A steady stream of untrained wedding photographers are entering the marketplace with little more than a digital camera and a website. That’s because wedding photography isn’t a licensed profession and different people and organizations define a professional wedding photographer very differently.

Much of the photographic world turns to Nikon for their definition of a professional photographer. Nikon, one of the recognized world leaders in the development and manufacture of advanced cameras and lenses, has set forth these minimum standards to qualify a ‘professional’ photographer.

According to Nikon, a professional photographer:

1.) Is a photographer who earns 100% of his or her income from photography and can verify that fact.
2.) Has tear-sheets of published work from the last 12 months.
3.) Has an open account in good standing with a certified camera store.
4.) Is a member in good standing of a nationally recognized photography association.

To support the professional photographers that meet these requirements and earn their living using Nikon products, Nikon set up its elite NPS – Nikon Professional Services. Out of the thousands of wedding photographers only a small handful are NPS members.

It is with great pride that I say - I am an NPS member.

NPS membership is by invitation and based on a photographer’s body of work. Unlike the other photography associations out there, one cannot buy admittance to NPS.

What does this mean to you? It means that I take my chosen profession very seriously and Nikon respects that. Should any of my camera equipment need any repairs, my repairs are moved to the front of the line and turned around in just days. During those few days Nikon issues me loaner equipment to keep me up and running to meet my deadlines – your deadlines.

Anyone can call themselves a professional wedding photographer and charge you for it and that’s fine. But in today’s highly competitive wedding environment I suggest knowing and understanding who’s who and the added value a professional brings to the table.

As a fulltime professional wedding photographer and NPS member, I am vastly experienced in wedding photography, lighting, and posing techniques. After years of photographing weddings, I have seen just about every scenario you can imagine. Because of this I am quite good at guiding wedding parties throughout the wedding day to capture all of the special images that tell your entire wedding story from the special people to the special moments throughout your entire wedding day.

The expertise needed for professional wedding photography is an extraordinary combination of artistic ability, technical training and top-of-the-line equipment – plus the ability to run a small business, pay bills, be on time, deliver images and keep everyone happy. Professional wedding photographers with all these skills are few, and the most talented people in this field are hard to find and book quickly.

Tammy Bryan NPS
Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Wedding Photographer

PS - I’ve shot so many weddings I have an intimate knowledge of how weddings flow. That puts me, and you, in the right spot at the right time for the killer shots!