We’ve been photographing for over 7 years now. That’s a LONG time when you stop to think about it. Our whole post-college experience has been influenced by wedding photography.

We’ve heard a lot of different stories and opinions about wedding photography during those years. In fact, there are a lot of things we hear over and over and over. It turns out that almost EVERY wedding photographer hears the same things. That’s why we decided to write this post and DISPELL some of those myths about wedding photography.

Expensive Camera Means Great Pictures

This is something we hear all the time, and not only about wedding photographers. This is one of the most frustrating myths surrounding photographers.

This is such a tricky topic to talk about, because of course there are advantages to having a more expensive camera. Does more expensive have better components and more capabilities? Of course.

But what can an expensive, professional camera not do? It can’t pose the couple. It can’t decide what background will look the best or direct family portraits.

Sure, having more megapixels in a sensor will produce higher quality images, but we’ve seen a lot of photographers with “starter” cameras end up with way better images than professionals with thousands of dollars in equipment.

While we understand the idea, we are honestly tired of hearing “oh, I better that camera takes amazing pictures.” or, “that nice camera must make it easy on you.” We are beyond grateful to have the cameras and equipment, but it’s only a small part of being a good wedding photographer.

Wedding Photographers Only Work on the Wedding Day

This myth comes from non-wedding photographers and those who haven’t spent a lot of time in the wedding industry, but we understand where this idea comes from. If you haven’t spent a lot of time around a photographer, it’s easy to think that taking pictures is the brunt of the work.

For other types of photography, this might be the case, but for us, the wedding day is only a little part of the whole Katie Jaynes Wedding Experience. Our work starts MONTHS before the wedding day even gets here. We are involved in getting the engagement session lined up, scheduling bridal portraits, and delivering those sessions in time to have a canvas printed. Then we need to create the wedding day timeline and so much more. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Then after the actual wedding day, comes the editing and delivery. All told, the 8 – 9 hours on a wedding day is the smallest part (but it’s obviously our favorite).

My Cousin Has a Camera and Can Do The Job

This is such a tricky “myth,” and we put the quotation marks on purpose.

First of all, this is no offense to your cousin, uncle, friend, or whoever you are thinking about photographing your wedding. That’s not the point of dispelling this myth.

So, what’s our point here? Our point is it takes more than a camera to photograph a wedding. Everyone needs a place to start, but just make sure you’re willing to take the risk.

Before you decide to take a shot on a friend or family member, ask yourself if you’ll be upset if they were to make a mistake. What if they missed the kiss during a ceremony or it was blurry, would you be able to live with that and still talk to them at Thanksgiving dinner?

There is nothing wrong with hiring someone you know if they are a rookie at wedding photography, but just make sure you understand what you could be sacrificing by doing this. Obviously, friends were willing to take a shot on us at one time — and we are so grateful they did.

Wedding Photography Is Not Worth The Investment

This is something that we don’t hear as much anymore. But once upon a time, this was something that we heard VEry often, especially when we were planning our own wedding.

There are a lot of reasons people may think that wedding photography is not worth the investment you make into. The first one is obvious, they had a very bad experience with a wedding photographer in the past. If someone had a horrible experience with their own wedding, it’s understandable to have a bad taste in your mouth when talking about wedding photography.

Another possible reason for this thinking is not having a full understanding of everything you receive from a wedding photographer and their role on the wedding day (and before). Typically when we talk to people who tell us this, they think wedding photographers charge insane prices just to work for 8 hours on the wedding day to “click a button”

Wedding Photography is a Hobby

Let’s be honest. This myth once upon a time was VERY true. Wedding photographer has not always been a “job” – for so many years wedding photography was something professionals did on the side or simply as a hobby. Sadly, this is still a belief that has lived on.

Now this is another myth that is a mixed bag. Yes, for the vast majority of photographers, weddings are a hobby (which is completely okay!) but for other people, wedding photography is a full time job (like us for example). A lot of times this still blows people’s minds when we tell them that this is my only gig.