There were nine photographers at the Southern Brides wedding show on Saturday and Sunday, out of about 50 exhibitors. That’s a high proportion by any standard and it led to some grumbling. You have to ask why, though.

Around 1,000 people attended the show. Let’s say for sake of argument that half of those were actually there because they are getting married within the next 24 months. And let’s say that the 500 or so left were couples, so that makes 250 weddings, spread out over 2008 and 2009 – 125 for each year.

Even if each of those weddings was on a separate day, there is no way that one photographer could photograph all of them – not with any artistic integrity any road. It would mean an average of 2.4 weddings a week for 104 straight weeks. Unless you really don’t care what sort of work you’re producing, that volume of photography is extraordinarily punishing. Don’t forget that for every wedding photographed, at least two days’ worth of post-production, liaison and album production awaits – typically more.

So, spread the love around a bit and give everyone an equal slice of the pie. Theoretically, that would mean each photographer at the show would get just under 14 weddings. That is a pretty good return for a single show.

In reality, most of us at the show will end up with a much lower return. I doubt anyone will hit 14. Why? Because we are not the only wedding photographers in Cork. It is silly to think that if you are the only photographer at a wedding fair that you will book all of the business in the room. The market for wedding photography exists outside of wedding fairs, it is not contained solely within the confines of the exhibition space.

Now get this: it would be much better if there had been 50 wedding photographers at the show, rather than just nine.

Yes, I do mean it.

Why? Because if there were 50 photographers in the room that would pretty much be all of the Cork crowd and we’d all be on display. Brides would get to see everyone in one hit and would make their decisions quite quickly. The photographers whose work is most popular or whose product offering closest matches what brides are looking for would do well. The rest wouldn’t. Market forces. The same market forces that will apply regardless of whether there are nine or 50 photographers in a room.

The only time it is important whether there are few or many photographers at a show is when they are offering the same or similar work. If everyone is doing the same thing, then brides can flip a coin as to whom they choose. (And guess what guys? The choice will be made on price not on photographic merit).

But photography isn’t like that, or at least it shouldn’t be. I have a very distinctive style and people either like it or they don’t. If they do, they will book me because nobody else can “do” me. If they don’t, they will book someone they do like. From that perspective, it really doesn’t matter whether there is one photographer showing or 100.

Now, let’s turn the whole thing on its head. If there had been only one photographer at the show out of the 50 or so in Cork, would they have gained more from the show? No, it would have been even worse for them. I’ve already argued that they wouldn’t have booked more work from it. Moreover, they wouldn’t have had a chance to nose around to see what everyone else was up to. Wedding fairs are tremendous intelligence gathering opportunities. You get to meet colleagues, discuss trends, new gear, new albums, see other people’s work, etc. It’s like a mini convention.

Again, 50 photographers would have been better than nine because we would have been a great opportunity to drive the business as a whole forward, drawing on the best things learned from each other over the two days. Photographers win and so do the customers.

There will always be photographers who view other photographers as bitter competitors rather than colleagues. It’s a sad thing because all of the evidence shows that the most successful photographers are those who are willing to share what they know with others and engage with their colleagues. It improves their business and their photography. And who benefits most from an improved service like that? The client. That’s you.

Here’s a thing. There were three cake companies in line of sight with our booth. Two of them were on the same stand. That’s right: they were sharing a stand. And they were thronged.

Nine photographers sitting on a wall? It’s a big wall and there’s plenty of room.