Looking Back to 2009

It seems absolutely no time at all since I wrote about what had happened in 2008 and I guess the reason for this just sums up the whole year we been so busy we haven’t had chance to notice the passing of time!

From the aquisition of a whole mass of new equipment and technology early on in the year, through the trauma of having an extension built to give us extra storage and another office, on to the most hectic summer for weddings we’ve ever had and then the hectic pre-Christmas rush to complete album orders – all this has meant we haven’t had time to reflect on things or even to savour the changing seasons.

So, now things are quiter, what are the things that stand out most clearly from the blur that has been 2009? Well, it’s some of our clients, of course. We covered some fantastic people this year and felt honoured and priviledged to attend some of the weddings we’ve photographed. And this is where it gets difficult. I want to start mentioning names and particular incidents, but then those who’s names are mentioned might feel their wedding was in some way ‘lacking’. And of course, it wasn’t. None of them were. All the weddings we’ve covered have been hugely different, hugely individual  and all – even those where minor pre-wedding hiccups occurred – have been hugely happy events that the brides and grooms wouldn’t want to have different in any way.

And the differences really have been great. Two weddings we did on consecutive days in July sum up the diversity we’ve had this year. On the Saturday we covered our biggest wedding ever. Lincoln was effectively taken over by the Great Nigerian Invasion ans literally hundreds of Nigerian guests, all decked in the most fantastic, colourful ethnic costumes, arrived to celebrate the wedding of Lola and Gabriel in Lincoln Cathedral. I don’t know exactly how many guests were at the ceremony but 1200 seats were set out and all but a handful were occupied. I do know that the caterers at the Epic Centre set out tables for 972 guests for the meal!

The whole day was simply fantastic. It was a kaleidoscope of colour, movement and noise. The dancing started in the Cathedral and never stopped all day. It was truly magnifiicent and totally exhausting!

The following day we were booked to cover our smallest wedding of the year at Branston Hall. This was a very private affair, with only close relatives and friends invited. Formality was out, with the bride rejecting a traditional wedding dress and the groomsmen not wearing ties. It was simply impossible to have a greater contrast between the two weddings. And yet, in a very real way, there was no contrast at all. The Bride and Groom had created a wedding which suited them and reflected how they wanted the occasion to be marked. Both couples were delighted with how their day went; both got the wedding they wanted and both ended up with superb photography to allow them to recreate the day exactly as it happened for years to come. What more could anyone want?

So this year has been our year of extremes. We’ve covered the weddings of some extreemely rich and influential people – and we’ve covered those of much more mooderate incomes. We’ve covered weddings with several hundred guests – and those with only a handful. There have been the noisy and chaotic and there have been the more sedate and restrained. We’ve had very traditional weddings and more unusual ‘themed’ occasions. We’ve witnessed the whole gamut of emotions and covered weddings in the extremes of weather.

I could go on and on but let’s just say that this year really has brought it home to us what we’ve known for years. There really is no ‘norm’. Every couple is different and it’s lovely to see how nowadays people are throwing rules out and are choosing to celebrate their vows in a way that truly relects their personalities. Sometimes the traditional approach is best – for others a more individual approach is more fitting. But whatever their choice, because it is THEIR choice they are happy and their happiness is what makes weddings so fantastic for us and allows us to give them the natutal-lokking and relaxed photography they expect from Aurora.

Looking Back on 2008

This is the time when we all look back to our experiences of the past year and see where we’ve been most successful and where we can make changes to ensure that 2009 is even better. It’s strange how justas every wedding has a different ‘feel’ to it, so does every year’s selection of weddings.

Without a doubt this year has seen us photographing the nicest group of people ever. Because of the way we work we only ever book clients with whom we feel we have a rapport and whose weddings we actively WANT to cover. For several years now we’ve been turning away about 100 couples a year in order to concentrate on those we feel we will do the best job and whose wedding we’ll most enjoy. This year our ‘selection’ method has worked the best yet and we’ve come away from wedding after wedding on a real adrenaline high – blown away by how great the couples have been and how nice the guests were.

This year we’ve only had one wedding where the parents tried to turn the event into death-by-a-thousand-group-photographs and even here the couple were brilliant in the way they veered away from the parents’ itinerary and thus were able to have the wedding they wanted with happy guests, smiles all round and super photographs in the normal Aurora style. Despite atrocious weather ( we’ve actually covered only 5 weddings this year where it has remained dry all day) everyone has been relaxed, laid-back and up for a fun time. Photography is important to all our couples (they wouldn’t choose us otherwise) and it really has shown this year, with brides and grooms just trusting us completely and allowing us to create super photographs whilst they enjoyed themselves. We couldn’t ask for more!

It would be wrong to single out individuals but I really do want to say a big THANKYOU to so many of our clients. We’ve felt priviledged to have been invited to your wedding, honoured by your treatment of us and flattered by the comments you have made about us. We have grown to see you more like friends than clients and hope you feel the same about us.

Thankfully, with so many lovely weddings this year there hasn’t really been a downside. Undoubtedly, though, the one really bad low-point for us this year wasbrought about by the actions of  a selfish and unrpofessional videography company.

There are some fantastic, professional and conscientious videographers about but the two companies couldn’t claim any of these epithets. I could rant about them for hours. They completely ignored the written instructions the bride and grooms had given them before the wedding; they were intrusive and stopped the flow of the proceedings on many, many occasions; they repeatedly tried to stop us doing the job thee bride and groom had paid us to do and they were both extremely offensive. Eventually the couple concerned had to remind them exactly what their agreed roles were and eventually they videographers did change their approach slightly. But the atmosphere was terrible, the bride was in tears at one point, the groom lost his temper, the wedding never did develop as the couple had wished nor how they deserved and we had our work severely compromised by this unnecessary, short-sighted and unprofessional behaviour.

I can’t stress enough: in the wedding industry there are basically two types of people: those who pride themselves on giving nothing but their best efforts for the bride and groom and those who see weddings as a cash-cow wheerby they can line their own pockets whilst doing as little as possible. This applies equally to photographers, videographers, car-hire companists, venues and anybody else who you are likely to come into contact with. If you select carefully and choose the right supplier, your wedding day will be a huge success, but try to cut-corners or allow yourself to be taken in by the less-reputable side of the business and you may well find yourselves moving from one near-disaster to another. That’s why we created the Info-Blog: to try to steer you towards suppliers who are totally reliable and give excellent value for money.

Choosing a Wedding Photographer part 5a

I’ve just re-googled ‘wedding photographers lincolnshire’ for the u.k and found Aurora Studio to be just 1 of the 168,000 listed there. Mind-blowing for me and totally confusing for anyone looking for a wedding photographer. This series of articles is intended to help you sort the wheat from the chaff and narrow your selection down a little bit. Earlier articles have dealt more with style and presentation: Now I intend to deal briefly with the obvious signs which distinguish between the technical skills of photographers. As you make your selection of photographers look closely at their work and see if you can spot technical skills ( or lack of them) which I outline in this and subsequent articles.

Part A – Coping with more difficult lighting

Have a look at this and decide whether you think it’s a good picture or bad.

The setting is attractive, the pose classic, the picture’s been sepia toned in keeping with the timeless feel and the dress nicely arranged. But it’s a bad picture, obviously. The groom’s face in particular is in almost complete shadow and parts of his jacket and some of his hair merges into the background. The photographer lacked the necessary skills to add sufficient light to their faces to allow their features to be seen and to separate them from the background. This is a REALLY common fault and one to watch out for. It’s not normally as obvious as this but usually the poor technical skills are shown in the form of lack of light on the face.

So how about this?

Here the lighting situation is roughly similar to the first image. With the strong sunshine in the background the bride’s face would have appeared almost as a silhouette if this had been taken on a poorer camera. But this was taken by a photographer with enough skill to realize he needed to add light. So he switched his camera’s flash gun on and let the professional cameras computing power decide how much light he needed. The result is a picture that still is not of professional quality. Look at her dress – the detail is burnt out to featureless white and her facial skin looks ludicrously pale. Too much light has been added and the poor girl looks positively anaemic.

A skilled photographer would have had the experience and the knowledge to produce a picture which is infinitely more pleasing on the eye and flattering to the girl:

Look at the next photo also and imagine the hash a poorer photographer would have made of it had he or she either not added enough light or had added too much:

Here the additional light – coming from any one of a variety of sources available to the skilled photographer, has just allowed us to see the detailed swirling creases of the dress and the lower elements of the bouquet. Without it the girl would have been a silhouette: too much light would have made her appear as a stark, white sheet. This is a beautiful picture which most brides would love to have. It is a picture which is a hallmark of a skilled, professional photographer and not one which poorer photographers could create.

Choosing a Wedding Photographer – part 4

Most brides tell us that as they start doing the rounds of the dress shops they find most dresses are simply O.K. Then suddenly they try one and know -THIS IS THE ONE!

It’s almost always the same when it comes to choosing a photographer. For after the dress is packed away for good and the last of the cake has been eaten then the photographs are all that you have to remind you of the day. It’s vital that the images are outstanding and that they evoke happy memories. When the photographer is the right one you will know that his or her personality will enhance your wedding day; that the memories the pictures evoke will be of fun moments – not hours of torture standing in a line being bossed about; and that you can trust him completely to do the best for you at every stage of the proceedings. If you are in doubt about any of this – then DON’T BOOK! According to Google there are another 24,000 wedding photographers in Lincolnshire. One of them is sure to be right for you.

The right photographer for one couple is very much the wrong one for another. PLEASE don’t choose a photographer because they’re known as being ‘the best’ or because your Aunt’s friend recommended them. Word of mouth is important, but your judgement is better! The ‘best’ photographer for a couple who want traditional grip’n'grin shots is totally wrong for a couple who want pure reportage. And an expert in reportage would displease someone who also wanted more artistic and interpretative images.

A good photographer will view the initial meeting with you not as an opportunity to sell, but as a chance to get to know you and see whether you and he are likely to be a good match. At Aurora Studio we know that if we and our clients are on the same wavelength and feel relaxed together then we can deliver superb photography. If we’re not then the photography would be less fun, the smiles more forced and the whole experience less fluid. On average we will turn away about 100 prospective clients a year. Not because we don’t want to work for them, but because we want them to have the photographer best suited to them. And if we honestly believe it’s not us then it would be foolish and counter-productive to accept their booking. On a purely hard-nosed, business note, we want our clients to rave about us – that is our best form of marketing – so we only accept those for whom we are best suited.

Sadly the competition amongst wedding photographers is such that most photographers don’t have this luxury and in their attempts to make ends meet will accept any ‘job’ – whether they are best suited to it or not!

Look hard and fast at the photographer, not just his work and decide whether his personality will complement yours on your day. Is he pushy/loud/arrogant/well-mannered/scruffy etc etc etc? Is he trying hard to sell you his work? If he is then it surely means he desperately needs the job. And if he does need the job then he will claim the earth to try to impress you. Are you happy that his claims meet the reality you see around you in the work on display and in his general bearing?

Above all – think of the dress. Do you get a buzz from looking at this work and listening to this man describe his approach. If the dress doesn’t excite you then it’s not THE ONE. If what you see and hear doesn’t WOW you then neither is the photographer. Remember – there are another 23,999 out there to choose from! You only get one chance and for something as vital as photography it’s essential that you make the right choice.

Choosing a Wedding Photographer – part 3

So, having read my earlier posts, you know your photographer is qualified, is not an amateur and that his display work is genuine. What next? I WANT to talk about some of the sales-techniques that are dead-giveaways, and should make you RUN, not walk, away.

But I guess that at this stage the more important point for brides is ‘What sort of quality can I get for my money?’

You probably won’t like what I’m going to say. But it’s true for life in general and is most certainly true for wedding photography. You get what you pay for. Pure and simple. I know of local, so-called photographers who charge £200 for wedding coverage. ‘Celebrity’ photographers in the U.K. seem to be charging upwards of £10,000. There’s a photographer in the States who charges £50,000. That’s a huge price differentiation.

So what sort of quality can you expect for your particular budget?

Last year I decided to research a random selection of Lincolnshire photographers to determine just what their rates were and what sort of quality could be expected – based on the sample albums they were showing at Wedding Fairs.

It became obvious that comparison was a nightmare task. ‘Four hours coverage with a forty page album’ could mean one photographer in attendance for four hours and then presenting forty photos in a very cheap album. Or it could mean two photographers taking lots of photos, processing and using post-process digital techniques to emhance them before creating a stunning storybook album of 40 pages – but with maybe 100+ images in it. Even ‘like with like’ comparisons were impossible. There are different build qualities, sizes and paper options for a Graphi album, for example, which means that two photographers offering ‘Graphi’ are in fact offering very different products. And that says nothing about the quality of the images they are presenting therein!

So what I offer below does not claim to be comprehensive. All photogarphers come with different approaches, products, skills and price packages. But this is a 2007 snapshot of those Lincolnshire photographers I looked at and the personal judgements I made about the quality of their work and albums.   In some areas of the country, photography will be cheaper: in others it will be more expensive. Aurora Studio, like many Lincolnshire photographers, find that we are often asked to shoot in places such as  London, Essex, Oxford or more affluent areas because our prices are so cheap in comparison.

If you are looking for basic coverage then these prices will not apply. As an attempt at standardisation I have quoted for comprehensive coverage with two photographers in attendance and an album included in the price.

Sub-£1000. Expect an amateur or someone who has almost no photographic skills. Poses will be either stiff and wooden or you will receive ‘reportage’ – a collection of snapshots your Uncle Bob could have taken. If an album is included it will probably be of poor quality. Prints (if any) could well have been made cheaply at amateur outlets such as Asda or Boots. Burnt out dresses and green or magenta faces proliferated through the work I saw in this price bracket.

£1000 – £1500.  Expect MUCH better pictures than in the first group, with more awareness of posing/lighting/composition etc. A slightly better quality album is included here. If you want half-decent photos but aren’t really bothered and your budget is a bit tight then this is probably the place to look at. Just don’t expect real quality.

£1500 – £5000. A huge step up.  Expect quality. DEMAND quality as the price rises. Within this price bracket you should get 2 photographers, coverage until the end of the speeches and professionalism at every turn. Whereas lower-priced photographers may well have cut corners with poor equipment and often no backup gear, in this price bracket EVERYTHING in my opinion should be duplicated and all equipment should be of the highest standard. If the photographer is a qualified member of an organisation such as the M.P.A. or B.I.P.P. (see article 1) you can also have the peace of mind his insurance will bring.

As the price rises there will be increasing amounts of post-production to ensure that each image is as perfect as possible. Design times for albums increases exponentially – a cheap album can be designed in 30 minutes, a truly exquisite one entails several hundred hours’ work. Album quality overall bears no resemblance to that of cheaper offerings. At the top end of the scale expect images to be printed at the best labs in the world ( i.e. Australia) and albums to be of exquisite quality – possibly hand-made. The photography itself will be increasingly outstanding, with not just the obvious skills of lighting control, composition, exposure etc, but the PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE for you and your guests will be greatly superior. Scruffy/bossy/obnoxious photographers still exist, but they are comparatively rare in this price bracket. Expect the photography to enhance the day, not to detract from it. The photographers’ people skills will ensure a pleasant day in which the photography plays a very enjoyable part. With this level of photography you can expect to feel pampered on the day then receive an album to be proud of for the rest of your lives.

Over £5000 – Actually, there tends to be a gap between £5k and £10k. People who want to really lash out on the photography want to REALLY lash out. They want a ‘known’ name to photograph them and they’re prepared to pay for it. Only a handful of ‘celebrity’ photographers charge over this amount. I would gladly pay this sort of money for the likes of Yervant Zanazanian or Jerry Ghionis to photograph me. Their work is excellent, but frankly some of the other ‘names’ produce work which is often no better than that paid at a slightly lower level. I would LOVE to name the celebrity photographers I feel are in this category but, hey, the lawyers are rich enough without me giving them another libel case. Often though, as with all things at this sort of level, the ‘product’ you are buying is kudos. The kudos of having a particular photographer attend your wedding. In a very real sense the quality of his work is secondary.

Of course, nothing to do with wedding photography is as simple as that. There are a whole lot of photographic bodies pushing photographers into raising their prices before they are ready. Last year I went around the NEC National Wedding Exhibition and came away thoroughly disheartened for Brides to Be. I saw a few outstanding photographers who were well worth what they were charging, but I also saw at least 5 photographers there charging over £3000, yet the standard of their work SHOULD have put them in the sub-£1000 bracket. Price isn’t ALWAYS a reliable indicator. You do need to use your discretion and judgement also.

Choosing a Wedding Photographer – Part 2

So you’ve checked that the photographers you’re interested in are fully qualified, that they’re not part-time amateurs and that they’re fully insured. What’s the next thing you should you be looking for to help distinguish the genuine from the dodgy?

Scrutinize their work. I can’t stress this enough. Scrutinize their work and check that it really is THEIR work, with images taken on several real-life weddings. Sounds obvious, but let me explain – for those of you who are of a too-trusting disposition.

Frequently – and I mean VERY frequently, in the East Midlands area at least – the work a photographer will show you is not quite as genuine as it seems. The deception can take several forms:

1. Several ‘photographic training’ centres exist purely to provide photographers with pictures to set them up with a portfolio. Models are hired to simulate a wedding party and the ‘expert’ sets up the poses, tells the ‘trainees’ what settings to use on their cameras and where to stand. Each of the fifty or so ‘trainees’ then take it in turns to take the ‘perfect picture’. When in an album, who is to tell that these are not genuine real-life pictures showing the photographer has good technical skills ( even though the smiles on the bride and groom might seem a little forced).

2. Many (dare I say most?) wedding photographers exhibit pictures which they have set up themselves using models. Weddings are stressful situations where time is at a premium, the lighting might not be right or simply the couple themselves not as photogenic as the photographer would wish. So for his display work he hires models, goes to venues he likes and – with all the time in the world at his disposal – takes some stunning images. It’s a practice I deplore because it is misleading people into believing the photographer is capable of producing that calibre of work in real-life weddings. But it happens a lot and at least the photographer can argue that it is all his own work.

3. Display albums may not be showing the photographer’s own work. I’m afraid Graphistudio are the main culprits here, but they are by no means alone. It is EASY for anyone to contact Graphi or any of a number of other album manufacturers, claim they are photographers and pay peanuts for a ‘sample album’. I see photographers at almost every wedding fair with the Graphi sample album proudly on display on their stand. A few will admit to prospective clients that it is not their own work. Many are not so honest. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve overheard photographers excitedly explaining to the public how this lovely couple loved the photographer’s work so much they paid for him to go to Venice to photograph their wedding in and around St Mark’s Square. At the bigger Fairs there can be several dodgy photographers all proclaiming the same thing but some people don’t seem to realise. I even know one wedding co-ordinator who has been completely taken in by this deception and recommends a photographer on the strength of the lovely pictures she’s seen of his Venice wedding!

4. There are several Nationwide franchise photographers who use the ‘corporate’ literature and sample albums. The work you see will almost certainly not be theirs. The largest of these franchise companies actually uses the Graphi sample wedding album as mentioned in point 3.

5. Finally, larger companies will employ ‘associate photographers’. These are freelance photographers – often amateurs earning a bit extra on a Saturday. You need to check that the work you see before you book is the work of the actual photographer who will be covering your wedding.

Don’t forget that ANYONE can nail a sign over their door to say they’re a photographer. And a lot of stupid, unscrupulous people do just that. They never last long but if you are one of the people they successfully deceive you have very little chance of ever getting your money back. And none at all of getting the high quality wedding photography you need.

So please, check, check and recheck. Genuine photographers with nothing to hide won’t mind your questioning at all. In fact we welcome it. If more people were to be more suspicious then the untrustworthy photographers would cease to exist and our lives would become that little bit easier.

Choosing a Wedding photographer – Part 1

Try typing ‘Wedding Photographer Lincolnshire’ into your web browser and you will be presented with a selection of 54,000 to choose from. With prices ranging from £200 to £12000plus, so many adverts appearing the same and a seeming profusion of letters after the photographers names to ‘prove’ their skills, just how do you begin the process of making your selection?

This is the first in a series of articles to guide you through this potential minefield.

Today I want to deal with the thorny subject of photographic qualifications.

The four main bodies allocating the right to use letters denoting photographic qualifications after one’s name are The Master Photographers’ Association (M.P.A.), The British Institute of Professional Photography (B.I.P.P.), The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (S.W.P.P.) and The Royal Photographic Society (R.P.S.).

ALWAYS ensure that your photographer has a qualification. If he hasn’t then ask yourself why not? A qualification (usually) ensures that not only has a certain standard of skill been shown – but may act also as an indicator that other essentials such as public liability insurance is held or an agreement to act to a certain professional standard is adhered to by the photographer.

Just to declare my own interest here, I am a member of the M.P.A. and have in the past also gained qualifications through the B.I.P.P. and the L.R.P.S. Carole is a member of the M.P.A. and also has a qualification through S.W.P.P., so between us, we’ve got qualifications from all four bodies.

Let’s deal with the R.P.S. first. Their standard is high. Excellent, in fact. BUT – they are primarily a body to give qualifications to amateurs. If you are considering a photographer with the letters R.P.S. after his name then be aware that you are almost certainly dealing with an amateur. As such he may not have insurance, offers no recourse to a professional arbitration body and quite possibly lacks the skills, equipment and professionalism to ensure quality. If a true professional does a poor job he will go out of business. An amateur has no such worries!

S.W.P.P. – These are the most confusing letters of all. I know some excellent photographers who are members of the S.W.P.P. (Carole’s one of them). The SWPP offers some excellent courses and other perks which in the past have meant that some good photographers have joined them.

BUT the SWPP’s main attraction is to wannabes who think they can become ‘proper’ photographers by joining. Be warned, ANYONE can become a member by paying a fee. ANYONE can stay a member without having to gain qualifications. S.W.P.P. qualifications are not recognized as such by the other professional bodies and it is generally agreed that the standard required to gain a qualification is lower than that for the other bodies. SWPP contracts have not, I believe, been scrutinized by the Office of Fair Trading, nor are members obliged to prove they have adequate insurance. Caveat emptor!

B.I.P.P. and M.P.A. – Basically, the two ‘good guys’ in the industry. They demand real proof of skill, they insist on a code of professional conduct, they insist members are insured, they insist members use a contract negotiated with the Office of Fair Trading and they will act as neutral arbiters should a dispute arise.

So what’s the difference? Well, the M.P.A. represents FULL-TIME professional photographers, BIPP will also allow members who are part-timers, earning pin-money by covering weddings at weekends. B.I.P.P. also has the reputation of being more ‘old-school’. In order to gain my qualifications with it I was forced to produce images which would have looked great 20 years ago but which looked outdated and over-posed today. Real grip’n'grin type poses. Yuk!!! The M.P.A.’s approach is to be not more liberal – the standards are directly comparable – but to be more modern and progressive in outlook.

So, having waded through that, let’s try and sum up:

R.P.S. – best avoided. At the very least, treat with great caution.

S.W.P.P. – the nightmare group. COULD be good but tread very, very carefully. Be extremely suspicious and look for other factors – see my later articles – before committing yourself.

B.I.P.P. – breathe more easily. Check whether they’re full or part-timers, if this concerns you. Check closely on their style or approach.

M.P.A. – clearly in my opinion the safest organisation to look out for.

Finally, something else to check on. The qualification letters – L.M.P.A., A.M.P.A., or F.M.P.A. – indicate a standard only, not a subject-related standard. A photographer who has gained the highest possible qualification, let’s say a F.B.I.P.P., might have gained this in landscape photography or commercial product-shots. As such he is possibly little better than an amateur at wedding photography. ALWAYS check what subject area the photographer has gained his qualification!

Finally, if in doubt, look elsewhere. With another 54,000 wedding photographers out there, why take a risk? Remember, your wedding photos are all you’ll have to remind you of your wedding. The wrong photographer can ruin not just one day, but memories for years to come!

Wedding Photography Styles – the jargon buster

A simple guide to help you better understand the differing approaches photographers use:

1. Traditional - Photography which aims to record attendees rather than convey emotion. Usually a lot of formal groups and stiff poses. Photos of the couple are often called ‘grip’n'grin’s. Says it all, really.
2. Contemporary – can be used widely to mean anything that isn’t stiffly posed. This is a pretty broad church and in itself tells you little. Perhaps the following are of more use -
3. Reportage – fly-on-the-wall photography. Some reportage photographers don’t even introduce themselves or say when they are leaving. They want to be as unobtrusive as possible and capture what happens, not influence events.
4. Photo-journalism – a variant on reportage. Mainly candid shots are taken but some groups may be set up.
5. Artistic – as you might expect, this can mean different to things to different photographers. It is more interpretative than ‘standard’ photography and demands a more visionary approach than mere recording. A simple example would be to focus on, say, a wine glass on a table, but with the couple visible though out of focus in the background. On a more extreme level this can refer to shots which are taken with the deliberate intention that they only be seen AFTER much post-production work.