Frank DiMeo Blog: Magazine Exposure

Last year I was honored to win the Grand Prize in the Photo District News “Top Knots New School of Wedding Photography” contest. A lot of people have told me that this is a once in a lifetime thing and something I should always treasure. When I entered I had hoped to at least get an image in the magazine because it is the largest and most well known Photo magazine in the world. Photographers enter from all over the world and the competition is very stiff. It was a huge thrill to win such a prestigious award and I will forever be thankful for what it has done for me, and my business.
Well the wedding issue for this year just came out today and unfortunately I did not repeat as the Grand Prize winner. However, I was interviewed for a story they published called “When Bad Weddings Happen To Good Photographers” and they even highlighted one of my quotes so I thought I would share it with you.
It was kind of a tricky question when they called because I was thinking what do I want to say that everyone in the world might be reading. People that have seen me work know that I have two cameras on my body at all times. Digital cameras can fail at any time with no warning. It is usually something really minor but may take a few seconds or a minute to overcome. Just as the bride and her father were coming down the aisle my camera failed. I knew I could probably fix it but not immediately because every second at that point is priceless. I switched to my other camera and kept right on shooting without missing a beat. If it failed too then I would have asked them to recreate that part after the ceremony because I would rather risk looking bad than not having those photos.

I try to be as unobtrusive as possible whenever I am shooting. Like I said in my bio, I love it when someone says, “You took that photo? I didn’t even know you were there.” There are times though when you have to step up and say something in order to get the best images possible. As a professional, and someone that my bride and groom have put their faith in I feel it is my responsibility to know when and how to do this. So that is what I decided to talk about in the article. Hope you enjoy it and understand why I would ask you to do something when it might seem like a crazy thing at the time. I promise that I would never do something with out your best interest in mind.