Why Can Oli Photograph Weddings?

I can do that effortlessly, it might seem, but nothing less is to be expected from a photographer.

I prepare meticulously, set all expectations with the happy couple, make sure what is included, what isn’t, and communicate in a way that leaves no space for disappointment and so everyone knows about the limitations and complications.
I walk all locations beforehand where possible, talk with the people involved, ask about any constant and variable for the plan of the day and ensure to be in the right place at the right time.
Only then, when I am one hundred percent clear on my role, inside this created framework, I can unleash all my creativity, joy and uniqueness, because I feel safe and welcome in that environment.
Unforeseen things I also calculate in beforehand, by thinking about any possible scenarios inside the given framework. That takes masses of energy, but those I take from the days before and after, or I will pay back eventually after.
You’re lucky that days like these don’t occur often, one might mention, that this is not your everyday life.
Only a day like that at a wedding is, in fact, not so much different than any day I spend among other people.

For every day and every interaction I like to be prepared, I want to know what is waiting for me, would like to feel welcome being present there.

Every shift of elements of my day, for which I am always prepared, triggers a recalculation from scratch, and that requires tremendous amounts of energy.
Also, the fear of those changes and the manic precalculations of all possibilities is a heavy weight to carry for me. Especially when ‘spontaneity’ is expected, 3 out of 4 CPU cores are reserved just for that.
I want to deliver a good performance and continue to meet all expectations towards myself. And that is as intense at the workplace, as it is with wedding photography, just with different topics and activities.
It’s just that it is hard to photograph weddings for 40 hours each and every week.
It makes it easier, when I know what to expect from a day, when I know what others expect from me and where my creativity is welcome before the day begins. When I can trust the events happening, and I can tell constants from variables, that is infinitely beneficial for letting my energy flow into passion.

I have become a good photographer; not only because I manage with the technicalities, but because I live every socially infused day like that, because I have known the feeling of those days all my life and lived with it.
That was never easy, but it always seemed to be the way everybody goes. And wasn’t it always the big goal to fit in there, the greatest challenge of them all?

Such days as a photographer are some of the little ones where I allow myself, but it comes mostly from the outside, a feeling that is plain missing on everyday days: The appreciation of having accomplished something.