wedding photos Everyone loves to have a great collection of wedding photos when their big day has gone by and they have nothing left but memories and some gifts that they can't seem to find a place for. Though these are great to have, and will brings smiles for years and years to come, they can be a big pain to take during and after the wedding. There are a few things that any bride and groom can do to cut down on the process of taking these so that guests are not left waiting for the wedding party hours after the ceremony is over. For me, that is one of the worst parts of any wedding.

Some brides are oblivious to what their guests are going through while they are waiting. The wedding photos could take hours, and if the guests are not aware of a break between wedding and reception, they are not going to be happy. Some schedule the wedding photos in there, and the guests know they are not due at the reception until a few hours later. However, some don't bother. I have seen many people leave a wedding reception because they had been waiting for hours for the wedding party to arrive at the reception and they refused to wait any longer.

Though there is nothing anyone can do to hurry up the wedding photos in many cases, there are some things that can be done to make sure they do not take as long as they might otherwise. You can take certain photos before the ceremony to cut down on the ones that need to be taken afterwards. Any photos that do not require the bride and the groom to both be in the shot can be done before the ceremony. It might mean the bride has to be ready for a little longer, but she might not mind that very much.

This was something I did with my wedding photos, and I found that it cut the time needed for photos after the wedding dramatically. I was not only glad that they were out of the way, so were my guests. I can't say my wedding was perfect, but I do know that I did not leave my guests sitting for hours while we tried to take a ton of photos after the ceremony. My grandparents did not have to stand around and wait either, and that was a bonus for me. The last thing I wanted was for anyone, especially them, to be uncomfortable on my wedding day.

A lot of people get involved in their career to right a wrong, but few of them are artists. I am an exception. A wedding photography San Francisco debacle got me interested in the world of professional photography.

You see, I was very much in love when I was getting married, and being in love makes you do stupid things. I'm not talking about the usual stupid things that people mention – staying out all night to watch the sun, driving across the country to meet up with your lover, leaving strange messages on the voice-mail. In my case, I'm talking about much more prosaic stupid things. You see, I was so busy being in love that I didn't bother to think enough about everyday matters. This can be a problem when you are acting as your own wedding planner!

I only looked at a few wedding photographers before I settled on one, and I mostly trusted my instincts. Sometimes, this is a good thing, but when you have the luxury of looking at other sources – say, for example, the portfolios and professional references of wedding photographers – you really should.

The wedding photographer was a joke. He was pretending to be a wedding professional photographer, but most of the pictures he had taken had been for free at friends weddings. I could have sworn that he showed up drunk to take the wedding photos, and you could see the results. A lot of them were blurry, poorly lit, and taken from unflattering angles. It is as if he wanted the wedding photography to be poor! I won't even start to talk about the wedding video! When me and my wife were complaining about the wedding photographers mistakes, I surprised her. I was quite specific about my criticisms. I knew exactly how each picture could be improved, and why you would expect a better job from a wedding photographer. Although I had little photographic experience, it appeared that I had a natural knack for it.

After quite a bit of coaxing from my wife, I decided to be a professional photographer. I knew that it was tough for wedding photographers to make it, but I also knew that I had a previously undiscovered talent. I definitely took a risk and went out on a limb, but in the long run it was worth it. My clients have been much happier with my work than I was with my own wedding photos!

I do not really like big cities. They can be fun for a day or two, but after that I start to burn out pretty quickly. There is just too much going on. The sounds are too loud, the smells are too sharp and pungent, the people walk too fast and push you out of the way. I'm no country bumpkin. I grew up in a moderately sized town, and am used to all the rituals of modern urban life. Even so, if I go to a city like New York I can't survive for more than half a week. Any more time there and I start going crazy.

Nonetheless, I love New York photos. Pictures in New York City do something to me that is hard to describe. It is not just New York skyline photographs. New York wedding photos in Central Park, pictures of old New York, and pictures of random people passing by all get my blood pumping. I guess that it is just the glamor of it all that really gets me. There is something about the way the big apple looks that is hard to describe. People are so stylish there, and set in such dramatic relief against each other. In most places, everyone is from a similar background, and has a sense of who the people passing by are. In New York photos, however, there is such a contrast between the different people. All of the drama, the joy and the tragedy of day to day life, is contained in New York photos. From the fabulously wealthy enjoying a day strolling in central park, to the bum trying to score some change from passers-by who pretend not to notice, the whole drama of life in a major metropolitan city can be captured in a New York photo.

Even though I know that I could not possible be happy in NYC, when I look at New York photos I can not help but imagine what it would be like to live there. I forget what I know about the city – the dirt, the grime, the poverty and the crime – and simply try to get into the heads of all of those different people in the New York photos. I try to imagine what is going through the head of a traffic cop at rush hour, and where the driver shaking his head is in such a hurry to, or where that tourist is looking with such dazzled eyes. I can pass hours looking at New York photos.