They spend hours, if not months, selecting the decorations for the room, the table layout, the venues, the cars, the cake, the grooms suite and the brides dress etc, etc, act. Booking a photographer is normally one of the last items on their preparation list.
But lets face it, without the photos of ALL the detail that has gone into the big day, what is the point. 24 hours after the event and most of your guests will not be able to recall anything about the room decorations, the food or the clothes worn on the day.
Also we consistently hear brides and grooms complaining about the cost of a professional photographer. Why do we pay so much for someone 'just' to take photos, surly anyone can do that?
Well should they not also ask, why are they paying for someone to make a cake for them? there must be plenty of people in the family who can cook!
Why are they spending all that money on a hand made wedding dress, there are plenty you can buy second hand, lets face it they are only ever worn once so how much wear and tear can there be.
And why pay for a vintage car to take you the 10 - 15 minute drive between venues, there are plenty of family members who have cars and can do that just as well.
And the price you are willing to pay for the food, it's just cooking and we can all do that surly?
The reason! You all want your day to look different from every one else and you want the cake 'to be right' and not just hope it will be ok on the day.
You want the dress to fit right and every one to look at it and there not to be another quite like it.
You want the car to separate you out from the rest of the world on that day so people will know you are getting married and not just another member of the public going about a normal day.
You want to know the food is going to be right and not just hope it all turns out OK.
Obviously the list can go on and on and lets not forget you are also looking for some form of assurance and guaranty that the day will pass off without disruption or disasters and the bulk of the strain to be taken up by others while you and your guests get on with enjoying the special event.
So with all this careful planning and preparations why would you take any risks when it comes to recording the event for prosperity? Lets face it that is what the photographer is doing. The wedding service will be all over is an hour or so, the car journey over in minutes, the food eaten and forgotten in an hour, the cake cut up and consumed in no time at all and your dress, well that will find it's way into some box in the attic never to be seen again, certainly it's very unlikely it will ever be warn again.
But your wedding album you should expect generations to come to be able to sit down with it and look back on your day. You want to relive those moments with your children and your children's children. And your future descendants will also be looking back on this important document with keen interest and you still want the emotions of the day to shine through, even then.
I have seen people hand cameras out to their guests to record the day, great, so just to clarify, you are happy to 'hope' that 'luck' is with you on the day and you get 'some' good snaps!!
What will you do if there are no good snaps? There is nothing wrong with this if they are in addition to the presence of a professional photographer, whom is going to ensure nothing is missed or left to chance.
And all photographs need editing of some description, even if it's just cropping or colour correction, who will do this for you?
Do you want 'photos' of your wedding or do you want 'snaps'?
What will your album look like? Will it have the quality to last at least several generations?
Just because such and such has a new top of the range digital camera for christmas does not make them a professional wedding photographer, it does not even make them a good photographer.
My wife bought me a top of the range oil painting set up for christmas, does that mean I now expect to find my work hanging in some gallery any time soon? Or people to be lining up to purchase my work? Of course not.
To become a professional artist takes time, training and a natural ability. Why would you assume this is any different for photography?
Your wedding photographer should be a tried and tested professional, who can cope with whatever the weather conditions are, whatever lighting is available and whatever the physical environment you find your self in to produce the very best images possible on the day.
If the professionals camera fails for any reason he should have at least two other cameras to fall back on, if his flash stops working he should have a back up and batteries and memory cards to cover the whole day, with some to spare. He should have reflectors and tripods and know when and how to use both.
In other words the professional photographer should leave nothing to chance.
This is, we all hope, a one off event in your life and there are no second chances for a reshoot if something goes wrong.
All that effort that you have put into creating this wonderful day, the months and months of planning, the number of suppliers you checked before ordering, the number of venues you looked over before booking, where will all that effort be recorded?
The current state of affairs is not being helped by the number of so called professional photographers out there willing to perform work for little to no financial remuneration. These people normally have no insurance and no contracts will be signed to provide protection for all concerned. They are also very unlikely to have the ability to store your images for several years, in case you have any mishaps and need copies, the ability to order high quality wedding albums or the time necessary to concentrate on your requirements fully, as they must surly be running a second job in order to cloth and feed themselves and they families and your wedding will always take second place to this.
Please take as much time selecting your photographer as you have the other suppliers contributing to your big day and leave nothing to chance or luck. Take the time to understand the different styles of photography and which you think suites your personalities. And the photographer, lets not forget you will be spending quite some time in their company throughout the day and you must be able to get on with them and like them as people or the day will be a little strained to say the least.
Check out our web site page;
http://www.oakfield-photography.com/wedding-gallery/
Here you will find plenty of information to start you off regarding styles of photography along with other useful tips and advice to help you make the right decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment