An Example

Here's an example:

A bride friend of mine in Tampa, who knew I was a wedding photographer, insisted that I be there to take the pictures of her special day. Although I have been known to give friend discounts a time or two, a true professional cannot afford to work for free, even for friends because it is the only way he is able to pay his own way in life. I sent her a packet like I would any bride.

A few weeks later, she emailed me. Good news! A friend of my fianc is going to shoot the wedding for us as a wedding gift. We still want you to come as a guest. I did go, although a little stunned that she did not hire me. I had a great time sitting behind the scenes, but I couldnt help watching the photo friend taking pictures.

For one, his equipment was amateur. He didnt seem to know the order of the days events. He was running around a lot instead of blending in. I didnt see him in action with the posed shots, but I could only wonder how that turned out.

A few months later, she phoned me. We are so disappointed with our wedding photos. We should have hired you. She sighed. The amateur didnt know what he was doing. All he had was a nice camera, but he had no experience, know-how and expertise. The poses after the ceremony were very bad and he did not know how to do the proper editing in Photoshop.

There were a handful of images that were salvageable, but overall it was a day that couldnt be reclaimed and the pictures werent up to professional standards. Situations like this happen all of the time. Understandably, couples want to save money on their wedding. But word to the wise, skimping on the photography is not recommended! You want to save money, and Ill show you how, but don't skimp on the photography. Skimp on the doilies and napkins. Theyre going in the trash right away!

By the way, this is not to say that a new photographer is a bad one. Every master artist starts somewhere. Well cover how to choose your photographer based on their portfolio, talent and what he/she will give you in the end will be covered in a forthcoming chapter. In the meantime let's learn how to negotiate.