Every week there seems to be new tales of couples booking a Photographer to capture their special day and taking a gamble on price versus quality and being found wanting. Here is the latest I have seen, although it's source can be questionable as is the detail in the report, it highlights what appears to be a growing trend:
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What it does show that people are willing to take a gamble on what is likely to be their lasting physical memory of the day, arguably your conscious mind will retain the events of the day and last you a life time, but you can't pass on a memory items as a family heirloom, where as you can pass down the physical Wedding Album or DVD slideshow. When looking at the selection of your Photographer for the day, do your research well and do not book on price alone. Planning your Wedding should be fun and exciting, although there will be times of stress and anxiety thrown into the mix. Here are some points to consider as you work your way through the mine-field of the Wedding Photographer selection.
What experience do they have?
Ask the question, do they have examples of real Weddings for you to view or are they all examples from Model Bridal shoots. Whilst Model Bridal shoots are fine, we all started somewhere, it would imply they have limited experience in real Weddings and therefore should be telling you such information, it does't mean you shouldn't book them, just be cautious of the price they ask versus the experience they offer.
What is included in the Price?
This is a very challenging question as most Photographers sell their services in different ways, I personally charge for my time and my Albums/products separately so it becomes an A La Carte approach. What you must make sure is that you understand what you are getting for your money.
Details of how the Photographer will work for you?
After all the Photographer you are ultimately paying for, is there for the day at your expense, how does he/she go about the day, what advice can they offer for the day to run more smoothly from a Photography perspective. What involvement will they have with you in planning this auspicious day, will they deliver what you think you want, how can they enhance your expectations?
What happens if the Camera breaks on the day?
The answer to this is that they will bring out the spare one! People who are serious about capturing your special day will try their utmost to ensure that nothing causes you concern. As a minimum they should have 2 camera bodies and lenses to cover this eventuality and they should also have insurance to cover the really unfortunate event that multiple equipment failures occur.
What about insurance?
All professionals should have in place Professional Indemnity insurance and Public Liability insurance to award you some piece of mind that if things do go wrong, then there is somewhere to turn.
The things that get overlooked!
Unfortunately like many other trades, people only ever look at the cost and say wow thats going to be expensive, what they don't consider is the true cost of running a Photography business and the time and effort to attend the Wedding day. When I turn up to a Wedding I bring many thousands of £ worth of equipment to capture the event, the images are then processed and stored on many more thousands £ equipment. There are the insurances, equipment replacement costs, transport costs, the extensive training undertaken to be skilful in capturing your event. The actual time it takes to capture the Wedding, whilst the Wedding Day is just one day, depending on your cover options it last for anything up to 12/14 hours, add this to the pre wedding activities, pre Wedding shoot, the post Wedding processing, album design, image delivery and the Post Wedding presentation, it clearly covers more than just one day. Also remember the Photographer is probably the only supplier from your Wedding Day that will supply you with something to hold, beyond the Wedding Day. i.e the church will no longer be available to you as your event, the flowers are likely to have died, the reception drinks consumed, the food eaten, the cake demolished and the DJ moved on to their next event.
Photography may not be the highest priority for you, that's fine. Stick to your guns and book something that you would be happy with for the budget you have allocated to that service. If you take the gamble with this service, be prepared for it to go wrong and remember the potential outcome and the loss you may incur.
