RFCookbook – Marcus Bell: The Abbey

There’s a moral to the story behind this evocative image made by Marcus Bell in the Australian outback town of Warwick: Honor commitments to your clients and don’t be swayed by the lure of more money. It’s the right thing to do, and you will certainly feel a lot better for it.

Four weeks before capturing this image, Marcus received a call from Hong Kong asking if he would photograph the wedding of the first son of a well known Hong Kong family—a dynasty in that Asian city. Though honored by the request, Marcus declined. Lauren and Michael, a couple living in the outback, had booked him for that particular date, confirming the booking 12 months before their wedding and even before they had decided on a venue.
The Hong Kong party persisted, increasing their offer until it was about 10 times the amount Marcus was to be paid for the Warwick wedding. The extra money, the glamour and excitement of shooting a wedding in an international city such as Hong Kong, and the prestige of working with a wealthy client combined to be an attractive lure. But Marcus was not swayed.

Lauren and Michael had booked him as soon as they saw his work in a wedding magazine. The couple was committed to Marcus. He reciprocated, admitting he couldn’t have lived with himself had he opted for the more lucrative assignment. But he does concede, tongue-in-cheek, that he questioned his decision during the long drive out to the middle of the hot and dry Australian outback, a world away from the bright lights and luxury of cosmopolitan Hong Kong. Marcus recounts, “A few hours later, when I reached Warwick, my mind was well and truly put to rest. I received the kind of welcome that you only ever get from country folks, people who live hundreds of miles away from any major city. They are some of the most amazing people you will ever come across and they showered me with true country hospitality.”

As one would expect, the wedding was a huge success. This after-sunset photograph of the bride running toward the church with her two young flower girls in hot pursuit epitomizes the joy and magic of a special moment in a special day. And it also illustrates a fundamental of great wedding photography—always be aware that something special can happen and be alert enough to capture it. As Marcus says, “My good friend Joe Buissink once told me that there is no perfect photograph, there is only the perfect moment. This is one of those.”

Having captured the image as a RAW file, Marcus created the final version using what he describes as two new major developments. “The first is the capability to use selective localized corrections in Lightroom 2 and I then used my Black and White Conversion and Van Helsing-inspired finishing action,” he says.

And his final words on “The Abbey”? “No amount of money in the world can replace the immense personal satisfaction you get when a client views their wedding images for the first time and they turn to you with tears in their eyes, giving you a heartfelt thank you. That’s what I got from Lauren and Michael. For sure it’s important to make money, but it’s equally important not to let the making of money rule why you do what you do.”

Ingredients:
– Camera: Canon EOS 5D
– Lens: Canon EF 24mm f/2.8
– Exposure: 1/80 at f/2.8, ISO 1000, WB: Auto; RAW
– Lighting: Ambient light, 15 minutes after sunset
– Software: Adobe Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3
– Photoshop Action: Van Helsing B&W Creator action
– Computer: Apple Mac Pro
– Monitor: Eizo Professional monitor
– Printer/medium: Epson 9800 and Traditional Epson Fiber
– Color Space: Adobe RGB and 16-bit processing