Simple Steps choosing a wedding Photographer
Your wedding photographer should capture every detail of your big day. From your place card holders to your hair accessories and your makeup applications, it’s your photographer’s responsibility to capture it all. This way, you don’t have to rely completely on memory.
Invest in the right wedding photographer as your photos are one of the most important aspects of your big day.
5 Points to pay attention too
First Things First!
You’ve just gotten engaged! Congratulations!!! Now that the diamond is glittering happily on your wedding finger and you’ve enjoyed all the celebrations with your friends and family… It’s time to start the wedding planning!
1. It pays to have the best
While you can get a good deal with a photographer who’s new to the industry, you do need to find someone you trust to get it right. Perfection comes with experience.
Remember to get your budget sorted out before reaching out to wedding photographers and be prepared to break the bank if you find a photographer whose work you really love
Remember you get what you pay
A photographer with more than 30 years’ experience attending a wedding with a 100k’s worth of equipment is surely worth something compared to a family friend with a camera dabbling in natural light photography because he has not have a flash…get the picture
2. Browse your photographer’s portfolio
Look through the portfolio of any photographer you’re considering. You won’t just be looking for examples of the weddings they’ve captured. You’ll also be looking at their different styles and approaches. When you find the photos that resonate with you, you’ve found your style and photographer.
Ask your photographer to see completed wedding albums and peruse his website and get his referrals from recent weddings so you can get personal feedback from recent brides ,
You need to look for someone whose work is constant. Someone who is talented enough to create a number of WOW moments throughout the entireYou need to look for someone whose work is constant. Someone who is talented enough to create a number of WOW moments throughout the entire wedding day. Not someone who has put together 30 beautiful wedding photographs from thousands of weddings
Don’t just trust Facebook as a trustworthy source any image looks nice with a cell phone back light , see and experience the real product ,that way you will see first hand what you are paying for.
Don’t Be Afraid to ASK
Please don’t be shy about asking a wedding photographer to send you on the FULL WEDDING SET from a wedding day shoot. If a wedding photographer refuses this request it’s a very worrying sign.
3. Decide on the right style
A professional photographer distinguishes all the subtleties of shooting a wedding. They’ll know exactly when to photograph your groom as he first sees you walking down the aisle, how to achieve the perfect confetti shot, and what to do in the event of rain. A creative and flexible approach often results in the most breathtaking and brilliant wedding photographs.
But you as an Bride need to decide on what style you are after
documentary, fine art, natural, contemporary, traditional”.
4. The plan
After you have ticked all the above boxes the magic of your photos will depend on how you “gel” with your photographer ! if there is no magic it will show on the photos….
Make sure you know your photographer plan for the day …and is there a back up plan…just incase..lol
Everything from your chosen venue to the time of year will affect your wedding photographs. If you’ve got your heart set on certain shots, like couple’s portraits at sunset or a sparkler send-off photo, then you need to talk it through with your photographer. Make sure you do get your monies worth so inform you photographer of everything you want.
Remember more often than not, your photographer will offer a pre-wedding shoot to help you both gauge what kind of shots you want. It makes taking the photos on your big day that bit quicker and more efficient.
Make sure that the photographer and you have an understanding on what you need , should the photographer have a hourly package what time from when to when he will be needed , what will happen to his set time schedule if you are delayed for whatever reason , how long will it take to finish the order, what is his take on posting photos on Social media , when will you get a preview .
Can you decide on images used in albums en is there a guarantee on the goods. And make sure that when you book a photographer you book the said Person and not someone in his company .
Also Looking at how your wedding photographs will be delivered after your wedding day is another area that deserves consideration
5. One last thing “ The Editing Style”
It’s very important to see if you like the wedding photographers editing style.
You might have seen wedding photography that has become very dark and almost muddy in style. Perhaps they are going for a moody look?
Pinterest is great to see all the latest trends and I see a lot of wedding photos in other wedding photographer’s portfolios. Some wedding photographers have a brown, blue or a green look to their wedding photographs. Some other samples I have seen have real colours with very little editing.
Also maybe you have seen wedding photographs where the wedding photographer has used black and white photos but has gone for a blue and green tint. An interesting approach!
There are cases where the wedding photographs are shot very bright photos some others take a dark approach.
Choose the style that you like the most and the style that you would like to have printed on your wall in your sitting room.
I always recommend that brides and grooms go for classical and timeless editing styles so that the wedding photographs stand the test of time. That’s my personal recommendation.
Those funny color tints and special seasonal light room presets will soon be outdated , keep in mind so that it does not happen to your wedding memories, classic well exposed color corrected images are still the best.
Don’t be a genuie pig for an upcoming photographer , make sure you make plenty backups of your wedding images , ensure your photographer deliver the image in full resolution and Dear bride and groom please give the photographer credit wherever you use his images your memories.
