I often have friends ask me what they think about having one of their family members shoot their wedding or special event. I oftentimes will tell them that is great! Then I usually follow it up with a question of how long have they been photographing or something to that nature. As a human being I strive to be honest in all that I do, and when one of my friends or familiy members need advice I would like to be regarded highly as it pertains to photography. I try to put myself in their shoes and see their perspective. I then take off my glasses of empathy and give them some solid reasons on why they should be worried, especially if it is a wedding and they dont have much experience shooting.
-Professional photographers should have at least 2-3 back up cameras around them at all times. At Kimble Photography we have 5 cameras just in case the worst case scenario happens.
-There are no do-overs during a wedding, timing, and knowing your camera’s settings are crucial to get “The Moment”. One small mistake can ruin a beautiful scene or an entire shoot. Professionals consistently monitor their work and adjust to lighting, ambience, and situations as they arise. When a photographer is starting out details are often overlooked because of the happiness effect. I call it the happiness effect because as a new/amatuer photographer you get excited about the photo you just took and fail to keep monitoring and adjusting which can lead to bad photos and one good one.
-Professional photographers usually have an agenda on hand to help keep the pace of the wedding moving so nothing gets left out. Kimble Photography has a list of to-do’s for the bride, groom, and our personal list of photos that we would like to take. Many times amateurs can feel overwhelmed and skip on a few opportunities where as professionals have usually checked it off of their list making sure you get the shots you want.
Please do not take this post as a slam against all amateur photographers. I am writing this from witnessing it myself and even doing some of it when I was starting out many years ago. I’ve have had the honor of shooting numerous events and weddings during my life time and during the course of my career I found that one thing is certain, change is going to happen. As a professional I have learned how to deal with changes to my working environment and move past the seeming roadblocks to capture some truly incredible shots.
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