How many weddings has your "professional" shot?  How many years have they been in the business?  Only a year or two?  Do they use professional level cameras AND lenses?  Many amateurs do not know the value of a pro lens.  Sharpness, color, saturation, focus accuracy, speed; the list is endless.

I was speaking with the wedding and event coordinator at a local hotel lately.  She remarked how bad some of the photographers were as of late and noted that they had a very bad impact on the rest of the evening from the time bride and groom were introduced.  Hotels and caterers in general know exactly what time they will need to serve the food, so they plan on that.  If a photographer pushes that back by 15 minutes that can rune everyone's fillet very easily.  She also noted that a few seemed to fumble and did not know where to take photos in a gorgeous hotel. 

As a Professional we have years of experience and know what makes a great photo.  Ansel Adams calls it Visualization, I call it Previsualization.  Being able to see the photograph before we take it is one of the toughest, if not impossible, skills to master.  I had a bride start to describe a photograph to me that she had seen in a magazine or other publication.  The instant the first few words were spoken I could see the image.  She had no idea how it was created or what it would take to create it, but I was able to tell her exactly what she wanted to here: Sure, I can do that!  Much of what wedding photography is about comes from a bride's preconceived notion which comes from the media and the other weddings she has gone to recently, not to mention her girlfriend's wedding albums.  Here is a short clip on which Ansel Adams, the greatest nature photographer of all time, explains what Visualization is and why it is so important.  Believe me, anyone without experience cannot do what a Professional can do.


The Key to a Photograph from Ansel Adams.