Don't Play Wedding Photography Roulette, Part 1

Good wedding photography is like insurance: You are investing in a guarantee of no failure.  I recently had a conversation with a couple who asked what value I offer vis a vis a photographer for $600 found on Craigslist. These are times where money is tight and drastic measures may be taken to cut costs - but there are a host of reasons why hiring a professional for wedding photography is simply a different service than that of a Craigslist amateur.

This discussion, about the documentary tradition and the value of investing in a photographer, will likely run into several articles as it is a sprawling and complicated topic. I also want to do couples a service in setting their own standards: You may have in mind what you want in the end, and it may look like anyone can do it - but there are a host of factors affecting the qaulity of your experience and, most importantly, the final product.

Here is a preliminary list of factors with short descriptions:

1. Personality - someone to hang out with for a long day
2. Experience - many other topics will hit on this
3. Professional Strategy - many topics will also touch on this
4. Consistency of look - choosing an aestetic that works for the situation and sticking to it
5. Coverage - getting it all, not just the camera hogs
6. Being your 'memory' for the day - figuring out what's important
7. Candid Portraiture - editing the wrong moments and choosing the right ones to show character and personality
8. Quality of image creation, knowledge of craft - getting the most out of the 'negative' is its own art
9. Anticipation of mechanics of your event - 'Knowing how it goes'
10. Visualizatoin and post-production - knowing the look you were going for and using the digital tools needed to get there
11. Accountability in deliverables - you've done this before
12. Reputation - you're only as good as your last job
14. Insurance, literally - does your venue need liability? Does your Craigslist.org photographer
15. Technical problem solving - photography is highly technical, problems invariably come up and it takes years of shooting to encounter all the major ones. Additionally, at events, these problems must be solved or your event doesn't get covered. This is photographic insurance in it's most basic form.

1. Personality
You will be hanging out with your wedding photographer ALL day, more than almost anyone else, including your family and possibly your fiance/bride. You want someone you can REALLY get along with. Personality is huge. It's too late in the game when you turn to your photographer and ask for something and you realize they're just trying to get done and get out and share no stake in your satisfaction.

Rapport with subjects being photographed is a major under appreciated part of the photography craft. How you approach people, what you say, how you hold yourself, whether or not you go high or low - all these factors affect how people react to you and therefore how your pictures will look. Does your photographer inspire confidence in guests? If so, you can expect the quality of the images to be much higher.

Richard Avedon writes quite intelligently about this relationship between photographer and subject. The Richard Avedon Foundation keeps some documents online and I encourage prospective buyers of photography to see what he has to say.

5. Hiring the Friend or Requesting Family members vs. Coverage and Knowledge
Relatives and friends will get you photographs of the people THEY know. A professional documentary photographer looks at the event as a whole, without a personal investment. With an intelligent professional, coverage is based on observation of the couple, who they interact with, knowledge of both families, knowledge of family relationships and basic history (who is married and remarried, and who has died is fundamentally important, but you'd be amazed at how many high paid professional photographers I have worked for request photos with the dead father).

If anyone in the group has a particular feeling about photography - an aversion, an excellent communicator will find this out in meetings prior to the event and use that knowledge to not get in Uncle Bob's face or ask your debilitated Aunt to stand up for a few more pictures.

Knowing who is who is fundamental to excellent coverage, and photographers like myself make it their business to know everything needed to make the day seemless for the couple. That's intelligence incorporated into strategy with a heaping helping of understand how people react, what priorities people have.

Personal attitudes and priorities can go a little loopy during intense social events. It's recommended to  have someone who can handle that possibility rather than someone who will react to a person freaking out.

As a photographer, it's respectful to not be asked to bring my professional skills to a social event. As a family member who is requested to do the most coverage, the pressure to perform may also be unpleasant. And finally, if you are looking to put a camera in everyone's hand, you will find a lot of photos of children's cropped faces alongside shots taken too far to see anything of value, and then the one role by someone who has innate or trained skill who does a bang up job - on 24 frames for an hour of the event.

I once grabbed a table camera, took shots and processed the images and sent them to the client: They were surprised to find out they weren't hiring me for my equipment but for my eye, my rapport with subjects getting photographed and my understanding of what 'looks good on film.'

Thousands invested, a little saved and a good chance many important memories will be lost
You've invested thousands into your event and slashed your photography budget, so your primary form of record is succeptible to a tremendous variety of variables. Photographs will be what remains of your wedding, are you ready to play Wedding Photogrpahy Roulette with your event?