- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
I used a friend as a second shooter. She took some great shots as we were getting ready and at the reception venue before anyone arrived. They were really professional looking. I also felt very comfortable around her. The only thing was that I guess I thought she would take a few more photos - like photos of the ceremony and at the reception. But she was a guest too and I wanted her to enjoy her time. She also didn't charge me a thing, and I tried to give her some payment to thank her but she sent it back to me! I didn't have any regrets with how we did it!
Anyways, I was really happy with what she gave me for photos. I guess one thing to watch out for is that friend photographers might not be as outgoing. They might not be able to round up a group of people for photos or might shy away from taking certain photos and getting up in people's faces while still being discreet. It takes a pro to really be aggressive I think.
As we're on a very tight budget, a friend is going to be the sole "wedding photographer" (I'm sure friends and family will take pics) and I am confident that he'll do a great job, but he is a photography major. =] We've also planned to do a post-wedding in our wedding clothes couples session with my absolute dream photographer for about $350...a fraction of the cost of the same photog's wedding package. So, that's always an option!
Cardigan and I used a friend for our engagemets. they were great and since we knew her the vibe between us was perfect. she was so easy to work with. the only hesitation i would have with using her as our wedding photographer is that she is inexperienced. most professionals seem to have this 6th sense as if they know what is about to happen. they can get to the perfect position for the perfect shot before you even know its coming
Hi! We just had an amateur photographer shoot our engagement pictures. We were incredibly pleased as he was more willing to take more photos and spend more time editing certain ones (to try to improve his work, make us happy, and build his portfolio). The only suggestion I have would be to make certain of the pictures and poses you want for an amateur might not be as experienced with the must-have pictures. I would say go for it, if you are comfortable with the photographer and comfortable taking charge of things a little more than you would have to with professional. Good luck!
Oooo, interesting! I am considering contacting a friend who went to photography school and worked part-time at a bridal photography company. I want to give her work and I trust her, plus I think a friend doing the photography would be so special and the love would really be there.
As a friend who has helped out other couples before, I was more than happy to photograph their big day, but it tends to feel more like I'm at the wedding to work, instead of being there as a guest. I felt like I was emotionally separated from the events of the day because I was so focused on getting the photos. Just something to keep in mind.
We are using a friend of a friend. I knew I wanted to use her since before I even got engaged!! She was super flexible with price (pretty much name your own), but I had to buy her ticket to fly from Denver to Milwaukee. We gave her a 'trial run' with our engagements.
I look at her website often to check out her recent works-- I am SOOOOO excited to see what she comes up with!
http://www.katiederusphoto.com/
Love her recent 'trash the dress' session!
We would have LOVED to use our friend as our photographer, unfortunately he is going to be FI's best man lol. He is seriously amazing he does it as a hobby but he LOVES it, I know he will be taking pictures in his "downtime" lol so I know we will still have amazing shots!
We were thinking about using a friend who is an amature photographer. We did some sample engagement photos to test it out and they really weren't the greatest caliber. There are probably tons of great newbies out there, but make sure you test them first!!! they should be willing to give you a 'trial' for free since they are looking for experience.
Yes. I used a friend of a friend, who was also amateur. Big mistake for me. HUGE. Giant amounts of regret. :(
I am using an amateur, but she has a good camera and I am comfortable with her. It can go either way no matter who you hire, to some extent. My sis hired a professional and was very disappointed.
I am using a friend of mine who went though a year certification in Photography. We went to high school together and although we knew each other back then, we weren't good friends. Randomly we ended up working together 5 years later in another city (small world, much?) At the time she was in school, she asked to shoot me for a couple of her projects. The photos were semi-nudes and turned out AMAZING. I even used a less riske one as a gift to my folks for Christmas.
To build her portfolio, she shot my former coworker's wedding and the photos were gorgeous. She loves to take pictures of details, candids, scenery. I don't think we will end up with many posed shots - but I don't really care for them anyway.
We joked then that she would shoot my wedding... and that was 6 years ago now. When I got engaged I called her even though we hadn't talked in a long time and said "Still wanna shoot my wedding?!"
I'm paying her $500, I'm getting digital 'negatives' and no prints. I'll have them printed on my own. Plus, she is a 'guest' at the wedding, along with her husband who will act as her assistant (he also takes great pics). I'm excited that someone who is a friend will be with us all day instead of someone I really don't know well.
We have hired an amateur group from southern NH. They have experience with portraits, ie-senior portraits and family portraits, but have never shot a wedding. They're more than reasonably priced based on this fact, too. I've spent a lot of time emailing with them (and being an ex-pro studio photog myself, I feel I've asked some good questions) and am very confident that they will pull off photographing the event without a hitch. I'm thinking... where your date is quite a bit after my wedding date, I'd be happy to share the photos with you after so you can get an idea of what a budget session in NH would look like. So far, their personalities have been amazing, they're very kind, and really seem to know their stuff - they're just looking for some experience to get there. Feel free to PM me if your'e interested in knowing more. =D
Think of the worst case scenario (shots don't turn out, missing shots, causes a disturbance during the ceremony, gear failure, backs out at the last minute) and decide if you can live with it. Also, many venues require a $1M liability insurance rider, so you'll need to check with yours to see if that's a requirement. The expense of that will rule out most hobbyists.
Re the friend with a "good camera", I just spent a $140 on a pair of running shoes for a 10K but that doesn't mean I'll come even close to the pro runners who are competing to win.
My mom is ours. She is an art photographer. I have compiled list of fave photographers and fave shots (including some I just liked the style of) and send them to her that way she can see what I want and practice before the big day.
If you are looking to save money look at photography students that are graduating. Have then do your engagement pictures to see what you think about them but you can get them for cheap. Its a win win you get great pictures and they get pictures for there portfolio.
We're using a college friend of mine. She's been getting her business off the ground for a year or so and I love her work. When I started thinking about photographers she was first on my list.
Besides that she is offering us an amazing deal despite her coming from Ohio to shoot the wedding.
I don't have a friend photographer, I'm actually considering a good chunk of change on ours. What I read over and over on these boards (and have heard from A LOT of friends, including one of my bridesmaids), is that if they could change anything, they would have gotten a better photographer. They would have spent the money. At the end of it all, your photos are what you have to look back on, so you want them to be great!
My bridesmaid got a photographer for a "good deal". I don't know how or where she found him. Her husband is a photographer as well, so maybe it was a networking thing, but anyways, a few weeks after her wedding she called me bawling her eyes out. The photos were awful. They only got about half a dozen good shots from him from the entire wedding. The only photos they had that they liked were from guests. Not exactly professional quality. I still feel awful for her thinking about it, they had the most amazing wedding, they really deserved great photos of it.
So just be careful and choose well. It's a really really really important aspect of your wedding!
I have 3 friends (one is my brother) who are all amateur photographers/photography enthusiasts.
Originally, I was going to just rely on their pics. Ended up hiring a pro.
The first pics I saw from our wedding were from one of my friends cameras. And when I saw them, I was like WHY DID WE SPEND THE MONEY ON PROS?!?!
His pics were beautiful. As were the pics my other two friends took.
But I do adore my professional pics too. It worked out that I just ended up with hundreds more awesome pictures. Very happy about it.
We had a cousin who was just getting started. He'd done a few weddings and did a good job so paid him and it worked out well. Not as dramatic as some of the pictures I've seen on here, and I did some of the editing but it saved us several 1000 so it was worth it to me.
A friend of mine who just got into photography did my bridals - maybe would've gotten her for the wedding too after seeing how great the bridals were, but she wasn't even taking pictures yet when I had to pick a wedding photog!!!
I am using a friend but he also happens to be a pro ! Can't wait to post pics of our day but we have 2 months to go !
we used a friend for our photos - NO regrets! He and DH actually were photographers together and have done weddings as a team. Photographer and his wife did an amazing job! We paid them $1000 + extra for flight & hotel. I guess we were just lucky the way it turned out!
I think it depends on what you want and how big a priority it is for you. The high-end pro shots can be pretty amazing, for sure. I admired a lot of photogs in our city, they were real artists. But their wedding packages cost about as much as our reception did! We didn't care that much about the photography. We just wanted some nice photos of the day, and we didn't want to put the responsibility on any of our guests. My next door neighbour (also a friend) is a very talented amateur photographer, who had done a number of weddings and such before. Her style is more photojournalistic, not formal portrait stuff, but that is more my kind of thing anyway. She was very creative and fun to work with, and brought her husband along to do back-up shots as well. We were entirely happy with the results. A great deal at $500.
Also, the husband of a friend of mine, who was just starting to get into wedding photography, shot our wedding for fun so I got a lot of free bonus shots! :-)
I know it's not the same as a wedding, but I recently had a friend do pictures for my graduation announcements. They turned out GREAT and he was super professional about it. We spent 2 hrs shooting, and he had all the equipment and everything (such as a flash umbrella). He's a photog major, but at 19 he really knows his stuff. The best part...he only charged me $40!!! I was ecstatic about that! I would use him in the future for EVERYTHING I do, he was that awesome. My BF is even considering using him for his website pics for his business.
As a starting photographer, i can say that it is a great idea to give someone a chance to take pictures of your engagement, or even bridal pictures. A lot of starting photographers are willing/wanting to do stuff for way cheaper prices that the establishing ones.
That is how i met my phoographer for my wedding. He posted an add for free sessions, we met with him, he offered to do our wedding, i was a little bit skeptical/scared, but then he booked more people - did a few weddings, and i ended up with this great/talented photographer for fraction of a price!
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| ellisrobertson | 24 |
| fishbone | 21 |
| MsPanda | 14 |
| ladyartichoke | 14 |
| aduarte3201 | 14 |
| mypinkshoes | 12 |
| pengoala | 11 |
 sylvia.riggle |
11 |
| Brielle | 10 |
| likelimeade | 10 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| PandasWifey | 1 |
| ellabee | 1 |
| pengoala | 1 |
| ElbieKay | 1 |
| kaylaf09 | 1 |
| auggiefrog | 1 |
| MamaMegs721 | 1 |
| mkim | 1 |
| Zouave | 1 |
| koi424 | 1 |
I'm thinking about using a friend to do our photos, instead of hiring a pro. The least expensive pro I could find is $1200 for three hours, and that is with no prints. I have a friend who takes great photos.
Has anyone used a friend? Regrets? Things to consider???
Thanks, Bees!