To a lot of brides, the images from their wedding are very important. The images and or album are what you have to look back on in the future. These should show the radiant bride in her wedding dress. The details of shoes, jewelry, and significant keepsakes. Flowers, place settings, and the venue should be shown to capture the essence of the wedding. The images of wedding party are very treasured. As life moves on you might not see some of them for varying periods of time. The guest and relatives images can also be very treasured. This day in your life can never be recreated, but can be remembered and shared with the images captured that day. A photographer that can capture all of this, while looking out for spontaneous expressions and happenings is to be treasured. The photographer should know what angles and poses are the most flattering for you and your guest. The photographer that can do all this had a lot of training and workshops to learn all of this. They did not just pick up a good camera and start shooting.
A lot of us photographers wish we didn’t have to worry about business, marketing, taxes, insurance and all of that. We wish we could just enjoy meeting the people and the art of photography. Alas, if we did not do all this and much more, we would not last long enough to be at your wedding. We need to make a profit, yes, that ugly word profit so we can be here today, tomorrow and in the future.
Consider this, you give the photographer a retainer, usually half the price of the wedding at the time of booking maybe months before the wedding. The other half is paid before the wedding. Don’t you want someone that you can trust to be there and deliver what they promised? I have heard more than one story of images and albums never delivered and the photographer nowhere to be found. I have heard of them disappearing before the wedding and the bride scrambling to find a good photographer at the last minute, but with limited choices and a big hole in the budget. Good albums are expensive to print and take a lot of time to prepare them. What if the photographer does not have enough money left to print the album? This has happened. Try googling wedding photographer horror stories.
The business person / photographer is going to invest in good equipment and know how to use it. They will also have backup equipment in case something breaks. They know they must produce good images under all conditions and no excuses allowed. They will probably belong to professional organizations such as Professional Photographers of America, or PPA for short. These organizations offer many things for the professional, continuing education, business advice and networking with photographer all over the nation.
