ten_anyone

“I am an amateur photographer, who is occasionally asked to photograph a wedding. After a couple of embarrassing disasters, I now staunchly refuse, as an act of friendship.”
- excerpted from an Ann Landers column

                                 (... this isn't about photos... it's about memories... yours...)

Are things pretty good between you and your amateur photographer relative or friend? Good.
Want to keep it that way? Better.

For your sake and that of your relationship, don’t ask them to jeopardize the wonderful thing you’ve got going by asking or letting them be the main imagemaker at your wedding.
Too many brides have told me they made that mistake.

Winning amateur photo contests doesn't come close to the skills involved in wedding photography.
You could expect this from a guy who may merely want to validate his life, but it’s true nonetheless: Wedding photography requires training and experience to do it only adequately.

It’s a specialty unto itself and, regardless of expertise in other areas of photography, unless a photographer has training in all the particulars of wedding photography, he or she is adventuring at your risk.

If you are at all concerned about how well your pictures turn out then please hear me out.
If you can visualize yourself two months - even two years - down the road and how you will feel about your wedding photos… and if you want those feelings to be warm and glowy, this is critical to you.

Think about how you will feel if your friend or uncle, or whoever, botches the job.
Think about how badly they will feel!
Plus, you’ll have a bunch of loser-grade photos to not show off.     (Pardon my honesty)
The nice part about that is only your visually-oriented acquaintances will point out the flaws in them.
Everyone else will be too polite to say anything negative. Isn’t that how it works?

Amateurs do not typically deal with off-camera, accessory flash.
And when they do they forget a lot of what the manual said.
And the manual doesn't tell you everything.
Result: Over- and under-exposed photos.
Non-professional lighting technique and equipment creates harsh, unflattering shadows and red-eye.
Flash photography requires experience, training and testing to get it right.
Don’t let your wedding be somebody else’s experiment.

Solution
Ask your friend to “just take some candids and just have fun.”
That's win-win!

                                                  Photography Is about Cameras…
Wedding Photography Is about Knowing…
... how to deal with quickly changing lighting situations
… which poses to do and doing them quickly (before most of your guests have left the reception) and do them beautifully.
… when and in which order to do them for greatest economy of time
… how to behave as a photographer in a house of worship
… how to lead as a photographer without overstepping bounds
… how to dress like a professional
… how to use flash (something most non-pros barely know)
… how to put people at ease when they’re feeling pressure!
… why no one should use flash during a ceremony in a house of worship, including and especially the designated photographer.

There’s no way your photographer can be everywhere or see everything, much less capture all of it.
A seasoned professional and your amateur friend can complement one another and provide you, dear bride, with the best of both worlds.