Post # 1

Member
34 posts
Newbee
Hi bees! I’m recently engaged (1.21.10) and am planning a long engagement with my Fiance, at least 1.5 years so I can finish grad school. I can’t help but want a few snapshots of us now although I know many couples get e*pics taken by their wedding photographer closer to the actual date. Out of curiosity today I looked into local photographer’s fees for an engagement session and they were outrageous! I definitely don’t want to spend that much $$$ right now … so, I had an idea. My future SIL is in art/design college and knows a lot of photography students, I thought we could give one of them a few bucks to shoot the session and then just give us the digital images. Another thought was to post an ad seeking amateur photographers looking to get more pictures for their portfolios, I have seen posts like these before. What do you bees think? Has anyone done something similar? Please post, the good, the bad and ugly! I’d be interested to hear everyone’s thoughts. Thanks!
Post # 3

Member
135 posts
Blushing bee
Well there are photographers who are starting new and will do some either for free or for $50. We did two shoots for free and then charging minimum amount.
Post # 4

Member
5822 posts
Bee Keeper
I had my brother take some free shots (photography is his hobby). I also had a local photographer take them for free so he could get some more photos for his portfolio. I found him through the weddingbee classifieds.
My brother’s photos were cute, and we use them a lot. We paid for the film, and we got some great shots.
The local photog had much better equipment, and knew a great location to shoot. We had a fun and engaging (no pun intended!) photo session with him. His pictures turned out amazing as well. The only downside was that he took FOREVER to get them to us. We did the shoot in April and did not receive the photos until September (two months after our wedding, I should add…). Since you’re getting yours done so far in advance, I don’t see that happening to you.
One benefit of doing them early is you can take outdoor photos for all four seasons. That would be really cool to see photos from winter, spring, summer, and fall at your wedding!!