Let’s face it: your wedding day is going to fly by. Might as well have kick-awesome photos to make those memories last.
1. Pictures. At the end of your special day, your newly joined families will have spectacular memories and pictures. That’s it. Choosing the right photographer is a heavily weighted decision and is imperative to ensuring that your memories are captured flawlessly. Now, this may sound obvious, but I cannot stress enough: view your photographer’s photos! Not only their select portfolio images, but also take some time to study some full-length weddings. Any well-garnished photographer will be happy to show you their full-featured work.
2. Style. How do you want your day captured? Make sure to discuss style, direction, and presentation with your photographer prior to booking. Just because you loved their portfolio, doesn’t mean you will also enjoy their workflow. Do you want someone who will take charge during the day? Or someone who will shoot National Geographic style from a distance?
3. Workflow. Know how your photographer works. Let’s face it: your wedding day is going to fly by. The last thing you want is someone you can’t stand, following you around all day and organizing photos for you. Choose a photographer that you like to be around. A great way to find out the workflow of your photographer is to schedule an engagement shoot with them. Prior to signing your wedding contract, test the waters with an engagement shoot. This is also beneficial to do so that you personally know your photographer prior to your event. It will put you at ease on your wedding day to know what to expect as far as picture-taking goes and how your photographer handles posing, interaction, etc.
4. Budget. This is a tough one. How do you put a price on precious wedding memories? You want stellar photos, but don’t want to pay more than necessary. What do you do? In truth, you can get photographers for $10,000+ base rates or you can get ones for free on Craigslist. Choose the photographer that is not only within a comfortable price zone, but also the one that will work with you, not for you. You need someone who is flexible and envisions your day the way you want it to be captured, not they way they want it.
5. Details. What is included in their contract? When will the photos be ready? How will you get the photos? Will you own the photos after you sign, or is that an additional fee to obtain? Know exactly what you are getting before you book. Photographers should include a website gallery as well as full photography print, duplication, and distribution rights with every photography package. Think about it, you are paying top dollar for someone to show up and shoot your event, the least they can do is provide all the images and their associated rights that they took throughout the day.
6. Small vs Big business. The smart way to approach the wedding scene is to use small businesses instead of big ones. Lots of big photography companies focus on volume instead of quality. Not only that, with bigger companies, you could randomly be issued a photographer for your wedding day. You literally get anyone. Even if you work with a larger company and you get to choose your photographer, odds are you can find some of those photographers for even cheaper through their own small business. Any photographer that works for wedding studios would rather book your wedding for themselves because they get a larger portion of the profit.
So not only can you potentially get more bang for your buck by choosing an independent photographer, you’ll also be supporting small business. Working with a private photographer is also a smarter idea because you will receive a lot more attention to detail and flexibility when it comes to the overall demeanor of shooting your day. Ultimately, you want someone who truly cares about shooting your wedding, not someone who is there to “do their job” or cookie-cut their shots from other weddings. The last thing you want is someone going through the motions instead of focusing on creatively capturing your day.
