An attempted reportage shot!
As a vidiographer I have seen a few examples of this.
Some Examples
On one occasion the bride's brother was photographing a wedding in New Brighton on the Wirral. He was a keen amateur and had good equipment (better than some pros), although he only had one camera so it might have been a problem if it had failed.
He told me this was the seventh wedding he had photographed, and you could see that he knew what he was doing. In summary, although I didn't see the pictures he produced, my guess is that they were pretty good. The only negatives I can think of from the bride and groom's point of view were that he probably took a little longer than a pro would have done. From his point of view, however, I think it is fair to say that his day was a much more stressful one than for the rest of the wedding guests.
On another occasion, at a wedding in the Hillbark Hotel in Frankby (also on the Wirral), the photographer was a friend of the bride & groom, and was a professional photo journalist. She had great equipment (probably about £10k in camera bodies & lenses) and obviously knew how to use it.
Through the day however, I noticed a few strange things. Firstly, she took hundreds of photographs through the ceremony (and kept walking in front of my video camera). This was very intrusive, and I have never seen another photographer do the same before or since.
Later on, during the first dance, it was a terrible struggle to keep her out of the frame of my video camera. Whenever I moved around to get her out of shot, she would move back into the frame.
A few weeks later, when I delivered the DVDs to the bride's mother she told me how the photographs had been a big dissapointment. Apparently she had used a fish eye lens for most of the shots. This gives a distorted looking picture, which can be quite pleasing in limited doses, but not on every photograph. There were also a number of important family members (including bridesmaids) who were missing from all the photographs. I am not sure how this had happened, maybe she had accidentally wiped a compact flash card?
I think this is a case where a skilled and experienced photographer had underestimated the challanges involved with the specific task of photographing a wedding.
In many ways the most important skills of a wedding photographer are not directly connected with taking pictures. Things like understanding what the customer wants, dealing with them in a friendly way, and understanding what to do, and not to do are all essential skills.
On one occasion the bride's brother was photographing a wedding in New Brighton on the Wirral. He was a keen amateur and had good equipment (better than some pros), although he only had one camera so it might have been a problem if it had failed.
He told me this was the seventh wedding he had photographed, and you could see that he knew what he was doing. In summary, although I didn't see the pictures he produced, my guess is that they were pretty good. The only negatives I can think of from the bride and groom's point of view were that he probably took a little longer than a pro would have done. From his point of view, however, I think it is fair to say that his day was a much more stressful one than for the rest of the wedding guests.
On another occasion, at a wedding in the Hillbark Hotel in Frankby (also on the Wirral), the photographer was a friend of the bride & groom, and was a professional photo journalist. She had great equipment (probably about £10k in camera bodies & lenses) and obviously knew how to use it.
Through the day however, I noticed a few strange things. Firstly, she took hundreds of photographs through the ceremony (and kept walking in front of my video camera). This was very intrusive, and I have never seen another photographer do the same before or since.
Later on, during the first dance, it was a terrible struggle to keep her out of the frame of my video camera. Whenever I moved around to get her out of shot, she would move back into the frame.
A few weeks later, when I delivered the DVDs to the bride's mother she told me how the photographs had been a big dissapointment. Apparently she had used a fish eye lens for most of the shots. This gives a distorted looking picture, which can be quite pleasing in limited doses, but not on every photograph. There were also a number of important family members (including bridesmaids) who were missing from all the photographs. I am not sure how this had happened, maybe she had accidentally wiped a compact flash card?
I think this is a case where a skilled and experienced photographer had underestimated the challanges involved with the specific task of photographing a wedding.
In many ways the most important skills of a wedding photographer are not directly connected with taking pictures. Things like understanding what the customer wants, dealing with them in a friendly way, and understanding what to do, and not to do are all essential skills.
Pros:
- Low/zero cost
- You should get some good photographs if they know what they're doing
- They should be using good quality equipment
Cons:
- They might be out of their depth, for example, they may have difficulty arranging the group shots
- If you don't like the photographs it could make your relationship with them more awkward
- They may not have access the the range of professional albums and prints that a professional wedding photographer has
- They will miss out on experiencing the wedding as a guest
- They may have their own ideas about how they want the photographs should look, these might clash with your own
Summary
This is a decent option if budget is a priority and you know someone who would be keen to do it. You are taking a bit of a risk if they have never done wedding photography before, and in this case the resulting photographs will certainly be significantly poorer. It is certainly a much better option than option 1 if you care at all about having decent wedding photographs.
