Uncle Bob is a euphemism for that friend or family member who has a camera and says “Don’t book a wedding photographer I’ll do it for you”

This is like when you are on an aircraft, the captain and first officer are taken ill and the cabin crew ask for anyone with flying experience. If someone who steps up has only made paper aeroplanes or airfix kits would you trust them to land your 747 on the tarmac?

Just because Uncle Bob has a camera doesn’t mean they can shoot a wedding. Wedding photography isn’t as easy as that – ask any of our trainees and they will be happy to tell you it’s a different story completely

Firstly does Uncle Bob have the right lenses and flash guns to photograph your wedding? does he understand depth of field and ISO, does he know how to manage people? can he organise the day? These and a host of other questions should be foremost in your mind rather than think of the savings you will make by getting him (or her) to do it for you

There is a reason why airlines have trained professional pilots and there are very good reasons why there are professional wedding photographer out there too. OK I hear you say, some pilots fly into cliffs and some wedding photographers shoot a real turkey of a wedding but in the main most aircraft land safely and most professional wedding photographers do a good job

Whether you choose to fly Uncle Bob’s airlines or not is up to you but if I am going to put my life in a pilot’s hands it will be one  who is trained on the aircraft I’m going to fly in and if I was choosing a wedding photographer I would want one who’s done this a time or two before and who has excellent references and testimonials to back them up

On behalf of the Captain and crew I would like to thank you for reading this safety briefing