slim down arms and reduce double chins.. However, I try to do everything subtly and keep it natural. Of course, first and foremost, I try and eliminate any trouble spots by posing them or myself carefully to avoid the double chins, flat arms, etc..

I'm "A" Christine, and I helped out a couple 5 days before their wedding when their "friend" photographer bailed and moved to California, BUT I don't think I am the Christine that is mentioned this time. lol. No clue who they are talking about.

SORRY, was that a threadjack?!

To answer the blemish/etc question, I would edit anything that was not a permanent part of them... unless they asked and then it would cost/photo. One bride recently asked if I would edit every photo because she has scarring from teen acne. I said that I will edit all the ones she orders prints of.
Although, I have pushed in a little back-fat on side view photos, since it's not as though she would know that I changed it, but would know if I didn't and would hate the photo for it!

Christine

I remove things if they tell me ahead of time that they don't want them (stretch marks, scar, etc)

Otherwise I just tone things down so that they aren't distracting. I'll fix little bulges on the brides back or arms, double chins, major skin abrasions or acne, and general smoothing.

I don't want to do too much though because I don't want them to see it and think to themselves, "she thought I was so ugly that she totally changed me!"

I want it to be them, at their best. We try to use as many flattering angles as possible as well to keep from having to fix things like double chins and such.

As far as ethics, I think most brides want professionals because they know we professionally retouch things, know the flattering angles, and know how to use light correctly to create the most flattering images possible. Just my .02.

Slight threadjack, but I'd be really happy if I never saw any 'diffuse' on a photo again. It's my pet peeve!

But wait.. don't all good wedding photographers use diffuse glow heavily..?

Unless the bride specifically requests something (and I charge for custom additional editing), I simply shoot at the best angle I can get.

Its my job to document the day. I'm not into creating "Glamour Shots".

My clients see my work and book because they like my no-nonsense style. I'm very photojournalistic.