I’ve had a number of meetings lately with prospective brides, and you would be amazed at how many times the mum/friends have said my wedding photographer was terrible.  One lady today said out of around 200 photos there were only three usable photos.

Digital photography has made photography more accessible to everyone; in general this is a good thing.  Unfortunately now everyone with a camera thinks they are a photographer.  More and more we hear about people having their wedding photographs ruined by someone who bought a camera for Christmas and thinks he’s a photographer.  If I go out and buy a stethoscope am I then a Doctor?

I’ve even had a so called photographer ask me to show him how to use his new camera because he had a wedding to photograph in a month’s time, I really do feel sorry for the couple who’ve hired him.

I’m always amazed at people who book a photographer on price alone, why would you spend money on a photographer without seeing their work first. 

I remember a wedding I quoted for some time ago, they came back to me and said they’d been given a better price and wanted to know if I could beat it as they would like to use me.  The quote was for the bride preparation photos, the wedding and reception, photographing all evening.  Included in their price was a wedding album, disc of all the images and a DVD slide show, the price they wanted me to beat was £300, needless to say I declined their offer to re-quote.

What people don’t realise is photographing a wedding is not just one day’s work, editing that many images takes time, I can usually put a week aside just for editing the images and designing the album.  My preferred albums are handmade in Italy to the finest quality; I take pride in the work I produce.  Photography is not just a hobby for me it’s my living; if you have a problem with anything I do you know I will still be here next week to talk about it.

So if you book your wedding photographer on price alone without seeing any examples of their work then don’t be surprised if you don’t get what you expected.  Also when a photographer shows you the sample wedding albums ask them if this is actually their work.  Many album suppliers will provide sample albums to photographers that are pre-loaded with work from famous wedding photographers, so ask the questions first it’s too late after the wedding.

Wines supplied by Vivino wines www.vi-vino.co.uk

People will spend hundreds of pounds getting leaflets professionally designed, they will spend thousands on having their website designed, they will then take the photos themselves to use in the designs.  Do you really need to use professional photographs?

This day and age we all have thousands of competitors offering the same services as us, or selling the same products, so we all have to be at least as good as our competitors, or preferrably better.

But you’ve spend enough money on getting the website up and running so why should you spend more money on a photographer, you can use a camera it’s just point it at the subject and take the photo easy.  why do photographers spend all those years learning how to take photos, it’s money for nothing anyone can take a photo.

I agree anyone can take a photo, but not everyone is trying to sell their products or services.  Think about it would you buy a product off the internet if it looked shabby?  If people see a photograph on the website advertising a product and it’s a bad photo, they don’t see a bad photo they see a bad product.   How many times have you gone onto a website and immediatley clicked off the site and gone somewhere else just because you didn’t like the look of the site?

Umbrella supplied by Sunbase promotional products
www.promotional-product.co.uk

Take a look at the photographs above, both the same product.  One photos is photographed with studio lights and edited professionally, the other is just photographed using the camera flash with no or little editing.  If these two photos were on two different websites and they were the same price which one would you buy from?

When someone looks at your website they don’t just see the products or services you supply, they decide how reliable you are likely to be, how professional you are and how much trouble they will have should they need to return the product.

So the question was ”Do I need to use a professional photographer” that depends how professional you want to look.

Brides always ring me and the first thing they say is how much to photograph my wedding, for starters this all depends on what they want me to photograph, but more important they’ve already asked the wrong question.

Things you should look at in order of importance.

1. Find a photographer whose style you like.
2. Do you like the photographer, if you can’t get along with the photographer then don’t book them.
3. Do they offer a wedding pre shoot (I personally think this is vital).
4. Visit more than one photographer
5. Price.

Yes price is important, I’d like to say it isn’t but the cost always plays a part.  But before you get to discussing the price there are more important considerations, the main one being do you like the style of photography?  What’s the point of booking a photographer if you are not going to like the work they produce.  I always tell prospective brides come into the studio and have a look at my work first, if you don’t like my style of photography then don’t book me.  After all this is your most important day, what’s the point of paying for someone to do the photographs when you are not going to like what they produce in the end?
Every photographer is different and every photographer will produce a different set of photographs that incorporate their own style, that doesn’t mean one photographer is better than another?  No it just means each photographer will produce a different type of photograph.

When you find a photographer whose style you like the next consideration is do you like them and can you work with them?  
It’s no good having a great photographer if you can’t even stand talking to them, they will be giving you instructions throughout the day, you need to be able to talk to them, otherwise you are not going to get the best from the photographs.  You are putting a huge amount of trust in this person, made sure you can work with them.

This is just a personnal one for me but I think it’s vital to get a pre wedding shoot done with your chosen photographer.  You want the photographs to be special and too reflect your personalities, I believe spending an hour or so a month or so before the wedding is vital, how else can you get to know the couples personalities and they get to know you.  If the photographer knows your personalities and what sort of photos you like and dislike they can tailor the photographs specifically for you.

I also believe you should visit a number of photographers, I always advise any prospective brides that come to me to visit other photographers, this may seem like I don’t want their business, I do but it’s more important they get the photographer that best suits their needs.  Photography is not just about getting clients, it’s about getting clients that will like what you do.  I would rather have one happy customer that praises my work than ten customers who’ve paid me but tell everyone they didn’t like my photography.

Price is the last thing on my list above, this is because all the other things need to be considered first.  When it comes to price I don’t understand how people ring a photographer and ask for prices, and the photographer gives a price without asking any details.  Would you ring a car dealer and ask how much for a new car?  The answer would be what car do you want, same with a wedding package. 

So before you book any photographer consider the points above, that way whoever you book you will be certain to get the results that best suit you.

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Beechwood House

Welcome to my blog, the picture is from Beechwood park, this is where my studio is located.