Wedding photography, finding the right one

How to pick your wedding photographer?

So I have been toying with this blog post for some time now. The goal here is to give you advice and some insight into the world of wedding photography from my perspective. 🙂

First I need to address why you need a wedding photographer? Is it because some amazing wedding blog told you? Or because you see it on all the wedding checklists?

Do you really know why you need one? For us wedding vendors we too often forget that a bride that has never been married does not always understand or know why certain things happen at a wedding, I mean how many people really know why there is a garter?

Well let me try my best to explain why you might consider having a wedding photographer. I am not going to go with we capture your memories and all those clichés

but rather give you something to think about.

You see this is a day that is all about you and the person you are marrying.

This is a single day out of an average of 29 200 days you will spend on this earth.

It is a tiny fraction of your live that will live past your 80years of living. It is the joining of families. It is the celebration of finding someone to love you. And Love in return

It is history in the making. Therefore it needs to be documented.

So lets say you decided that yes I want images of me and my loved one to live forever, that’s great but now how do you find the right photographer?

In the world we live in today this is a daunting task I mean there are thousands of amazing photographers out there, there are thousands of different styles and approaches.

But there is a few things I have listed below that might help, that might make things easier;

1. Never go for a fad, remember selective colouring? Or having a dinosaur in your wedding photos? If you like that, its great but your wedding photographs need to stay timeless in the sense that if you look back at your photos a year, 4 years, 20 years from you it wont feel like it was taken in the stone ages.

2. Family members and friends are exactly that family members and friends. Don’t make them work on your wedding day. It might seem like a nice way to get them involved and even to cut costs but take it from me, I was invited to one of my closest friends wedding as a GUEST, it was lovely we partied together danced together and just celebrated the day with them. Having a friend or family member do this for you WILL cause tension. Even from a photographers point the last thing we want is the bride and groom to be stressed out. SO please get a professional. Sit back let them do the work and enjoy this day with your family and friends.

3. Find someone you get along with. I need to emphasize this make a short list of the photographers who’s work you like, set up a meeting with each of them. Make a list with a few questions and send it to them afterwards. This will help you find the one you click with.

4. Seeing a full album, in PRINT. This will show you what the final product will look like, this gives you a moment to study the images. You will get to see the quality of the final image, you will get to touch and feel what the albums will look like and this will give you insight into how much this photographer value their work.

5. Being on the same page. Now I know a lot of photographers will not agree. But to me I feel this is a must. Sharing some ideas a mood board with your photographer before hand. So that they can understand what you want out of your day. Here it comes down to managing expectations its all about making things clear with your photographer regarding the things you want out of your wedding photographs and what you would naturally be receiving from your photographer. 

6. Ask your photographer the post process, usually its about 6-8 weeks. Ask if you will receive the high-resolution images not watermarked? I have heard stories of watermarked images, i personally hate it as it takes something away from an good image but there are photographers who do own the rights of the image and therefore will put on a really big watermark. If you dont mind that then great. If you do rather find out before hand.

7. Make a pro and con list, listing all the benefits and drawbacks of each. For example this photographer stays 8 hours this one 9, but you love the 8 hours photographers work more.. then you can always find out what that extra our will cost etc. it will also make it clear to you which one you favour most.

8. Lastly please do your research on the photographer you will be using. Make sure they have shot enough weddings, they are running a sustainable business and that they consistently deliver the same quality and style work. But the biggest here is pick a photographer who’s work you love. With whom you get along. This IS a big day in your life make sure its photos you want to look back at every day. Don’t just price shop make sure of the final product.

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