Hello George,
As our last two reunions, we used professional photographers, and both of them did a great job. In 2002, one was hired to take a group picture (panoramic) - the same pic at http://reunions.afrigeneas.com/gallery.html but in color. After the shot, loads of family members lined up to take their orders directly from the photographer. And as far I as know, everyone who ordered one received it in the mail several weeks after the reunion. I think the committee only paid a reasonable setup fee for the photographer to come to our banquet to take the picture.

This year, the committee hired a professional photographer and videographer for our "Back Home" trip to S.C. that Thurs. and the reunion that weekend. He quoted us a very good price ($1200) to take pictures and to video the events. This included his travel expenses from Atlanta, GA to Abbeville, SC and back (he rode on the bus to SC with us). We had to dip into several reunion accounts to pay his fee, but it turned out to be well worth it. After the reunion, he provided us the master tapes (edited and unedited versions) and the master group photos, and the family committee was responsible for making the duplicate tapes and photos to sell to the family. The tapes and the photos turned out very well. Everyone was pleased with the quality. From the sale of the video tapes and the groups photos, we were able to replace the $1200, and put the remaining profit into the Scholarship Fund.

So from my experiences, hiring a professional photographer is worth it.

Hope this Helps!
Melvin