Do I Need a Professional Photographer for My Reunion?

Should you enlist the services of a professional photographer? The answer is a resounding yes and no.

Yes, you should bring aboard a photographer:
1. if it's free
2. if prints or downloads can be made available at a reasonable price
3. if you'd like a group shot of the whole gang
4. if you want formal table shots of each table

If you publish your class reunion on public sites like http://www.reunionannouncements.com/
you will undoubtedly be contacted by several vendors selling services. One of them will be a photographer who will come and shoot your reunion at no charge, in exchange for being able to sell prints after the reunion. This is a win/win situation, particularly if you answered "yes" to any of the above.

But read on there may be a reason to avoid having a professional photographer.

You may decide you don't need a professional photographer for your reunion:
1. because everyone with a digital camera or phone is a photographer and that's good enough
2. everyone can upload stills to your class website or online "share" sites such as http://www.shutterfly.com/ or http://www.picasa.com/
3. you really don't want your party interrupted with the logistics of staging a group shot
4. it's your 10th or 20th reunion and you could care less about photos (just wait until your 40th you'll probably feel differently)

Whatever you decide is fine. Keep in mind that sometimes the video production company (if you're having someone document the party) will offer photography services as well. Just make sure there's no charge to the reunion committee and that you give them the database information necessary for them to make post-reunion sales of the photos.

Any other opinions out there?

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