Why You Shouldn't Hire a Cheap Photographer for Your Wedding

Your big day is finally here. You spent months and months deciding the location, the attire, the theme, the season, even the food. You want these memories captured forever.
 
Do you really want to take a chance and risk hiring a cheap photographer for that role?
 
This is something not many wedding and elopement planners are willing to talk about, but it’s important for me to get you guys the best information possible.
 
After all, photography is our specialty and what makes our elopement packages so magical.
We know how important it is not to skimp in this department.
 
Here’s a few tips on why you want to go with quality above all else when you’re looking into getting a wedding photographer.

 Real Photography Costs Money

Some people assume that all a photographer does is show up on site with a fancy camera, clicks a button a couple hundred times, and calls it a day.
 
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Real photography is extremely labor intensive.
 
It’s not just about the actual photo shoots. There’s a mountain of work that goes into a wedding photography business.
 
Just the arranging of the shoot alone can take days of planning, phone calls, emails, and coordination. Bringing the right equipment for the job, cleaning and preparing it.
 
The actual photo shoot itself can entail hours of intense work, that includes changing out lenses, herding people around, crouching and extending in bizarre poses just to get a good angle, and simply being present enough during an entire ceremony to capture every important moment (there can be a lot of them)!
 
The photography service extends long after the wedding has concluded, as well. The immense amount of photo editing and preparation for print that the files most undergo is a job within itself, that can often span days.
 
If you think you’re only paying for somebody to come out and snap some pictures of your special day, think again.
 
There’s a ton going on behind the scenes, and you should be aware that if the price point seems strangely low, it probably means you are going to get a second-rate service.

Quality of the Work

Do your homework on the wedding photographer you are looking into. You should be able to find ample examples of their work online someplace for you to look at. Either on Facebook, Instagram, or a portfolio of some kind.
 
This is really important.
 
Believe it or not, professional wedding photography quality can differ quite a bit. This is not only because of the skill and the experience of the photographer, but the quality of the equipment they are using as well.
 
Once you get out of the “hobby photographer” sphere, the price of photography equipment can vary wildly. There are lenses that cost thousands of dollars alone, to say nothing of the cameras themselves, lighting equipment, tripods, and other tools of the trade.
 
You absolutely want to know what you are getting before diving in.

Reputation is everything. What are other people saying about their services? Do they have lots of examples of their work and are they proud to showcase it?
 
This speaks volumes. Photography is a visual medium, and those visuals are produced through a combination of skill and equipment. If either are lacking, the final product will be lacking by definition.
 
Some photographers can make up what they lack in skill and equipment with editing, but you’ll know an over-edited photo when you see one.
 
The last thing you want is for your wedding photos to look like elementary school pics you snagged for your kid for a measly $20.
 
A quality photographer knows how to maximize skill, composition, lighting, making use of the best equipment they have on hand, and understands that editing is only used to enhance a photo in order to bring out its natural beauty, not to create what is not already there.
 
This is where photographer quality can differ, and why you should do your homework when you are looking for a wedding photographer.
 
You don’t want to be heartbroken after getting your wedding photos back only to see shoddy work. This is a once and a lifetime opportunity to hire a real professional and get everything done right the first time.

Hiring a reputable wedding photographer means you are in safe hands, and you know you'll be getting a return on your investment: memories that will last a lifetime!  Check out Ibay Photography's past elopement wedding photography Here!

Click HERE to learn the 5 secrets to a successful (and stress-free) elopement and BONUS checklist!