WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE A PROFESSIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER... INSTEAD OF USING FAMILY OR INEXPERIENCED PHOTOGRAPHERS. The following is fictional, but oh so true... “I think we should let your sister Betty do the photography for our wedding.” the bride to be told her future husband. “Good idea! That will save us a bunch of money that we can use for our honeymoon. She has a good camera and her photos have won some blue ribbons at the fair”, the agreeing groom replied. “Lets offer to pay her a little something for her time, you know, like $100, since she is going to be at the wedding anyway,” she stated smugly while smiling at their cost-saving though process. I would like to point out that wedding photography is more than just having a nice camera. Just because Betty has a good camera, and photography is her dream and passion, is not a reason to ultimately end up with photos you are not happy with. The couple is assuming that Betty is prepared to take on the challenge of photographing a wedding, you know, because she has had a couple of landscape photos that are beautiful. The wedding day arrives and Betty shows up confident that she will give you the best photos you could imagine of your important day. She starts by taking some outdoor photos of the venue and the grounds and everything is going great for her. She then comes inside where the bridal party is preparing for the ceremony. She doesnt like having to use any manual settings on the camera, so she relies on the built-in settings to do the job for her. In a poorly lit room, the bride is putting on her makeup and so Betty steps inside to capture the moment. Unfortunately she still has her zoom lens on the camera, so runs outside to her vehicle to switch lenses. By the time she returns with a wide angle lens, the bride has already put her wedding dress on and is having her maid-of-honor lace up the back. Betty takes a couple of photos and doesnt realize that the photos are blurry because the lighting in the room was inadequate and the “smart” camera needed a longer exposure to compensate for the lack of light. Not only did Betty miss capturing photos of the makeup, but all the photos of the bride putting on her dress are now blurry. As Betty is wandering around to find the groom, she looks at the photos she just took and realizes they are not in focus. She realizes that the lighting was not bright enough, so she pops up the built-in-flash to fix the problem. Betty finds the guys in a large room with clothes and junk spread all around the floor. She starts snapping away as the guys finish getting ready, not thinking that the built-in-flash is going to leave nasty, harsh shadows all over the photos. Halfway through she looks at a photo she just took, and notices the ugly shadows, so she closes the flash and lets the camera figure out the exposure. Because of all the dark suit-coats that the men are wearing, the camera is overexposing the photos. Betty just keeps snapping away, unaware of the problem. Betty also doesnt notice that most of her photos have “junk” strewn around in the background. The time for the ceremony comes and Betty positions herself at the back of the venue to capture each person of the wedding party as they come in. Again, unfortunately, Betty doesnt take into account that the people are now moving and hasnt made any changes to the camera to compensate for this. Snapping away as each person enters the building, but still not getting crisp photos. Since Betty is at the back, she misses the grooms reaction to seeing his bride for the first time. A while into the ceremony, Betty realizes that her wide angle lens (remember she is at the back of the venue) is not getting the photos she wants, so she again rushes to her bag of goodies and is switching lenses when the bride and groom kiss for the first time. No photos of the first kiss will be in that wedding album. After the ceremony, it is time for the formal photos of the wedding party. Betty states that she has scoped out a great place outside and those in the wedding follow. The subjects are facing away from the sun, so they are not squinting, but Betty has not adjusted the camera for the lighting and all the photos are underexposed because the background is so darn bright. You guessed it, it is now time for the reception. Betty decides that she is part of the family, so wants to talk with relatives and friends for a while. Betty is exhausted and thinks that she deserves a break, after all, she is helping out the bride and groom by saving them some money. She gives the camera to her 12 year old son to take some photos of the reception. Unfortunately, he takes more photos of the other kids than of the goings-on at the reception. No photos of the first dance, father-daughter dance, cutting of the cake, garter and bouquet toss, etc. Since Betty doesnt really have the appropriate software to edit, properly, any of the photos, she just dumps them all onto a DVD and gives it to the newly married couple a few days later. After about the first 50 photos, the bride is in tears as most of the wedding photos are either blurry, underexposed, overexposed, or just not that good. I realize that this story is fictional, but I have heard stories like this over and over again, even from other family members on the wedding day. So, why does this happen to Betty, and others who are not professional photographers? Because, while Betty and others might have the right camera and equipment (although sometimes unlikely), they dont have the following: 1. The knowledge and ability to make changes to the camera settings on the fly based on different lighting situations. Most of the time, wedding photographers only have a few seconds to make an adjustment so something isnt missed. The wedding photographer must rely on experience instead of letting the camera make the decisions. 2. The preparation required to scope out the venue, plan ahead for different scenarios, use multiple cameras (and multiple photographers) and have the equipment at hand when needed. 3. Experience to shoot those moments that happen briefly so they are not missed. A first kiss lasts only a few seconds and you dont know when it is going to happen, so the professional is always prepared. 4. The knowledge and experience to capture the angles that best accentuate each scene during a wedding and reception. 5. The energy to work non-stop for as long as the it takes to tell the story of the special day for the bride and groom. Multiple photographers to make sure that nothing is missed. 6. The ability to create unique scenes with the lighting that is available, and the knowledge to know how to use additional lighting when necessary. 7. Experience in guiding and directing large groups for the formal photos. This is where a professional photographer uses experience and personality to interact with the bride and groom and their family. 8. The knowledge of advanced focusing and lighting techniques and the experience to take extra shots to compensate for awkward expressions and blinking, etc. There are also so many more things that Betty would need to take professional photos on such an important day for the happy couple. There are so many other ways to save money on such an important and special day, but professional wedding photography is not one of them. Professional photography studios, such as this studio, will work with clients to ensure that they are getting the package that fits their budget. If you have to make a choice, always choose quality over price. Remember, you get what you pay for. By Paul Bowman / Precious Life Studio This article is based on a similar article by Lin & Jirsa.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:41:55 +0000