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(About 15 to 20 percent of photog-rapher Andy Marcus’ businessis conducted out of the country,

taking him to locations as diverse asItaly and Israel, Japan and Canada andthe Caribbean, to name a few. His company, Fred Marcus Photography,specializes in weddings and events,catering predominantly to the higherechelon of New York society; his clientsfly him where they want him to be.The day we spoke with Marcus and hisson, Brian, who’s now working fulltime with his father, they had justreturned from an event at the newTime Warner Building in Manhattan.

“Every top guy in entertainmentand business was attending,” saysMarcus, describing the event. “Theremust have been billions of dollars ofnet worth in that room.”

With a client list that extends tocelebrities as well, the likes of HowardStern, Billy Baldwin, Mary TylerMoore and Eddie Murphy all havebenefited from the Marcuses’ profes-sionalism and love for the business.

The father-and-son duo shoot mostof the company’s jobs that take placeout of the U.S. Assistants accompany

By Maura C. Lanahan �� Photography By Andy And Brian Marcus

The Fred Marcus Photography team is among the most sought-after wedding photography companies. They routinely travel to far-flung destinations, encountering logistical challenges that simply must be overcome.

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them as required, and they generallydon’t hire translators because Englishis such a prevalent language. “Exceptin Tokyo,” laughs Marcus. “No onespeaks English, and unless you speakJapanese, you can’t even guess whatthe signs say. The hotel that I stay atgives their guests a little card with itsname and address on it to show taxidrivers in case you get lost and can’tfind your way back.”

Fred Marcus, Andy’s father, startedthe business in 1941, after emigratingfrom Cuba, where he was an amateurphotographer. It was there where hemet some of his future clients whoended up moving to New York.When Fred Marcus first arrived inManhattan, he had a community ofpeople who were ready to hire him fortheir family events. The studio still

is located in the same place since theday the business started. Marcus beganassisting his father at age 13, anapprenticeship that honed his lightingand compositional skills. By the age of17, he was shooting events solo and hisown client base started to grow.

The company photographs 250 to500 events a year, and in addition toBrian Marcus, there’s a crew of fivephotographers. The size of the wed-ding determines how many people tosend on a job. An event with more than300 people attending means having twophotographers on the job, each with hisown assistant, who also serves as a sec-ond shooter. The company has two in-house retouchers on staff, working onimages chosen for large printing, a serv-ice that’s included in the package.

You’d think that the younger gen-

eration of a family photography busi-ness would be the one to shoot all digital, but not in this case. Brian, age26, rattles off a list of reasons why hestill shoots the majority of his jobsusing film: “You get to go out to din-ner after a job; that’s a big one. Timebecomes a very important issue. Youcan make the argument that digitalsaves money, but in the long run, timeis money, and the editing behind digi-tally shooting is pretty extensive.”

Brian Marcus’ work isn’t completedwithout considerable use of digital tech-nology, however. “After a job, I ship myfilm to one of two companies, either PCColour Lab in Los Angeles or CPQ inTennessee,” he says. Within a week, hehas a disc with all of an event’s workscanned, plus 4x6 proofs and negatives.“With film, I get the best of both

worlds. I end up with black-and-whitenegatives that I can print on fiber paper,plus I have the ability to have digitalfiles that can be retouched if necessary.”

Andy Marcus has a different take:“When I shoot out of the country, I’mshooting digitally. The hassles associ-ated with film are just too stress-ful,” he says, referring to the X-raymachines and the chances of exposureand film fogging. “When I use digital,this isn’t even a thought.”

A few years ago, after 9/11, Marcuswas returning from Italy, where hehad shot a job using all film. Securityin the Italian airport wouldn’t let himboard the plane unless he ran his filmthrough the X-ray machine. After an hour of arguing, he was able toboard, but only with an okay from the pilot. That’s when he decided to

Wedding photography is image creation without a net. Fred MarcusPhotography is renowned for nevermissing a beat no matter where they’recalled on to go. The out of the ordinaryis routine for Andy and Brian Marcus,who run the business now. When shooting a wedding, there’s no chanceto go back and do it again. The teamsucceeds by planning for every possiblecontingency. Andy Marcus works almostexclusively with digital, while his son, Brian, prefers to shoot film. Each follows a different workflow to get the job done.

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get serious about going digital. This was one of the very few times

when they faced obstacles shooting onthe road. Typically, things go smoothlyfor the Fred Marcus team becausethey’re meticulous planners. “We goover every aspect of a job beforehand, soif any problems arise, we’re covered,”says Marcus. “You have to be pre-pared.” Naturally, digital became partof the problem-avoidance equation.

Marcus appreciates the additionaladvantages of flexibility and range thatdigital offers. “Sometimes when I’mhired for work outside of New York, Idon’t know the area or the venue.With digital, I can adjust the ISO andwhite balance right in the camera, andI have the added benefit of seeing whatI’m getting as I get it.”

When traveling via plane, Marcusalways carries his camera and cardsonboard. “If one of my bags is lost, atleast I have my camera. My other geargoes below, protected by foam inLightware hard cases. I use Dynalitesfor formal portraits and Lumedynes orthe Canon 580EX flash for candids.”

During breaks from shooting anevent, Marcus backs up his work on anEpson P-2000 viewer and image vault.“I love this thing. The screen is so bigand bright, the images look great, andI feel confident that I have my imagesin two places.”

Marcus shoots with the Canon EOS-1D Mark II and uses 1 GB cards.“There’s too much at stake if I use alarger-capacity card,” he says. “Havingtoo many images on a bigger card can bedevastating if the card is lost or corrupt.”

Marcus carries at least eight cardswith him on a shoot, which leaves himwith plenty of capacity. Shooting inRAW allows him the convenience inpost-production to adjust the colorand exposure in many images all atonce while affording him the highestresolution possible.

After a job, Marcus heads to thecomputer where he converts his imagesand begins the editing and color-

correcting process. Once finished, heuploads the work to an FTP site set upby CPQ in Tennessee. Within twodays, he has CDs and 4x6 proofs at hisoffice, ready for him to show clients.Using Studiomaster PRO software byFujifilm, both Marcuses can designprints for Leather Craftsman photobooks and albums, and again uploadthe templates to the lab’s FTP site.

Most weddings and events have aformula. While styles and themes maydiffer for each client, the day movesalong in a fairly typical, structuredform. Keeping things interesting can bea challenge. “The travel breaks it up,but I love people,” says Marcus. “I lovewhat I do. I admit, I don’t have a week-end life—I work every Saturday andSunday—but I couldn’t do it if I didn’tlove my clients.”

“You have to come up with newideas, new ways of shooting somethingor offering something different toclients,” adds Brian Marcus. For exam-ple, he came up with an innovativeidea of photographing a bride’s bou-quet, bringing it into Photoshop andcreating a watercolor print that can behung in the new couple’s home.

“It looks like a painting,” saysMarcus, obviously proud of his son.“You wouldn’t believe how manybrides buy it; they love it because theycan’t keep the bouquet forever. Bymanipulating the image, it creates along-lasting memento of the day.”

The company’s success relies heav-ily on consistency and quality. “Thereare a lot photographers who havedecided to pick up weddings on theweekend to make some extra cash, butthe consistency isn’t there,” says theyounger Marcus. “There’s the photo-journalistic style, which is very popu-lar, but if you can’t back it up withinteresting formal portraits, then youaren’t completing the package.

“And this is something that you learnthrough doing. My father learned fromhis father, and now I learn from him.” DPP

Visit the Fred Marcus PhotographyWebsite at www.fredmarcus.com.