You want your wedding photographer to capture everything that makes your day special, to capture you at your best, to deliver photos that live up to your expectations. Here are 10 tips for selecting wedding photos you can live with throughout your new life together.
- A reputable wedding photographer should have a physical location. It is important to have a physical location where she can find them when she needs them and where she can meet them safely. Traditional wedding photography studios build trust within the community and with their clients. If your wedding photographer doesn’t have a local address (other than a PO Box) that they can share with you, that’s a good reason not to trust them. They can work out of their house, but do you know where it is? An office or physical study is essential for them to be reliable. Would you be willing to have a random stranger come to your house or for you to come to your house? It is safer and more reliable to choose a wedding photographer with a studio or office that you can visit and where you can find your photographer.
- A good wedding photographer should help your day run smoothly. Other than a dedicated wedding planner, your photographer is the only vendor that will spend the entire day with you. A good wedding photographer should make things easier for you. They should solve problems. Your wedding photographer needs to be flexible. They must be able to adapt and thrive in difficult situations. Learn more about their skills and ask about a difficult lighting scenario, bad weather, or other catastrophe and find out how they’ve handled it in the past.
- You need your wedding photographer to focus on you. When you meet a wedding photographer for the first time, do they ask about you, get to know you and find out what you want? Or do they just talk about themselves and what they do? Find a photographer who is willing to spend time getting to know you so you know they understand you and your needs. This is the best way to find out if they are right for you.
- Your wedding photographer should be knowledgeable and helpful. They should offer suggestions on what options you have for different things, provide advice on programming and setup, be full of ideas, and ready to make your day and planning easier. A good photographer is great at planning. Your photographer should work with you prior to an engagement session to select clothing and venue. Your wedding day photography should be scheduled as part of your day and not an afterthought. Photography doesn’t have to be an inconvenience – it can be a fun and integral part of your day.
- It may sound strange, but not all wedding photographers are the same and not all photographers are right for every client. If your wedding photographer meets with you and finds out what he’s looking for and then tells you that he doesn’t think he’s a good fit for you, it may be surprising, but it’s nothing personal. Wouldn’t you rather be a professional and honest about it than try to change it to suit your needs? Sometimes photographers realize that what they specialize in is not the same as what a client wants. Photographers don’t want to make you unhappy, and if a wedding photographer thinks you might be happier with a different style of photography or a different situation, we’ll tell you before you book so you won’t be disappointed later.
- Price is NOT the most important factor when choosing a wedding photographer – you definitely get what you pay for. Photography is like anything else in life: you get what you pay for. It is not logical to think that you can hire someone for little or no money and get the same results that you would if you had spent twice what you paid for. Price is normally a factor when it comes to quality. The photographers who charge the most are often backed by their reputation, their brand, and their experience. You also need to understand that your photos will become the lasting memory of your wedding day. There are two things you should spend money on for your wedding, it should be your venue and your photography. People probably won’t remember the food, you’ll only wear your dress once, and most other things aren’t big investments anyway (flowers, music, makeup). You will be looking at your wedding photos regularly, perhaps even every day, for the rest of your life. Shouldn’t your wedding photos be great?
- Your wedding photography studio must be insured and licensed as a legal business. Many places actually require insurance from the vendors that work there. Camera equipment is expensive and you should ensure that your photographer is fully insured by a reputable insurance company to ensure that you are protected. Many photographers are just individuals with cameras and maybe a nifty website. Make sure your photographer is backed by a legal and legitimate company.
- Your wedding photographer should have a backup team and a backup plan. Required: Cameras with two memory card slots that can be written to simultaneously in case one card fails, backup cameras and lenses, a data backup plan that includes offsite backups, and a disaster plan. Protect your investment. If your photographer only has one camera, it’s not enough.
- Multiple photographers with your package are much better for you than having just one. Your wedding photographer should have several photographers on staff in case someone gets sick or God forbid is injured. A lone photographer cannot be in enough places at once to possibly adequately cover a wedding day. For all but the smallest weddings, the wedding photographer must have at least one photographer and an assistant/second photographer. Anything less and you’ll miss out on important moments, angles, and opportunities.
- Your wedding photographer should NOT throw a photo disc at you and disappear after the wedding day. Some photographers will sell you a disk of high-resolution photos, give them to you and that’s it. Your wedding photographer must provide value-added services and products after your wedding day, for example, photo books or albums, photo prints, and wall art. Other services that you should look for are viewings and studio selection, retouching and editing services, and gift options. A photographer taking photos for a record will give you a result that is a completely different set of photos than a photographer taking photos with an album in mind or to create a work of art. You’ll get a better selection of photos from a photographer focused on fine art and an heirloom album than one who will shoot and burn a disc for you and call it a day. Do you really want to spend time and money designing your own album? Probably not. Make sure your photographer gives you personal use rights to the images, but you don’t need raw files or ultra-high-resolution photos if your wedding photographer designs for you an amazing photo book, gives you a disc of JPG digital negatives and offers print, artwork, and design options after the wedding. Consider what you really need and talk to your photographer about what they offer.
If you choose a wedding photographer you get along with, whose portfolio or sample photos you enjoy, who offers the products you want, and who you feel you can trust, your wedding photography experience should be a positive one.
Photography is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your wedding, and you owe it to yourself and your future legacy to invest in selecting a good wedding photographer over the cheapest photographer you can find.
