Yet another distraught couple have had their wedding day ruined by a pair of incompetent ‘wedding photographers’:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2132578/Are-Britains-worst-wedding-pictures-Newlyweds-devastated-photographer-failed-couple-frame-took-blurry-shots.html 

Unfortunately, distressing situations such as this are becoming more frequent. Many inexperienced camera owners are putting themselves out as wedding photographers,  jumping on what they see as a money-making bandwagon to be exploited.  Currently in the UK, wedding photographers are unregulated and do not have to conform to any recognised standards of ability or integrity.

Anyone who owns a camera and a lens can enroll on a ‘workshop’ to build a bogus portfolio and website.  It is even possible to buy ready-made sample albums showing complete weddings, which of course were photographed by another photographer!

Most of these rogue traders have no formal training, no professional insurances and do not keep accounts. Think for a moment if one of your guests were unfortunate enough to trip over a tripod or camera bag and what would be your position if your photographer was unable to photograph your wedding due to accident, illness or equipment failure?

I am always surprised that most couples do not ask to see proof of Professional Indemnity and Third Party Liability insurances.  It should be one of the first questions asked when searching for your wedding photographer.

My advice to couples who are looking for a professional wedding photographer is to only consider qualified members of the Master Photographers Association or the British Institute of Professional Photography.  Ask to see their qualifications and insurance certificates and check with both MPA and BIPP websites to ensure that their membership is current!  If the photographer is unqualified by either association, alarm bells should ring and you need to ask them why they have no professional qualifications. The chances are they have failed to produce work of the required standard.  Do not be afraid to ask pertinent questions and do not be fooled by excuses, because there are none.

Until we have legislation for formal regulation, wedding photography is going to be exploited by unscrupulous rogue traders and incompetent part-timers such as Ian McCloskey and Nikki Carter in the Mail article I have linked above.  The real losers will always be those couples whose weddings have been ruined.  No amount of compensation will replace lost wedding photographs.

In the case of McCloskey and Carter, they will simply go bankrupt to avoid paying   compensation to their victims or repaying their creditors.  There is nothing to stop them from doing the same to another unfortunate couple.

Choose your wedding photographer wisely.  Make sure those on your shortlist are qualified and insured professionals and can prove it to you.  Take extra care to avoid part-timers who are not quailified by MPA or BIPP.  As things stand, this really is your only assurance of professional integrity.