"Why hire a professional? They're so expensive."

A professional will help you plan the timeline of your day for the best photos.

If you chose not to hire a wedding planner, or decided to plan your day on your own (like many do), a professional wedding photographer will often go over the details of your day several times to make sure both of you have a plan in place. They can help you with suggestions if you get stumped, and make sure your timelines account for everything in between (even those extra hugs from Auntie!). A professional knows how to adjust for every kind of lighting situation, and can help organize your timeline to get your dream shots while making sure your wedding runs exactly as you wished. One of my favorite resources to direct clients to who are unsure of how to even start planning is a wedding planner! It seems so obviously simple, but it often goes overlooked. 

"Photographers just stand around and take pictures."

Photographers are your back-up buddy when things aren't going as planned.

You're going through your day, and suddenly you're forgetting what you're supposed to do next. Where was I supposed to go again? Your mom is busy talking to your aunt, your best friend is gathering the bridesmaids, and your husband is just along for the ride. Before you get frazzled and start worrying that your big day is about to crumble, your photographer is standing right next to you. They pull out their list of events and details and remind you that you intended to do photos with some picture frames of photos of loved ones in heaven while you wait for the reception to start. BIG sigh of relief. Professional photographers will ensure everything goes as smoothly and on track as possible. You hired them to document your day flawlessly, and if they're a true professional, they've got that written on their soul to do just that!

"I don't really know what I want."

Professionals make sure everything you wanted out of the photography of your day is captured, said or unsaid.

So many times, we hear, "I don't know what I like", or "I don't like to pose and smile for pictures". We dissect your worries, concerns, desires, and goals of your wedding day to help create your dream photos and document your wedding appropriately. We take extensive notes up until the date of your wedding day, put in tons of time researching or formulating poses and prompts that fit your style and personality, and endlessly pour over your questionnaire answers. Shooting on the day of the wedding is hardly where our work begins! When you hire a professional, you're able to take a huge weight off of your shoulders by allowing a large part of your day to be managed by a trustworthy individual who has been through and helped plan countless weddings. 

"I don't want to stand around just smiling forever."

Professional photographers have an arsenal of poses and prompts to use.

Your dad's best friend's cousin might know how to hold a camera, but when it comes to posing, "Ok now, say cheese!" probably isn't what you'll want to hear OR see in your 6 hours worth of photo coverage. Professional photographers have so many poses and prompts to create a unique and beautiful collection of photos from your day. They know how to structure the order of their poses to make posing seamless for those that are camera shy, and know fun prompts to give you and your spouse so that your photos look AND feel authentic. They not only are documenting your day, but they are also providing another experience to add to your day. 

"I just figured we could take pictures on our iPhones. Walgreens can print them."

Professional photographers DO deliver high quality.

The age-old saying is completely applicable to photography: you get what you pay for. It may sound harsh, but it's true. Someone who's offering to do your wedding for $200 probably can't provide you with anything much more than your sister with an iPhone could. The higher priced a photographer is, most likely the quality of their work reflects. If you have expectations for the photography of your day, I would not hesitate to invest in that. Extensive editing is part of the process. Although it's been made to seem simple by so many smart phone apps offering "one-click magic", professional photographers spend hours and even days on single photographs to bring out every ounce of beauty. Their editing processes utilize sometimes multiple computer softwares, and they have in-depth knowledge of their programs with years of training and experience. We also shoot in a file format called RAW, or NEF. This special file type is similar to an undeveloped negative from a film camera, but it also allows our cameras to capture immense depth and detail that a simple camera, like an iPhone, cannot.

Below, I've got an image I worked on that you can view the comparison between a straight shot out of the camera, and the final product I delivered. Watch how parts of the background are edited out and the overall picture becomes vibrant and crisp.