Do not regret not having hired a professional photographer

One of the challenges of being a “wedding photographer”, rather than someone who just “takes wedding photos”, is showing the meaning within a photograph and using that image to tell a story. It takes more than just a great camera to take a great picture.

Of course technology is amazing these days. It is almost impossible to buy a phone without a camera. And those cameras have more megapixels than some of the first digital cameras! The high-end digital camera market is incredible. The dynamic range, features, and build quality of professional cameras are truly astounding; it is important to remember. As a professional photographer, it’s very easy to forget how amazing technology is. You can get cameras now, which chooses the focus point after taking the picture, that amazes me. It’s even more important to remember that without vision and understanding, these images would be just pixels. Boring pixels… Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.

Fashion magazine Vogue published an article in January 2016 saying that hiring a professional photographer to photograph your wedding “made sense in the old days, before Facebook and Instagram albums.” They also said you could “scatter some disposable cameras around the party and let your drunken guests go on the town.” If you have friends like mine, I’m sure you know that this is not good advice.

In Vogue’s defense, the article was about breaking tradition and throwing out the rule book, which I totally agree with. Of course, every wedding is different, but it’s when a couple really puts their personality into a wedding that it becomes so much more different. It gets personal and that’s much more interesting… Anyway, I’m straying.

One of the main reasons to hire a professional for anything is perseverance. And a professional photographer is no different. They are capable of delivering beautiful images, in all conditions, and delivering those images consistently. That doesn’t mean getting a few lucky shots while the couple is still, in good lighting. It means turning in over 400 photographs that demonstrate an understanding of lighting and composition. It also means being able to produce those high-quality images, day after day, year after year.

The example I like to use is that I’ve probably been using scissors since I was 5 or 6 years old, but you wouldn’t trust me to cut your hair. Like I said before, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

One of the other main reasons to hire a professional is trust. Trust plays a very important role in the work of a wedding photographer. You need to completely trust your photographer. Otherwise, you will not be able to relax, which will only make the work of photographers even more difficult. So it’s essential to make sure you trust them to get the photos you want out of your day.

When I talk to couples about their wedding, I always explain how I photograph a wedding. I explain that I have a documentary approach, which means that I am going to photograph their day with the aim of telling their story. If you’re looking for something different, then we part on good terms and you find a photographer you can trust to get the photos you want.

Weddings are hard work, I usually work for a good 13 hours, not including travel time. However, I have never left a wedding without a smile on my face and a warm fuzzy feeling inside! But it took me years and years to feel confident enough in my ability to photograph such an important day. If you think about it, it only takes a fraction of a second to miss the perfect shot. When you add in the fact that the couple probably spent thousands and thousands of pounds on this day, they’ll only spend it once (well, hopefully anyway). Then add in the emotional significance of the day and that’s a lot of weight on the shoulders of any photographer, let alone a professional.

But the pressure doesn’t stop there. What happens if something goes wrong? I could write an entire article on what could go wrong at a wedding (and maybe I will), but for now, let’s just say that a professional photographer will not only be able to deal with most unexpected situations, but will have already eliminated as many risks as possible.

There’s a saying I like to use to justify buying something better and more expensive than I really need for my wife… “Buy low, buy twice.” And it’s great advice if you’re shopping for something like a freezer or a desk. Not so much for a once in a lifetime event. A poll in New York Magazine indicated that “21% of brides wish they had spent more on their wedding photography.” That’s 1 in 5! One in five! I know weddings are expensive, I’m married so I know weddings are expensive. But the photograph will outlast your flowers, cakes, bubbles, and just about everything else about your wedding. It’s the photography that will form your lasting memories of your wedding, so if you skimp on your wedding photographer, you may end up regretting it every time you see her photos. Which probably means she hid them and has therefore wasted her money – wedding pictures need to be celebrated!

You and your partner will probably spend a great deal of time planning your wedding. There are no small decisions, every detail matters. My wife and I spent almost a year planning our wedding. Everywhere we went, we took photos for inspiration, clipping ideas from magazines. When you pour so much of yourself into something, why not choose a professional photographer? Ignoring the sentiment and meaning of the day, surely you want to show off all your hard work? And you want it to look as beautiful as possible?

By choosing a specialist wedding photographer, you are choosing someone who will carefully compose each photograph, just as your florist carefully selects each stem. Someone who pays attention to the details of each one as your dressmaker pays attention to each stitch.

Wedding photography shouldn’t be an extra cost or purchase. Wedding photography is an investment. I know it sounds a bit pretentious, but stay with me for a minute… An investment is something that becomes more valuable over time, that’s exactly what will happen to your wedding photos. It’s a sad fact of life that memories fade. But by investing in a professional wedding photographer, you can help preserve those memories, and you won’t just be able to share those memories with your loved ones. The people who were at your wedding like your partner, your parents and best friends and the people who were not there like your children can share those memories with you and that is really special.

This is why you should invest in a professional wedding photographer. That is why wedding photography is so valuable.