The Sunday Mail
Tendai Mbirimi – Bridal Writer
Your wedding day will only happen once and therefore ensure you hire a professional wedding photographer who will get it right.
When the wedding is over, all you are left with are the photographs. These have to capture every detail in the best way possible.
Unfortunately, it is only after the wedding when most couples start to realise how the photographer would have cost them. Unprofessional photographers can ruin your wedding pictures.
Planning for a wedding can come with a shockingly high price tag and it is natural to look for areas to cut corners.
However, the option of engaging an amateur photographer should never be considered.
Furnishing an amateur photographer with a list of all the essential moments or asking if they have adequate equipment will not help — they may lie to you. You run the risk of getting crappy, blurred, point-and-shoot snapshots.
I recently spoke to a middle-aged heartbroken couple, the two had to organise a photo shoot for their first wedding anniversary after their wedding photos did not come out well.
Though they included all of their decor on the anniversary, the re-do never captured their true wedding day moments. No mom and dad dancing, no first kiss as husband and wife and no funny kid antics.
Professional photographers invest thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, in quality equipment and human resources education.
They have specific wedding experience to guarantee high quality images, no matter what.
When things don’t go according to plan, professionals know how to recover.
Unfortunately, an unprepared amateur photographer can leave you with nothing as they cannot afford a back-up.
In the event that main files go missing, your wedding moments are lost forever.
At another recent wedding that l attended, the hired amateur photographer had a car accident and was unable to show up.
Since he did not have any backup staff to cover the event, the only photos taken on this couple’s most important day were random cellphone shots from family and friends.
Professional photographers make it work no matter the circumstances. Whether it is raining or there is a huge distraction at the wedding venue, a professional photographer will get the best possible images.
This is so because they are experienced in using poses, angles and lighting to enhance best features and hide the imperfections.
Professionals have worked with brides in all shapes and sizes and know which pose is best for which bride. This is critical because every bride wants to look their best.
Wedding photographers also have to take great shots quickly, sometimes with fast changing light settings. Even with vast experience, this is not easy, trust me. Guests may wander into frame, iPads held aloft. Only experience and skill will help professionals to capture the moments.
A wedding photographer must be assertive and engaging in order to take the images without irritating you or your guests. This requires experience, professionalism and the right personality.
When going through photos after the wedding, couples are often surprised at the funny and moving moments the photographer captured that they never witnessed.
An amateur isn’t going to capture them and you’ll never know what you’ve missed. They will keep their lenses focused on you throughout the whole event.
As a cost-cutting measure, my sister hired a fashion photographer ‘friend’ who gave her a next-to-nothing deal to capture her wedding pictures. That photographer missed so many important wedding moments. Dad walking her down the aisle — out of focus, kiss at the altar — out of focus, cake cutting, pixelated.
What a costly cost cutting measure!
