I think many guys like me, who love photography but who do not shoot for a living, should also read this article. Don’t get me wrong, this article is not about JAGWACs not able to make great shots. There are thousands guys able to make great shots. But at the end of the day, you have to admit that being a pro is something different.
If you are lucky, I sincerly do hope you are, you will marry only once in life. And this makes this day so unique. This is your day (ok, very often it is a little more her day than yours, hehehe…) and what you want is someone to make good looking memories of this celebration.
But this is not everything. You also need someone you can tell your mind if the pictures are not what you were expecting (blured, bad compo, bad light, etc…). Working with a pro makes things easy : you pay for a job, your are the client. And if the job is bad done, you can renegotiate the price or a second shooting for the couple’s shots.
Now look around you. How many couples do you actually know who have been disappointed with their pictures because they relied on the oncle or their best friends ? I am sure quiet enough.And this is where is a huge mistake :
You would not ask your best friend to pilote a plane during your honeymoon trip if he is not a pro pilote, you would not ask you friends to cook your weeding lunch for 100 people, you would not ask your mate to sew your wedding dress. But you ask your friends to make the shots of your most important day, the shots you will see again and again years after year… And actually, the lunch : when it’s eaten, it’s eaten. The dress : you will never carry it again. But your pictures…
As a JAGWAC I refuse to shoot weddings. I did only once. For free because I did not want to feel under pressure. And I told him, before the wedding, he would be the one to blame if the shots turn out to be bad. I advised him not to take me but to take pro, even if it is costing. He agreed on that and followed partially my recommendation : he had pros for the important pictures and me for the guests and some couple’s shots (see pic above). But I was happy when it was done. I felt much better when I could put gears in my room and then having fun like any other guest.
more to come…
Related articles
- How to be a professional wedding photographer | Know who and what you are (5thphotographyblog.com)
Photography thru my lenses 