(Good/Great) Wedding photography isn’t cheap.
But you’re still going to ask yourself – is there a way to DIY my wedding photography? Or maybe you’ll ask yourself – how can I get decent wedding photography without paying the ridiculous rates that professional wedding photographers charge these days?
Well. Okay. I’ll tell you how to DIY your wedding photography. Seriously.
1. Ask specific people to take photos at your wedding.
Sounds obvious right? YES. It IS obvious but you must also make sure that they understand what you are asking. Make it clear to them that you want THEM to take the semi-or-completely-OFFICIAL photos of your wedding day. If that sounds like too much pressure for one friend to handle – spread it out over several friends/family. Let them know they’re part of your official ‘photography team’ for your wedding day.
2. Break it up throughout the day.
Each person doesn’t have to take photos the entire time. You can give them blocks of time. Like three friends during the ceremony. And three different friends during the reception. Or whatever. Oh – and let them know you’re not expecting art. Just clear, not blurry shots of what’s going on.
3. Write a list of photos you absolutely want (a shot list)
A few weeks before every wedding – I send my clients an online form for them to fill out. The form collects the final information for the wedding day – such as the schedule and addresses. There is also a section where they can enter any specific shots that they absolutely want. Whether it’s photos of heirloom jewelry, special gifts, or special groupings of friends that I might not know about – they can write it down so that I know to MAKE SURE I get it. Do the same thing for your friends. Don’t go crazy – but if you do have a few ideas – share them with your friends that are being so gracious as to photograph your wedding.
4. If possible – provide them with cameras.
This is easier than you think. You can also just purchase 10 instafilm cameras and pass those around. Or you can rent a couple digital cameras and do the same thing. OR if you’re brave – just ask people to use whatever camera they can get their hands on – and you’ll understand. Remember – you’re opting to DIY your wedding photographer – you get what you get. That doesn’t mean that it’ll be bad, or horrible – but have some real expectations. Of course – providing the gear to your friends can only help things along.
5. Have a Plan to Collect Your Photos
If you’re DIY’ing your wedding photography – then you definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY should create a hashtag for your wedding. And make sure it’s posted so that everyone KNOWS to use your wedding hashtag. That’ll make it easier to find all those random instagram/twitter/facebook images from your wedding day.
As far as the photos from your friend-photographer team? Collect their memory cards. Or better yet – if they provided the camera, then YOU may want to provide the memory cards. That way all you have to do it collect the cards at the end of night (or designate a friend to do it) and you HAVE THE PHOTOS. No chasing down people weeks later, hoping they didn’t lose or erase the photos from that day.
6. Hire someone ELSE to edit your photos
Seriously. Of course if you didn’t end up with too many photos – then you can probably edit them yourself. But if you ended up with hundreds photos… you may want to ask a favor from another friend…
7. Just let it all go and believe that it’s all going to work out.
Look. Photos just might not be your thing. That’s okay. Seriously. It’s O.K.
When you make the decision to DIY your wedding photography – you need to also make the decision to not really give a f*ck if things go… not that great. You have to be okay with possibly not having as many photos as you would’ve liked. Or not having photos that meet the quality you were hoping for.
You can find just as many ‘success’ stories of couples that went DIY with their wedding photography, as you can find horror stories. So don’t worry too much.
OH. But if you’d like to practically guarantee that you’ll get ridiculously amazing wedding photos – click here.