“In a sea of photographers how do I choose?”
This is something I commonly here from brides. The sheer overwhelming feeling that comes across them when they start on their search for a wedding photographer. All the while throughout their search being met with such terms as “natural light photographer” and statements like “we create modern bohemian images with a flare” or the horror of all horrors; photo tech speak “I shoot on a Canon 5d Markii with a 24-70 2.8 L series lens” And your thinking: “saaaaaay whhhaaaat?
Now it’s no wonder figuring out who you should hire is like some masters crash course in photography you didn’t sign up for. How should you be expected to be a savant on the subject all the sudden?!
To try to ease the pain of comparing apples to apples, apples to oranges and oranges to cantaloupes we have put together a list of four tips to help you select your wedding photographer.
•STYLE•
First let’s go with probably the easiest to judge, the photographer’s style. Does it interest you? Do you like it? Do you LOVE it? Could you not see yourself hiring anyone else because a certain photographer’s style is everything you’ve ever dreamed of for your photos. It’s important that you love the work of who you are hiring- because the style is going to go hand and hand with the photographer. If you end up hiring a super modern/editorial photographer and later ask them to shoot super traditional, it’s not going to work out well for anyone. It will stifle your photographer creatively and more than likely you’ll end up with less than stellar shots. Which sorta leads me into the next item…
•TRUST•
THIS IS HUGE…should I say again? HUGE! It means the world to me when my clients trust my vision and are willing to go along for the ride because they know that’s the best way to get shots that showcase my style, and look like the work they’ve seen on my site. Also if you trust your photographer you are going to feel so much more comfortable in front of the camera- which will then lead to you looking better in your photos thus resulting in you loving the images, it’s an all around win-win. Also trust comes into play in the practical sense- you are making an investment in your photography. You want to trust that a) the photographer is someone who is established in the business and will act professionally and above board throughout your whole experience and b) you want to feel that you can trust them to come do their job and do it to the standard reflected on their site. Look through their reviews, see where they’ve been featured online or in print, check out their social media-these will all help build trust.
•COMPATIBILITY•
How well do you click with your photographer when you first meet with them? And I’m not saying you have to be instant bffs, I just mean did you feel like you would want this person there on your wedding day, hovering around you for 8+ hours? You want to make sure as much as you love the photographer’s work you also love their personality and feel like you get along well. Not being comfortable with your photographer will show in the photos! And you don’t want that!
•COMMUNICATION•
I’ve heard stories of brides trying for weeks to get a hold of their photographer after the wedding-only to be met by the sound of crickets. And that’s not to say the photographer took off with the money and images, just that they were not on top of their communication. You want to feel from the get go that you are able to approach your photographer with questions without feeling guilty, and be able to communicate all the details of your wedding and have it be received and understood by your photographer. It’s huge to me that my clients feel that we are on the same page, and that they are comfortable approaching me about any questions or concerns they may have.
While there are other considerations that go into your selection of wedding photographer, one being of course the confines of your budget. This undoubtably plays a huge role in your final choice, so you work with what you got. With whatever your budget find someone whose style you love, who you trust, feel compatible with and are confidant with their level of communication.
These are four things that we love to convey to our clients from start to finish, and we think they will help you in your search for your perfect photographer.
