In this day and age of trying to do your wedding on a budget, many brides are going for the ultimate "cheap wedding photographer" which amounts to a friend who "loves photography", an aspiring photographer who wants to create a portfolio and will work for "free" (or close to free) or worse yet, Uncle Bob with his "great camera" who takes all the photos at the family gatherings.
While I do understand the economic times well and the need to cut corners like never before, I strongly advise against any of the above options unless you, the bride, are willing to lower your photographic expectations to equal your financial expectations. You simply cannot expect consistently beautiful representations of your day for free, or next to free. You are not going to be happy, trust me. "Free" may be your friend when budgeting, but when all is said and done, it isn't and may result in a loss of a friend.
Let's look at this - when you begin to look for an affordable photographer on a restricted budget, are you considering talking to the photographer who's work you like about what they may or may not be able to do for you or are you immediately going for the big three freebies named above? Most seasoned, experienced wedding photographers are dropping their prices due to the economy. But, you have free wedding photographers, so.....let's review:
The "friend who loves photography" isn't going to love you, nor are you going to love her when it is all said and done. She likely has absolutely no idea what is entailed in shooting a wedding for one thing. Another big point is she doesn't understand that she is no longer "part of the party" but must be the outsider looking in, and she has to be good. Very good, under these circumstances. She has to know that you need photos of you and great Aunt Susan, even if you don't think of it. If you want to be the director all day, fine. But haven't you had to play director for this day for a whole year? Wouldn't it be nice it the photographer knew what needed to be done without your input? And when she realizes that she has hours upon hours of "fixing" the photos combined with your anxiousness to see them and she fails to deliver what you expected and she "worked so hard" - where is the friendship now?
The Aspiring Photographer is a crap shoot. They obviously know the gear, have had some experience, usually as a second photographer to a pro and are launching on their own. Will trade for Portfolio is the song they sing. The inherent problem with this is that while they may have (and probably do have) some weddings under their belt, they are underestimating the lead photographer who tells them where to be, what to shoot and sets everything up. They think they can do that too. Maybe they can, maybe they can't. I have launched two of my second photographers' careers. I've had 8. Only two have worked hard enough and long enough with me that I would trust them to be lead photographers. Both of them had 100 weddings under their belts as my assistant before I felt they knew what to do. The words "I assisted so and so a couple times" are not your friend. This is a once in a lifetime deal.
Does Uncle Bob drink? Is he expecting to work all day and night without really socializing with anyone else from the family? That is what your professional photographer does. Its not a party for us, our "socializing" is in the form of making other people comfortable, but not distract us from capturing the moments you love and will likely forget. Ah - the meaning of "capture the moment" - one must actually be aware enough to "see" the moment to capture it. Experience. And poor Uncle Bob; he's trying to do something lovely for you to save you money, and he's going to disappoint you at the very least or worse, miss half your wedding.
Free is not your friend. Affordable wedding photography of quality is out there. It can be found. It takes some research. Like I said, many of us are lowering our prices quite significantly because we don't want to see it all go up in smoke.
No comments:
Post a Comment