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It has become more common for friends or relatives to handle photography duties for a bride and groom, which because of costs is understandable, but while the outcome can often be successful, the trouble starts because too little thought is given to the process.
As a wedding photographer I pride myself on a number of characteristics, one of which is being prepared. Being prepared can cover a lot of ground: knowing the venue before getting there, anticipating moments before they happen and analyzing where to place your self to capture them, having meaningful contact with the couple leading to the wedding day, and equipment.
A friend of mine once said if you can remodel a bathroom, you can probably handle any room in the house, or even the whole house. That's because a bathroom requires work to the plumbing, wiring and whatever other cosmetic changes you have in mind. Good wedding photography requires you to work well with people: friendly, but assertive; good wedding photography requires you to handle candid moments; good wedding photography requires you to move quickly, but quietly; good wedding photography requires you to know something will happen before anyone else - including the participants - knows it will happen; good wedding photography requires you to handle all kinds of lighting situations as they change moment to moment; good wedding photography requires you to have a good plan to execute on the wedding day, but be willing to abandon it for two or three others because of a slew of factors beyond your control.
So what does this have to do with remodeled bathrooms? A good wedding photographer is that bathroom remodeler - the person who can move into different environments and craft something special room by room. Conversely, a lot of people can take good pictures in the stress-free environment of a makeshift studio or a park photographing friends whose schedule is flexible, but when moment after moment has to unfold without delay, it's a much bigger challenge.
I still haven't addressed the issue of equipment. Cousin Tim or the good friend who is given the monumental task of capturing the unrepeatable wedding day moments just might be able to pull it off in light of what I've already written - unless his camera body breaks. How many good friends doing wedding photography as a favour because they have an artistic eye have a second camera body, or a second flash, or a second - or third - lens? Or even a second camera card?
Another issue is how good the equipment is. You don't need the best hammer or the best drill to do a great job with that bathroom, but it has to be reliable. So does your camera equipment. If your goal is just to have someone at the wedding who can take a picture that let's you say, "yep, that's me, that's Andy; I recognize us; I've got my pictures", then feel free to pass on my advice. But, if you're after neat poses, well composed candid moments, and artistic compositions, then please consider my thoughts a little more carefully.
I've heard some people say they were delighted with the work Cousin Tim or the good friend did for them at their wedding, but I've heard far more complain through gnashed teeth at all the things that went wrong.
If you approach your wedding as the beginning of a lifelong relationship, the photography from it becomes perhaps the only thing you actually plan to keep forever. A car will be traded in after five or seven years; the first house you buy might be replaced in seven to 10 years with a bigger one. Out of all the stuff you buy for your wedding, it - other than maybe a video - is the only thing you have even a few days after the wedding - other than the cake you eat on your first anniversary.
Yes, wedding photography can be expensive, but when you hire the right person, you're buying an insurance policy that the memories from the most important day of your life will be as easy to access and as exciting to relive as picking up an album with all those glorious pictures.
Go to: http://www.powerbrides.com/article.php?article_id=87
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