Hire an Experienced Professional Photographer
So what do you get with your investment?
Experience. Knowledge. Preparation. A professional.
Regardless of which collection your select or the package that we build for you, these are a guarantee:
1. Experience in fundamentals of photography.
My associate photographers and myself are Certified Professional Photographers through the Professional Photographers of America. Whoa. What is that you ask? Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the oldest organized association of photographers that began in 1868 and provides you educated professionals with an understanding of classic photographic knowledge to capture and deliver to you portraits that will be beautiful today and tomorrow.
2. Experience in weddings.
The energy for weddings is like no other and to be able to understand this force as well as how to absorb it, work in it, and find joy in it, is an admiration in the photographers realm. Each client has a wedding vision and we want to hear about it. Every detail. So we will work closely before your wedding to create a check list of family and friends in attendance that photos with are a must. A list of details that are unique to your day, such as your grandmothers necklace. We will also discuss ideas on what to wear for your engagement session and how a bridal portrait session will not only be beneficial as a trial run on hair, makeup, and your attire, but provide you time on your wedding day to relax and enjoy the moment with your wedding party and family.
3. Experience in capturing.
This goes along with 1. but is also its own bullet because weddings are unique to photography services, because you only get one opportunity to capture an action! Knowing how to capture in low light, such as dancing in your reception. Or, if you're getting married in a chapel. Knowing how to pose you so that you are present in each others company not realizing I am there with a camera, to give you those candid looks everyone loves.
4. Professional equipment.
You have to have more than one fancy camera. Or lens. The gear we use to ensure we get the best portrait and photographs during your day depend on the utilization of proper gear, which includes multiple camera bodies, various lenses, proper lighting and most importantly, the cards to safely secure all that we captured. But it doesn't stop there. Once we arrive back to the studio, the cards are secured in a fire proof safe after they are loaded onto the computer. Once they are in the computer, they go to THREE different places: external drive on the computer they will be edited from. A cloud storage system. And a RAID drive on location in the office. The cards the photographs are on stay in the fireproof safe until the wedding is edited and delivered. After we deliver the final images, we will host them up to a year, with no guarantees they will be available after that time, which is why we highly encourage our clients to invest in a custom album.
5. If in the event of an emergency.
Accidents happen. Illness happens. Emergencies happen. It's happened. A couple of years ago I was hospitalized and had to miss two weddings. I was devastated that I could not be there to share in my clients wedding day. However I was not worried about the photographers that were able to back me up, because I am privileged and blessed to have several photographer friends and associates who can easily step in if in the event of an emergency, as well as pull from our local Professional Photographers of America chapter. Because we prepared prior to the wedding day and a checklist is created, for anyone to have to step-in due to an emergency, it is seamless.
I've also had to fill in for a fellow photographer due to an unexpected death in the family and because of the level of professional preparation they had done as well as the understanding of how weddings flow, it was a simple jump into the day, delivering their client the same quality photographs and experience.
I hope this helps answer some questions as to why investing in a professional photographer is important as well as where you may need to research, aside from a gorgeous Instagram feed!
