January 25, 2016 /
Choosing a Wedding Photographer Pt 1 | The Images
The number one question that we get asked most frequently when people find out that we’re still engaged and not married yet is easily, “so who’s going to be your wedding photographer?” The simple, completely honest answer to that question is that we don’t know yet. We’ve started to work on choosing a wedding photographer by starting a list of our favorites, and are slowly working through it . Since we’ve been wedding photographers for several years now we’re kind of in a unique position, because we know what our clients expect from us (and what we do and give them), and we expect the very same thing, if not more, from our photographer. We often get asked what we’re looking for in our photographer, and over the next few weeks we thought we would share that with you in a new series on our blog. Not so you can help us look, but because maybe it will help you narrow down your choice as well.
Choosing a Wedding Photographer Tip #1 | The Images.
This might seem like the most obvious thing to look for, but believe it or not, it’s often one thing that gets completely overlooked when looking at wedding photographers. These are going to be your wedding photos that are around for generations to come, that will be passed down to your family. That’s a pretty big deal! You want your images to be the very best that they can be, and for that reason, sometimes you have to look a little bit deeper, past all of the glitz and glam, filters, and haze and trends that are filling the photography world right now.
Take a good hard look at those photos, and ask yourself these questions:
- Quality: Is the quality good? Are the photos too light or dark, blue or orange? Super grainy? Professional prints are made to be archival and last hundreds of years, but you want to be sure that you’re starting with a good quality image. Everyone wants a second shooter on their wedding day, but make sure that the second shooter’s images are going to be the same quality and just as good as the main shooter.
- Style: Does the photographer shoot in a style that fits what you’re looking for? You don’t want to hire someone to shoot your wedding that’s going to give you hazy and blown out images if what you want is dramatic, vibrant, colorful images.
- Cleanliness: I’m not talking about thumbprints on albums here. Take a look at the poses of the people in the photos. Do they look awkward? Are they showing their best features? Better yet, look at the backgrounds of the images. Is the background clean or is it filled with trashcans, random people, stoplights, etc.? You want your images to be very clean and classic.
- Uniqueness: This is a big one to me. We work so hard to give all of our clients images that they haven’t seen before, or that aren’t like everyone else’s. I want the same thing for my wedding photographer! I don’t want my wedding photos to look like all of the other wedding photos on their website! Same style, yes. Same field and locations, and poses, definitely not. Make sure your photographer can give you the unique images that really fit your personality and what you’re looking for from your wedding day.
So how can you make sure that the images are really as good as the photographer says they are? Most photographers will only show the very best of their very best on their website and portfolio. To really see what your photographer is made of ask to see an entire wedding day gallery. Not just the album or blog images, or those on the website, but an entire wedding day, from start to finish. It may take a few minutes, but take your time to look through the gallery. You may be surprised at what you find!
Check back next week for Tip #2: The Final Product.