Now...wait a minute! Although its not ideal to us photographers to see brides using their own family members for wedding duties, you've gotta admit that some of those 'uncle joes' are better than the pro's! Depending on where the bride is located, it may be her best shot at decent wedding pictures! And trust me, ive been to small towns in the mid usa where the local walmart has done better jobs on my pictures than some of the pro labs in the cities.
Ive been to many a bridal show where the photographers featured there had terrible work that was just printed on 'nicer' paper. Lighting was bad,posing was bad, even the candids were bad.
If i had to choose between that and one of my family members(who would do my wedding out of the goodness of their heart or at cost..)you could only guess which one i'd choose!
I wouldnt go calling brides 'cheap' right away just because they choose a different source of photography. To us, YES, this sounds horrible. But not everyone values their photographs(sadly)the way we do! We look at them, appreciate the lighting, the angle of the lense, the depth of feild etc. A bride will look at them and think, "oh, i dont look fat in this one!" So if uncle joe can make her look skinny in every picture, she's happy!
Also, with the ammount of digital slrs on the market, just about anyone can learn photography without any risks. No film costs, endless practice. Some of those 'amateurs' are getting pretty good too!
And while no, not all brides will go for any relative with a camera... with wedding costs today, i can see why it's tempting!
30 years ago, not very many people hired photographers at all for their weddings. And when they did, it was for 3 traditional poses. The bridal portrait, the couple at the head of the church, and then the cake cutting.
So every bride out there has a mother than was married 30 years ago or longer, and therefore a mother who doesnt see the reason in spending 500 dollars on photography, let alone 3000!
(trust me, i was one of them)I took some wilton courses and made my own wedding cake. We ordered pizza for our reception dinner. I bought my dress used-and altered it beyond belief to transform it into something that wasnt outdated.
My mom and my moms friend made all the bridesmaids dresses. We still managed to have a wedding with my entire family, my husbands entire family, 300 people at the reception, without going bankrupt.
My sister did our photography. And honestly, the images she took were better than half the 'pros' in this city. She had taken photography in highschool, and had shot several weddings. She did a fabulous job!
Looking back, yes, it was scary. Something could have gone terribly wrong. However, when i look also at the money we saved, im so glad we didnt spend the equivelant of a downpayment for house for one day!
If our family had been wealthy, and money was no object, then of course we probably would have hired someone to do everything from make our cakes to brush our teeth the morning of.
But think of how many people get married each weekend the world. Probably not even a third of them in north america alone hire a photographer. Some of them do it just to save money for a honeymoon. They arn't automatically cheap, they just have priorities when it comes to their wedding day!
Yes, its a great threat to every wedding photographer. However, there will always be the people out there who are either knowledged somewhat in photography and will therefor only hire a pro, or the ones that have so much money that they dont care where or what they spend it on.
To be a successful wedding photographer though, you really have to start thinking from the point of view of the bride. And then go from THERE to try to explain to them why hiring a pro is important. Educating them a bit works wonders.
But also understanding that their way of thinking isnt just because theyre cheap. Most of the time, they just really dont have the money.
