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LightRain Images, a Phoenix Wedding Photographer, has photographed hundreds of weddings in Arizona, the United States and around the world and while meeting with couples interested in wedding photography we have heard many myths and misconceptions. We have been able to save our clients a lot of stress and money with our friendly advice.  The following are the most common myths we hear:

• Choose a beautiful venue and  your wedding pictures will look good because the venue is pretty - While a beautiful venue is important, it is much less important for photographs than many brides realize.  An experienced professional photographer can make a couple look breathtaking even in a simple venue.  However, an inexperienced wedding photographer will find it difficult to make a couple look good, even in the most attractive surroundings.  When planning your wedding budget, consider your expenditures in light of the life-time value of each element.  Photographs are the only expenditure that increases in value over the years.  You will love your photos and as the years go by you will come to treasure these works of art and proudly pass them down through generations.
• Put little disposable cameras on every table to capture fun, candid shots of your reception – this is usually a very disappointing experience for couples.  Disposable cameras take disposable quality pictures – especially being used by amateur partiers who have little interest in capturing quality candid imagery.  Our advice is save your money or spend it on anything else, you’ll be much happier.   Professional photographers have high quality lighting and high resolution cameras for a reason.  Additionally, professionals are experienced in capturing fun and candid situations as well as facilitating the fun interaction between you and your guests.
• Hiring the most expensive photographer guarantees quality – while generally speaking, you get what you pay for, there are some photographers who promote themselves as the most expensive, to create snob appeal and create the illusion of being the best available.  Although you should plan to spend $3,000-$5,000 for coverage by a great photographer.  If a photographer’s starting prices are $6,000+ you might want to look elsewhere.
• A family member or college friend can take wedding pictures – Uncle Bob may have been a photography hobbyist for years or your college friend may have a great new expensive camera she is learning how to use, but take it from many disappointed brides, it takes a large eclectic bundle of skills to be a great professional wedding photographer.  We start with formal education in lighting, cinematography and photography, add top of the line digital cameras, lenses and lighting gear, mix in years of experience working in chaotic stressful wedding environments, add a full-time graphics design team to enhance and retouch images and you have professional photography company.  Don’t risk it for a “bargain”.  These are your wedding pictures and can’t be redone.
• You can look at a couple of dozen pictures on a photographer’s web site and can tell if they are good and like their style -  Remember, that every photographer puts their best foot forward and of course the pictures on the web site, especially the first slide show or portfolios will look great.  You need to dig deeper and look at many complete weddings and album designs.  Look at the quality of imagery in all types of lighting; bright outdoor images, dim indoor lighting, ambient lighting and dark night.  Look at images from a wide range of angles, distances and macro shots. All of the images should be consistently sharp, properly exposed and compelling.  If any seem a little off or out of focus, don’t waste your time, remember this is a photographer’s best work, if the best work isn’t great; your images probably won’t be any better and might be worse.
• Wedding photography seems to cost a lot for just clicking away with an expensive camera – There are a lot of hidden costs to wedding photography.  Expensive cameras are just the start.  Computer and software, education, training and advertising, lenses and lighting, employees, website hosting and electronic storage are just a few items.  For every hour on site there are 3-4 hours behind the scenes in post production processing, retouching and organizing your images and that is before an album design takes place.
• All you need is someone good at Photoshop and you can have great wedding pictures -   If the original image capture is poor, splashing on contrast or color isn’t going to make your images any better unless you are looking for abstract art.  What you really want is a company that captures the finest imagery in the correct lighting focus and exposure and has graphic designers highly trained in retouching and enhancing imagery to create works of art with you and your wedding party featured in the middle of the art.
• Plan for and choose major vendors before photography – On the contrary it makes a lot of sense to start your wedding planning with the end result in mind.  Because your photographic imagery is what you will have for the rest of your life and beyond as you pass them down through the generations, it makes sense to look around at who will provides the most dramatic, compelling imagery.  Additionally, a professional wedding photographer will have many examples of wedding venues and locations for you to see in various lighting and décor to provide you with ideas to choosing a wedding location, florist and other professionals.  Lastly, popular dates with great photographers get booked out a year or more in advance, so you might want to check availability as soon as possible.
• Tell your photographer what poses and looks you like on the wedding day and direct the photographer to take the images the way you like them – This a recipe for disappointment.  Brides typically have no idea of the stress and excitement (happy chaos) on the day of the wedding and attempting to remember a shoot list is difficult.  Your photographer needs to know in advance the type of photography you like and the combinations of poses and groups of friends and relatives that you want.  A good photographer will discuss a shoot list with you and will encourage collaboration well in advance of your wedding. An experienced photographer will not how to direct and pose you in natural looking ways.

For more tips like these and examples of professional wedding photography contact us at www.LightRainImages.com  or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/LightRainMaharanis