Many of my friends who are getting married recently are having to do so on a budget, and who else isn't? They are trying to cut corners wherever they can. From getting a much smaller cake, to even forgoing getting a bouquet at all. More times than not, the first thing to be dropped from their wedding budget is a wedding photographer. As a wedding photographer what do I think about that. Well my reaction to that is "you get what you pay for", or in this case, what you don't pay for at all.
When you hire a photographer your not hiring him for all his fancy equipment that has all the bells and whistles. Your hiring him because, hopefully, he knows what he is doing and can capture all those special moments of your wedding. Her or she knows what they are doing because they have done hundreds of weddings before.
I hope my customers and potential customers do what ever makes them happy and works in their budget. If you are ok with getting mediocre photographs of you walking down the isle taken from the vantage point of your guests as your only memories of your big day, then by all means don't hire a photographer for your wedding. If that's what works for you then don't let anyone talk you into hiring a photographer! If you want epic shots that you will look back at in your wedding album every week for the rest of your life, then the only way you are going to do that is by hiring a photographer. Remember, you get what you pay for!
If your not hiring a photographer for your wedding, then don't expect photos like these!
I definitely agree with your statement that you pay what you get. However, I also think having more affordable high-quality cameras nowadays also provide an alternative for people who were unable to pay for a wedding photographer in the first place to capture special moments of the wedding day. It all depends on what the customer wants and in this case, same as what you said, if you want just snapshots of people, then anyone can do it. This is the same mentality in any profession. Just wanted to double check/make sure, is this a profession that you eventually want to go or as a hobby?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the fact that since the prices have really dropped on nice camera equipment just about anyone with a couple hundred dollars can be a "photographer". However, just because you have a camera does not mean you can take awesome photos. People are paying for my services because of my experience and body of work.
ReplyDeleteWedding Photography is my job right now, and I could support myself if I took it on full time. With school I can't do it now, but it is a great weekend job. After I graduate I hope to have a full time job and do weddings on the weekends.