Should You Hire A Pro?

I know you are excited about your engagement, and now you have to plan your wedding budget! Are you on the fence as a newly engaged couple about whether to hire a friend? Or, let a family member photograph your wedding because they say it’s their gift? It may seem to be a great idea and you’ll figure you’ll be saving $$ by choosing these options. But it can end up being one of your biggest regrets. STOP AND CONSIDER – see below.

Your friends and family have the very best of intentions when they offer to shoot your wedding, but having the latest camera is not enough to take amazing photos. Unless they are a wedding photographer, they won’t know what to expect before it actually happens! As a wedding photographer, with over 15+ years experience, I have developed technical expertise in the field that has helped me anticipate unexpected technical issues that could come up with the electronics of my camera. Just as important, once I recognized the issue, I have taken care of it without anyone noticing or having an impact on my coverage. It would be easy to panic – yikes!

Several years ago, during a beach wedding, just prior to my pre-ceremony coverage, I had a camera not only have a shutter malfunction but become inoperable! Moments later the back up camera lens had the blades inside the lens come part. Did you know they could do that? So quick thinking and having backup lenses and camera bodies available is critical – of course not falling apart and knowing how to solve the problem was essential! From that moment on, being prepared for all possible outcomes became the benchmark of my mantra!

If you’re considering hiring a non-professional photographer, these are just some of the risks that you should be aware of. A few more absolute musts are having extra fast memory cards and batteries; and once back at home base, making a Blu-Ray of all original images, not just relying on uploading to a computer. And of course, the same applies, when finished with the event, Blu-Ray archiving the finished images. You just never know when a bride will contact you saying they need replacements – yes, this has happened about 3 or 4 times in my career.