Why you need a professional photographer for your wedding

It may be tempting to ask a friend or family member who has a nice looking camera to take your wedding photos. After all, they will be saving you over a thousand pounds in doing so! Maybe you will even pay them a few hundred for doing it! Here are some reasons not to do that!

First kiss at Gareth and Natalie’s wedding

1.That camera may look pro, but the odds are it’s really not. There is a world of difference between professional cameras and hobbyist cameras. Weather sealing, burst rates, autofocus in low light, image quality in low light, to name just a few. Most entry level cameras can only save images to one memory card, so if anything happens to that card, there go your wedding photos! Professional kit that can cope with any scenario costs thousands and thousands of pounds.

Wedding ceremony at David and Debi’s wedding.

2.Weddings may look easy, and the pros make it seem that way, but they are actually one of the most challenging and high pressure photography jobs out there. In the UK venues often have very little natural light, and we all know what the weather is like. Your wedding photographer has only one chance to get that walking down the aisle shot. Experienced pros won’t miss that shot, even in low light, or when people wave their ipads around trying to get shots. Do you trust your friend to do the same.

Sparkler runs - not the easiest images to capture, even on a professional camera

3.Putting a friend or family member under that kind of pressure isn’t the kindest thing in the world. They won’t enjoy the day the same way a guest would.

Bridal prep at Ali and Richard’s wedding

4.It’s easy to get a few great shots when the weather is nice and the light is great. It’s a lot more difficult to get 400-500 great shots throughout a long wedding day when its raining and the guests are more interested in hitting the bar than posing for photos. That is why you hire a professional.

Dance shots are one of the most difficult to capture images at a wedding.

5.Professionals will back up your photos on multiple memory cards and hard disks, and edit them professionally in a relatively quick timeframe. The editing and culling of images is in itself an acquired skill. Maybe your friend is a ninja editor, or maybe the photos will sit on their laptop for months until they have time to look at them. I shoot over 3000 images per wedding and deliver around 400-450 edited shots. This takes time and expertise to do properly.

Why have a second photographer at your wedding?

If you take a look at my price list here ( Prices ) you will see an option for a second photographer. A lot of couples skip this option as they don’t really see the value. I’m going to explain in this article why I think it’s a really good idea. It is also important to note, I don’t actually make any more money from a wedding by having a second photographer, as any extra I charge goes straight to my second. I also have to do more editing, and balance what might be a different camera brand and style to my own to present a cohesive set of wedding edits. So it ends up being more work for me. Despite this, I strongly urge couples to consider adding a second photographer to their day for the following reasons.

A shot by my second photographer Helen at Gareth and Natalie’s wedding.

1.A second photographer provides a different viewpoint and vision for your day. Not only will they be working from different angles, but they will be using different focal lengths as well. While I may be shooting with a fairly wide focal length, the second photographer will usually be using a zoom lens, great for candids. While I’m doing the main shots, they can capture lots of off camera, informal moments and this really adds to options you get for your wedding book.

Coco and her bridesmaids on their way - shot by my second photographer on the day.

2.I can’t be in two places at once. Following on from the first point, a second photographer will be able to cover things like the groom prep and detail shots that I might not have time to do.

A lovely shot taken by my second shooter Helen while I was busy covering bridal prep.

3.They will speed up the group shots. This can be a real issue if the wedding timeline is packed quite closely together. There have been many weddings I’ve covered where getting the group shots done before the venue want to summon everyone in for their meal has been very tricky. A second photographer helps this process. While the best man or usher can be roped in to gather people up, I much prefer letting guests enjoy their day and asking my second photographer to do this.

4.A second photographer provides an automatic backup for me. I’ve never yet been late to a wedding or had to leave early, but should this happen, a second photographer would be able to cover in an emergency.

Conclusion

You may see a second wedding photographer as a needless expense or extravagance. I hope the above points convince you otherwise! I find having a second makes the day run much more smoothly and the extra angles and shots are well worth the small extra expense. All the images I’ve included in this article were shot by my second photographers.

What is Documentary Wedding Photography?

The term Documentary Wedding Photography is a bit niche. Photographers know what it means but photographers think everyone knows what exposure compensation is. My daughter is doing a photography GCSE and she doesn’t know that either of these terms mean ( to be fair, she has only just started the course !). So what does it mean?

This is not a documentary wedding photo

What it is not

The photo above is a very nice portrait of Gareth and Natalie on their wedding day. It was set up and posed by me, I asked them to stand there and it’s a photo that probably was printed out and sits somewhere in their house. There is nothing wrong with it. But it is not a candid, in-the-moment shot.

What it is

A candid moment at Perpetual and Thabani’s wedding

The image above is a documentary wedding photography image, taken last year at a wonderful wedding I shot. The kids had just gotten into their formal wear and were looking in the mirror having a bit of a laugh at how different they looked from their normal attire. I didn’t set it up, just observed the scene and took the shot at the appropriate moment. I used the mirror as it was the best way to be unobtrusive. I could have lined them all up and carefully posed them for this shot. That could have been a lovely shot, but it would be more editorial, classic wedding photography, which is not what I prefer. The other factor was time, by this time we were running very late ( not unusual ). Setting up a shot like this would have taken even more time.

My approach to documentary wedding photography

Some photographers take this approach to the extreme, and won’t pose anyone or set up any shots on the day. I admire this, but I think for me this doesn’t quite work as pretty much every couple who have hired me have expected some formal shots, and I’m quite happy to do them. I prefer to shoot 90% of my shots as candid, documentary shots. I find that invariably these are the shots people love the most from the day. If this approach sounds good to you, then get in touch here to discuss your wedding:

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Debi and David having a moment on their big day

Why Engagement Shoots are a great idea

The idea of an engagement shoot fills some people with dread. British people are not great at displaying emotions in public ( maybe you are the exception ). Personally I’d have run a mile if my wife had suggested such a thing over twenty years ago when we got married. However, I have listed below some reasons why you may wish to reconsider.

1. An engagement shoot is a great way to try out a photographer and see if they are a good fit for you as a couple. On your wedding day you are going to be spending a lot of time with this person. What if you find out that they are really irritating after 10 minutes? An engagement shoot lasts 60-90 minutes and is relatively low cost. If you find that you actually hate your photographer at the end of it, then you can look for another one for your wedding.

2.An engagement shoot is great practice for your wedding. If your photographer is any good, they will know how to get you to look natural and also look your best in front of a camera. This will save you time and stress on the big day, when time will be in much shorter supply.

3.You will get some lovely images that you can frame and dot around the house to remind everyone how gorgeous you both are.

4.It won’t be nearly as horrible an experience as you or your partner imagine. When I run an engagement shoot it’s very informal and we all have a good laugh. Maybe other people do it differently, but for me, its very important my clients have fun, as it shows in the images.

So get booking!