DIY, Do it yourself. There are a lot of things that are great about the DIY movement. Most apparent is the ability to save money. Perhaps you are working hard to stay on budget. Everyone understands the need for a budget. However there are a few things that you may want to consider not going the DIY route with. Recently a young lady that had previously worked at our Atlanta portrait studio got married. We were booked and unable to do the wedding for her. After the wedding she contacted us and asked us to do a bridal portrait for her and her mother. I asked her about the images from her wedding day in her dress. This is where the story gets very sad. She had a friend photograph her wedding in order to save money. She even thought, since the photographer had attended photography school, she had someone that would do a good job. After the ceremony was over the inexperienced photographer took an hour and a half to photograph the wedding group portraits, an hour and a half! To add insult to injury, the pictures were disappointing and many were not exposed properly and not sharply focused so that many of them could not be enlarged beyond a small size.
Please remember that when it comes to your wedding day there is no "do over". You want to choose someone with experience as well as a style you enjoy and a personality you are comfortable with. The only way to insure this is to book a professional photographer Remember if the price seems too good to be true, it usually is. A true certified professional photographer understands the amount of time, effort, expertise, and costs involved. They will have a price scale that reflects that time, effort, expertise and product they deliver to you. There are many “fauxtographers” out there. What is a fauxtographer? It is someone that has purchased a camera, decided after a few kind comments from friends or family about a nice picture or two they have taken they can become professional photographers. Next, they are down at Kinkos making a business card, working on a Facebook page and suddenly they are professional photographers. They usually hold a job during the week doing something else and decide that shooting weddings on Saturdays can help them make extra money until they get busy enough to quit their daytime job and go fulltime. In the meantime, if you book your wedding with this person you get to be their Guiney pig bride. Like I said before, your wedding day does not get a reshoot if the photographs are bad.
I have honestly sat and spoke with folks that have been married 25 years or more and they have told me they regret not paying for a professional photographer. Wow! 25 years later and they are still living with that regret? DIY is great , but not when it comes to your wedding day. Save the DIY for renovating your house. Make sure your photographer is educated, experienced and certified thru the Professional Photographers of America.
Article written by Atlanta wedding photographer, Lynn Brown
Carl House Wedding, Atlanta wedding photography, Atlanta wedding photographer