Originally Posted by
arthurking83
LOL Jackie .. I've never considered closely focused images in the same genre as macro, where macro is clearly defined as 1:1 reproduction ratio, but loosely regarded to encompass magnifications of up to 1:3.
Physically, just about anything is difficult for myself, as I have a slight disability to take into consideration. Mental stress is something I've never really experienced in photography related terms, so I can't really help in that sense.
As for the notion that you are shooting for someone's future, having now been there, and elsewhere, and so with the benefit of hindsight behind me, I can assure you that this is not the big deal that many folk seem to think it is(in the grand scheme of marriage, family, and the future prospects that relate to this entire journey. The images captured during the wedding ceremony itself generally have a very short 'half life' when compared to all the other aspects that make for a successful(or not) family future. They'll get stored in an prominent space in the image storage receptacle, until kids come along, and as the family album size increases over the medium term the first thing that gets relegated to the suitcase under the bed(due to increasing space demands and limited availability of such) is the wedding albums. Then on the other hand after separation, the fight then turns to who's taking responsibility over specific assets, and the wedding album doesn't ever rate a mention.
This is just a single perspective as to this apparent importance that wedding photography really has as an overall impact on the future of a prospective couple/family.
As for physically more demanding pro photography.. many sports/wildlife photography situations that I've seen make wedding photography seem like a lazy evening at a spa resort by comparison. In fact, a few images I've personally seen by our member HelmutK and the difficult conditions he had to deal with to get them is probably something I'm sure you'd never want to deal with.
For a more mentally difficult task(that I know of, not done personally) is one of a pro photographer that posted images of the dead sea scrolls a few years back and the mental challenge of getting the images to an acceptable level for a large world wide scientific community within a limited time frame.
(I know form his brief technical explanation, that this in itself would have done my head in to the point where I'd have given up sooner rather than later).
I understand what you are trying to imply, and I'm not simply contradicting with the notion that wedding photography is easy ... I know I couldn't do it(physically) for more than a few hours(disability limitation!).. but it's far from the most difficult or stressful pro photography experience.