The Portland Metro Photographic News

by Tom Hubbard, PMPN, June 4, 2009

Here's a version of a question I've heard throughout my photographic career:

Uncle Harry got his first DSLR camera for Christmas last year, and he's taking some really "neat" pictures.  Can Uncle Harry take my wedding pictures?

Here's a question I never hear:

My nephew, Tim, is a very good student.  He just received an A on his latest dissection project in Biology 101.  Can Tim remove my appendix?

To a professional photographer -- whether wedding, portrait or commercial, these two questions would seem to have the same answer.  No.  But to the general public, the connection between these questions is not nearly as clear, and neither is the answer.

In truth, Uncle Harry CAN take your wedding pictures.  But a huge risk is being taken.  Continuing with the medical analogy, is Uncle Harry equipped to conduct this wedding "operation"?

• Does he have the photographic education?
• Does he have real world, patient experience?
• Is he intimately familiar with the operating theater -- the room, the tools of his surgical trade, the staff?
• Does he have a back up surgeon and spare instruments?
• Has he held the wedding "life" of other brides in his hands?

This may sound melodramatic.  But it does make the point that the term "professional" carries with it a much higher likelihood of success.  Photography as a profession and discipline is no different.

Professional photographers are an educated group, and they spend years honing their skills.  So much education and experience, in fact, that avoiding the amateur pitfalls of photography become second nature.  Their track record of photographic successes and attention to customer needs virtually ensures a memorable outcome.

The technical calculations, customer requirements and compositional considerations that are racing through a professional photographer's thoughts as he is working a wedding (or any other assignment) are mind-boggling.

• f/stop
• shutter speed
• depth of field
• lens choices
  
• aperture, shutter or manual priority mode
  
• vertical or horizontal format
• focus point
  
• lighting direction and conditions
• flash requirements
• handheld or tripod
  
• white balance
  
• subject placement
• posing -- formal and informal
  
• distracting and contributing background elements
• church, religion or facility restrictions

This is just my short list.  Imagine making all these immediate decisions for 300 or more pictures taken at a wedding.  And it's all done under the time constraints and pressures of a once-in-a-lifetime event.  Obviously the consequences of a photographer's miscalculation are not nearly as critical as the life-or-death decisions made by a doctor.  But the immediacy, complexity and number of simultaneous decisions being made is on a similar level.

So, yes Uncle Harry can shoot your wedding.  But remember, this is a one-time-only event that must be captured faithfully (and hopefully artistically) to preserve the essence of a day that will become not only a visual record but a part of your family's history.  Then ask yourself again, "Can Uncle Harry shoot my wedding?" and, more importantly, "Do I want to burden him with that responsibility?"