Not having a professional tog ? Good or bad idea?

Do what feels right for you. So many people will say ooooh no you must have a professional, but if you are happy with your dads friend doing the photos and you are sure you will be happy with the images you will get of the day then go for it! My friend is doing our photos, and although he is trained to be a photographer, he only really does it as a hobby, and our wedding is the first one he has ever done. I honestly think that having someone who is a friend or family friend is better, I know I will feel more comfortable with that then with a professional, who, in my opinion are over priced anyway. Our friend has done photos of our son for us which are better then a photoshoot with a big company which charged over £500 for 10 photos!

Do what feels right for you and your oh, I'm sure your photos will be stunning xxx

Bad idea in my opinion. I love my pro photos and can't for one second imagine not having them.

A family member who does it as a hobby is never going to come anywhere near a pro. Weddings are an entirely different ball game to any other photography.

The best way someone explained Togs to me was, "your wedding is a day you will treasure for the rest of your lives & the best way to remember it is through the photos. They'll be with you for the next 40, 50, 60 year's so its well worth the money to get a professional who can capture the day". If you don't like your photo being taken, research a tog who will do "reportage" and explain to him/her that you don't want posed shots.

Bad idea. I tried to save money this way first time round. We used a friend of mine who was a pro photographer but not a wedding photographer. Photos were nice, but nothing that a guest with a half decent point and shoot camera couldn't have taken. We also spent far too long posing.

A good wedding photographer can work round you. They can engineer it so you have minimal posed photos, or none. They will be used to working with guests and they will know that you want to be with your guests. They will also know how to get that perfect artistic shot without spending ages over it.

This time round we are spending a little more. $1600 USD so about £1000. I don't want loads of posed photos, but I DO want some permanent memories that I'll be happy to display and that *look* professional. We will be abroad, alone, which works in our favour since the photographer has said she will have loads of time to do some unique pictures. We aren't having any pro/formal pics at our UK reception though. I'm sure people will take snaps we can look at.

Can you get a photographer who will just get soem arty portrait shots for you, taking 30mins tops? Or a reportage photographer who does NO posed shots if you don't want them?

All I can say is I went down the route you are considering, and I really do regret it. Vows, rings, photos - that's all you have after the day itself.

Thanks ladies....you have helped and going to speak to oh about tog and look for professional one that doesn't do posing ones as that is I main issue spending so long posing and you are Right these pictures will be us for rest of our life i want to show my photos off to my grandchildren one day ?

Being a photographer you often meet people who don't like having their picture taken. Even I don't like having my picture taken. However the trick is finding a photographer that you like, and that are equally relaxed/confident under pressure as they are talented. The reason is we often mirror each others emotions, and wedding photography is all about capturing emotion. For this reason I would recommend meeting your chosen togs prior to signing up.

Just to add in, a girl I know had a friend do it, he where also a guest and ended up getting drunk so there where no pictures of the evening and because they where not pro they where really badly edited. On the other hand another friend had a pro and also a friend who does it as a hobby and preferred the friends photos, but they could have just had a really bad pro!!

Agree with the above.

I really dislike having my photograph taken, but that would never stop me from hiring in a professional for our own wedding- i'd just make sure it was the right one for us. We're all different and have different ways of working and interacting with couples. When you meet the photographer that's right for you, i'm sure you'll both feel far more at ease and comfortable with the idea. It's not always quite as formal as standing there awkwardly posed with a camera pointing in your face, promise!

Try and consider a worst case scenario, that you had NO photos from the wedding atall (or very few, poor quality photos) how would you feel?

If it's not something that would concern you, then maybe photography isn't that important to you- which is fine as we all have different priorities.

If there's any part of you that would like the photos, it's worth some investment- if only so you don't run the risk of kicking yourself forever and wondering what if.

We encounter plenty of couples who find out too late that actually, photos were important to them and we're asked time and time again if we can "fix" bad photos taken by non-professionals/guests.

Same here, A very good friend of mine has done lots of photography, and does it now as a hobby, and his Mum has taken this up also.

They would've been coming to the wedding anyway, but I have asked if they wouldn't mind bringing their cameras and snapping away. We will have a few staged (not many) photos to keep the oldies happy (ie Nanny!!) Plus I love pics of brides getting ready, but have two people taking photos means we can have one with me and one with OH. Plus the photographer friend is so creative and he puts me at ease so I feel very comfortable with him doing this for us.

For my first wedding we had official photos because it was the done thing! But second time around and H2B and I are fairly relaxed about everything - so we are having a keen amateur photographer. For free!!

He has his own website but till now has done mainly landscapes and was after doing a wedding - so when my daughter asked him he was dead keen. We have met up - had a good discussion about the kind of pics that we would like - he's been to the venue to see the rooms and get an idea of the lighting that would be needed - as well as how the rooms look at the time of our wedding. He has loads of ideas for the pics - black and white, misty shots, comedy shots, fading out, cartooning! shots where people are not aware, official pics - the whole kaboodle!! and he's bringing his brother who is also into photography and videography - there are no firm arrangements about the videography as I felt it might make me too self conscious - so we have left that to them to decide.

It's all about what you want = some of the albums that are made up now show the whole thing from bride getting ready - to groom getting ready - getting wed etc etc Gorgeous but incredibly expensive!

Swampy

^^^^ this

I think it depends on your budget and what is important to you personally. Out wedding is £1500 all in for 150 people so a prof photographer was deffo out. My brother is a keen amateur and will do the honours for us.

I could have done a meal with a small amount of people and have a tog but we worked out what was most important, and it was celebrating with our friends and family, and so thats what we are spending our budget on!

xxx

OK, I am biased...so bear with me.....

I have a football although can not kick it like Beckham

My wife has a needle, although that doesn't make her a dress maker.

My daughter is a great baker, although has never done wedding cakes.

My sister in law has a car, although arriving at a wedding in a Micra wouldn't be cool

My other sister in law owns a piano, although that's all...she isn't a pianist...she would love to play it well....she owns a piano though.....

I have a close working relationship with another photographer who is immensely talented, although he can't do wedding photography.

My point is that wedding photography is something very very different to other types of photography. The pressures to deliver are immense and we have had friendships ruined over this over the years on this forum. Owning a decent camera or doing photography as a hobby is honestly no experience of what a wedding day can throw at you.

As said, I am naturally biased, although I would ask you to be very careful before deciding lightly that the pro wedding tog is an unnecessary expense. Apart from each other and the rings, everything else you pay for on the day doesn't go through life with you as a fantastic memory of what is the best day of your life.....Be sure that those memories are well captured.

I should add that I am one pro who is very supportive of those wishing to get in to wedding photography....all have to start somewhere, although that needs to be done in a way that protects couples and the photographer.

That depends, how important to you is it to have a good photographic record of your wedding day? Photographing Wedding does involve a mixture of skills which have to be learned over a period of time - hence the price difference between an experienced photographer & ones just starting out.

That's not to say your Dad's friend won't take some great pictures - he probably will, it's just that the odds against him taking as many good shots a s a professional wedding photographer are greater.

Wedding photography is expensive for a number of reasons that I don't need to go into here but if you think this guy can meet your expectations & the £1000 can be better spent elsewhere then it is something that you have to seriously think about.

We photograph quite a few couples every year who don't like being photographed but want us to capture the whole ambiance of the day for them & their families & we therefore spend less time on 'them' overtly.

Have a look at a few photographer who can do this, ask how much for the images on CD - you might be pleasantly surprised.

Andrew & Vanessa

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I think it's a very bad idea. When I compare guest photos, even those of the budding amateurs with a fair amount of equipment, with my professional ones, the difference is worth every penny. And we only spent about 20-30 mins on posed shots, the rest are just natural. It doesn't have to be excruciating!

Find a pro in your price bracket that can show you evidence of his ability to produce good photo's. My TOG didn't cost the earth and we just got a disc. He captured the day perfectly and he worked well with our VOG so that we didn't feel we were away from our guests for hours after all a wedding Photographer understands you want to be around your guests as much as possible. It isn't worth the risk in my opinion.

Sorry but i think its a Very Bad idea IMO the photos will be your memory of the day in many years to come and I would be very upset with all the time, money and effort planning my wedding to not have any decent photos to remind me of it. You will also be very busy during the day and a good TOG will be capturing all those little moments you would otherwise miss. (like the tears of happiness from your mum or the look of pride from your dad as you are saying you vows etc etc)

I think the majority of people who don't like their photo taken feel this way because they do not like the way they look in photos which is probably more to do with a bad/non photographer. A good TOG should know the most flattering angles, lighting etc and should also be good at post wedding editing to ensure you looking flawless.

Me and my h2b at first decided to get a family member to do ours but the more we thought about it we decided we wanted some great pics of our special day. ive managed to get my tog for 6 hrs plus we get a pre engagment shoot for under £600 so was quite pleased.

Guess I am quite lucky in the fact that my TOG is a family friend who does it for a living - however he is very professional and gives his all. He does a pre wedding shoot to get you relaxed and he only spent about 20-30 mins on posed photos. the rest were very natural.

My SIL had my TOG and the photos were brilliant - it would be how I wanted to remember the day. She had a few friends take photos too and they captured other angles which were also brilliant but I wouldn't have wanted an album of them to remember the day. As someone else said I think it depends what you want from the day and how you want to remember it