Selecting a Wedding Photographer for Your
Wedding Pictures
Let's begin with some helpful advice on the best way
to schedule your special day to get the most out of your photographer.
When deciding on the best times for ceremony and reception, most
brides do not take into consideration the time that the photographer needs to
take your wedding pictures between the end of the ceremony and beginning of the
reception. You’ll be spending a lot of money on your wedding photographer so
you’ll want to make sure you make time for him! For example, a common
situation is to have the ceremony scheduled from
There are several factors that should be considered when selecting
a photographer for a wedding. When comparing and interviewing photography
companies, one of the most important factors in your decision should be whether
the photographer can show you more than one COMPLETE wedding and not
just a few of the best photographs taken from several weddings. This is VERY
important and can be hard to come by, but you should NOT settle for less!
Anyone can snap hundreds of pictures at an all day event and be fairly certain
that a small percentage of them will be good. Ask your prospective
photographer to see ALL of the photos from more than one wedding, not
just a selection of his best work which is what most photographers will
offer. If you look at ALL of the images from 3 or 4 complete
weddings and you are impressed, then you can be certain that he/she is
a professional wedding photographer and not just
a "moonlighter" that gets lucky on a few shots here and there. This
is the true test of an exceptional professional photographer! You’ll be
spending a lot of money on your wedding photography, so make sure you KNOW what
you’re buying!
There are other very important factors to consider when selecting
your photographer. Please envision the following scenario which is based on
many a true story:
You’ve spent months preparing for your perfect wedding. You’ve
selected everything, including your photographer, whose selection of work was
outstanding and the photographer’s personality was also wonderful. You really
clicked with him (which is very important!) and felt very comfortable with your
decision of hiring him. You really looked forward to interacting with this
person throughout your special day because you got along with him so well. A huge
weight has been lifted from you because one of your biggest concerns was being
able to find a photographer not only whose work you loved, but whose
personality clicked with yours as well. After all, you want to be as
comfortable with this person as possible since you’ll be dealing with him
throughout your entire wedding day!
So, the big day comes and you’re nervously getting ready.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on your door. ‘Oh, that must be my photographer!’
you exclaim excitedly. With a smile from ear to ear you rush to the door
excited to greet this kind person with whom you’ve meshed so well during your
many conversations over the past several months. You open the door and greet...
a strange looking unshaven man in rumpled clothing that you’ve never seen
before in your life!
‘Hello...’ he spews, ‘I’m your photographer!’...
There’s really no need for us to continue with this very true
horror story. The scene just gets uglier from there, and yes, this has happened
more than once! So right now you’re probably thinking ‘But she didn’t hire
HIM! Where’s her knight in shining camera equipment???’
Sadly, there are way too many photography companies that run their
businesses this way and believe it or not, completely get away with it. These
companies contract out their jobs to freelance photographers, or sometimes they
have many wedding photographers working for them and just neglect to inform
brides of this oh-so-important fact. What does this mean? It means that the
wonderful photographer you spoke to most likely had no
intentions of photographing your wedding. (That is IF he was even a
photographer at all. Sometimes they are just the salesperson for the company!)
But there’s more! It also means that his beautiful work and photography style
that you fell in love with was most likely a compilation of work from the many
different photographers they employ!
So in our above scenario, how many of this unknown photographer’s
wedding pictures did this bride actually see... IF ANY? We can conclude that there’s really no way of
knowing for sure. So what could she have done to prevent this from happening?
The answer: HER HOMEWORK! Don’t be a victim of this kind of photography
nightmare! BE SURE TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS WHEN SPEAKING TO POTENTIAL
PHOTOGRAPHERS!
Unless this type of company can show you several weddings from
EACH of their photographers and then YOU get to pick the photographer you want,
then we suggest staying right away from them. The chances of finding a
photography company that will allow you to do this are slim to none. We
recommend searching for a photographer that shoots all of his weddings on his
own, or better yet, a two person team that will photograph your wedding
together so you get 2 photographers for the price of one! They’re hard to come by,
but they’re out there. The great thing about a 2 person team is that you get 2
separate points of view of your wedding. Some photographers offer strictly
traditional photography while others offer strictly photojournalistic wedding
photography. That’s fine if you’ve decided that you only want one or the other,
but most brides prefer a variety and feel they are getting the most for their
money if they can find a photographer that offers both. Additionally,
traditional photography is usually what the parents prefer, while most couples
tend to prefer photojournalistic wedding photography, so finding a photographer
that does both is definitely a bonus. These versatile photographers are also
hard to come by, but again, if you do your homework you can find them.
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Questions
to Ask Your Wedding Photographer
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