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Rangefinder Magazine
March 2002
Profile:Becker by
Julie Miller
The Prince of “Fashionable Photojournalism”
First things first. The name is just “Becker,” that’s
“Becker like Bono or Sting, not Cher,” says the 28-year-old
California photographer.
Since Becker is a native Southern Californian, the rock star thing may
not seem that unusual. But there are other attributes beyond his name
and youth that make this wedding photographer stand out from the crowd.
For one, this kid’s got a pretty cool website that does a great job
of showing off Becker’s talents in the wedding, fashion and fine
art areas.
“I told the designer that the site had to be simple, like the way
I shoot,” Becker explains. “I don’t want to confuse people
or misrepresent work, so I use my website as a pre-qualifier for prospective
clients. If they like what they see—and what they don’t—namely
that checklist of boring wedding shots, then I know we’re on the
same page.
When it comes to weddings, the Simple Becker Philosophy is part Denis
Reggie, part Joe Buissink, a well-known Los Angeles celebrity wedding
photographer. Becker’s style has been referred to as “fashionable
photojournalism,” a perfect blend of Reggie and Buissink, though
these days Becker prefers to call it “relaxed photojournalism.”
Relaxed, however, may not be the first word you’d use to describe
the fast-talking Becker, who is known to pace excitedly as he talks to
his clients on the phone. “I wouldn’t call myself a pure photojournalist
because I don’t just shoot everything as it happens,” Becker
explains. “On the flip side, I wouldn’t be caught dead shooting
anything traditionally posed or cheesy. Still, when I do formal shots,
my instructions are more like get in close, smile, turn your head or shoulders
a certain way and then let’s move on. I like to get all these ‘formal
shots’ over within 15 minutes because after that, it’s party
time.”
For Becker, party time means shooting as he boogies down on the dance
floor with his mostly upscale Southern California wedding parties. “I
just want to be seen as the old friend with the fancy camera,” he
says laughing. “That way, no one feels intruded upon or uncomfortable.”
Not so long ago, Becker was the old friend snapping shots for his Mission
Viejo High School newspaper and yearbook. A part-time job during his few
years studying at a local junior college led to some part-time work shooting
swimwear models and actors’ headshots at area modeling agencies—admittedly
not a bad gig for a college guy looking for a social life. As he recalls,
“How bad could it be being around pretty girls on the beaches in
Jamaica and Cancun?” Not many photographers would argue with that,
no matter what the day rate.
Word spread about the congenial and talented Becker, who eventually moved
on to bigger assignments, including shooting corporate and PR work for
clients such as Lexus, Oakley and Mazda and celebrity events with notables
like Michael Jordan. But it wasn’t until Becker spent an afternoon
watching Denis Reggie’s videotape—instead of football—that
he thought about shooting weddings.
“I was so inspired, because until then I always considered wedding
work to be kind of stiff, standoffish and boring,” says Becker, who
charges a minimum of $7500 per wedding. “When I saw what was possible,
I realized that shooting weddings was an interesting and viable option.”
As word continued to spread among friends and acquaintances in the Orange
County and San Diego areas, Becker started shooting more and more weddings
and honing his skills by networking with other wedding photographers and
attending professional workshops and conventions. At last year’s
WPPI convention, Becker won a third place in the Premier category and
several Honorable Mentions in the Wedding Photojournalism category.
This year’s conventioneers can expect to see new technical statistics
should Becker win any more awards. Last summer, Becker really did get
fancy, purchasing a Nikon D1-X digital camera. The purchase was so momentous
for Becker that he even remembers the date—July 23, the 30th anniversary
of the first moon landing.
At first, he carried around both cameras, shooting half of his weddings
on film and the other half digitally, mostly because he was used to the
sharpness of his Nikon F5. Not anymore. Now Becker shoots 100 percent
of his weddings digitally, because he says, “Nine times out of 10
you can’t tell the difference. My whole world has changed. At first
I worried about the quality, “but that changed quickly when I saw
that all the digital results were equal to my Nikon F5.” Plus, according
to Becker, he couldn’t beat the cost savings. It used to cost him
$1000 to give clients 600 pictures. Now I can provide 1200 pictures for
about $300.
“Now that I’m a digital convert,” he says. “ I’ve
found that my Nikon F5 makes a great paperweight!”
Becker shows all of his wedding proofs through the Hermosa Beach, California-based
online service, Pictage (www.pictage.com). Enabling his customers to more
easily share proofs online—on a secure password website—with
friends and family, as well as those who couldn’t make the wedding,
almost always results in bigger sales because it also allows Becker to
edit out any bad images. With its handy shopping cart system, it’s
also as easy as ordering books on Amazon.com.
Best of all, it’s easy on Becker. “Pictage gets a small commission
and I get the checks rolling in,” he says. “This frees me up
during the week to rest up for my weekends.”
And Becker doesn’t get many weekends off, not that he’s complaining—especially
when weddings take him to places like Italy, Cabo San Lucas and Hawaii.
As he says, “I just feel so lucky to have a cool job that people
think enough of my work to pay me well.”
And these days, how many people can say that?
Visit Becker’s website at: www.beckerphotographer.com.
Becker will be a featured speaker at this year’s WPPI along with
pals, Joe Photo, Mike Colon and Jon Barber with Clay Blackmore presiding.
The title of their presentation is “Digital Weddings Left Coast Style.”
Julie Miller is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor.
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