What Makes me a Green Wedding Photographer – part 2
by Val on Feb.23, 2010, under Wedding & Engagement
Take a moment from your busy daily routine, step back and look around. Climb a mountain, enjoy the fresh air, smell the roses, count the stars in the sky, take a walk in the woods… exhilarating, isn’t it? This is what Mother Nature has given us and we are absolutely responsible to preserve it for the sake of our own kids and the future generations. A wedding is a beginning of two people’s lives together, carrying a strong symbolic meaning. It is the perfect moment to demonstrate our concern and dedication to our planet’s future.
…This is how I started thinking about turning my business green. Some of the main points of my philosophy were already discussed in What Makes me a Green Wedding Photographer, part 1. What follows up next is a snapshot of the rest of it.
Coming up with an environmental statement is just a tiny part of making your business green. But is this enough? Here are a couple of ideas you might want to consider, especially if you are a wedding photographer.
TREE PLANTING
I personally plant a tree for every U.S. wedding and for every standalone The Day After / Drown the Gown session I photograph. I do that as a courtesy to every couple. If the couple wishes to be directly involved in planting the tree, they are more than welcome to join me – together we’ll make it even more exciting. And while a single tree won’t make such a big difference in solving the global ecological problems, it will send a clear message to everybody and will make the couple stand out from all other newlyweds. It is that little extra grain of sand that adds to the whole pile.
CARBON OFFSETTING
Another option I offer to my clients is to carbon offset their wedding. To those of you who are still new to the idea, here’s what it’s all about. A wedding releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (transportation, CO2 released during the production of all goods and services at the wedding, etc.). On the other hand, a number of companies today do R & D in the clean energy sector and need cash to run their day-to-day operations. Investing in these companies will not take the CO2 released from your wedding back, but on the long run it will contribute to reducing CO2 globally by producing clean energy. My couples have a choice as to which company, or type of clean energy, they would like me to invest in. And again, they don’t have to pay anything extra for that. Regardless of their choice, planting a tree or carbon offsetting, after each wedding the couple will get an official certificate from me. It is a beautiful keepsake they can hang on the wall and show it to friends, parents and relatives.
VALDORAMA GREEN ENGAGEMENT / THE DAY AFTER / DROWN THE GOWN SESSIONS
The essence of my green wedding photography is in the type of outdoor sessions I do with my couples. These are normally either engagement or post-wedding shoots. I hand pick my locations, and this is essential to the success of the session. I take my couples to wild spots across New England, still untouched by human activity. The idea is to show them – and everybody else – how beautiful these places are so that they can be better appreciated and preserved.
I study my session locations in depth, and when I take my clients there, we spend a few minutes chatting about the place. Nothing is more powerful than revealing these facts on the spot, during the session, where all this beauty surrounds you. Combining natural and bridal beauty into one finished artistic product is not only educational and great from a naturalist’s perspective. It is what makes my photography go off the mainstream wedding photography trends, making it perfect for brides looking for “something different”.
Other than being green, these sessions are all about having tons of fun and beautiful memories – that is a part of what my couples get, and let me tell you, they are totally love it.
Check out some examples: 1 2 3 4
To sum it up, if you are a wedding photographer or a vendor exploring the possibility of making your business green, you need to make sure whether your heart is there. You need to come up with a strong statement about it, and not just a statement – it has to be YOUR unique environmental statement. Don’t just sell the green/eco label – evaluate your capabilities, think in depth about what sets you apart from the rest, then offer it to your clients. Given the fact that so many businesses are looking in the eco direction, it might be challenging to come up with truly unique ideas. But hard work pays off. Sooner or later the right people will notice you.
Go green & see you around,
Val
Read more about The Day After / Drown the Gown photo sessions.
