The Cost of "Something-For-Nothing" Mentality

It has been my experience that nearly everyone is budget conscious – especially these days. Tim and I too have found some hard-times. In these times, it is important to watch every dollar and determine the best place for it. Do you want a new television set or should you repair that leak? Would you want to take a trip overseas, or should you stay close to home and spend that money elsewhere? Our life is full of choices similar to these pressing issues.

What concerns me is the “Something-for-Nothing” mentality. It is great to get free stuff, don’t get me wrong. I always enjoy my occasional freebees and great deals. Though not monetary, they always come at a cost. When the bank gives me a mug for signing up with them, I have to find a place for it and store it in my house indefinitely (I don’t drink coffee, thus don’t use mugs). When I go out to use the free Wi-Fi at a local eatery, I feel obligated to purchase a sandwich and a drink.

However trivial these ‘costs’ seem, some freebees come at a much higher price.
When Tim and I were getting married in 2005, we planned and paid for our own wedding. We didn’t have a lot of money and had to make some tough choices on which vendors to include and which to eliminate. We decided that, to us, the food was the most important. We were having a Celtic Renaissance-themed wedding and that entire culture revolved around family meal-time. As a result, the majority of our budget went to catering, and we got the room for free (we had A LOT of food!!). Then we had to decide how we will remember the day. That is where we made our mistake.

Can you believe that Tim and I, wedding photographers, did NOT hire a photographer? We had a friend that said she would do it for free, and we took her up on it. Hey, how can you go wrong with free, right? She did a few simple poses and took pictures through the whole ceremony. We went on our honeymoon and upon our return, we were excited to see all the beautiful images that this film-student had shot. Two weeks went by, then three. I asked her about my pictures and she told me that something happened with the lab, but she was trying to correct them herself. Another week passed and she handed me a box of about twenty over-exposed blurry images. Nothing to make a lasting album out of. Nothing to pass down to our kids. Nothing except twenty over-exposed blurry images.

One thing we have learned from this experience is that the value you put into preserving your memories should be your top priority. If you are looking for the cheapest photographer (or worse yet – your Uncle Joe), will you really be getting the lasting memories that you desire, the beautiful custom made album to pass on to your children and grandchildren, and a wall-portrait that you can be proud to display on the mantle in your home? Or are you just going to have snapshots of your day? Anyone can press a shutter button, and a $100 point-n-shoot camera has a lot of the same qualities that high-end DSLRs have these days.

Additionally, if you are a client that desires a CD of your images, let me discourage you right now. A disc can be great and you have your images right there and are able to print what you want. Instant gratification isn’t everything, though. What you can print at home, Walmart, Kinkos, or even Wolf Camera are not high quality professional photographs. These images will not last for generations. Neither will the CD you just purchased. We are already seeing a changeover taking place from DVD to Blu-ray. Remember ‘floppy’ discs? Eight-tracks? Records? They are gone. Technology changes! That disc will not be readable forever and all that money you spent on it will be gone too. You did not buy something that will last for generations. That purchase may be good for the next ten years, if you are lucky and technology hasn’t changed in that time. For the same amount of money, you can have your photographer create you a beautiful album, guaranteed to hold up through the years.

So please, for your wedding, hire a professional photographer. Please don’t purchase images from a discount photographer on a disc that will melt away with time. We, here at ShutterSpire, warn you against making the same mistake. Create an heirloom; afterall, isn’t your family worth it?

How much are your memories worth to you?