Tony Cooper

Why Hire Experienced Pros?

In the last several years, there has been a growing (and now waning) influx of new photographers.  Many have good technical knowledge of a few methods and techniques.  Others have promises of a great bargain for “the CD” of your wedding photos.  But what none of them will tell you is that they have plenty of experience.  And the reason they aren’t going to tell you that (and keep a straight face) is because they don’t have the experience that a seasoned professional does.

In most weddings, there will be a very organized series of events that were designed to go flawlessly.  Perhaps they followed the example of Cousin So-And-So’s wedding.  They used the same florist, caterer and venue.  This pretty much ensures those are the people who did it right before, so they can do it again.  But unlike flowers and food, there are a lot of variables in photography.

Let’s take light, for example.  The weather is such a big factor in the quality of outdoor light that many don’t think twice about saying that they can do it.  Trouble is, they may not have encountered the situation you are facing with the light conditions for your venue or on-location shoot.  From bright sunlight, to patchy clouds, overhead trees, and even late day sunlight… these all change the conditions of the photography and how adjustments are made to accommodate them.

Of course, I have an example.  This is from a wedding last year.  We were at a local park, and my assistant had set up the lights where I needed them.  The objective here was to balance the light as best possible for the surrounding conditions.  There were also some soccer goals and patchy light on the ground to contend with, not to mention a bare spot in one area that was kind of glaring.

Standing next to me was a friend of the bride (I assume).  She took the picture below.

I won’t go into much more than just to say that seeing the bride’s face, her beautiful flowers, the rest of the dress, and even the tiara on her head would have been nice.

So, I took my picture.  Planned and laid out with lighting, with a few post-processing adjustments.

There is a difference.  The soccer goals are gone, the patches on the ground are diminished, and it’s a beautiful sunny day in the park.  I love that we can see her lovely flowers, tiara and face.

I know what your next argument is… money.  Let me put it to you this way.  Would you rather spend $200 for a CD of “okay” pictures that ends up in a drawer, or would you rather cut back a little on the wedding niceties (the things that are for everyone else) and spend a little more on an experienced professional that can handle most of the situations that come up, and consistently produce great images?  If the choice is obvious to you, then you are one of two types of people: You care about the memories or you don’t.

You may contact us for more examples of the difference between experience and the new photographer.  We’re always happy to share.