Using a just graduated Photogapher for our Wedding

sharpee

Hi Peeps

My Mum got married 3 years ago and the photographer totally ruined the day, and the photos so we're all a bit cautious when it comes to photographers!

My Mum's work colleague's sister graduated this summer in Film & Photography with a First and it has been suggested we ask her to be our photographer.

Now we have met up with her and although a bit shy we are quite happy to have her as our photographer. Now we only have 19 guests so its not a big Wedding.

Am I being a bit naive and missing something and should there be things we should be asking her?

I've viewed her Uni portfolio and she certainly takes lovely pictures. She's not done a Wedding before but has assisted another photographer and is trying to get more work expereince in Weddings.

Also she is not sure what to charge us. In fact when we met her she said she was thinking of doing it for free and to let us see the photos and discuss it then. But we have told her that we would definately want to pay her, there needs to be some motivation for her to do a good job!

I've suggested £300 but not sure if that is too much or too little.

Peeps I need some guidance and re-assurance!

Help!

double_mummy

what sort of photos are you looking for? some posed and some natural 'caught' moments? is she comfortable doing this?

do you have specific shots that you want? is she confident that she can get those moments?

what will happen with the images afterwards? will she give them to you on a disk or in photo form or email them across or something else? will she keep some to use in her portfolio/website in the future?

any styles that you would like (think black and white and artsy thingys lol) can she do this? is she confident with doing this?

what are her back ups for the day? what happens if the camera breaks? battery dies? she forgets something? does she have insurance on her equipment?

what tiem will she be there from and until? will she cover you getting ready to the first dance/ later if you prefer?

do you have to feed her on the day? will you be supplying drinks for her?

what will she wear on the day?

are you going to do a prewedding shoot so that you can get a feel for her and her style?

do you have wedding insurance? will it cover you for the ammount you pay her if something goes wrong?

what happens if she has computer problems and loses the photos? does she use external hard drives for backing up? or does she use a cloud or something like that?

what happens if she fills the memory card?

is there a limit on the number of photos that she will take? what size memory cards does she use?

sorry for such a long list but as you can see im paranoid lol

MaggieBaking

£300 is too much, for only 19 people I'd be expecting free to £100 for an our or two if she has never done a wedding.

Of course I'd give her an excellent tip depending on the photos and try and advertise her all over town.

But then I'm a cheapskate!!

I wouldn't worry too much with all the questions if she has been to another wedding and if she's qualified in photography. It's best to make sure she has a list of all the photos you want though "shot of the rings/shot of the bouquet/shot of hubby and I walking out of the ceremony" etc.

LEJC

I think the main thing is you need to be totally confident and relaxed with your photographer and trust them ....

Every photographer has to start somewhere and even the very professional and expensive ones were at somr point in this girls shoes...so in actual fact you may be getting a bit of a bargain....

you could always ask her to do a pre wedding shoot or even an engagement shoot with you now so you can get a feel of how you all interact and hopefully the way that goes may help you make a decision over giving her full rights to take your wedding photos...

If she really doesnt want paying for taking the photos and it is a case that shes trying to increase her confidence and portfolio then you could always look at having two photographers if you lack a little confidence in her ability to take all your shots or just ask her to concentrate on a particular area of your wedding...getting ready at the house or the reception for example

Its really difficult to say one way or the other whether its a good or bad thing having a student or newly graduated photographer...a lot really does depend on how you feel with her and whether you get good feelings about the work she produces.

In terms of payment...then if she is there from the start of the day right up to the end then its only fair to pay for her time...and to be honest if she produces some wonderful work then I would say youve had a very good deal for £300...personally I would certainly get to know her better as from what you have said she does seem interested in developing herself without charging a lot of monry to you
Best of luck

warehouse

sharpee wrote: »

My Mum got married 3 years ago and the photographer totally ruined the day, and the photos so we're all a bit cautious when it comes to photographers!

She's not done a Wedding before.

The above 2 statements completely contradict each other. So no, I wouldn't use a first time wedding photographer when the photos are so special.

sharpee

warehouse wrote: »

The above 2 statements completely contradict each other. So no, I wouldn't use a first time wedding photographer when the photos are so special.

Yes but my Mum used a professional photographer who had been doing it for years and believed he knew best and that the day should revolve around him. I have found talking to a lot of 'professional' photographers that they tend to have a fixed idea and can often have rather large egos!

So at least if we use a newish photographer we can mould her to what we want not what she thinks we should have.

Idiophreak

The pre-shoot is clearly the way to go. Give her £50 and have her take photos for a couple of hours.

Things to look for:
1) How does she dress and present herself?
2) How many photos does she take vs how many does she end up showing to you afterward? If she's only happy with 1 in every 100 photos, you're going to miss certain parts of the wedding.
3) How much equipment does she bring, does she have a selection of cameras, lenses etc?
4) Are the photos good? Quite important.

If you have the preshoot and are happy with everything, I'd probably go for it. I wouldn't pay, though. I think the faith you'd be showing was worth the cost to her. I'd make sure she was fed, watered etc and maybe give her a few pounds for CDs and other expenses, but not much more than that. I'd also talk to her about the cost of albums - you could suggest going 50/50 on an album or something - again, she'll need to order some one way or another to get an idea of quality from various suppliers - so you could both benefit from sharing the cost of a test-run.

vax2002

The skill is not in the photography, you expect that to be right, exposure, flash, lighting, the real skill in any wedding photographer is people skills. ideas, presentation of those ideas, attention to detail even anticipation of candid moments.
That is what you pay an expert for, the photography is the easy bit.

PootleFlump_3

Im sure it will be fine. She might have a nice fresh approach to it as she hasnt done it before. Ive seen wedding photos done by photographers who have been doing it for years and who have good reputations and I find their shots really cheesy and unnatural.

lawrie28

Get her to have one of the others on her course help out, with 2 photographers you will have a better selection of shots, less chances of missing the ones you want and good backups etc.

You need to work out what you are getting for yor moeny too. Is it a disc of photos? an album? are they edited? do ou have reproduction rights? will she use them for her portfolio?

Beetle_lover

I've done two weddings and did the first for a friend completely free because to be honest I didn't know how it would go!!!

Becareful if she's shy, I'm afraid that doesn't work for weddings!! You need to be in control of the situation and be confident in telling people where to go and how you want them to be.

Be very careful on this one and certainly do not pay £300.

Suggest an engagement shoot and see if both parties feel comfortable with each other. If she can't relax you and feel she can pose you it is not going to work.