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How to Choose a Wedding Photographer
While my area of expertise is nature and landscape photography I have dabbled in
virtually all other forms of photography. I’ve worked, for a time in almost
every genre. Since I have some experience and I’ve also had the experience of
getting married I thought it was about time to address finding a wedding
photographer.
It’s big business now and could be a larger percentage of your wedding budget if
you let it. There is more than the budget though and I’m not really going to
address that issue here. My only advice is check the market going rate and make
sure you’re setting a realistic cost and stick to it.
When choosing a wedding photographer there a few things you need to consider.
Style, Focus, and type of photos you want.
Style is just that the style of the photographer. There is the classic style,
very posed and standard. I’ll call it modern classic, my photographer did this.
Posed shots but not the traditional poses and a focus on capturing moments and
emotions. Journalist, this is a new style and very cool too. They treat your
wedding more like a press event and their focus is on capturing emotions and
moments. You won’t get any the set up poses here. Highly artistic, they usually
use a mix of poses and candids but the shots are highly staged and there may be
few taken of your actual wedding ceremony and more done after where your
recreate moments in a highly artistic view, usually the view of the
photographer. Candid, usually this isn’t so much a professional photographers
style, but happens when you decide to use family, friends, and those little
disposable cameras. Can give you great results and shots you’d never expect but
you can also get shots of somebody drunk doing something really embarrassing.
So first you need to decide which style fits your personality and what you want
from your photos. I was lucky to work with a wedding coordinator who
pre-screened photographers and then all I had to do was look at their portfolios
and pick the style I liked. If you can’t do this visit at least one photographer
in each style that you’re considering. Make sure you like the person that you’re
working with too. If you don’t get along how on earth can you get along with
them on your most stressful day.
Focus this is sort of a subset of style. Some
photographers emphasize posed shots. Others balance their work. Some rely
heavily on candid or moments type photos.
When I did a few weddings, while I did the standard poses and shots of the
ceremony. I really enjoyed capturing the little moments during the reception or
just after the ceremony when the bride and groom were so happy at just being
pronounced man and wife. It was great to focus on emotions and looks, and those
wonderful happy dreamy gazes.
You’ll need to pay attention to focus as much as style. Do you want mostly posed
shots or do you want those moments captured. Probably most photographers are
really good and balancing the two.
Type of photos. Do you want digital images. Large
photos for your wall. What about a cd of your proofs. This is more of a product
issue but think about the end product that you want. When I was married digital
wasn’t really an option but I knew that I wanted all my proofs and a few large
prints. Some photographers have it all now but look at what their speciality is
everyday. If they’re using a digital camera all the time then digital is their
specialty and getting large prints may not be feasible. (Depending on the
technology they have at their studio of course.) If they are using medium format
film then large wall prints are easy but getting a cd copy of your prints may
not be something they normally do. Try to decide where you want the best product
result and go from there.
Lastly give your photographer specific requests and directions but remember he
or she can’t force great aunt sally or old family friend george in or out of
photos. Every photographer will do their best to accommodate all your wishes but
he is dealing with human beings. And don’t forget that if you’ve chosen this
photographer you’ve also chosen their style of work, don’t second guess them or
tell them what to do. You’ve got to trust that they are going to do a good job
for you. Enjoy your day and be prepared to see some wonderful photography when
you get home.
Copyright 2007 Kelly Paal
Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting
nationally and internationally. She started her own business Kelly Paal
Photography. She has an educational background in photography, business, and
commercial art. Please visit www.kellypaalphotography.com for more FREE how to
articles.
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