Anyone have any regrets from booking a non professional Photographer or Videographer?

trheberling

Hello Everyone!

I am preparing a blog about the difference between a pro and non pro photographer/videographer for a wedding.

I was wondering if anyone has any stories of you or someone you know booking a non pro and regretting it? Also what about the other side where you got a non pro and didn't regret it.

Any horror stories are welcomed!

Thanks! 

soon2bemrsclark

YES!! I can speak for booking a non-pro photographer not a videographer...not for me but for my BFF's wedding day. 

First let me say not all cameras are created equal. My BFF let her aunt photograph her wedding day and although she had a $500 camera she had no clue how to use it like the pros do. The images were blurry, over exposed, and she didn't have the lenses that she needed to capture certain parts of the ceremony, which were held in a dark church. All of the pictures of the bridesmaids and bride walking down the aisle were blurry and the ceremony pictures looked like a silhouette because she wasn't allowed to use flash and again didn't have a nice enough camera to accommodate the dark church. 

She also didn't understand the flow of the day or how to pose. She couldn't communicate the poses she wanted the couple to do and the lighting in the photos were terrible. They had weird shadows on their faces from the trees and the details of her dress were lost, so the they ended up with very mediocre formal pictures. She also forgot to get details of the day, pictures of the rings, flowers, guest favors, the list is endless. 

Your professional photographer should be shooting with a professional camera and if you ask them they will tell you what equipment they shoot with and should have the confidence of shooting in a dark church with no extra flashes. Plus, they know the drill of capturing details and what to look for in terms of light (which is sooo important, this alone could make or break your photos) and also how to communicate with your bridal party to work quickly through pictures. Otherwise it will be a chaotic mess!

Photography is important, it's how you will remember your day for the rest of your life. Terrible images,images not worthy of a frame, is not how you want to remember your day. Invest in a professional. 

{steps down from my soapbox}

trheberling

Thanks for the feedback both of you!

Its great to see both sides. 

m0rtikand

I am not only a former bride & knottie but also a photographer myself, so I can speak for both sides. I started taking photography classes in school, and I know we all start somewhere BUT -wedding photography is a whole different animal. AND, it depends on what "non pro" really means. Some people are hobbyists and they do it for fun, but have invested a lot of time, money and passion AND are responsible. If you get lucky to get someone like that and perhaps you have your wedding outdoors, in perfect lighting, and have everything go according to plan, you might get lucky and get decent or maybe even great photographs. But that is the best case scenario and you might also get someone who uses their starter camera on auto and gets lucky sometimes and puts those select photos in their portfolio. You don't have time to "just get lucky" with a couple shots at a wedding. It's basically do or die lol. Weddings are stressful and require a lot out of a photographer. BUT believe me I had a hard time my first few weddings I did and when I had my wedding I was super picky and I still saw many mistakes; I was even a little disappointed with some of the shots from my seasoned pro wedding photographer. But I'm so glad I didn't risk it and go with a non-pro; it was actually one of my biggest investments from my wedding. It's a very hard field to master, so if you really want to have proof of all the hard work you put into your wedding and have great photographs that you'll always be proud of please do your research, get references and invest in a good photographer. If it's not important to you to have photos of all the important moments, then you can take the risk. But just because a photographer takes good portraits under a controlled environment, doesn't mean they will be prepared for all the craziness a wedding brings (lighting, time restraints, etc.), as well as being responsible enough to put the wedding as a top priority, since you have one time to get it right. Taking photographs is not just point & shoot; there are a lot of other factors that go into controlling the light, movement, etc., which is why a lot of regular point & shoot cameras get blurred, dark photos. Go into a wedding photography forum and you'll see a lot of photographers saying what goes into shooting a wedding and you'll be amazed Hope I helped!