So you're planning your wedding. You're trying to do as much as possible using the resources of yourself, your friends and your family. Much of the wedding industry today is a DIY event. However, when it comes to photographing and forever capturing your special day, there are many good reasons why you should choose a professional photographer. Here are three of them.....
Professionals Have The Equipment NeededMost amateurs will have a camera that is more than adequate for the job. They'll most likely have a flash unit that is tough enough to handle a big dark room, and maybe even a stand to prop it up on for interesting formal photographs. This is all well and good, and provided nothing goes wrong, they will have the tools to capture the images you want. They might even have the eye for what makes a good formal photograph.
But what if something goes wrong?
Professional photographers don't carry two of everything. But a professional will have redundancy in all the most important equipment, (camera bodies, flash units, batteries, memory, lenses) AND a contingency plan for the unlikely event that something they don't have redundancy for should fail. Professionals will be ready with backups of the crucial gear, and the knowledge of how to work around gear that may have conked out. This usually isn't the case with amateurs, and really isn't fair to expect that of them.
Professionals Have the Time Required to Complete the Task Not only is a wedding a big deal to you the bride, its also a big deal to the professional photographer. The photographer spends on average 8 hours or more of constant shooting with very little time to collect their thoughts and figure out what to do next. But that's just the beginning. In a 6 to 8 hour wedding a photographer will shoot anywhere from 1500-3000 images. That's a LOT of images to deal with. Your photographer will need to meticulously edit all these photographs, one by one, deleting the duds, and processing and editing the rest. For an amateur, or friend or family member with a camera, even if they have an established workflow to keep them organized and on-track, it will probably be a long time before you see any of your wedding photos. After all they most likely will have families, full-time jobs, and their own lives to attend to. A professional on the other hand has an established workflow, will have budgeted their time, and will be able to deliver your wedding photographs in their best condition, and in a timely manner.
Professionals Have Plenty of the Right ExperienceShooting non-wedding events does not adequately prepare a photographer to shoot a wedding, though it does provide a necessary foundation. Professionals have followed a variety of paths into wedding photography and have had plenty of time to learn what to do and what not to do.
Your wedding day will be a complex event with a lot of moving parts. Your photographer, while capturing images of you and maybe your spouse getting ready, will have to find time to snap shots of the details-like your rings, dress, shoes, jewelry and decorations. When you have finished getting ready, your photographer will have to shift gears immediately into the ceremony where they'll need to remember where they can and can't go without disrupting the ceremony and distracting the guests who are trying to focus on the commitment you're making. Then, almost instantly, your photographer will have to arrange and pose a big collection of people they don't know and who aren't readily available. When that's over, the photographer will have to change gears again to shoot in a variety of shifting light situations where the 'auto' mode on the camera is woefully inadequate.
There are countless things that could go differently than expected. What if the DJ brings some dance floor lighting effects? The professional photographer knows how to make his equipment meet the challenge. An amateur might not. What about a guest with a camera fighting for your attention too? The professional knows how to handle them gracefully without sacrificing the images you've paid them to create.
But the topic of experience goes even farther. The professional will be all over the place, capturing images of a huge array of people. If the amateur photographer is a friend or family member, other friends or family members will be at your wedding also. Most amateurs will be drawn to spend a lot of time in the company of, or near, the people they know. This often results in a huge number of photographs of a few particular people, and the loss of other images that may have been important to you.
Additionally, professional photographers will see their attendance at your wedding as a service to you. Some amateurs may not. If the amateur sees himself as just as much a guest as a photographer, rather than a vendor adding to your total wedding experience, you may end up without many of the images you were hoping for. The amateur may even be unaccustomed to important wedding vendor etiquette. This could range from very minor things, to much bigger problems, such as the amateur becoming intoxicated leaving you with no usable images expect for perhaps some snapshots taken by other guests. The professional on the other hand fully understands why they are there and act accordingly.
You may not have considered these things, but the professional has.
In conclusion.....Everyone has to start somewhere, but save money elsewhere.
There are lots of ways and places to save money on your wedding day, but don't risk losing something you're going to cherish for the rest of your life. Save on things that will be gone the very next day, and forgotten in a week by almost all of your guests. But trust the important, life long things to a professional who fully grasps the importance of the job.
Every professional was once an amateur with a lot to learn. If making big mistakes is key to learning, you don't want your wedding day being the classroom. Instead, if you have a friend who wishes to build a portfolio or get into the game, ask your professional photographer to allow him to shoot as well. With a little coordination between your professional photographer and amateur friend , you can rest easy knowing the photography is under control and you can feel good about giving your friend a chance to gain experience they may not otherwise get. After-all, friendships are important and you don't want something like bad images, or worse, no images, destroying them. Hire a professional and set your mind at ease.
This article was an adaptation taken from an excellent article written by Angelo Stavrow.
