I’LL PREACH THIS TIL THE DAY I DIE!

CHEAP PHOTOGRAPHY AIN’T GOOD AND GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY AIN’T CHEAP

Circling the news currently is this story of this woman who hired a budget wedding photographer to shoot her wedding. People, if you don’t give a shit about your wedding photos, this post isn’t for you. Believe it or not, there are some people out there that truly don’t care about their wedding photography. I know, crazy. Anyways, if you do give a shit about what you will get at the end of the day, stick around. This is a short and simple post about my opinion on the matter.

For most of you, you spend a large amount of time, money, planning, hiring, organizing and executing a truly beautiful experience for yourselves and those closest to you, on your wedding day. You know, the one day most of your have been dreaming and thinking of for years since you were a child.

So you spend a ton of money on getting the best food, the best drinks and the best vendors. But what happens when there’s a deal, too good to pass up? For some who are educated, you know that for the most part, you get what you pay for. This saying is so fucking true. I mean like literally you get what you pay for. So when this story broke out, the first thing, THE VERY FIRST THING, I did was look at what they paid for, for their wedding photography.

$250

They paid, what most artist in the industry charge per hour. And when you get into the luxury market, you’ll for sure start to see $500+/hr for those who are extremely well experienced and established. Understand that it’s solely for the purposed for clients to know that what they are getting is quality work.

Okay, so as soon as I saw this, I did I feel bad? Not really. And that my honest truth. But then, I started to look deeper into this story and realized this woman was bamboozled, a word we don’t use enough. The photographer in question used photographs that weren’t even taken by her. So this where my pity for the woman started to emerge. I felt awful for her but I couldn’t understand why she didn’t ask the most basic questions.

BRIDES & GROOMS, VET YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER

If you are inquiring with someone, take these first steps to help you find the right person for you.

• After your first email/contact to them, how fast did they respond to you?

  If they take longer than a day, without a reason, even if it’s because they were on vacation [we get sick too, we work weekends so keep that in mind] move on. There is no reason for someone to not get back to you within a day or so. Even if it’s to just let you know that they got your inquiry but are preoccupied. For any vendors who disagree, change my mind. I might be wrong but let’s be real. In a world where we live instantaneously, we want it now. Netflix, Hulu, Facebook or what ever you’re on the internet for, you want it now. You don’t want to wait for something to load so vendors, you are this to brides and grooms. Get them the information they want, now.

• Ask for full wedding galleries!

  THIS ONE IS A MUST DO.
  Never book a photographer based on their instagram feed. NEVER. Please understand that there are wedding fauxtographer that create an aesthetically beautiful grid to market to their potential clients. But here’s a word of advice. When you get a gallery from a photographer, ask, is this a styled shoot or a real wedding? A cannot stress enough how many photographers post only styled shoots to their feeds. So when you’re looking at these beautiful model couples on these preset filter photographer accounts, they most likely aren’t authentic weddings. Don’t get fooled.

• Do your research.

  Ask for reviews, go to their wedding accounts and check them out for yourself (ie The Knot, WeddingWire and etc). See what other brides and grooms have to say about their experience with that photographer.

  If you are interested in reading that article about the photographer and the bride, here are the links to their publication. Also the link where the photographer speaks out about what happened.

  Wedding Pictures become Nightmare for Bride

Photographer Speaks Out

This while is my opinion and it might not be your cup of tea, this is my views on the whole thing and what I feel is good advice for anyone who is looking for a wedding photographer or any vendor for that matter.