Horse show and event photographer

Weddings!!

I have started to do some wedding photography - but please read on if you are getting married

There are a LOT of photographers who are offering wedding photography, many are doing some unbelievable budget deals, BUT BEFORE you decide on one of thesee, make sure the person you are paying and trusting to capture this special day for you knows what they are doing!

Some people will buy a camera with a big or impressive lens and you may well think they look like a great photographer - but ask a few simple questions before you book to see if they are really know what they are doing.

They may well show you a site with wedding pictures on, but are these from an actual wedding or from a wedding course with models where they are under no pressure and do not have to set up their own shots? Are the bride and groom looking at the photographer or are they looking at someone else?
Yes some people may use models to show the sort of shot that they could provide, but they should also have pictures from real weddings where they are the main photographer and not an assistant. Ask to see a sample album of a complete wedding, do not be fobbed off with excuses, again anyone can get one or 2 shots from a wedding but you need to see that the wedding photographer you choose can keep the same quality through the whole day.

Many of the cheaper photographers are doing weddings as well as a 9 to 5 type job, so may not have the same backup cameras or lenses that a full time pro will, what would happen if the camera or lens broke at the wedding, how would they get pictures of the rest of the day? Some do not pay tax on their earnings - a full time person will.

Part of the reason wedding photographers appear to be expensive is that the time spent on each wedding is not always obvious to the bride and groom. The wedding photographer will meet the bride and groom prior to the wedding, they will have checked the locations so that they know where the best shots will be obtainable, and then after spending the day (and often the night) shooting the wedding they will spend perhaps another 3 days editing the pictures and designing albums, making a dvd etc. The time spent on each wedding may take the same amount of hours as a full time job for a week, add to that the cost of the equipment needed, insurance, training (yes even experienced wedding photographers will still need to keep up to date with trends), to name a few of the overheads and you can see that what may appear a lot at first soon starts to look a bit more reasonable!

Is the photographer insured? Do they have public liability and indemnity? If not why not? With insurance if the worst happens and things do go very wrong there is a possible way to get a reshoot or at least get your money back, without you could have no pictures at all.

Make sure that you are not going to be charged exhorbitant prices for any extra prints you may want to order - a few extra 6x8" prints at £100 each will suddenly make that budget package very expensive!

If a photographer tells you what you want, he may be unable to adapt to your requirements, so make sure that what YOU want is catered for.

When the wedding is over it is too late to think "if only we had gone with a better photographer" Due to copyright you cannot just give the pictures to someone else and ask if there is anything they can do to improve them.

To finish, think how much the ceremony will cost, then add in the car hire, wedding and bridesmaids dresses, reception, cake, honeymoon etc. That is a lot of money and other than the wedding certificate it will not be there in the future - BUT - the photographs will be.
Is it really worth thinking that someone "only" has to point the camera so anyone can do the job? The camera only records what the photographer sees, however good the camera its the person behind the lens that gets a great picture, the camera cannot do that on its own!

As I said at the beginning, I do photograph a few weddings and now that you have read this page I have probably put you off using me, but I trying to give you an idea of what to think about re the photography of your big day.
Its great that those of you who have seen my work ask me to shoot your wedding, but please remember that I am only just starting wedding photography, so if you do want a full time wedding photographer, I suggest you consider:
Lee Proctor - Leeds
or
DG Photography - Barnsley
these are both professional wedding photographers - you never know, if you tell them you were refered from here you may even find that I would attend as their bag carrier!!