Your top 3 wedding photographers in the world

Who inspires you?
Who do you learn from the most?
Who's techniques do you try and use?

Ill start the ball rolling.

1) Jerry Ghionis - His posing is second to none in my opinion

2) Lin and Jirsa - Love their posing, off camera lighting, and composition. Plus Pye seems like the nicest guy in the world!

3) Edwin Tan - This photographers images are jaw dropping beautiful. I love his post production style

GO.

Personally I don't follow any other wedding photographer's work.

Best straight out of camera - Jerry Ghionis no doubt, many so-called 'great wedding photos' out there are nothing once you strip away the actions and the presets

Best pre-wedding/location photography - Tie between Leno Ooi and Keda Z

Speaking of, Malaysia has some really wicked wedding photographers and more specifically editors, I think the best of the best overall would be Jerry Ghionis with one of those Malaysian retouchers

I consider Jerry to be my mentor, the thing I admire most about his style is that he can make beautiful pictures out of a really crappy location, even with no editing. This is what I personally aim for as well.

Consider a couple of Aussies - Ian Wilkinson and Marcus Bell. Maybe not quite top 3 in the world, but way up there.

I like Jerry.

Cliff Mautner, Ryan Brenizer, etc..

My Opinion is there is no such thing as a top 3 anywhere. There is however a lot of very talented photographers. Some are already mentioned. Some from europe and Russia that dont even get a nod from people here in the states. same for the aussies. Lots of good one down under

Many of the names mentioned are big at PPA and WPPI but that does not necessarily translate into the best. But the question is good for net fodder I give it that.

I quite like Ross Harvey (UK), Two Mann (Canada), James Day (Australia), Fer Juaristi (Mexico - a bit more experimental).

But there are some others I occasionally check out. Not too much though.

It's good to see what other people are doing, because there are some amazing togs out there, but I think it's best to follow those people who really take risks. Can be inspiring, and can give you ideas. I've lost count of the number of times I've been faced with a certain scene or location and an image I saw somewhere else popped into my mind, and gave me an idea.

I also like looking at films shot by good cinematographers and also paintings. It's a similar craft. (It's also a great idea to see images at awards, in print. There's a big difference between what you see online and what is possible on fine art paper.

Anyone who doesn't occasionally look at other work is either lying or living in a bubble.

On the other hand, it's also important to find your own style, and ultimately to shoot according to what is in front of you: the couple, the landscape/location and the light. Get to that point and things start to flow.

tim wrote in post #17645213
Consider a couple of Aussies - Ian Wilkinson and Marcus Bell. Maybe not quite top 3 in the world, but way up there.

I've been meaning to check out Marcus' work, but haven't found the time.

I've never seen a Jerry Ghionis photo... after the ice light and the stupid hole reflector I don't care how good of a photographer he is, he comes up with some dumb crap (My $.02)

I attended a Jeff Newsom workshop when it was here in the Midwest, and some of the things he does behind the scenes were eye opening to me, things that had never crossed my mind to try for a photo, One of the best pieces of advice that came out of it for me was to "always take 5 minutes to shoot for yourself" and that has really opened up my creativity for what I can try with a couple. Manage the expectations and shoot whatever comes to mind.

Gerrys ice light looks good I reckon, it just cost around $600 I think. He did become a bit of a sellout with the pic pockets thing..

The two I've learned most from are probably Jerry Ghionis and Cliff Mautner, but there are a ton of incredible wedding photographers out there that I hope to be somewhere remotely near in skill level someday.

My favorite three...

• Ryan Brenizer
  
• Susan Stripling
  
• Artistic Photo (aka, Aleksandras Babičius & Irina Belčikova)
  

It's hard to pick out just 3 there are so many great photographers around the world, but Daniel & Melissa Stark really stand out for me. Their perspectives and compositions are very unique to them and yet they always seem to come away with shots that reflect their couples as well. I think that's a difficult balance.

I really Justin Hackworth in Utah as well. He captures an intimacy with his subjects that I find really touching. Not a lot of dynamic angles or unique lighting techniques like with the Starks, but you can tell his images will end up on the walls of his clients for generations.

Dumb question...but what do you think someone like Jerry D charges?

buckeyedoc wrote in post #17668687
Dumb question...but what do you think someone like Jerry D charges?

Jerry Ghionis? I know 3 people who have gone with him and they each paid $20k+ (Australian Dollar)

I have looked at many and Jerry Ghionis has to be my favourite. I don't look at anyone else. Gerry is the only one I have found that give a consistent message on how he actually takes a photograph.