By The Light Photography, LLC
It has been said before that it is not the equipment that makes the photographer but in the wedding business a photographer is only as good as his/her equipment. In this video clip of a small claims suit against a “professional” photographer you will hear the photographer states that she was using a Canon Rebel XTI with an 18-55mm lens. What this means is that she is using a DSLR camera one step above bottom of the line with what is called a kit lens. This camera setup is great for amateurs and hobbyists but is not reliable or versatile enough for a professional photographer. The judge clearly has more knowledge of photography than the defendant!
So what’s the big deal, she was affordable!
Wedding Photography is technically challenging as well as artistically challenging. It pushes photographer and equipment to the very edge. The photographer has to be equipped for every possible scenario. This means at a minimum your photographer should have two high quality professional cameras if not a third as backup. In addition a good assortment of lenses and lots of lighting options is a must. So called kit lenses can take nice photos but they lack several features that a professional needs namely water resistance and speed. Speed refers to how much light the lens can take in and because this depends on size as everything gets bigger so does the price. For comparison I have a photo comparing the 18-55mm lens to a 85mm professional lens. Which one do you thing can take in more light? As you noticed in the video the speed of the lens is vital in situations where flash is inappropriate or not allowed.
Kit Lens v. Pro Lens
Image on left via creative commons license http://www.flickr.com/photos/purplemattfish/
By the light photography shoots weddings on high end Canon cameras with canon and sigma professional series ‘L’ lenses. We carry a redundant setup of lighting and cameras to ensure we can recover from any equipment failure. Based on the venue and the number of photographers we will even supplement our kit with redundant rentals to be extra careful. Your wedding only happens once! During the event the photos are redundantly backed up then afterward they are stored on archival media and also stored off site just in case of fire or flood!!
So if you want that great feeling of success that the plaintiff in this case had after she got her money back, take your chance with an amateur. If you want the satisfaction of beautiful wedding photos, go with By the Light Photography!
Have a question? Contact me or leave a comment!