Don't go budget on your Wedding Photography

I hear it time and time again how people decide to have a friend shoot their wedding...or get someone really cheap off of craigslist for wedding photography. By the way I used to advertise myself really cheap there when I started out and yes I wasn't worth more than $500 either. I didn't have the equipment nor the experience I have now. I frequently hear how disappointed people are with their wedding photos and how it is all they have left from the event.

Here's the deal...it is a mistake to have a friend who does photography to shoot your wedding and it is a mistake to not pay a decent amount for it as well. You pay for what you get. Wedding photography is extremely challenging...you can be a great photographer, but it doesn't mean you can handle a wedding. Wedding photography has multiple lighting situations that you need to adapt too quickly. There is no time to be setting up the perfect lighting situation. People don't want to spend their day posing under fancy lights. So you better know your camera and how to shoot in all sorts of situations.

There are people you need to direct and many times large groups of people. If you are a shy, quiet person this is not the type of photography you should be doing. When you are hiring someone look for an outgoing personality, someone who can get the attention of several people, who at the moment are acting like they have ADD.

A 6-8 hr wedding is physically and mentally exhausting and these days clients expect a lot of photos so there is little downtime. This photography needs to have stamina! What people forget is that you are also paying for editing. Gone are the days when we would shoot and drop it off at the lab. Now I spend at least 20-30 hours editing post wedding. This is how I get those creative, artistic photos most are looking for now. So be selective, someone who is doing this for a hobby just won't be able to compete and you will be disappointed. I would say if you go below $1500 for a day of photography you are asking for trouble. Cut back somewhere else...the cake doesn't need to be $1000, your invites don't need to be $2000, or have a buffet instead. You are only left with your photos, so choose wisely and spend the money to find someone right.

Pet Peeves at Weddings

I thought I would write something about my Pet Peeves from the years of experience I have from working many weddings. I am hoping this can help one better understand why we photographers do the things we do and how to make your special day go smoother.

1) Wedding Guests acting as professional photographers or thinking they are one.

What has happened to me on several occasions...enough for me to put this in my contract is for one of your guests with their big digital camera to be snapping away right behind me. I have almost tripped on guests in the isle...being pregnant recently, that was a fun one! I have had guests firing off their flashes behind me while I am working with natural lighting therefore creating the opposite look I am trying to create. I have also had guests tell my clients which lighting was good and try and suggest poses. Now where this gets irritating is I am the professional photographer and obviously you are paying me a lot of money to get the job done. To have a guest come in and make suggestions or opinions is inappropriate, but trust me it happens. I would love to say..."would you like it if I came to your job and started telling you what to do or did it for you the wrong way." But I refrain. I have had to kindly ask the guests to please leave the directing up to me and my assistant.

Another issue is when guests take photos from my perspective. They are getting a very similar shot and many people who are aspiring photographers will post this on their websites or blogs and claim they photographed a wedding. This is unethical and it happens all the time. So this is one reason why I ask all high end digital cameras to please not be used while I am photographing a particular scene. I could care less if the guests are running around somewhere else like at the reception and taking photos but not right behind me while we are doing formals or in the isle when I am running around.

2) Dinner time and serving your photographer a meal.

This is definitely an issue that I have tried to get resolved many times but it still comes up on sit down meals. Buffets I love because my assistant and I can step in early on get our food and be done by the time speeches or dances start. At this point we have been working for many hours on our feet and if you want happy photographers with more energy to complete the evening I suggest feeding them as soon as you are feed, not after all the guests are feed. With sit down meals this becomes tricky. Apparently caters like to wait to serve vendors until the end. Just think about how this doesn't make any sense for your photographers. For one thing you are paying a lot of money to get your event documented, so having the photographers eat dinner after everyone else when it is likely speeches, dances, or other things isn't good planning. Frequently we are placed in a location where we can't hear what is going on so having our meal at the same time just makes logical sense so we can do our job. That leads to my next pet peeve!

3) During meals being seated far away from the reception

If I am not in earshot I can't predict what is going to happen next during the meals. Of course I usually have a schedule but we all know weddings aren't always on time. So please make sure your photographers are sat close enough to hear in case they need to jump up and get the shot of an important moment. Otherwise they can't be held accountable for missed moments. This doesn't need to be in the same room, but right outside is sufficient.


4)Not having the guests that are to be in the group formals ready and in a nearby area.

For the most part this goes smoothly, but when it doesn't it can make for a complicated situation. Once guests are allowed to mingle in the cocktail hour you can pretty much forget gathering them up for a group shot. So make sure all guests know where they need to be and when. I don't know who Uncle George is so make sure someone is also assigned to coordinate the people you want in the formals.