Story | Simon Boucher-Harris
Finding the right photographer can be a daunting and overwhelming task, and it can be hard to know where to start from the thousands of wedding specialists available. Here are a few tips to help to narrow down your choice of photographer and ensure you capture beautiful memories of your big day.
Where to Look
Social media, personal and wedding vendor recommendations combined with online reviews are great choices to begin your search, and websites such as the Wedding Photojournalist Association, (WPJA.com), and mywed.com also have extensive wedding photographer directories.
Budget for and Use a Professional
A bit nepotistic coming from a professional photographer I know, but bear with me. Wedding Photography is one of the most stressful and challenging forms of photography even for an experienced professional. In addition to obviously being creative you must be meticulously organised, affable, versatile and highly proficient with camera, lighting and editing to capture beautiful images under all conditions—usually under extreme time pressure. And you only get one chance. Please don’t be tempted to ask the friend with the gorgeous (and ruthlessly curated) Instagram feed, the relation with the ‘nice camera’ or a less expensive newcomer—you might get a few good shots but certainly not at the level and volume of an experienced professional, and it definitely won’t be a smooth and stress-free process.
In years to come these images will likely be the most treasured family keepsakes of your special day and that’s too much to risk taking a gamble.
Book Early
Top wedding photographers can be booked up years in advance. As soon as you’ve an approximate idea of the date and location of your special day you should be contacting your top choices enquiring on availability.
Define Your Style
• Start by looking at different styles of photography. Do you prefer more candid relaxed images, more formal posed shots, or a blend of the two? Do you prefer a more classical editing style or a more contemporary feel? Light and airy or darker and more sumptuous? Every wedding photographer has their own style in the way they frame, capture, retouch and edit their images so shortlist the ones that stand-out to you the most.
• Look at the way the photos are edited and retouched; do they look natural? Retouching is an art-form in itself and can make or break a photo. If something looks unnatural, people have strange skin tones or texture or you even suspect the use of A.I.—Trust your gut, you don’t have to be an expert to know when an image feels overly manipulated or heavily edited.
• What is their approach on the day? Do you want a photographer with a more unobtrusive ‘documentary’ style or someone that is great at posing people and staging more formal shots? Again, the very best photographers will be able to do both.
• Think about the location and time of your wedding—will you be both inside and outside during your special day? If so, look for photographers that excel at shooting in both natural light and with external flash. If you’re just going to be inside then the natural-light only photographer is not going to be the best choice.
• Look for the storytellers. The best photographers will capture a beautiful record of your day, from start to finish, that feels cohesive and creative as a whole.
The Next Steps
Once you have narrowed down your choice to 8-10:
• Contact the photographer to check availability, most wedding photographers get booked-up sometimes years in advance and weekends and the summer season are obviously the most popular times to tie-the-knot. This will likely reduce your choice to less than half a dozen available photographers.
• Dive deeper. A photographer’s Instagram and Facebook pages will be highly curated to only show their very best work as will their website portfolio. A number of these images may have been created in-studio or on a workshop with professional models, and whilst beautiful, are created under perfect conditions and may not an accurate representation of what will be delivered. Social media and sites give you a great feel for the style and quality of the photography however always ask to view ‘real-world’ images from a previous wedding to see what will be delivered.
Define Your Budget Early
There’s an old saying in the photographer world, “good photography isn’t cheap and cheap photography isn’t good”, and such is doubly true in the world of wedding photographers.
You’re not just paying for the day, you’re paying for the years of experience, training and equipment needed to get the best images possible in all situations. The fee will also include preparation, editing and retouching as well as correspondence with the client. Professional photographers are estimated to work 9 hours for every hour shooting and the price will reflect this. If your dream choice is straining your budget maybe check if they’ll cover just part of the day—it’s better to have a great photographer for a few hours than an average one all day.
What’s Included in the Price?
Look beyond the headline package prices and check what’s included, some notable elements to look for are:
• Does the package include a pre-wedding consultation and shoot? This is a vital element for both you and the prospective photographer to ensure you are compatible, both stylistically and in personalities.
• Does the price include a second photographer for the wedding day? The standard for most wedding photographers is to have a ‘ second shooter’/assistant to capture additional angles and as a backup.
• Is tax included?
• In addition to digital delivery and memory sticks are any printed wedding albums included in the price? Also ask to see an example to gauge quality and future additional costs. How much are additional memory sticks or other printed products such as framed prints or invitations and thank-you cards etc.?
Assign A Helper, (or Three)
The photographer will have a lot of organising to do and questions on the day, especially when it comes to group or staged shots. We won’t know who Aunt Mavis or Uncle Yue are and rounding guests up for photos takes a great deal of time. To make the process as smooth and efficient as possible ask a few members of the wedding party who know the most guests to help act as ushers / people wranglers, and be a point of contact for the photographers.
Have A Shot List with Timings
Your wedding day will likely be a whirl of activity and it is easy to miss shots that you’ll want covered, therefore having a list of key photos, with timings, will be invaluable for yourselves and the photographer. For the smaller group images it’s a good idea to let your guests know in advance to make themselves available at that time and where to be—a huge amount of time can be lost trying to track down wayward cousins etc. This is also where assigning guests to help will pay dividends, (see above).
Destination Wedding? Go Local or Bring A Photographer?
I would recommend bringing a photographer from your home location as you will not be able to have the vital in-person interaction prior to your wedding, and you will have much more choice in deciding exactly the style you prefer.
Getting the Best from Your Photographer, Some Final Tips:
A stressed, exhausted or hungry photographer is not a happy photographer.
• Have a secure space to store gear—unless you want your photographer walking around like a mobile branch of Best-Buy, and collapsing under the strain, allocate a room or secure area that can be used as a base.
• Introduce the photographer to the wedding planner and other key support prior to the event. There will be a lot of coordination and questions, and this reduces the need to disturb you on the day. A few emails or a quick conversation prior to the wedding can make a big difference to how smoothly your day runs.
• Ask guests to keep their phones and cameras away as much as possible during ceremonies and to stay at their seats—you would not believe how many shots are ruined by people holding up phones, (or even iPads!), during these events or blocking the photographer.
• Your creative teams will be on their feet all day, rushing around behind-the-scenes to ensure your big day runs a smoothly as possible, build breaks for them into the schedule.
• Try to resist cutting time from the photography. All weddings have issues with time-keeping and it’s usually the time for photographs that gets trimmed. No-one will remember if dinner started 15 mins late, but you will regret missing images from the day.
And Finally…
• Don’t forget to Include us in the catering plans! Once your guests have started their meal is a great time to allow a break and arrange food for your photographic team—people eating never makes for good photos, (it’s also a good way to get your banquet choices photographed without disturbing guests!)
