anyone hire an amature photographer?

We hired a friend of mine to do our E-Pics and if those come back looking amazing then we will hire him for our wedding!! We'll be his 3 couple for E-Pics and 2nd wedding pic for $300

If a pro is out of your budget, then this is the best way. You will have pros tell you that you need to cut something else to have pro photography, but you know what you can and can't do.

If I were you, I would exhaust every option first. Contact pro's to see what they can do. Can they just shoot the ceremony and nothing else? How much would formals only cost? If they tell you that your budget is laughable then move on to the next one. In the end, at least you can say that you tried that route before you decided to take another road.

If you do go with the coworkers cousin, make sure you sign a contract. Get everything in writing.

My aunt loves doing photography, and although her profession is teaching, she does AMAZING pictures! She did ones for me last thanksgiving and they were awesome. Shes great at catching the moment and not just posed pictures. and best of all shes FREE!

you do not have to be a professional to be amazing at taking pictures. I did my sisters wedding photography.

Also, for a non pro who isn't really that serious about it but has a nice camera (I have a really nice DSLR and love to take photos, but I wouldn't charge an arm and a leg to someone in a pinch.) I would really talk about the price. What is she worth per hour? $15, $25, $30? You don't have to be a pro to take amazing photos, but you have to be a pro to charge a lot for it.

Thanks Ms Tattoo and Kayla. I really want is a photojournalism style. I actually ask to have jst some printed but mostly on a cd since I can just go to shutterfly to create an album and enhance photos also upload it to a wedding website for viewing. But I will talk to some pro photographers before I close a deal

Photojournalist**

I'm kinda in the same boat. Our wedding budget started at $5000 and is now looking closer to $7000. We have cut lots of corners and are still aiming for the $5000 mark. We did hire a "pro" to take our engagement photos and are thinking of hiring her for the wedding pics. I just cringe when I think of spending $1000 on photos alone. I have a really nice DSLR camera and my nephew is an amatuer photographer as well, but for the photos of me getting ready and all, I don't want him watching me get dressed. LOL FH is on the fence as well after our engagement photo shot. He likes the pro, but knows we can easily do the filters and editing ourselves. It is just do we want to have to spend hours doing it. And with 8 kids between us it would probably be more like days. So still pending on the pro or not. Wedding decisions are hard!

Nope. Almost did at the insistence of FH's mom, but I didn't like her work. It was a family friend, and while some of the photos she has taken are nice, others are not very well done. Consistency was something I wanted, and would not have gotten. I was also worried that for such a low price, $200, she wouldn't really see editing and finishing the photos in a timely manner as a priority. I've heard too many horror stories. Another thing that worried me was whether she would end up acting more like a guest than a vendor. We are going with a pro for those reasons, but mostly it was the inconsistent work. Make sure you see a lot of their pictures. A whole wedding from start to end. Not just a few random pictures. Everyone always chooses their best shots if you ask to see their work, so if you don't see a lot of their work you won't know if the quality of those few is a consistent thing. Examples of the family friend's work: cat is good, but too much photoshop and too posed in the second

Don't do it. Seriously. Book ashort time frame; have the pro just take portraits and ceremony shots if they'll do that on a prime day, but don't blow the 1 chance you have to have great pix. Taking a great photo of a kitten is NOT the same as covering a wedding where there is a vital shot about every two minutes. (Make sure you see an event, beginning to end, not just random shots) The editing is tedious (and not as necessary if the original shot is good) and the insurance WILL be required if your at a venue.

Pros are pros because they are consistent, reliable and knowledgeable. (And make sure those pros are vetted as carefully as any other vendor; I've seen "pro" shot here and on blog that make my skin crawl. Would I ever say anything to the couples or comment on them? No way.

Photojournalism is a term that is tossed around with little to qualify it. It's not just taking photos that are unposed; it's telling a story with photos. It's a rare photographer that can do that well.

Take it from someone who was "forced" to hire a family friend. It's not worth it. She's a photographer but not a wedding photographer. Thank the Lord she brought an assitant who ended up being a professional wedding photographer. I still didn't get the exact pictures I wanted but close enough since there are no do overs. It's still one of my biggest regrets. I would do whatever it takes to hire a professional. Besides, when you hire friends or family friends and things don't turn out the way you wanted them to, it makes for an ackward situation.

It is possible to find great photographers at a low price but you do have to be very very careful. I paid $450 for mine. He was AWESOME. I was with me ALL DAY, and I love the pictures that he took. I did research him a lot, and I looked at several weddings he had shot recently. It was still a risk though, but it came out great!

Hey date twin--same boat. I live in the Midwest, and there is a groundswell of photographers now who will do your day, by the hour and give you boatloads of unedited photos on a dvd. Some do this on the side, some do it full time. They tend to charge a half to a third less than the traditional photographers who also want to sell you a packet of prints. I scoured Craig's List, and the rest of the internet for this type of photographer in our area. After much research and looking at photos, we decided on a man who has been doing wedding photos for 13 years, does not do prints, charges per hour and per mile. So, for $900, we are getting 6 hours of photography and a dvd with approximately 1200 unedited photos. He will charge $20 per hour to edit and add special effects to any photos we want fixed. He was very upfront with us, told us to expect 30% awful, 30% good and 30% amazing photos. Just do your homework, hopefully you will find a deal like we did. Good Luck!!!

I also can not afford the 1500 pro pic. My Aunt who loves taking pics is doing my wedding for free. She has done a few weddings with a pro. I have seen the ones she did and they look great. I am going to buy her sd cards for her. She is going to put them on a disk for me. She is even going to the local collage to take courses. She is also going to edit the pictures.

That is what we are doing. We have two friends that is going to help with the photography

Just make sure you see the portfolio. I found a girl online who does photos on the side, she had a large selection of portfolios and had done at least 9 weddings when I met with her, and probably a few in between. I loved the pictures. I would recommend at least doing an engagement session though. Much cheaper and if they screw that up its not as bad, makes a good trial run. We are paying 600, which included our e-pics session and 9 hours on the day of the wedding. our e-pics turned out great, so I am confident enough with her for our wedding too. Only downside to her is she has less suggestions than a pro, but I have WW and google to do my own research

I would ask to see some of her work...i have a family friend who does GREAT work and its just a hobby she does on the side...it all depends on the person...i would do some research on the persons work before commiting but wouldnt completly throw out the idea until you do so

I wanted to come back and ask if you have a marketable skill to swap with. Our photographers were originally $5500, but we got them for $1000 because FH is a web programmer/graphic designer and redesigned their entire website and built a new one from scratch. He also did their magazine spread, redesigned their business cards, brochures, updates their website, etc.

It was a win/win for everyone. They got a brand new website for their growing business and FH had something else to add to his portfolio and has picked up business from their other vendor friends.

I actually hired a an old friend from school. He was in photography and I was always so impressed with his pictures. Now he works for the city of Lancaster and designs their website and newsletters and does photography for them. So I asked him to do our wedding, at first my fiance was a little worried about not getting a professional but after I showed him pictures off his website then he was like oh okay. We have done some of our engagement pictures with him(we aren't done which is why I haven't posted any) and we love them. The good thing about hiring an amateur thats trying to get their career going is that you get to do a lot of things for a inexpensive price. Just look at pictures and if they have done weddings before look at wedding pictures and see if you like what they do.

My fiancé has a cousin who said he could do the photography for free but Im very scared since he is an amateur and he has never taken wedding pictures before. But he insists he wants to takes the pictures

what should I do

Don't do it. I won't be worth it. There are many things you can cut out of the budget and that is not one of them. You not be happy with the pics in the end.