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Bridal Shows

Synka | Aug 25, 2009 | 0 comments

One of the first places a bride will go is to a wedding show. She wants a easy place to find vendors for her wedding. Same is true for new wedding photographers.

Questions to Ask your Photographer

One Photographer or Two
Overtime Charges if Any
Photography Insurance
Who is the Photographer
Errors & Omissions Insurance
Back Up Equipment

When someone decides to become a photographer they soon find out it is hard to attract business. They know they are not qualified to bid on large commercial jobs and it is hard to find leads for high school seniors wanting photos and families are not part of an organized lead list either. Weddings are about the only area where leads are organized and the client does not really understand the difference between a lucky shot and consistent professional quality work.

You can’t blame the brides because when at shows and looking at on line portfolios no one mentions if all of the photographers images look like the samples or if those were just a few lucky shots.Some even use other peoples images on the site wanting you to think they took them. They also forget to say that the wedding shown was done during the day with really great light and total freedom to walk around the venue. Few will show the normal wedding shot in really dark conditions with lots of restrictions placed on them by the Church director.

The size of most Bridal Shows will make anyone a little confused. The bride has hundreds of booths to look at in a short time. At least of them are 25 photographers showing images. The bride has no idea that the 2 images being shown by XYZ Photography are the only 2 that looked good enough to enlarge while ABC Photography had dozens of nearly perfect photos to pick from but were limited by space and budget. It’s like looking through Rose colored glasses. All appears beautiful at first until you dig in a little deeper.

Brides see amazing wedding albums on display with exotic wood covers and assume that is included in the price they were just given. The few who start to ask more detailed questions find out the albums on display are all costly upgrades and the standard album is hidden under the counter. It is some cheap looking vinyl cover that would last about a week. They also find out the photographer who did the photos in the display albums is not the same as those quoted in the price list. His prices are part of the platinum list and are about 4 times more expensive. Since she did not have time to question the other 7 photographers she had already visited her time looking may have been wasted.

Like so many brides she picks someone really friendly and who knows how to talk up his business like no one else in the room. A few months later on the wedding day the photographer arrives at the church. He asked around looking for the bride because they have never met. It seems her photographer had to work that day or get fired from his real job at the car lot. He sent a friend to fill in for him. Too late to do anything about it now as the ceremony starts in 30 minutes. He takes a look at the church and has never seen such a dark room with a giant glass wall behind the alter. The Church director reminds him that flash is never allowed and that he must stay out of the way. Of course the guest will be using flash but you are not allowed. As he starts to photograph the ceremony he finds his images are all looking really dark or black. It seems that reflective glass wall is enough to make his camera think the room is full of bright light and the AUTO function is useless. He ends up getting a few lucky shots but misses the must have first kiss and placing the ring on her finger. A lot of these weekend photographers assume that AUTO mode will actually do a good job. Using it will usually not get you a great photo under good conditions and will leave you with nothing under tough lighting conditions. Manual mode and knowing how to use it is they only way to get good images.

He did a lot better at the reception. His photos did not improve but he met a really hot bridesmaid to keep him company. He got a lot of photos of her but forgot the bride’s family and the first dance took him by surprise. He seemed not to know what to do when his
his flash took too long to re-charge for the must have shot of the Father and Daughter dance. It was very emotional since dad had been in a wheelchair for several weeks recovering from an accident. Maybe they can do a re-play of it later? This time without all the tears.

He now understands why most professionals carry a $350.00 battery pack so the flash works without delay. Looks like the reception is running late and his contract say to leave at 11:00pm. Too bad they will not get photos of the garter toss or the bouquet throw. That horse drawn carriage would have made a nice exit photo but he needs to catch the ending of the game.

This is a small list of things that do happen. It is not limited to wedding photographers but many seem to be new part timers lacking the experience required to do a professional job. Wedding are one of the most demanding events to photograph and the photographer needs to be both experienced and creative to provide the level of photography such a important event deserves.
Make sure you hire a professional photographer and not one just learning the trade.