Why should you hire a professional photographer for your wedding?

Hiring a professional photographer for your wedding can have several advantages:

1. Experience: Professional photographers have the experience and skills to capture high-quality images consistently. They know how to navigate various lighting situations, capture the right moments, and create stunning and creative compositions. They also have experience dealing with common wedding day challenges and know how to work under pressure.
2. Reliability: A professional will be committed to your wedding day and have a contract outlining their services, ensuring they capture all the important moments. They will also have backup equipment in case of any technical issues.
3. Quality: Professionals use high-end equipment to capture your day in the best quality possible. This includes professional-grade cameras, lenses, and often lighting equipment, which can make a significant difference in the final product.
4. Editing and Post-Production: A large part of what you're paying for when you hire a professional photographer is the post-production work. This includes selecting the best images, editing them for color balance, exposure, and detail, and retouching if necessary. This can be a very time-consuming process and requires specialized skills and software.
5. Professionalism: A professional photographer understands the flow of a wedding day and can work seamlessly with other vendors. They respect the sanctity and importance of the event and blend in appropriately while doing their job.
6. Preserving Memories: Your wedding photos are one of the few tangible things you'll keep from your wedding day. They'll be viewed by generations to come. A professional photographer will ensure you have beautiful images that capture the emotion and events of the day.

While hiring a professional photographer represents an investment, many couples find that the benefits and peace of mind that come with it are well worth it. Remember, your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and having high-quality, professional photos can help you cherish those memories forever.

Professionals will give you a result you will look back and love forever. I friend who likes taking photos wont know the best angles or light like someone who has studied this and has experience. 

Because if you don't you put at risk one of the most important days of your life.

Professional photographer will guarantee their work they will have two cameras at least they will have backups of the images they will provide you edited versions and know how to pose in position you based on every situation for the whole day

A professional camera body is about $3,500 - $8,000 plus, then the lenses are $2k plus each... this equipment is far, far superior to a smart phone, or everyday compact flash camera all-in-one type. You are literally hiring the superior equipment, trained eye, human creative, experienced worker, who is working hard for you through your whole super important, once-of (hopefully) day!

I have written this elsewhere (on my website), that smart phones will never be as good as digital cameras and professional lenses. It comes down to sensor size and sensitivity. Seriously do go and take a photo in low-light, or a dimmed darkened room and you'll soon realise that trying to print out the said photo from said smart phone is a disaster.

You are getting a time manager, intuitive moment captuerer, light bending extraordinaire! You are getting a fully insured professional who actually cares about your day, and is totally dedicated to YOU, for the whole time you have them! They back up your photo files, they have the skill, enegry and eye to edit the photos the way you creatively desire them... there's tonnes of reasons to not rely on the family member and their smart phone or compact budget camera... xx

To get great photos. If getting great shots is a priority for you then you should definitely hire a professional. But if youre going to spend money on a professional then make sure you really like the style of photos they do. I assume that if a couple is considering not getting a professional photographer then the reason is they probably dont want to be overly posed and directed. So in the end if they do decide to hire a professional photographer they should get someone whos style is more photojournalistic and natural. Not someone who is going to get your bridesmaid to throw your veil in the air a bunch of times while he tries to get contrived, cliched and posed pics.    

A professional photographer does more on the day then just take photos. They are your timekeepers, they will keep you on track. They will herd the families and guests together for those group shots. They are not distracted by friends, or celebrations. They are there to record every moment of your day. Sometimes we find ourselves having to gently pull you away from guests and distractions to get the photos you wanted done. Sometimes we need to keep the bridal party all together. We are focused 100% on you, as that is what we are paid for. A photographer cannot be shy, where friends can feel a little awkward photographing all your guests all day and night. 

There is also the technical stuff that a professional photographer has a grip on. And there is a lot of work in the post production, that we do using software programmes to make sure every photo is perfect. Your mates who take great photos may not understand the processing component, nor want to do it as it’s a long and tedious task but needed to make the photos perfect. 

You spend a lot of money to create your perfect wedding, and a lot of the day you won’t remember as it fly’s past so quickly, but the only thing you do take away from it after it is all over is the photos. To ensure your photos tell the whole story of your day you need a professional who is experienced and adaptable to make this all happen. 

I have had this question asked as it is an additional expense in what can be a very expensive experience. You do. It want to leave the everlasting images of your wedding day to chance as you hope to only do it once. I know multiple people who have had a redo of their wedding photos as they were unfortunately provided images that were poor quality and they were devastated. 

Ask yourself would you leave building your forever in the hands of jo blow who lives down the road because he likes building things? So why leave capturing your most precious memories to someone who just likes to take photos but has no experience in doing so.

I believe that you should hire a professional photographer for your wedding, so that in years to come, you may look back at your sparkling beautiful images and memories with no regrets!  They say that you get what you pay for, and believe you me, this rings true especially for wedding photography!  I cant begin to tell you the number of times we have had brides crying tears of joy when they receive their wedding day images from us, be it on usbs or a beautifully hand-crafted album.  It is at that moment that we are thankfull for a natural talent that can make people so happy!

How important are your wedding photos to you and your partner? If you said they are very important I would suggest a professional wedding photographer. You should keep in mind not all professional photographers are created equal. Real estate photographers may not be so good at wedding photography and a wedding photographer may struggle with real estate photography. I will list some of the pros and cons so you can decide what is best for you.

Some pros, not all.

• They are professional
• Help with planning your day
• Has the experience to handle different conditions on the day
• Is insured (just in case things don't go to plan)
• Will have back up camera and lenses
• Has backup copies of your photos
• Is experienced at photographing weddings
• Is good with people
• not to mention creative skills photographing and editing

Some cons, again not all.

• may cost a little more than uncle bob (the reason for that are listed in the list of pros)
• many styles to choose from
• finding a photographer you connect with (don't expect to like all the photographers you meet)
• may be limited to the albums and prints they offer

I hope this has given you food for thought. I can definitely think of many more pros than cons. Don't leave capturing your special day to just anyone. Make sure you meet your potential photographer in a relaxed environment and get to know the actual person who will be photographing on the day.

Good luck and congratulations to you both, Rod

This is an excellent question, and I'd like to answer with a personal experience from our own wedding. I had a photographer sorted (of course....) but I wanted video. ....And I knew people that knew a video guy...he was kind of a friend of a freind (so obviously VERY recommended, right?) who had some really really good equipment. He wasn't a "professional,"  but he was a very clever dedicated hobbyist. He had excellent work... and a couple of his videos were wedding videos...but  it turned out that he didn't have what it took to BE professional on a wedding or have a basic professional commitment to multiple redundancy. He lost our files.

Lost our files. All of them. Or over wrote them, or had card failure... I'm not sure of his excuse, it kept changing. He should have had multiple cameras, multiple cards... and when they got back home, the first thing they should have done is to back up the day's work to a hard drive and to the cloud. Our guy didn't do any of that.

When you meet with your potential photographer, you really need to be assured first of all that they take photos in the style you want, but that they also do that background stuff that many 'creatives' struggle with... the insurance, the backups, delivering edited photos in a reasonable timeframe. But also know that they have backup cameras, lenses, batteries, flashes... and backup the damn day's work. Religiously.

Why should you hire a professional wedding photographer? Your photographer may or may not be 'pro' but ensure that they have that ethos in their work in  delivery, insurance, gear and backup. 

We were, and remain heartbroken 10 years later that we have no video. Don't make the same mistake with your photographer. Many people say years after their wedding that the photography is one of the top three things they have to remember.

Also, a professional will have the skills and experience to shoot in the many many challenging ways that one simple wedding can have: bright days outside, dark churchs,  unwieldly family groups, untidy groom's homes, late family members, all seamlessly and with a smile...

Then... we can talk about the editing process....

Let me know if you want to get more infromation about any of these points!

-Allen