I'm clearly not a wedding photographer, but a person on a site I frequent put the question to the community about whether hiring a professional for their wedding was worth it.

Thought it would make interesting reading. From the "Ask" section of Metafilter.

Should we use a pro photographer for our wedding, and why? How could we cut costs?

Nice to see the original poster of the question asking it in an intelligent manner and accepting both the pros and cons, and some very decent and clear responses avoiding an eye-rolling sarcastic answer and instead explaining exactly *why* there's a difference between a "real" photographer and Uncle Bob.

Originally Posted by divamum Nice to see the original poster of the question asking it in an intelligent manner and accepting both the pros and cons, and some very decent and clear responses avoiding an eye-rolling sarcastic answer and instead explaining exactly *why* there's a difference between a "real" photographer and Uncle Bob.

Ironically, it's the uncle bobs and wannabees who usually leave the sarcastic, waste-of-time replies when asked this question.

The bottom line is that any pro who is indeed "worth the money", well, they KNOW WHY, and they have little trouble explaining why. I'm glad that some of those have piped in, and put forth some good reasons.


For me, it's just one question: Can you afford it?

If yes, then hire the most well-know, reliable pro that you can. Ask around, meet them in person, and you'll be fine.

If not, and I understand this is often the case, ...then your absolute best bet is NOT some budget no-name pro who offers you that huge package you want for "just" $1K or $2K. I'm sorry, but those people are usually the MOST RISKY investments. The safest budget investment is usually a close friend who has been a hobbyist for years, has an eye and technical ability, but has no desire to do shoot professionally.

I know that budget, just-starting-out photogs will hate me for discouraging clients from hiring them, but my point is that you probably shouldn't be doing business with strangers if you're so "fresh" that you only value your services at $1-2K. But don't worry, there is still plenty of work and experience to be had as that "close friend hobbyist with an eye and technical ability" which I just mentioned.


Respectfully,
=Matt=

I agree with what Matt said pretty much. If you can afford it, you can't go wrong with a well seasoned pro if you do your research. Being a beginner photographer (about a year), and just now starting to consider taking on clients (not weddings, but portraits and such), I fully understand his sentiment about the risky people. I see a lot of photoraphers in that price range, where even with my limited abilities, I know I could provide better results. Then at the same time, I find some who have impressive talent and fantastic shots who could easily be charging more. I'd like to shoot professionally in due time, but my abilities and confidence are far from being ready to do so.

If you have a small budget, spend the time to research, you can find great photographers in any price range, but you do always run the risk of having subpar results, so you must have due diligence in finding someone you like, get along with and trust will provide sufficient pictures.

Depends on the pro and how you define them.
There are a lot of amateurs pretending to be pros and calling themselves such and there are a lot of pros who shoot like amateurs.... or worse.
Then there is the money. How much money for a start and whether that person gives you what YOU think is value for that money.


I have a couple of friends that are snap happy amateurs that I would have shoot my wedding any time and shoot a hell of a lot better than pros I have seen.
I have also seen pros that bring a tear to my eye for the beauty of their work and other who charge more that my only admiration for is how good their sales skills are to be able to peddle such crap and get the price they do for it.

To me it's a case by case basis and you need to do your homework and define exactly what it is you want and then what you can afford.