Hiring a Cheap Photographer Without Tarnishing Your Image
You take a look at your budget, then a look at your expenses
and as tears well up, you consider cutting a few corners. Nice
photographs won't pay the bills, right? But wait, you've heard
the horror stories of "ruined" memories when the couple goes
this route. Is there a way around it? Yes, but barely. If you
are rolling in money by all means, hire a well-known
competitively priced, reputable photographer. Your wedding is
one day you want to remember forever. Pictures that make it look
like you had the ceremony outside at 12 midnight when you know
it was 10AM in sun shiny Florida won't sit well with anyone, so
be careful.
If you are on a budget like most people are, you will have your
work cut out for you. Try these 7 tips:
1. Ask around! Most low priced, but relatively good
photographers are not spending money on big shiny ads in the
yellow pages or magazines. They rely heavily on word of mouth.
2. Figure out what poses you want and compare those to what is
in the photographer's portfolio. Find poses that are similar to
the ones you want and if those pictures capture the feeling and
excitement of the moment, that photographer might be a winner.
3. Choose a freelance photographer. Yes, I said a freelance
photographer. He or she has low overhead, therefore are less
likely to cut corners to keep the company afloat. And he will
not have "borrowed" photographs for his portfolio from another
more experienced company employee just to bolster his image.
4.Preperation is key. A photographer that plans to just "kinda
show up" on the day of your wedding will miss some of your most
important moments, even if he is experienced. If he does not
want to take the time to find out how "everything and everyone"
is going to be placed during the ceremony and reception, then
throw him out the car and keep rolling. You will be glad you did
it.
5. Does he ask you questions? Is he interested in what
you want or is he using the cookie cutter method of one
size fits all. Of course you want someone who is going to
suggest new things that could enrich your experience, but don't
go with one who ignores your concerns just save a few
pennies. Its not worth it. Just wait, and you will find another
who is concerned and reasonably priced. That almost goes without
saying.
6. Ask for references from recent clients. If he has to
reach back 5 or more years to search for happy clients that
may mean he is either just getting back into the game or
he is not as good as he claims to be.
7. Whatever you do, make sure you get proofs. Just getting a
finished product after the wedding may leave you less satisfied
than if you had a chance to cherry pick. That way you know what
you are getting and are more likely to feel like your money was
well spent.
No one said it was impossible to have wedding pictures that
almost look like Donald Trump's(without the hair of
course)while you are on a Joe Blow budget, its just a lot of
work and multitudes of questions.