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Being without a photographer is not a fun place to be. I worried big time about this and mostly kept my concerns to myself; I knew bringing it up every time I had the thought pass through my mind would only stress and annoy the mister. Sure, we talked about it but it always came back to: “We can’t afford what you want, Miss Honey.” Hrmph. Somehow, though, I just had this feeling that it would be okay. We had a couple leads from other And then the answer came in the form of a Facebook status update, which I very well could have ’liked’ one million times.
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| Image via The Atlanta Journalism-Constitution |
A friend of mine from college, was just starting in the wedding photography business and was looking for couples to take a risk with him and allow him to shoot their wedding and use the pictures in his portfolio. With risk, comes reward, and our reward for taking a chance with a new wedding photographer was the price. Ready for this? It starts with ’n’ and ends with ’a’…or starts with ’z’ and ends with ’h’. Give up? Nada, Zilch…Free!
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| Image from Cheezburger.com |
While we do realize the huge gamble we are taking here, all of our hesitations were put to rest when we met with Brandon, of Studio BSL, last week. We met in his framing studio and learned that he has years and years of photography experience. He has most recently been working in commercial model photography, but also offers a creative talent when it comes to shooting action and still shots. The trade off here is that he doesn’t have any proof, if you will, of being a successful wedding photographer. Here is an example of his non-wedding photography, it’s stun.ning, right? The guy has talent:
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| Image by Brandon of Studio BSL |
The icing on the cake is that Brandon’s specialty and where he intends on fitting into the wedding industry is with the highly coveted wedding films. He has a branch of his business devoted to films, called Silver Summit Films. He has shot a few wedding films, which to no surprise, I was in love with. His second shooter (both photography and film) comes from the empire known as Disney, so needless to say, the Honey’s are frantically working the budget to see if we can pull it together to get a film of our wedding day. We are hoping that by saving a ton of dough in the photo area we will be able to offer our gratitude to Brandon with the purchase of a film…double and triple crossing our fingers.
Brittany & Chad - 6/11/11 from Silver Summit Films on Vimeo.
We feel beyond lucky to have this opportunity essentially fall in our laps and on the flip side we are loving that we can help an up-and-coming wedding photographer build his portfolio. Being that we are both risk takers, we are a-okay with taking this chance on a photographer, especially when the price is right and the skills are there.
Would you ever take a gamble with your wedding photography like this?! Who else would jump at the opportunity?
I would take a risk based on that gorgeous picture above! I can’t wait to see what he does at your wedding!
Say What? is right! Whoo hoo score! I would so take the risk as well. I think this is an amazing opportunity for both parties. I have no doubt you will walk away with gorgeous photos!
I took the risk and was not happy with my pictures. Our photographer took stunning pics of nature but not so good at the wedding. Make sure you tell him very precise what you want. We have pics of the same people over and over and none of others. Also us cutting the cake all you see are our butts he shot from behind us and we didn’t realise until we got the proofs back.
I’m actually taking a little risk. A friend is in the same situation. She has a great portfolio and I totally trust her. I’m also negotiating with another person whose photos I fell in love with to see if the two of them will both do the ceremony/reception… Together, they’re still way under what I expected to pay on photos! Practically a steal!
While I realize what I’m about to post is a one-off situation, my brother and his fiance just took that chance for their wedding 2 weeks ago. They had developed a relationship with the photographer at Sears/JCPenney (can’t recall which one). She’s been taking photos of my nephew since he was born 2 years ago and even took their photos when by brother decided to surprise her and propose during one of their photo sessions. The photographer offered to shoot their wedding at no charge because she really wanted to get in the “wedding business”, but it was hard for anyone to take her seriously since she had only done studio work “professionally” up to that point. They agreed and were really excited to have that taken care of on the day they became engaged.
Big sister (me): I tried telling them that the photos might not meet their expectations and that it’s an awfully big risk for photos you’ll never have the opportunity to duplicate. They were willing to take the chance and the ONE THING my mom and I insisted on was a contract. Even if her services were free, they should still sign a contract. Well, they didn’t want her to “feel bad”, so they never asked and 10 (yes, 10) days before their wedding (after a couple weeks of not returning their calls), the photographer said that there was a “family health emergency” and that she might not be able to do their wedding. A contract and a back up plan would’ve protected them in that instance…but since they didn’t, the family went into panic mode and frantically tried every photog and friend in the city.
YAY FB!!: Thanks to FACEBOOK (like you said!!) my mom posted a status message inquiring if anyone knew of an (available) photographer. Luckily, my mom’s high school friend kept in touch with a guy a couple of years younger than them in h.s., who ended up being a photographer in Indiana (we’re in WI). So, he came up for the weekend and all was well.
So, I say kudos to you for taking a chance because the photos are lovely! But, please be sure to sign a contract and ask about a back-up plan.
Whew! Sorry to be so long winded, but it broke my heart to see it happen to them…I’d hate for it to happen to anyone else!
Cheers!
I ran into this during wedding planning too - i have a good friend who was just getting into the biz. i wouldnt let her charge me nothing so i paid her $500 (which was wayyyy below anything i was quoted) for my engagement, bridal and wedding pictures, plus a CD and the rights to all the pictures. It was really awesome to get the bridals and engagement done so we had a chance to work with her prior to the wedding. She did an amazing job and my pictures turned out beautiful. there were def some crucial shots missed but i knew what i was getting into and i was ok with that - even still i love watching her grow with each wedding she shoots and i love knowing i was one of the first ones she ever did. Take the chance!
Our budget is so tiny, I would totally do that too. But I don’t know anyone trying to become a wedding photographer. 
That sounds like an awesome deal and I hope you’re able to work in the video because that one that you linked is so touching!
Did you check if he was okay with you blogging this?
To be honest, the photographers doing this annoy me. It undervalues our industry. He should do what most people with respect for the value of wedding photography do: second shoot with people for free to build a portfolio.
@Miss Pony & @Miss Sunhat: I think he will produce some great shots!
@CLD: I’m so sorry to hear this! We spent the better part of an hour going over what we expect and are providing a must shoot list.
@KatieJean: Oh good, that’s the best of both worlds 
@FutureMrsO: Thank you for the advice, that is so unfortunate with your brother’s wedding. The risk certainly isn’t for everyone!
@totheislnds: What a great way to do it…and I love how mention seeing her business grow.
@cubicalmouse: Our budget, too, was so tiny…you never know what could happen!
@Mrs. Elephant: We want a film SO bad, really hoping to make it happen!
@Hannah: I have shared my blog with him and told him I would be blogging the process. I’m sorry you feel that your industry is being undervalued, that was by no means the intention of this post.
I took some risks at me wedding:
I got a photographer who had only done a few weddings at the time..i didnt get her for FREE but i did get her for cheap! so well done!
I got a videographer for FREE…via craigs list and the video turned out AMAZING, he was also trying to build a portfolio.
I also got all my flowers and cake for cheap as i booked people who were just starting out..and everything turned out AMAZING.
I always thing its worth the risk if you are okay with the consequences. Im just starting out as a wedding planner and I thank my stars everyday that there are people like you out there who are willing to take a change
My brother and his wife did this several years ago for their wedding. The pictures came out BEAUTIFUL and there were no problems at all! On the other hand, I was a MOH in a wedding where “Uncle So-and-So” was the “photographer” and all of the photos came out blurry.
Clearly, something like this can go either way, and as long as you and The Mister can live with the possibility of a bad outcome (no photos) then you go girl!! One bit of unsolicited advice: Have your guests take LOTS of snap shots just in case your photographer doesn’t work out.
I am sort of doing this. We have two receptions on opposite sides of the country, so at reception #1 (the “real” wedding), we have spent the big bucks on a team of photographers.
At reception #2, my friend who is looking to build her photography business will be shooting. I am paying her $250 for the luncheon. The doozie that I got the other day was that she doesn’t have the flash she thinks she needs to take effective indoor pictures, so will try to take as many as possible outside on the patio/in the garden.
To me, this is a nice safe risk and a win-win situation (I hope)! She will take better pictures than what my family will do, plus it gives her a chance to build her portfolio.
@Hannah: I’m sorry you feel undervalued, but people that can spend $3000+ for a photographer will because they want to be sure they will get great pictures. Unfortunately, $3000 is my entire budget. Even inexpensive photographers cost $1500, just for the wedding. To pay that, I wear a dress I already own and only serve water at the reception. Does this mean I don’t deserve pictures?
Our engagement pictures were taken by a friend trying to build a portfolio and he did an amazing job! He was free, but we bought him a gift card from a camera store he said he bought his equipment.
Honey– I’m torn. I’m both excited and completely nervous for you. I am thrilled for what this means for your budget (hello splurging in another category! woohoo!). But as a former second-shooter for weddings, I’m so worried. Wedding photography is as much about the process/logistics as it is about actual photography skill. I personally wouldn’t have taken this risk since photography is the TOP priority item in my budget. But since you have your heart set on using this friend, I’ll just give you advice rather than try to talk you out of it.
- Research wedding photography timelines, tips, logistics yourself. Sit down with your photog to ensure that you guys have the same expectations. Also, everything that you (or more likely your WC or personal attendant) can do to help the photographer along logistically, the better (i.e. gathering all the right people at the right times).
- If you have a couple of friends/family who love photography as a hobby, encourage them to bring their cameras (even if it’s just a point & shoot) and capture the day as well. I don’t mean taking additional shots of your posed pictures and stepping on your photog’s toes, but instead taking lots of candid shots & behind-the-scene images. But make sure they don’t JUST take pictures of the people they know.
- Make sure you sign a contract. Even though you’re getting his services free, you still want to make sure your wedding is his top priority.
- Since you can’t look through his portfolio to point out what you like and don’t like, send him some samples of wedding pictures you’ve found online that you adore. That will get you more on the same page. And also it could provide him with ideas he might not have come up with otherwise!
Sorry that this post got a little long. I’m sure it’ll work out great and you’ll end up with some amazing shots (and he’ll have an awesome portfolio). But it doesn’t hurt to take some extra time, effort, and precautions to make sure of it!
What an exciting deal! We’re doing something similar - our photographer isn’t free, but we’re getting her at a deep, deep discount. A friend’s wife is an extremely talented photojournalist. She’s done a couple weddings before for family and friends, and she does beautiful work, but that isn’t her profession. She doing us a favor by shooting our wedding for us, and charging us less than half of what other photographers in the area would because this is not how she makes her living.
If the photographer had a portfolio like that and the price is good, I would totes go for it. And the video was incredible. That would be worth the splurge if y’all can afford it.
@Baileyh: You rock, way to go! I think it goes both ways, for brides on a budget and helping those new to the business out.
@NYCcaliBRIDE: We will definitely be gifting him one way or another as a huge thank you! Glad your shots turned out great.
@dustywrath: Thank you for your advice. I’m more confident because he does has 20+ years behind a camera, but I do understand shooting weddings is different. We have actually already provided shots we like to him. He’s also open to the idea of having one of my b.f’s/bm’s whose a photographer shoot with him.
@SadieBee: Sweet deal!!
@Future Army Wife: Being that he has experience with photography is definitely a bonus, and yes, we are really really hoping for a film!
@TamJam: Yay! Glad I’m not the only crazy one
@cubicalmouse: This is where we ran into the problem too, is budget. I will send some good juju your way for something awesome to come about
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Mrs. Honey, Durango, CO Age and Occupation: 28, Financial Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/Phlebotomist Engagement Date: August 1, 2010 Wedding Date: January 2012 Venue: Vallecito Lake About Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
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