Those of you who know me also know that I don’t do wedding photography for a lot of different reasons. The weddings that I have done have been for friends only. I turn away an obscene number of wedding opportunities. I always refer them to other photographers I know who shoot weddings regularly. I’m not equipped to provide the full service that many customers want in a wedding package. I don’t have studio space or lighting equipment to provide formal bridal portraits. I don’t have the patience to sit down and edit between 500 and 1000 digital images at a time. I don’t have the will power to negotiate an adequate profit to cover the time it takes to shoot and process a wedding.

Wedding photography is a rough business. I have seen a lot of changes in it during the time I have been involved in photography. Most of these changes are due to the proliferation of inexpensive digital cameras. A lot of people who buy digital SLR cameras find themselves in a situation where they want to make money with them, and wedding photography is probably one of the first ideas that pop into their heads. Professional wedding photography is expensive, and it’s expensive for a reason. Owning a digital camera and showing up at a wedding does not a wedding photographer make. Professional wedding photographers spend thousands of dollars on camera, studio, and computer equipment. Most of them have also been formally trained in the operation of their camera equipment. The work of a professional is not hit and miss. It’s very calculated and precise. High quality professional wedding photography packages cost between $2500 at the very bottom end and go up to $5000 and $10000 very easily.

In the new age of wedding photography, there are tons of amateurs with cameras who will offer to photograph a wedding for chump change. Some may even offer to do the photography for free in an effort to get their own portfolio started. There is definitely a market for this type of photography. I would not hesitate to say that there are a lot of folks who get married that simply can’t afford to spend $5000 on photography. $5000 could and would most likely be the single most expensive element of most weddings. As a wedding photography customer, one important thing to consider when you purchase your photography is that your photos are, in reality, the only tangible memories that you will carry into the future after the wedding day. It’s an important choice that you have to consider. You can buy from a professional wedding photographer and guarantee yourself a set of excellent images. You can buy from a professional wannabe and hopefully get something you can be happy with.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the professional from the wannabe. You definitely can’t tell it from the price of the package. One way is to find out if the photographer you choose has a studio and can offer formal studio bridal portraits. Photographers who can’t offer this service aren’t likely to be as serious about professional wedding work. The true professionals can offer you everything YOU want as a customer and they won’t try to sway you into what they can do instead. A professional will always provide you with what you want and then offer you ADDITIONAL things if they have other ideas.

Another interesting thought is that the word PROFESSIONAL does NOT guarantee that the photographer is a GOOD photographer. I know tons of amateur and semi-pro photographers who have a keen eye for photos and would regularly produce more intriguing photos than your average professional. That’s just another monkey wrench in the greater scheme of things when it comes down to choosing a photographer for your wedding. Your best bet is to look at their image portfolio and just decide if you like what you see. A wedding photographer’s portfolio will contain a sampling of the photographer’s best work from many wedding jobs. Everything you get in YOUR package won’t look as great as all the images in the portfolio.

This all being said, I shot a wedding for a friend on Saturday. The above image is from that set. I shot the wedding at the bare minimum cost I could come up with to cover my time and expenses. The groom is a friend of mine and he wanted me to shoot the wedding even after I explained that this type of photography is not my forte. Since I have only done weddings for friends in the past, I agreed to do it. The wedding itself was very informal and the guest list was short as well. That made the overall pressure of the situation a lot lower than it would have been for a full-blown formal wedding.

Anyway… enough about that for now :)