Let face it, cell phones take amazing pictures nowadays. In fact, I’ve seen some iPhone pictures that rival the best professional cameras. In addition, consumer cameras are as good as ever and easy for anyone to use. They provide an amateur photographer with the ability to auto focus, exposure correct, and white balance just about any photo taken. If you put the camera in “program mode” you basically have a point and shoot professional level camera. Like all digital cameras, they give the photographer the ability to see the photos right as they are taken. This avoids any negative surprises later after the photo shoot is complete. So why hire a professional City Hall wedding photographer? Shouldn’t an engaged couple save this money? Professional wedding photographers are too expensive aren’t they? Let’s explore this topic in more detail and hopefully convince engaged couples of the dangers of having amateurs photograph one of the most important days of their lives.
1st Reason: The best cell phones or camera equipment in the world are not going to help pose the couple or arrange the family groups. Professional wedding photographers train for years on how to properly pose a wedding couple. They know how to size up a bride and groom and then pose them appropriately for their body types and relative heights. Trying to arrange large family photos can be tricky and stressful. What if there are too many in the group? What if you don’t have an appropriate background? Professional City Hall wedding photographers understand where to bring their families for the best possible photos and also how to do the lighting properly. They also know creative ways to make a large family group look great. There is a lot more to organizing a family photo then putting the tall people in the back and the short people in the front. Lastly, if you have a particularly large group will your friend know how to properly set the camera to make sure everybody is in focus? Alternatively, will the cell phone be able to make the proper adjustments to accomplish this?
2nd Reason: Will your amateur photographer friend show up on time for your wedding? Will they show up at all? Professional wedding photographers at San Francisco City Hall (or anywhere else) understand how important their role is when it comes to being the primary photographer. Most professionals know that they need to allow plenty of time to arrive at the venue allowing for traffic or parking issues. San Francisco City Hall weddings will not wait for the photographer to show up. They are on a strict schedule and usually start on time. If your friend or relative who’s responsible for taking the pictures isn’t there you’re not going to get photos for the most important day of your life. Sometimes San Francisco Hall weddings don’t start on time and can run quite late. We have frequently seen friends of the bride and groom have to leave early because I have to get back to work or have another pending responsibility. Do you really want your wedding photos rushed because you’re amateur photographer friend can’t stay late? These are all important issues to think about before deciding to not hire a pro.
3rd Reason: What if your friend’s really cool professional level camera breaks on your wedding day? Do they have a backup camera? Did they think to bring extra batteries? Did they bring enough cards to fit all your photos? If they’re using a flash unit do they have a backup for that? Did they bring enough batteries for the flash unit? Speaking of backups, will your amateur friend remember to back up your photos when they bring them home? What if their card fails and gets corrupted? Professional San Francisco City Hall wedding photographers know to bring backup cameras, backup flash units, and lots of batteries. In addition, the same Pros also understand that they have to have double and triple backup systems for all of their wedding photos. This includes off premise /cloud backup systems. Also most Pro photographers will make sure that every picture they take is recorded on two separate cards on their camera to avoid any corruption issues. All of these issues also pertain to a friend who is taking your wedding pictures with their cell phone. The same kinds of problems can occur. The phone can malfunction, it could be dropped, or they can run out of room to take all the pictures you need on your wedding day. Ask your friend photographer if they have enough room on their cell phones to take hundreds of pictures on your wedding day. Chances are they haven’t even considered this issue and will be completely taken by surprise when all the sudden there’s no more room on their phone for more pictures. I once heard a guest telling the bride and groom that their cell phone needed to be recharged they wouldn’t be able to take pictures for a few minutes. Another reason to avoid using a friend as your wedding photographer.
4th Reason: San Francisco City Hall in particular, can be really tricky when it comes to lighting. There are many locations such as the Mayor’s Balcony where there is quite a bit of backlighting present. Most amateur photographers and even some pros don’t think to bring flash to San Francisco City Hall because the modern, new cameras can take pictures in such low light. But the best low light camera in the world cannot automatically adjust for extreme overhead lighting or backlit subjects. Shooting into some of San Francisco City Halls beautiful picture windows require some type of external lighting. If you don’t have this type of lighting you’re liable to get silhouette pictures on your wedding day. In areas like the Grand Staircase, strong overhead lighting can cause raccoon eyes in your bride and groom at certain times of the day. Some sort of supplemental lighting especially off-camera flash like we use will fix this problem easily. Your average cell phone camera cannot make this adjustment and will not work very effectively with external flash units. If your amateur friend tries to use the built-in flash on their cell phone it may not be bright enough or can cause flat lighting and shiny faces. The best San Francisco City Hall wedding photographers bring on-camera flash units that they bounce off the walls or external lights that they use to great advantage. Great lighting can make or break your wedding pictures.
5th Reason: Your amateur photographer friend probably has no experience taking wedding pictures at San Francisco City Hall and thus does not know all the ins and outs. As experienced City Hall wedding photographers, we help our brides and grooms in more ways than just being their professional picture taker. We frequently help our couples with the entire civil ceremony check-in process. If things go wrong we are there to advise them and help lower their stress level. If there happens to be a major event at City Hall that day, we know alternative places to take the couple and still capture great wedding pictures. We have seen everything at San Francisco City Hall, including fire alarms, protest marches, and plumbing problems. At all these instances and more, we have been able to work through the problem and direct our brides and grooms in what to do. Like most of the other top-notch professional San Francisco City Hall wedding photographers, we have been able to still produce great photos no matter what the circumstances are. We can tell you dozens of stories of crazy things that have happened and how we were able to make everything still go very smoothly for the wedding day. Do you think your photographer friend is going to be able to do this for you?
Other factors to consider: As a bride and groom, do you really want to put this much responsibility on the shoulders of one of your best friends? What if you don’t like their wedding pictures, will this affect the friendship in the future? At the very least, it could make things uncomfortable between you and your friend if they completely mess up your wedding photos. Also, wouldn’t you prefer that your friends enjoy your wedding and not have to work at it? Do you want to spend your wedding day telling your best friend what you need them to do with regard to the pictures? These are issues that are not often thought about when deciding to have a close friend or relative take pictures at your San Francisco City Hall wedding. Most City Hall wedding photographers charge between $500 and $1,000 for a photo session. Is that little amount of money worth losing a friend over?
There are only a few defining moments in a person’s life. Obviously, getting married is one of them. Given this, why would you not try to scrape together a few hundred dollars to be able to effectively record your memories for the future? Professional wedding photographers can also provide you with wedding albums and prints to further capture your SF city hall wedding memories. The money you save by not hiring a professional pales in comparison to the wonderful memories that you will cherish for a lifetime with great wedding pictures. If you make the decision to hire a professional City Hall photographer, be sure to check out their work carefully and look for online reviews. I realize that hiring a professional isn’t a guarantee of great wedding pictures, but it sure increases the odds!
Eloping Brides and Grooms Do Not Have an Alternative
Obviously, if you are eloping to San Francisco City Hall, you will not have a friend with you to do the photography. So in this situation it becomes even more important to hire professional City Hall wedding photographer. Especially since there will be no friends and family there to see your marriage happen. Even though this is a SF City hall elopement, you’re still going to want to show your friends and relatives what happened on your wedding day.
