Last week I was contacted by a lovely lady who got married last year. She originally wanted me to photograph their big day but one of her relatives decided to choose a different local photography company because they were cheaper!
The wedding went well and the anticipation to see their wedding images was growing.
So, a short time after their wedding their images were ready, and the photographer delivered a DVD disc of images, not in a nice case but in a budget plastic floppy sleeve. The alarm bells were ringing!!!
Sitting in front of their PC, the disc was put in and the first of the images came up, silence from the bride and groom, as image after image of badly composed, badly exposed, massively over sharpened or out of focus, devoid of all creativity, photographs came into view.
To say they were gutted is an understatement.
This lovely lady phoned me, nearly in tears, to ask my advice. Short of saying “you should of had me”, I said I`d have a look at the images and see if I can help at all. I saw her today and took her wedding photography disc to my studio and was shocked at just how poor these images are. It really does show that not just anyone with a half decent camera can be a good wedding photographer. No wonder we are looked down on by a lot of people. I have a good mind to phone this Colwyn Bay company and demand this lady`s money back for her. I feel really bad for her that her big day, the chance for her to strut her stuff and be a princess for the day has been ruined by this charlatan of a photographer.
If I could name and shame them without being unprofessional or being sued I would.
I`m not even sure that I can salvage their photographs for them and create a nice album that I have been asked to do if possible.
Unfortunately, like most things in life, you do get what you pay for. So by saving a few quid this family member has totally screwed it up.
Sorry for the rant, those of you that know me know that I`m the most easy going bloke around but sometimes you have to let it out.
The moral of the tale is, If you have to cut the wedding budget anywhere, cut the flowers, the drinks, even cut the honeymoon from two weeks to ten days, but do not cut the photography budget! It`s THE one lasting reminder of your wedding. The photos that you will show your children and their children in years to come.
Do it right, do it once. Get a good photographer.
End of rant!
If you agree, click “leave a comment” and let me know your thoughts.
even with a low-budget wedding, a good photographer can make it look like a million dollars, and capture the atmosphere and mood of the day, rather than just make a flat record. even news photographers have to be experienced and talented before their photos get used on the covers, and news is literally here today gone tomorrow; a wedding day is so much more important to the family!
by Tony Fanning
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