Your wedding day is one of the most memorable and intimate days of your life. It’s expected that it will be perfect. And it will be. At the end of the day you are left with your memories and your photos. Naturally photos are kind of a big deal. In my completely biased opinion, the biggest deal! So how do you choose someone to be your photographer?
FIRST: Find your style. Look at pictures, find what you like. Then inquire with the photographers about your date and their investment costs, plus ask to see entire weddings and reviews. I hate to blast some of my fellow photogs but make sure you are looking at pictures from real weddings and not styled shoots. Everything looks amazing in a styled shoot when you get to pick your lighting and backdrop. The hardest part of wedding photography is dealing with situations as they arise. How to combat a mixed light ceremony or doing family pictures when there is no shade and it’s 12 noon. Losing half your bridal party in cocktail hour while trying to finish up with their pictures, all kinds of things happen on wedding days, it’s nice to know your photog is well versed in wedding days.
NEXT NEXT: Find someone you like. We (us photogs) follow you around on your wedding day, one of your favorite days, so it’s sort of important (HUGELY) that you like us. Plus let’s be honest, no one wants to spend any day with someone that bugs them, let alone their wedding day. Your photog is the narrator to your wedding, so find someone who’s style and personality match you!
LASTLY: Figure out what you want! It’s hard to know since weddings aren’t something you do everyday. What is the most important things to you for the day? For me I wanted a picture of everyone at our wedding, and a picture of Josh & I with our horses & Milton (the Yak). Write it all down. Ask your friends what they wish they had done, or done differently.
As a wedding photographer, I take pictures ofevery part of the day. But there are photos that have to be set up, so if you want those types of photos you need to clarify beforehand so everyone knows what is wanted & expected. THE most important part of hiring a photographer is communication and knowing what you want so that it can be accomplished. We are an awesome crowd but we can’t read minds and we can’t go back in time so make sure you tell us what you want in advance and we will make it happen or tell you why it’s not going to look how you are envisioning it!!!
For our company we love candids. Our goal is to get a good candid of everyone at the wedding. Maybe that’s not important to everyone, but it’s really REALLY important to us that you see all of your guests having fun and being present. We want to tell your story from all sides of the room, so when you look back at your wedding you see things you never even knew happened.
WHAT AM I PAYING FOR: Obviously cost plays a major role in your wedding, and you want to make sure you are spending the appropriate amount on each of your necessities. A lot of time people wonder what they are actually paying for, and try to skimp a little in the photog department because there are SO many photographers out there now that you can usually find a newer one who's investment costs are less. SO what are you paying for? You are paying for our experience, and experiences, for our equipment, insurance on our equipment. Then there’s advertising, second shooters, computers and programs, clouds to store your images, websites, travel & our babysitters. When you think about how much you are paying for food to feed your guests, and your venue, we are the only thing you will have at the end of the day to tell your wedding story. So when you think it’s more than you want to spend, can you really afford to spend less? Will you be just as happy with Aunt Marge’s pictures?
Which brings up having friends/family as photogs. You can't expect your photog to be a guest until all the formalities are over, so if they are a super close friend or family you might want to hire a second shooter that's not a friend to get all the candids of the reception and take a little weight off of your main photog and allow them to join party!
xo-Amanda