Tips for Photographer Shopping

Selecting a photographer for one of the most important events in your life is not a task to be taken lightly. And quite frankly, it can be a pretty stressful decision process. You want a photographer that captures just the right moments from just the right angle in just the right lighting. You want this person to capture emotions, small touches, and interactions. And a moment missed is a moment missed. You can’t recreate it or recapture it.

You also have to consider style. Each photographer has a different style, a different eye, and a different end product. As somebody untrained in photography, I don’t know hot to tell somebody who seems to capture the right moments that her pictures are too dark and serious. All I know to do is pick the person who has pictures in their portfolio that I like.

And finally, the most important factor in picking any vendor for your wedding is how to they impact your budget. You can find photographers, especially people trying to build their portfolio, that will do your wedding for $500. You can find somebody that has pretty good experience, who will do your wedding for $1,000. Or you can find somebody that’s an excellent photographer, that will have a starting wedding package at $2,000. This is when it’s important to weigh what you want with what you can afford. I have spent hours and hours and hours researching photographers, sending emails, and requesting information. I have my top five but I haven’t been able to find the balance of desires versus budget as yet.

A couple of photographers have provided me with some great insight while doing my search for a wedding photographer. These are some bits of advice that I may not have known otherwise.

From Nafa at Judah Avenue Photography when discussing dark, serious pictures versus light, quirky pictures:
[Sometimes] darkness or richness is added in post production and is called contrast or saturation and can be emphasized when set against a dark background. Sometimes it can also occur if exposure is not properly managed but [a photographer can also…] enhance colors in post production by increasing saturation. My personal preference is for fresh, vibrant and crisp photos, some other people like dark, moody and dramatic. Sometimes I just ask brides to let me know what style of picture retouching they like, send me sample photos, and I just duplicate it for them with Photoshop.

I wanted to leave you with a few things to look out for when picking a photographer. Look for someone who has an eye to capture special moments and the creativity to enhance them. For example, there are many ways to shoot a couple on a mere simple street by use of special angles, camera effects, positioning etc. A good professional will use the street itself as a great prop to tell a beautiful picture while a more conventional photographer will only shoot you standing there on the street. Colors can be adjusted during editing to produce the desired effect. It is much better to choose a photographer on their ability to take a good picture rather than on the editing process because you can always find someone who’s editing style you like to process your pictures however you will not be able to retake those photos after the day is gone. This is where photographers are sometimes able to negotiate because, for example, after shooting the wedding, I may offer to retouch or edit only 10 pictures for an $800 package or edit 35 for a $1500 package, it varies.

From Carmen Wang from Carmen Wang Studio offers the following advice for shopping for a wedding photographer:
It is your BIG day and you have to trust your photographer to capture every precious moment for you. There is no second chance to re-shoot so it is REALLY important to choose the right photographer. Here are some tips to help you:

1. Consistency. Hire a photographer with for more than 10 wedding photography experience. Make sure that you have seen at least 3 complete weddings from the photographer. Each wedding must have at least 100 high quality shots. This will REALLY give you an idea of what the photographer will offer for your wedding. Having a few romantic posed shots are totally
different from weddings which are fast-paced and allow no re-shooting.

2. Low light shots. Most reception places and churches are dark. Plus no flash is allowed during certain ceremonies. Make sure you check low-light photos or night photos in such conditions by the photographer; this is always the best indication of the photographer’s experiences and qualification.

3. Pricing. There are two major pricing models. One is to charge the service of taking the shots, and provide you with digital copies. The other model is to charge minimum for service but charge a LOT more for prints. Ask whether you will get high-resolution digital copies to make personal prints. Always ask for total price to avoid any hidden costs. Rule of thumb is that you get what you pay for.

4. Personality. An easy-going and happy photographer is a big plus for your wedding. You really do not want some bossy photographers to interrupt you too often for shots. We strongly recommend that you meet with your photographer before you make ANY decisions. You may
schedule an engagement session before you sign the wedding photography contract. This way you will know a lot about the photographer.

5. Backup. If you have a big wedding, make sure you hire 2 experienced photographers to catch every precious moment from different angles. Some studios offer 2 photographers but one may be an just assistant who knows little about photography.