Let me make it clear that I don’t have anything against your Uncle Bob. I’m sure he’s a stand-up guy. I just think that there is a real danger in entrusting one of the most important tasks for your wedding day to a relative. Especially when he’s just a keen amateur photographer.
There seems to be an accepted view amongst many people that all you need to photograph a wedding successfully is a digital SLR and lots of enthusiasm. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let me ask you this- would you ask a friend who knows nothing about maintaining or fixing automobiles to repair your car, simply because he owns a tool box? It’s highly unlikely. Well the same applies to wedding photography.
Shooting a wedding requires a lot of skill, expertise and experience. Not only do you need to understand how to handle and manipulate a whole range of lighting conditions, you also need to know how to direct group shots, pose couples and (most importantly) elicit emotional responses from people. It’s a difficult job that requires you to work to quite difficult time pressures. It’s not something that your buddy or relative can ‘have a go at’.
If I sound a little harsh here, I do apologise. It’s just that I feel passionately about this subject. I have heard too many stories of couples asking relatives to shoot their wedding in order to save money, only to then seriously regret their decision afterwards.
So what should you do if you are seriously restricted by your budget? Well I would suggest one of two things. Either ask an established wedding photographer if they could cut the number of hours coverage they provide you (in order to get a lower price) or alternatively find a talented but relatively inexperienced professional photographer to shoot your wedding. If you are creative, do your research and perhaps ‘jiggle’ your budget around I’m confident that you can find a way of balancing your wedding budget whilst still ensuring that you get a photographer that your wedding day deserves.
About Matt Foden
Matt and his wife Brenda are professional wedding photographers in Surrey. They shoot across the United Kingdom in a style that combines fine art and documentary photography. You can see their site at:
http://www.fodenphotography.com
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