Who's a real photographer and what are they really worth?

This is a closeup of a wedding bouquet, the closeup gives more dimesion then a full shot of the total bouquet.

There's a lot talk today amongst the educated artist photographers and professionals. When you go sight seeing and there's dozens of SLR cameras with huge lenses and fancy looking gadgets attached. At a wedding you may even see some of your own guests sporting more expensive cameras then the photographer you payed for, this may make a person feel ripped off but the equipment is only the beginning of the photographers reasons to charge, style, constant work, and knowledge about the camera and art of photography also come into play as well as editing the photos, these are aspects you will probably not find from your friend the amateur photographer. Your guests are there for the party while they may wish to get some nice photos of their own, they probably aren't knowledgeable on the work aspects of the art, so no matter how expensive that fancy camera is it doesn't ensure you'll get professional results, and no matter how cheap a camera is it doesn't mean you won't get professional skills. The artist argument stands as such, anyone can buy these nice SLR cameras these days that still means their amateurs but these self proclaimed amateurs are going pro everyday thinking that their good enough and I think, if they care to try hard enough they probably can do a fairly ok job of it. Some of the best shots come from total accidents and the odds are in your favor when the average hour of wedding photography produces between 50 to a hundred photos, even a monkey could get a good shot or two out of 200 photos. The difference between good and great photos is getting higher odds out of the total shots and while most people think that just showing themselves is good enough in a picture it really more a matter of showing your good side. So if the total number of pictures is about 600 to 800 for a wedding the photographer will probably only show you the 200 to 300 that turned out well they might even leave out that pic of your great aunt that you thought would be so cute, but in reality the light was dim and she blinked giving her a retarded look, so why would they tarnish their professional standing by showing you such an awful picture even if it has sentimental value to you. So of the 200 to 300 pic you the couple get to see There will probably be 50 outstanding one's and tons of doubles that means the monkey gets 2 out of a hundred and the professional gets 10 out of a hundred, I suggest you choose someone that likes to take tons of photos one after another if you do go with the less experienced or your buddy with the nice camera.

I've seen point a shoot photos that come out better than my SLR, some commercial cameras are just amazing these days the auto settings can work wonders, but remember the venue and location of the wedding is very important too. Even though I dealt with the time consuming college classes of photography I do think anyone can do it if they try, that being said I'm going to give you some inside secrets on what to look for from a photo portfolio. Red lights go up anytime I see a photographers web page filled with mostly black and white photos, I know it's very impressive to average person and gives it an artistic feel, but it also works like a eraser for photographers, if the lighting or color was bad just turning it black and white can make it look better, good photos start with good color and contrast then the variations can really bring out a style, if the photographer isn't so great they may try hiding their short coming with editing techniques like black and white.

The My Space Photographer, angles and cropping are great but all good things are only good in moderation. Common characteristics of the Myspacer are Andy Warhol colors, tight cropping, great photoshop skills and angle shots taken from up high this makes a persons head look big and tummy look small, but it also doesn't often make you look like yourself. You'll find that the average Myspacer is ultra talented has learned a lot about how to make themselves look better, which is their main downfall ego, they rather take pictures of themselves than you, they can make for good studio photographers but the extent of their photo event talents end at keg parties. Myspacers are great models but not professional wedding photographers.

As I said yes you can go with the "amateur" beginner photographer and you can get some really great deals with this route, some things you might want to ask is what books have the photographer read on photography do they do editing, (some beginners don't even know that comes standard), how many weddings have they done so far, what well known photographers photos or fine artist they like (fyi most people can only name Ansel Adams as a photographer, and Van Gosh as a artist), what types of photos do people like best of theirs. I highly suggest a engagement photo session, if the photographer only takes 30 picture you may have a problem, if you don't like the photographer for any reason whether their just rude people or don't take pictures you like this is the time to get out and find another photographer I hope you didn't pay the whole amount for the wedding yet. If your in the beginning stages of searching out a photographer searching online you will be viewing the absolute best that photographer has to offer don't be fooled by a handful of pretty good pictures these are picked from 1000's of pictures if they aren't that great at go find someone else, some people desire the money wedding photos can make them but truly have a gift for taking bad photos. Ask to see a recent weddings full pictures (thumbnails, contact sheets) many have links they can choose to show you. Beware of the larger companies many of them don't screen their photographers and out source everything hiring anyone willing to work cheap for them, after all it's not their wedding, you could hire that same photographer freelance for a quarter of the price. If your looking for the little guy with the personal approach don't click on the first page of google try the 26th the 15th page people pay big money to be top listed on those search engines, and the advertising costs go strait on the tab of the clients.

So what are the prices you should be willing to pay well experience location and talent have a lot to do with the price as anyone knows expect to pay anywhere between $200 to $5000 for an average photographer. So $200 is obviously the very low end amateur photographer, that doesn't mean their bad at what they do just not yet experienced and in need of building a portfolio, I've seen some great ones at this price and I've seen some bad one's for far more money. Now while I listed $200 as a low end these are large population big city prices I'm talking about rural areas may be even cheaper like Kansas, the North East seems to be the most expensive and in Denver it's not hard at all to find Photographers for a few hundred. Location- some of these new up and coming photographers price their work on the average for the area if everyone else in NYC charges $3000 they do too even without talent or skills, without any experience would you pay a Med student in their first year of med school, the same price as an experienced surgeon, and would you trust the Med student? It maybe not that serious to you but many people feel the only thing they get to walk away with from their big day is those pictures for all the work and cost of a wedding having something to show for it, is important. Expect a photographer to have at least 2 years and 15 weddings with some great pictures from each wedding before you dish out more than a thousand, Photographers get most jobs from referrals if they don't get too many referrals they probably aren't that good. Unless your marring Donald Trump you shouldn't be paying more than $7000, if your having trouble finding photographers in your area within your budjet check out other cities most are willing to travel and you might find even with travel expenses their cheaper then the one's in your area.