<p>Actually, Im looking for a quinceanera photographer. For those unfamiliar with this Hispanic tradition, a quinceanera is a 15th birthday celebration similar to a sweet 16 party. Im trying to budget expenses for this event, but I would like to have good photographs.</p>
<p>Heres what Id like: A photographer to spend about four hours taking pictures and then give me the digital images. Since photography is a bit of hobby for me, I would prefer to edit the images and produce any prints or album myself.</p>
<p>One idea that keeps coming up is to check with local colleges to see if an art student would be interested in doing this, both for their portfolio/experience and for the money. Its a bit risky, but I think I would be willing to do this. Ive read that getting a professors recommendation would be important because they would know the most capable students. Im in the NYC area, so I probably have good options.</p>
<p>I dont have a friend whom I would trust to take photos (been there done that with poor results). And I dont like the idea of putting disposable cameras at each table because these kids all have their cell phone cameras anyway. Ill probably be able to get some of these cell phone photos, but I dont want to rely on that option only.</p>
<p>Has anyone ever tried using a student photographer or known someone who did? How did it go? Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>The student photographer idea sounds great! I imagine that taking photos at a social event has a considerable learning curve, though - it’s probably somewhat about people-managing skills, as well as having photographic ability. When my d was married last year, we were aware of the photographer’s expertise at quickly assembling groups of people and somehow being unobtrusively in the right place for great candid shots.</p>
<p>If you wind up considering a professional photographer, I suggest checking the reviews on weddingwireDOTcom and theknotDOTcom. Best of luck - hope it’s a great event.</p>
<p>Do you know the parents of current or recent HS seniors? I bet some of them used a student photographer or someone without an expensive studio to support.</p>
<p>If you have local cheer gyms, dance studios or gymnastics gyms, call and ask if there is a parent who takes the team’s pictures. At both my D’s former dance studio and my other D’s cheer gym, there are dads who take pictures as more of a hobby, but they sell them to the team members.</p>
<p>Getting a student is a great idea. My wedding was photographed by a friend who did a great job.And I returned the favor when he married.
One suggestion is to make a list of any specific shots you want taken and give it to the photographer… Specific people (be sure to point them out), any group shots you’d like, any particular events during the party, party decorations etc.
With a designated photographer people will look to them for the pictures during a group shot (rather than 20 eyes going all around the room).</p>
<p>I don’t think this is <em>exactly</em> what you want, but I recently rented a photobooth for an event. Lots and lots of pictures and fun as the attendees really enjoyed themselves in the booth!</p>
<p>You could get an aspiring pro for some formal shots and then have the photobooth for collecting candid and fun images.</p>
<p>Check out the webpages for the photographers in your area and see if they have an option for the shooting and to buy the disks. It’s rare that a professional will do that for you though.</p>
<p>I agree that your best chance will be to find a parent from school or wherever that might be interested in taking photos for you. You could pay them whatever the professional fee in your area would be to take the photos but you would then get all of the pictures taken.</p>
<p>Do you have a photography club in your area? That might be an option. You can also scan the photos on your friends’ Facebook pages and see if anyone catches your eye there? Off hand I can think of 3 people I know that would be good at doing something like this in our area. I am sure if you asked around, people would know of someone.</p>
<p>Everyones standards are different. If you want good photos, you may need to spend the money to have an experienced pro shoot the event. It takes years of experience to get good at this type of photography. Also a pro is not likely to give you unprocessed files. They have their reputation to consider. </p>
<p>If you needed a lawyer or dentist, would you look for a student in order to save some money? I am not a pro photographer and don’t plan on becoming one but I know enough about photography to respect the skills of an experienced professional.</p>
<p>This is a good point, which goes along with the recommendation to give specific instructions to a student photographer about what types of shots I want, but be prepared to settle for less than what a professional would produce.</p>
<p>And my quick check of Craigslist produced some possibilities there.</p>
<p>I didn’t think of asking a local parent, but I’ll have to think about that idea. I’ve seen that local performance groups often use professionals to photograph their shows. I just need to ask around more.</p>
<p>I’ll check around for a photography club and ask them.</p>
<p>Me too, but I’m taking a chance and hoping for photos that are at least as good as those of a typical amateur. If I get something better, I’ll consider myself lucky. Considering the modest budget for the event, the savings are worth it to me. I’m not doing a big, expensive party like many I’ve seen, with budgets that I guess must be in the $20-30,000+ range.</p>
<p>I work at a small photography company and whole heartedly second the student idea. Just be sure to have him or her come over weeks before and take some shots of your D to make sure that you like his or her style. I can’t stress this enough. </p>
<p>You could also look for local, family-run businesses. They’re often willing to do them at a pretty decent rate. Especially because they live and die by repeat customers.</p>
<p>I just typed ‘photographer’ into facebook and it offered a local photographer’s FB page. </p>
<p>My daughter is following the lead of a MT friend of hers and offering her services (not professional at present) via FB. The friend, who is building her business, uses her FB page to link to her website wherein you can see a full portfolio of her recent shots. I would expect that anyone who is attempting to build a business would have some shots online for your review. The other kids I know who are trying to style themselves as photographers have weak or non-existant portfolios online.</p>
<p>My niece hired a professional photographer for her wedding, and after a few months he offered disks with all digital images. His prints were fantastic - I ordered a few - but having the original images is something that at least some pros will offer.</p>
<p>I was in the city one day (scenic area) and saw a quinceanera party with a photographer. The guy was running around trying to chase down the kids - it looked like a lot of work! Good luck!</p>
<p>student photographer has a potential down side - he/she might not have the best of photography equipments. A basic set of D700 and 70-200mm VR run you about $5K already.</p>
<p>Almost every city there is aphotgraph club on meetup. Go to their website to ask for help. Many of retired and/or hobby photographers would love to shot an event like this for free. Of course you should garnt him/her a gerenal model release so they coudl use the pictures. Because many time we had to pay someone to have a photo session.</p>
<p>I second the idea of developing a “must have” list and confirm with a reliable family member to make sure the people on the “must have” list are available to the tag.</p>
<p>I hadn’t thought about that, but of course it makes a lot of sense. I’m assuming that the student would let me see some of their work, but they’re unlikely to already have wedding-type examples.</p>
<p>I guess it would be a good idea to prepare some kind of contract, maybe with half the payment due upon delivery of the photos. I’ll have to think this all through.</p>
<p>I think a student should be able to do a good job, especially if you pay well. Definitely put together a good contract. I asked our wedding photographer to photograph each table at our sit down dinner and he got good pictures of everyone. We also have a fun out door picture of all of us. It’s my favorite picture a hundred people in their best clothes holding helium balloons. It’s nice to get pictures of people getting dressed and setting up the room if you are willing to pay for it.</p>
<p>In addition to a professional or students photographer, I’d also enlist help from family and friends. Some of our best pictures at family events have come from my brother who dabbles in photography. I also discovered that my S has a knack for it. You might already have good photographers in your midst!</p>
<p>Yeah, this seems to be a sticking point with photographers. A big chunk of their profit seem to come from the albums and prints that are part of the package they’re selling. I am much less interested in those items than I am in simply having a competent photographer taking the pictures. I will be perfectly happy with the prints and photo books I can create on my own. Also, as I mentioned, photography is a hobby for me, so this wouldn’t work for everyone trying to save money.</p>
<p>Friend’s D had a very low-budget wedding. Bride asked two friends who were into photography (S was one of them) to cover ceremony and reception–no charge. There were many excellent photos–as well as some that were out of focus, bad lighting, etc. But overall, if you’re not too picky, a student could probably do a fine job for a low price and be happy for the experience.</p>
<p>Are you looking for a photographer or a camera man? From you first post, it sounds like you want someone to do the shoot, give you the flash drive and then you will do all print production yourself. If that is the case, I would look for a friend who does photography to do this for you. Remember that a photograph is a multi step process that starts with the work done in camera, but the image is the result of decisions made at every step of the way to the finished product. I would guess that most photographers, including students, would not consider it to be their own work unless they do the processing of the images themselves. So a student would not want to include any images you produce in their portfolio since it would not be their work and I don’t know many professional photographers who would see this as adventagous to them unless you paid them really well.</p>