How to Choose a Wedding Photographe

Unlike the band, the cake, the decoration and other suppliers of your wedding, photography is something that you cannot hear, eat or even see until the moment you receive your album with the photos of the big day.

Therefore, careful and anticipated research on the professional skills, artistic style and personal behavior of the photographers you consider hiring is extremely important when choosing them.

The purpose of this post is to help you get married to choose the photographer who will register your wedding with dedication and quality and who will exceed your expectations when delivering your work of art.

RESEARCH ON PHOTOGRAPHER AND DIFFERENT STYLES

I seem redundant when saying this, but believe that many brides do not research the photographer and end up following only the indication of ceremonialists or close friends, which despite being important, should be taken with care.

As your taste can be quite different, research your Wedding Photographer on your own and hire the one that best fits what you want.

Start your search on Google and read recent comments from brides about the services provided on the Google+ and Facebook page. Check your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages too; Is customer feedback good? How does he respond to criticisms that may exist?

Carefully review the photographers’ website for photos of other weddings he has photographed , which will give you an idea of ??his style.

The website design can also give you clues about the photographer’s personality and sensitivity, after all the website is the photographer’s home / office on the internet.

There are many styles of wedding photography and you need to be sure of what you want, as the photographer will not be able to transform your style to please you.

Photojournalist: This style of photographer will photograph your wedding spontaneously. He will not invite you to pose or look at the camera. You will be surprised by the photos because most of the time you will not notice that you are being photographed (o).

We have this style, but neither do we give up the photos posed with your brothers, parents, grandparents and groomsmen, as these photos are important for the family and for you.

Classic: If you want an album like your mother or grandmother ‘s wedding , this style of photographer is the best choice. It will make more posed and elaborate photos, with a more classic style and which is still very much in demand today. So, if you want posed photos, choose a photographer with that style.

A Google search with the terms WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER + NAME OF YOUR CITY will show you the links to the website of the best photographers in your city.

Enter the site of each one and watch the wedding and e-session photos they took a lot until you find the one that the style, be it traditional or photojournalism, pleases you more!

See if you like the treatment he applies to the photos, if the effects please you, if the editing is careful, etc …

Set a Maximum Budget

There are photographers who have a higher value, because they study a lot and use high quality equipment to create impactful and unique images in addition to having something more to
deliver.

But there are also photographers with more affordable value and who deliver quality that in some cases even surpasses that of the most expensive professional, but these are rare.

The secret is to research and discover the work of each wedding photographer . And keep in mind that price and value don’t mix when it comes to art.

R $ 10 thousand for being considered a low value for the most important memories of your family, just take a family album and take a look to see the value that those photographs have.

Prices can vary considerably, and you don’t want to waste your time scheduling a meeting with someone who is not within your budget.

On the other hand, if the price is “too good to be true”, it is more likely that this photographer is not a good professional.

The golden rule is that “cost is something that can normally be negotiated, quality is not”.

Pay a visit to the pre-chosen

Choosing your photographer is not something that can be done at home alone – you must know your potential photographers personally. If you like what you see on your sites, your values ??are within your budget and they have your date available, visit them.

If the photographer is already busy on his date, you can ask if he can recommend another friend with a similar style.

Make face- to- face meetings with at least two potential photographers who are available on your wedding date to look more at your work and assess your personalities.

Be prepared to talk about your location, your wedding style and what you envision for your photos.

At the meeting, observe the consistency of the images, see if they look beautiful printed on the albums as they were on the website, if they are creative, if the quality is maintained or decreased in different events. Consistency is very important, analyze it well!

See also if you feel comfortable and have an affinity with the photographer, as he will accompany you for almost a whole day and nothing better than a nice person to be at your side photographing.

Ask about the photographer’s team.

Many great photographers have more than one photographer on the team, and unless you specify in your contract, the main photographer who attracted you by his name in the market, may not be at your wedding.

Since each professional has a different style, technique and personality, you need to make sure that what you talk about personally is present at your wedding.

Also, include specific provisions in the contract about who will replace the photographer if something happens on the day.

Check if the photographer will bring any assistants to your wedding, and if so, how many? If you have space in your budget, consider hiring a second photographer.

Many high-level photographers include a second photographer in the contract, but if that’s not a part of the deal, you may want to ask about the possibility.

The main advantage of having two photographers is that you will obviously get twice as much coverage.

For example, during your formal photo session, one photographer can capture formal photos, while the second one can get behind-the-scenes, spontaneous photos, as your guests have fun.

If you are organizing a larger wedding (250 people or more), you may even want to ask about the possibility of having three photographers.

For good wedding coverage, at least two photographers are needed, as many special moments happen simultaneously in different places.

Ask questions about deadlines

Ask about the delivery deadlines of the material, see the contractual responsibilities that he is obliged to fulfill.

Check if he foresees fines in case of delay in delivery of the album and photos without plausible justification and if all the services and options he promises are described in the contract.

Compare VALUE, not price!

Don’t compare photographers’ prices until you’re sure what you want, how many albums you need, what extra services you want.

It is important to find out what is included in the photographer’s base package, in addition to the base price for any extras you might want, such as a pre-wedding session, extra photographers, album replicas or making of, so that you have objective criteria when comparing the values ??between two professionals of the same technical level.

Finding out exactly how many hours of coverage are included in coverage is also important for a more accurate comparison of values.

After gathering all this data, compare them and see what is most advantageous.

But a tip I think is crucial: NEVER CHOOSE MAINLY FOR THE LOWEST PRICE. See the value of work! Value and price have different meanings when it comes to art.

The quality of the photographer’s work and his empathy with her are much more important, trust me.

Hire the e-session

If you can, hire the e-session (pre-wedding session) , you will get used to the photographer and vice versa.

This is vitally important, because on D-day a stranger will not arrive to record a love story, but someone you have had at least two previous moments. In this way, things will flow more naturally.

Anyway, choosing a good photographer for your wedding or mini wedding , the one that will make you sigh when you see the photos, is not easy without a lot of research and observation of details, so the tip that sums it up is: research a lot and choose the best you can because your marriage is unique.

I hope these tips are useful. If so, share it with your friends who are getting married.

Thank you!