“Hi my name is Natalia and I hate my wedding pictures.
I know, it’s awful, isn’t it? I have been married going on 5 years now and I am actually embarrassed to bring out my pictures. It was like prom all over again. Stand here. Put your hand on his chest. Look over your shoulder. Not one ounce of creativity put into it.
He said he was a photo-journalist. Capturing the moments. It sounded great, I wanted my moments captured.
See, I am not a photographer. And I also happen to not be a model. Therefore, I don’t know anything about either side of this whole business. I don’t know what looks good through the lens and I don’t have any experience as to what poses look good. I may think I look supa sexy, but then I see the image and realize I just look a little constipated.
I am gonna go out on a limb here and say that the majority of brides fall into the same category as me. I know that models get married, but how many of us are models? And obviously photographers get married too, but they are probably used to being on the other side of the camera.
So I’m just gonna say it. I’m gonna put it out there for every bride to consider.
Make the investment, hire a good, professional, creative photographer.
I might be a bit controversial here, but no one is gonna remember your center pieces. Now-a-days you can DIY most of your wedding. You might even be able to find a friend with mad DJ-ing skills. But I guarantee that one thing you can’t DIY would be a photographer.
Think about it. You are probably on a budget. Whether it is strict or not, it is still a budget. You want it to be as perfect as possible for what you have allotted. And what of your day do you have to remember how perfect it was forever? Your centerpieces? Your tablecloths? No, your pictures and videos. You will want to look through those bad boys days on end after your big day to relive the gorgeousness that it was. And, of course, that you married the man of your dreams.
I am not saying that the other things are not important. I am saying that when planning a wedding, try to decide what is most important to you. Make a list of importance and out of those items try to find the ones that you can do yourself or you might know someone who can do it well. Photography happens to be an art and since DSLR cameras are now available to the masses, too many people think they are ‘photo-journalist.’ I have a DSLR camera and it takes really great pictures. However, I am not qualified to shoot a wedding!
I hope this is a little bit helpful in your wedding planning!! Have fun with it, enjoy every stage, and don’t let the stress get to you. It will be over in a heartbeat and you will wish to do it again. {I totally want to plan an entirely new wedding! Same guy, though:)} Thank you Christina for having me, and I happen to know first-hand that I wish I would have chosen her! :)”
While I thought about posting a few of the wedding images Natalia shared with me, I realized this post should not be about bashing someone else’s work. I only hope that it has opened the eyes of anyone who was on the fence about how to go about selecting their photographer :)
And because a post is not as fun without a picture, here is an image I shot of the beautiful Natalia!
