Baring My Soul…My Unique Selling Points

Like many of you, I am closely watching the testimony of Geithner and Bernanke on Capitol Hill and cannot help but be affected. Of the brides and grooms I recently photographed, one member of the couple has been either laid off or had a salary reduction. We are all touched by the times.

Which pulls me into contemplating my own place in the system. We still smile. We still laugh. Life goes on. But everyone needs to look before they leap with their expenses. And that brings me to the Unique Selling Points (USPs) that I have incorporated into my wedding photography efforts and my commitment to the families whom I serve.

To this end, I refuse to schedule more than two or three weddings in a single month. There are many reasons, which I’ll elaborate as I go along, but the most significant reason is, so I can ensure I have the time to fulfill my commitments to the best of my ability and satisfy the happy couples’ expectations.

My USP #1

I’m not just a vendor! As I see and experience my work, the position I hold in a wedding is as a member of the wedding party. The slide shows and wedding albums I create are legacies for families to pass along to their progeny and extended families. This is a responsibility I take seriously, and it takes a lot of time. The brides and grooms I work with meet with me in my own home; for a time, they become part of my personal life. This is one of several reasons I cannot schedule more than three weddings in a single month. Working as teams, the brides-and grooms-to-be strategize with me the mementos we will create together. This is another reason I limit my monthly commitments. I remember these conversations. During the weddings, I remember my interactions with Grandmother, Cousin, Uncle—and I try hard to use images representative of what I learned from these individuals at the time I’m snapping shots. I am integral to the wedding events I photograph, and my goal is to assemble a permanent glimpse into the emotions and joy of very, very happy days in the histories of the wedding families and their friends.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself, because I really love my job.

Assyrious Snag at an Assyrian Wedding

Each wedding is marvelous, with its own behind-the-scenes stories to tell. As major lifecycle events within individual cultures, the traditions and styles of every wedding vary, too. It’s the excitement, smiles, and tears of happiness that are universal.

This wedding includes a story that was a real nail biter. Their wedding day gave me my first glimpses into the vibrancy and customs of the Assyrian community. And this community is large. The church and reception hall for this event are in the Central Valley. This meant a caravan of limousines and cars making the trek over the mountains out of Silicon Valley. Their guests numbered over 700! Awesome!

Now, on to the tale that will become family legend for the Assyrian couple. With the long distance to the church, there was no chance to run home and back for anything forgotten. And the paperwork for the priest got left behind.

This is where the charm, talent…and persistence of the groom snatched victory from the jaws of wedding ceremony defeat. Against the odds and while the guests and bride waited outside, he persuaded Father Auchana Kanoun of Saint Zaia Church, Assyrian Church of the East in Modesto. (The couple returned the next day and fixed the paperwork problem. Whew!)

After the successful wedding ceremony, the 700 plus guests and I traveled on to Turlock to and enormous reception hall, The Babylonian Room, at the Assyrian American Civic Club [link to: http://www.aaccot.org/index.php][photo of the outside of the facility]. As you'll see from the photographs, this was a very happy ending!

So, there is no chance this couple won’t succeed after a start like this, not to mention—as you can see—their start also includes a GREAT collection of pictures.

- Michael Soo

Gentry Magazine Feature - Feb 2009 Annual Wedding Issue

Photographing bathing suit calendars with scantily clad models is exciting, the haute cuisine food photography has ruined take-out food for me for life, and my happiness for the ecstatic brides and grooms and their families I photograph already warms my heart on lonely winter nights into the next century. I do love my work, but when a photographer REALLY wants to have fun…

Gentry Magazine has recently exposed my vice--Trash the Dress--in their February 2009 Annual Wedding Issue. (full issue here)

I know it takes courage for women to sacrifice their treasured, expensive gowns, and my best efforts go into transforming the memories of these perfect wedding dresses into dramatic, whimsical, permanent art, elevating the dresses to importance equal to the lovely brides inside them. There is extreme contrast in style for featuring these wedding dresses between the precisely programmed events of the wedding day and the let-it-all-go, wild-and-crazy freedom of these photo sessions. And the gowns shine in both settings.

The brides tap into their imaginations as they collaborate with me, hatching the plan for these photo shoots. And if you look at my series of pictures, you'll see the mischievous thrill on the faces of these lovely women. If you could see a behind-the-scenes collection of pictures of me, you would see that I am having spectacular fun, too.

You are invited to share my Trash-the-Dress images to enjoy the happy faces in these out-of-the-box wedding mementos, and remember, on the other side of the lens, my smiles were even broader. Thank you, ladies, for making my day!

- Michael Soo