Sometimes less is more

I see this more often with wedding and portrait photographers but it exists in all genres where we or our clients believe the photographer must take hundreds or thousands of photographs during a session. Once those hundreds or thousands are taken the vast majority must be great. I have tried to understand when, why, and how this trend began. At the same time, I photographers say to go back to film to learn to be a better photographer because you’re limited in the number of photographs you can take, yet many of these same photographers provide massive numbers of photographs for their sessions.

I used to loath the term, less is more. I have always thought to deliver a finished product that is better than expected but I have come to better understand what often the expression means, at least to me. It’s not always the quantity of delivering more but delivering less of a higher quality. When we attempt to pack too much into a session, we often become sloppy and careless. This can include any photography we are doing. By setting a goal of coming away with hundreds or thousands of photographs maybe we would be better served by slowing down, limiting our numbers, working to obtain the best exposure, best composition, best subject. As an artist, we shouldn’t be concerned with mass production but quality art.