How Many Photographers Do I Need?
| By Alex ~ November 17th, 2009 ~ Photography | 4 Comments |
This is yet other questions I often hear from couples at our initial meeting. There are many schools of thought on this and I am sure if you ask ten different photographers, you may get ten different answers, so I will give you the “official” position of our studio.
The general rule of thumb would depend on the number of guests at ending your wedding and more importantly the kind of shots you as the couple would like.
Many studios incorporate an assistant with their package, however, that does not ensure a professional will be getting additional shots or angles for you. Traditionally, the assistant’s role was to carry lenses, film and additional camera equipment for the photographer. However, with the development of digital photography, the assistant’s role has become more of an apprenticeship.
Our studio offers a second photographer for a half day or a full day. This is something we recommend to our couples who have larger bridal parties and larger guest lists. This helps ensure that we can capture everything without feeling rushed.
Most of our couples however, choose to work with a single photographer. The primary reason is the photographer’s ability to move around and get the shots required, even if it’s a different angle, without incurring the additional expense.
This is a bit more challenging with video as the video camera is focused on the couple, say, during the exchange of vows. The camera is locked on the couple and there may be a need for a second camera to catch the reaction of mom and dad.
With photography, the different angles are much easier to obtain, since the camera is not taking continuous shots, and the photographer can move around to get the different angles. Think about how you would like to have your wedding captured and express that to your potential photographer to see what they suggest!
Houston Wedding Photographers
11/17/09
Great article, Alex!
Multiple photographers allows for not only a variety of photos of all the action, but also security. Security from losing out on capturing all the precious parts of a wedding. Even if a photographer has backup equipment, the time it takes to get the backup equipment ready to go, should any failure occur, will result in lost images.
Check out our article on why you need 2 photographers at your wedding… http://www.nubiaphotography.com/blog/2008/10/reasons-you-need-two-photographers/
Kara Leigh Saunders Hall
11/18/09
Alex,
I second the previous comment as some couples do not think about having a second (or even third) photographer while going over their photography contract and negotiations.
As a past bride, if I could have done one thing over again, it would have been to spend more time in: interviewing our photographer, having more than one “main” photographer (as we had our main photographer and an assistant), and going over our contract in more detail. My and husband and I had the main photographer and assistant at our wedding for about 5-6 hours and only had about 300 pictures that the photographer offered us to choose from afterwards for our album (completely unacceptable).
I hope this article will enable other couples to have a wonderful experience with their photographer(s), so that they may have beautiful photos.
Much Thanks!
Kara @ withthisfavor.com
Sarah Lynn Seaton
11/20/09
love the comment. Really explains why we do what we do. We present couples with 1000+ images to select from. This enables us to tell the “real story” of the day. http://www.seatonshoots.com
Alex
12/1/09
Thank you everyone for your comments. All great and very valid points.