Entries from June 2006 ↓

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about wedding photography lately and I cannot stress enough just how important it is to spend a bit of money here and hire someone who knows what they’re doing. Unlike a family portrait sitting or graduation pictures or something, you cannot re-shoot your wedding pictures if something goes wrong! And sadly- I have seen what happens when someone gets their cousin or their brother’s buddy to do the pictures because he happens to own what looks like a halfway decent camera. Trust me on this people- a good camera does not equal skill! And wedding photography is something very different to portraiture or good holiday pictures.
My suggestion is that you ask around and visit several photographers, go by word of mouth from friends and colleagues, look at their wedding albums. View as much of the photographers work as possible before you select one- and do this far in advance.
You can also try to negotiate a package with the photographer- most photographers have several to choose from. Be very sure what you want before you go to see him or her. Some photographers do not photograph the reception at all and some are prepared to only be at the event for a certain amount of time, so do not take anything for granted when you sign an agreement.
What you can also do before the time is scout several picture locations (you may need to compensate for possible weather problems like rain) and remember to pick locations that are not too far out of your way since the last thing you want to do is keep everyone waiting at the reception because you have to drive for 40 minutes to get to your chosen park. Something different makes for striking pictures too- so don’t rule out dilapidated or abandoned houses or building sites for example…
And it is essential to make notes of pictures you want of family members or particular groups, and get someone close to you (your maid of honour or the best man maybe) to keep track of them for you. Your list of “must have” photos, apart from the usual ones that photographers do is vital because your photographer will not know who is who. The last thing you want is to collect the pictures after the honeymoon and then realise you do not have a picture of yourself and your maid of honour alone together, or you and your bridesmaids, or the groom and his best man alone together. Or a picture of you and your Great Aunty May who flew out specially and who lives on the other side of the country!
If you’ve splashed out on flowers in the church or décor in the reception venue, you might want to ask the photographer to arrive extra early to photograph the flowers and or décor before everyone arrives.