Professional Photography

Expenses mount when planning a wedding but can you afford not to have a professional capture those memories that will be cherished for a lifetime?

“That’s a great picture, you must have a really good camera…” It’s something every professional photographer has heard many times. It’s as if it’s the camera that takes the picture rather than the photographer.

Indeed, research conducted by the Australian Institute of Professional Photography has revealed that a startling number of couples do not hire a  professional photographer at all! Presumably they rely on friends and family to document what is possibly the most important event of their lives, no doubt on the basis that ‘they have a really good camera…’.

Yet, when the food has all been eaten and the drinks have been consumed, all a couple has to remember their wedding by is their photography. Every couple who are planning their wedding firmly believe this will be the only wedding they will have in their lives so it does make sense to ensure they have the very best wedding photography they can afford.

What’s the difference?

So what really is the difference between a professional, a talented amateur and ‘Uncle Bob?”.

First is consistency. While a talented and knowledgeable amateur may produce very good – even an occasional great image, a professional has to produce many hundreds of very good images every time he or she goes to work. It’s what they’re trained and paid for and what their reputations are made of. Every professional has to deliver or they’re very soon out of business.

Second, photographers at the top of their game have a clear and defined style by which they can be recognised. It may be the way they interact with the bride and groom, it may be the post-production techniques they apply, or it may be the way they construct an image that demonstrates the uniqueness of their eye. This is the result of years of experience and while it doesn’t necessarily make them better than other wedding photographers, they do often get hired purely because of their individual style.

Third, all good professional photographers guarantee their work. The terms of their guarantees will vary so it’s a very good idea to ask your photographer just what their guarantee covers.

Copyright and the ‘digital negatives’

Copyright is misunderstood and can get quite complicated. So here’s all you really need to understand. In almost all cases a professional photographer will retain copyright of all their images.

Now this doesn’t mean they won’t sell you image files for you to print for yourself. Many photographers do. But it does mean that you can’t, for example, sell those images to a publication for gain, use them in promoting your own business or materially alter them in any way. As an example, this last point means that you can’t take a photographer’s image and photo-montage it with one of your own. But you won’t have any problems printing files
you have been given.