I waited for the first wave of all emotions to run over before I made this post. It has nothing to do with hurting feelings. Or pointing and saying I told you so. It is just my thoughts that will hopefully make others think a bit before they make a decision.
Why hire a photographer instead of a friend? A friend has a great camera and they have used it a lot. They like taking pictures. Etcetera and so on. Lets leave out some of the normal things....stress...composition...work flow. I will stick with some things you may not think about.
What does a photographer do after they have captured your event?
--If it's a wedding maybe you get a top notch album. So now you have this amazing album. It's setting on your coffee table for everyone to see when they come over. Perfect, right?!
--Say it's a family shoot? Okay, you have these great prints of many different sizes hanging throughout your home. Gallery prints, Composite prints, framed prints. MAN THEY LOOK AMAZING!!
--How about a newborn? A newborn album! MORE PRINTS!!!
But hey I can make all these prints and a decent album myself?!?! Maybe you also have perfect skin or you are not to bad a post processing a photo.
These things are still not it.
I had a past bride email me 4 years after her wedding wanting some more prints. Four or five clicks later and I have them pulled up on my screen. Also I have them burned on a DVD. So where is that CD you have all your pictures from your wedding your friend gave you? Perhaps you know right where it is.
In light of the last few months...tornadoes...Alabama & Joplin, MO...two of the most damaging storms in a while. Houses torn apart...lives lost...things scattered. The tornadoes didn't care about the amazing album laying on the table. There are no walls for the pictures to hang on. Computers that held the images on file destroyed. CD or DVD's scattered about. So now the only memory you have of those special times is held in your brain. Or is it? There is something else that set a Professional photographer apart. Sure all their stuff could be destroyed as well, but there is other places to store files. Maybe it's a safe full of external hard drives? Off site storage that was thousands of miles away from storm.
There is other things that a Professional keeps in mind after the event is gone...and they know how valuable those files are to you as well as them. Sure you can save money on the front end by going cheap. But what price will you pay when you no longer have anything with a face of a loved one that you can't get back...and a face you can no longer touch.
The skies are quiet...the waters are still, but still have those families affected by events that have taken so much from them in your thoughts and prayers.
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