The Funico Studios Blog

We saw a great clip on YouTube the other day and decided that it was worth taking a break from our “anniversary series” to share.  It was  an episode on Judge Joe Brown where a bride had sued her wedding photographer.  Not sure if you’ve ever watched these small claims court TV shows, but Judge Alex and Judge Joe Brown can really draw you in!

This particular episode of Judge Joe Brown shows what can happen if you hire a ”very competitively-priced” (or in other words, cheap) wedding photographer.  As you can imagine, if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.   In this case, the “professional photographer” had a consumer level camera and lenses and not professional grade equipment.  And, she wasn’t even knowledgeable enough to answer the judge’s questions on photography.  Unfortunately, due to her lack of skill and poor equipment, the bride didn’t get good photos of her ceremony.

We pride ourselves on our photography skills and the quality of our equipment.  They allow us to get great photos regardless of the circumstances on your wedding day. We have lenses that EACH cost more than all of the camera equipment that this so-called “photographer” uses to shoot weddings. 

We understand that everyone has a wedding budget, particularly in today’s economy.  And, it’s very easy in this digital age for someone to put up a website with a few good pics and call himself a professional wedding photographer.  How do you determine who is a tried and true good wedding photographer?  This is not an easy question to answer, but a good place to start is to look at more than just the few website images.  You should ask to see diverse samples from his or her portfolio covering all sorts of lighting scenarios.  At minimum, a good wedding photographer should be able to show you great photos taken in dimly-lit churches and midday sun.  You should also request to see examples from a wedding similar to yours. For example, outdoor ceremonies can be difficult to photograph depending on where the sun is at that time of day.  We weren’t available to shoot a friend’s wedding and she asked for our opinions on a few photographers that she was considering using.  We noticed that one of her choices only showed photos where natural sunlight was available.  There weren’t any photos in his portfolio of church ceremonies or evening receptions. This made us wonder “hmm…does this guy know how to use a flash?”  Natural daylight is great, but what if you don’t have any?

Hope you’ve found this information to be helpful!  Feel free to contact us if you have any questions on possible difficult lighting situations that your wedding might encounter.