photo education fridays | how to find the perfect wedding photographer.

It’s no surprise that planning a wedding is a very difficult process. Most people are doing this for the first time and questions arise all over the place. How do I pick a venue? How much money should I save? How many people should I invite? Indoor, outdoor, fall, spring, how do I choose? Us wedding vendors chat with hundreds of brides and potential clients throughout the year. As a photographer, I receive countless questions on price, style, wedding timelines, etc and I realize that it is my duty to help educate brides and grooms on how this whole process works. While there are a lot of generalized planning magazines and blogs out there with a wealth of information, sometimes those “What to ask your photographer” lists aren’t as helpful as you think they should be. I’m starting a series on this blog called “Photo Education Fridays” that should answer a lot of questions starting with the initial booking process all the way to receiving your final products. So here goes!

Today’s topic will focus on starting from the very beginning. Once engaged, how do you find the perfect photographer to photograph your big day? There are zillions of photographers out there. From your cousin who just bought her first DSLR to the seasoned professional to your Instagram-happy best friend, everyone is a photographer. The advancement of digital photography has made it so that almost anyone can pick up a DSLR, set it to auto, and capture a fairly decent photograph. Editing software on our phones and computers has become more affordable and makes it easy for us to give our photos “style”. My hope is that this series will clear up a lot of questions about professional photographers and show you why it’s worth to spend the extra money on someone who does this for a living.

So where do you find YOUR photographer? Well, starting early is good. Most photographers book popular dates (July, August, September here in the Northwest) at least a year in advance. So let’s get started! A web search is a good place to start, but there are so many resources to help you find the perfect photographer. Other places you can search are websites that are helpful for wedding planning in your area. Seattle Bride Magazine is one that we have here. They have a printed publication and a website with loads of helpful information and interviews with vendors. Check out their website here. There are also hundreds of wedding blogs and websites specifically devoted to giving you inspiration for your big day. While some cater to certain states or regions, there are a lot that offer advice and inspiration for wedding planning across the country. They also have catalogs of vendors (including photographers) that you can browse through. A few great blogs that come to mind are Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake, Green Wedding Shoes, Ruffled, Wedding Chicks, Once Wed, Grey Likes Weddings, Mountainside Bride, Snippet & Ink, really the list goes on. Also check out The Knot and Wedding Wire for a larger selection and a place to build a wedding website for your guests to find information about your event. The best part is that once you find your photographer, you can continue using these sites for tons of ideas and information on planning your big day.

A great place to find photographers is by asking your friends who photographed their wedding. They will provide a lot of insight on how the photographer communicates, photographs, their style, and whether they were happy with their final product. You can also ask your wedding venue or other vendors that you have already hired for your wedding whether they have worked well with certain photographers. While it isn't necessary for a photographer to have worked with a specific vendor to do a great job, photographers that have a good working relationship with other vendors can help make the day run more smoothly. Another place to meet photographers is at bridal shows. While these can be overwhelming, you can meet a large amount of photographers in person and collect a lot of information all from one place. They will usually have their sample wedding albums and products on display and you can sometimes take advantage of show specials. I found a great list of wedding shows in the Northwest on Simply Organized Bride. 

Okay let’s move on to one of the big topics – style. You will want to find a photographer that actually fits your style. Back in the day, wedding photos were very “posed”. (Check out your parents’ wedding album.) In the 90s, photojournalism was very popular, where the photographer essentially acted as a fly on the wall, documenting the whole event from afar. Now, most photographers have combined those two ideas to create more of a wedding day story, intermingled with posed and non-posed photos. That way you can make grandma and grandpa happy when you present them with a traditional family portrait of everyone smiling into the lens but also have those fun, emotional moments captured when you didn’t even know anyone was clicking the shutter. There are also different styles of editing. There are three different styles that I can generally break this down to. Clean, Matte, and Contrast. Not every style can fit perfectly into one of these categories, but at least you can get a basic idea of what's out there. Clean images have little editing once the photos are uploaded to the computer. Maybe a little skin smoothing, white balance, and a tiny bit of contrast, but overall the images will look very similar to what you were seeing the day of the event. Matte has little contrast and is reminiscent of film photography. The blacks are not quite black and the white looks a big brighter. Contrast is comprised of dark blacks and white whites with colors that pop. Sometimes they will have a bit of an HDR or “chrome” effect. All three of these styles can work great for any environment, it’s just a matter of what you like. Think about what you’d like to be looking back at 20 years from now and go with that.

From left to right - photography styles Clean, Matte & Contrast

Once you’ve checked out photographers’ websites and chosen those that edit and shoot in the style that you like, it’s time to start sending out emails. Phone calls work too, but email is usually the best and quickest way to get in touch. Fill out their contact form on their website or email them directly. The main goals of that email are to find out first, if the photographer is available, and second, if you can afford to hire them. Make sure to include as many details as possible in your email – the date of your wedding, the location, and how you heard about them are all very helpful. You will also want to ask what their prices start at and if it would be possible to set up a meeting with them. As you will find from looking around, most photographers do not post their pricing on their website. Why is that do you ask? Well, every photographer is different. Really, they aren’t trying to hustle you into something, they just want to meet with you in person to show you everything they have to offer before you start shopping solely on price. A big part of choosing a photographer is finding someone that you trust and feel comfortable with. You are, after all  spending an entire day with them and months of communication before and after the wedding. You will also want to make sure that you like their products and can get you want out of working with that photographer. You will have to decide if you want a wedding album, digital files, prints, etc before you set up that initial meeting so you know what questions to ask. We will talk more about that when we discuss the initial meeting.

So how do you know what to spend on wedding photography? This can be a controversial topic but in the end it’s completely up to you. The Seattle area is loaded with talented photographers and most of them start at no less than $2500 for the bare minimum. What you have to remember is that while that sounds like a lot, your photographer puts loads of love and work into your photos. They spend several days after your wedding uploading and editing files and designing wedding albums. They purchase the highest quality cameras and lenses so that they are able to capture low-light moments without the need of a flash all the time. They need insurance, business licenses, assistants, accountants, a car, and all of the other things that normal businesses need. Hiring a professional photographer is an investment. Unfortunately weddings go by way too fast on the day of but after everything has passed, you can always go back and look at your photos to feel the emotions from those memories all over again. The right photographer will make sure you have an beautiful set of photos to look back on for years to come and will be worth every penny.

Hopefully at this point you now have an understanding of the amazing number of resources you have for finding a photographer for your wedding. You should probably get in touch with 5-10 photographers asking them about their availability and pricing. Make sure you make a note of which ones were your absolute favorites! Once you hear back, set up an in-person meeting with them either at their studio or a coffee shop. If you are planning a destination wedding, give them a day and time that is good for you to either talk on the phone or Skype. This meeting will give you a lot of insight to their pricing, style, and personality. Next week we will talk about all of the perfect questions to ask your potential photographer during that meeting. Stay tuned and have a great weekend.