Comments on: How not to hire a wedding photographer

By: professional photographer

professional photographer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:58:50 +0000

I am a professional photographer and I have to ask are you indeed a photographer ? the reason I write this is I am concerned as to why any photograher would bother to go to these lenghts to post this ???

Its complete rubbish…

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:00:58 +0000

Perfect! Thank you. Craigslist IS now the walmart of the internet an it’s getting worse.

By: Ginger

Ginger — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:16:16 +0000

Hilarious. I can’t speak for everyone; perhaps there are some naive brides and grooms out there hoping to get something for nothing… However, it seems to be the unstated assumption that the actual wedding ceremony/reception is “THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY” of one’s life. Please. Can we get any more melodramatic? The event is indeed significant, but it’s significant because it represents a new future (and all the things that simply can’t be captured in any physical/visual sense)- not because you wore some foofy dress or were surrounded by loads of matching rented decorative items that travel from wedding to wedding like a circus menagerie. It’s not that I don’t value photography or think that good work is worth paying for. To the contrary. I guess I just wish we concentrated on photography as an artform and less as a part of a consumerist culture that misses the point of that “most important day,” and instead tries to mash a beautiful symbolic moment into a packageable material form – and that goes for all the wedding planning shenanigans. What a racket. Seriously, maybe I would be more enthusiastic if wedding pics didn’t all look the same – but I suppose that’s a criticism of customers, not photographers.

And this is more of a personal note: any thoughts on having to tack on thousands of dollars to an already healthy stack of student loans (at 6.8% -thanks Uncle Sam)? It’s all well and good to bemoan people’s
“cheapness,” but is it really surprising that some people have to sacrifice quality photographs in order to avoid mortgaging their futures even further?

By: Wes Step

Wes Step — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:23:59 +0000

I’m in the DJ biz and it is the same for us. There is much more that goes into doing a wedding than showing up and pushing the PLAY button. A professional DJ will meet with the bride and groom several times, will visit the venue beforehand, will coordinate w/ the vendors, will have insurance, will be members of professional organizations, will have a legitimate business, will use contracts, will have good equipment and lots of adequate music across several genres, etc. And they will charge for their professionalism. Then you have bottom feeders and wannabes who will charge $150 for 4 hrs. Often the bride and groom who do not know how important good entertainment is at a wedding will shop for the lowest price rather than professionalism. And they will get what they pay for.

By: carolyn

carolyn — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:51:57 +0000

Great response. I am a wedding planner and go through similar situations with those putting a friends wedding together and now thinking they are full fledged planners. They offer to work for nothing, or low rates etc. I feel that a lot of brides today need to be educated. Not everyone is trying to rip them off. They have to realize that this day is not a dress rehearsal. There is only the one chance to get it right

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:26:42 +0000

This reminds me of my own wedding, many years ago.

A good friend who worked in the photography field, said that she would photograph our wedding as her gift to us. I liked her work, was young and foolish (college senior) and we heartily agreed, thinking we’d get wonderful results. On the big day, she seemed to do a professional job, bringing backup equipment, taking shots with both cameras just in case, etc. She even shot a roll to send directly to my mother for development (who couldn’t attend for medical reasons). Very thoughtful!

After our honeymoon we learned that, while my mom had gotten the backup roll printed, the other three rolls had been lost by the photo processor that my friend used. She said she’d always used that processor and never had a problem, etc. But they were gone for good. So we had about 24 shots to choose our favorites from, instead of 100.

Thankfully she got some very nice shots in that one roll, but still…

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:15:40 +0000

Thanks for this post as it has come at a very opportune time for me. A couple people have asked for proposals for shooting their weddings. I’ve always been a little leery about it simply because it seemed like a lot of pressure and I didn’t feel I would be compensated adequately. This provides good points.

I’ll see how it goes. The idea still doesn’t excite me as much since I much prefer shooting still life and landscapes rather than portrait/studio/humans.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:30:56 +0000

I think I can speak for most wedding photographers when I say this happens at least once in your photographic career. It doesn’t take someone doing the Da Vinci Code to figure out that whoever accepts the job will be working for skittles. I will say, if you are starting out shooting weddings, it is a good life lesson…no really it is. However,there is nothing wrong with saying “No” in situations like this. I am certain a family member of hers will be the one shooting in the end, and that will probably be alright with her. This is just another example of people that are willing to pay more money for little things like booze and center pieces than for the pictures that are reminder of the best day of their lives. I know when I look back on my wedding, I could care less about how much Uncle Harry drank, but whether or not I got an “in-focus” photo of my wife and our grandparents. Thats the memory of the day I would pick. Dennis Miller said it best, “Of course it’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.” I wish her luck in her quest, I am currently unavailable for that date.

By: Derek

Derek — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:36:08 +0000

The sad thing is that there is a posting like this on the Milwaukee Craigslist at least once a month.

“Build your portfolio!” is usually in each of them which usually gets me to chuckle as you know that is code for “we don’t want to pay you much.”

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:57:57 +0000

Perhaps this was posted by one of those BRIDEZILLAS they show all the time on the WE channel.