I took the advice that was in a previous thread to post an ad on Craigslist to find a lower price on photographers, and I got a ton of responses. Most of their portfolios weren't that great though, but I did find one student photographer whose work looks great. I was looking for someone with a more artisitic style. The professional photographer I was originally looking at using was $1900, and her portfolio online looks very similar that of the student photographer. The student would only charge $600 for the day, and would also bring an additional shooter with her, so I'd get twice as many pictures. Both the professional and the student would give me a CD with all of the pictures on them so I could print them myself.
Neither my fiance nor my parents are able to help with the wedding at all, and we're both still in grad school, so we're on a very tight budget and every dollar counts. At the same time, the photos are one of the most important parts of the wedding so I don't want to end up with terrible pictures. If their online portfolios look very similar, do you think there will really be that much of a difference in the quality of the pictures? (I also got references from three previous weddings that the student had done, and they all gave great reviews). Has anyone used a less experienced photographer before?? Any advice? Thanks!