Should I Book A Professional Wedding Photographer?
Should I Book A Professional Wedding Photographer? – Tips For Wedding Couples
Even though I have never got the question asked directly to me, I know many couples that are considering the importance of hiring a professional wedding photographer or simply let a friend do it for free? As a pro wedding photographer I am of course biased but I hope I can shed some light and direction on the matter in this post. I thought I’d share some tips for wedding couples as I know many engaged are planning their wedding planning right now.
To begin, I need to state again that this is my personal views on wedding photography and you will of course do exactly what you like with your wedding coverage. I am not saying that your friend with the really nice camera can’t take photos and I appreciate that many brides and grooms don’t have the budget to hire a professional wedding photographer.
The Value Of The Image
To start off, I think the art of photography is a little bit misunderstood by a lot of people and that the value of images have decreased since the technology have become so accessible to so many. I shoot weddings today where some of the guests have the same camera as I do! The art of photography used to be a profession where you had to have a lot of expensive equipment (a dark room) and a fair amount of skills (auto-mode-and-Youtube-tutorial-what?). The digital technology have changed the industry and made photography more accessible to everyone. And we do love it!
Also, in “the good old days” clients to photographers received a physical piece of art in contrast to a digital file. Think of it like this: You go shopping, enter a store, go straight to the counter and put down a large sum of money, leave the store and are promised a digital proof of your shopping in six or twelve months. You would feel a bit cheated, wouldn’t you? And I think the reason why is that we are so used to digital images now, to create them ourselves, that we don’t appreciate the effort, artistic value and time and money spend on creating them.
As many couples only see the amount of work a wedding photographer do on the 10-12 hours they are shooting on the wedding day, they might get the impression that the photographer works for a very high hourly rate! I can show the short version of a few points that are included in my average work load from a wedding (I’ll keep it fairly brief for it is quite tedious even to write it!):
- Initial email with wedding couple to discuss their wedding, availability and quotes
- Meeting with bride and groom to talk about coverage, finalise details, see my portfolio and wedding agreement
- Plan and execute pre wedding shoot/engagement session, at location chosen by the couple
- Edit engagement shoot, send out images/print, possibly visit venue for test shots
- Wedding day coverage (roughly 10-13 hours for a full day wedding collection)
- Editing/ preparing of images, slideshows, photo books, postage (usually takes up to a week including proofing of books)
- Preparing blog posts, online magazine features, social media like Facebook and Twitter
- Marketing campaigns, wedding vendor contacts (and so the cycle begins again)
But Uncle Bob Has A Great Camera!
I think every wedding photographer has heard it: “I love your images, you must have a great camera!”. I usually smile and say that yes, I really do. But would you look at an oil painting, admire its composition, technique and expression and then walk up to the artist and compliment them on how good their brushes are?
As a professional photographer on a wedding day you will have to possess more than technical photography skills and to know how to manoeuvre a camera… You need to be able to deal with weather (come rain or strong sunshine) and moments that never will repeat themselves (you can’t re-create the first kiss). You will have to make sure you respect the amount of effort a wedding couple and their friends have put into every little detail of the wedding day and you have to make sure you capture that. You will have to make uncomfortable people look relaxed in front of the camera, be silent like a ninja during the ceremony, take charge and be heard when you need to line up 200 people for a group photo (and make everyone smile and look at you at the same time), deal with dark churches where you can’t use flash, narrow hallways, emotional brides, shy bridesmaids and other kinds of disasters that can potentially happen to you (all while carrying around heavy equipment and making sure you are always smiling and professional. If I then turn to the wedding couples out there: Would you really want to leave all this responsibility in the hands of uncle Bob?
Why Being A Wedding Photographer Is The Greatest Job In The World
After all this tirade (sorry, I don’t mean to rant!), how do I then motivate myself being a central London wedding photographer? Simply because it is the best job in the world! Despite all the hard work, there is nothing that compares to seeing people giving each other the ultimate promise of love. There’s nothing as good as creating stunning images of a bride who never liked being photographed or capturing moments on the wedding day that the bride and groom never saw happen. To tell the story of the wedding day in bright, happy and stylish images in a candid way, so that all feelings are natural and genuine. The only thing I regret with my job is not to be able to see the faces of my wedding couples when they see their images for the first time, which is why I am so happy for all the beautiful emails and feedback I get from them.
I Am Still Not Convinced That I Need A Professional Wedding Photographer…
That’s alright! My intention was never to convince you, just to shed some light on the matter from a wedding photographer’s perspective. After all, I am a wedding photographer myself, so I won’t be able to give you an objective view. I would recommend you to read this story that I found on the brilliant wedding blog Rocknrollbride, from a bride who decided that booking a pro wedding photographer wasn’t for her (and gave me inspiration to write this post). Read the post here: Should I book a professional wedding photographer? (In the wise words from Mrs X).
And don’t forget to check out my wedding photography website: WeddingsByCecelina!
Professional Wedding Photographer London – Wedding Photography Tips – Advice For Wedding Couples – Central London Wedding Photographer
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