Your photographer is one of the most important vendors of your wedding day. Their job is to tell the story of your special day with images that will put a smile on your face for many years to come. Here are a few tips in helping to find that special photographer.
1) Make sure you LIKE your photographer. Now you may be asking yourself why would
THIS be your number one tip? Besides you Event Coordinator, your photographer is the
person you will spend the most time with during your wedding planning and on your
wedding day. If you are not fond of this person believe me it WILL SHOW on your face.
Who wants wedding photos where you look like you are mad at the world?
2) Make sure you like the photographer's style of photography. There are different styles of photography:
A) Traditional- This is a more formal, posed style of photography. The photographer
poses the bride and groom and adjusts lighting to make sure that everyone is
evenly lit.
B) Photojournalistic- This is a more "go with the flow" style of photography. There
is little or no posing done and no adjustments to lighting. Think of this style as a
reporting style of photography.
C) Combination- This is the style that most brides want. They want a photographer
who can pose and light them in a flattering manner and can also capture creative
non-posed images.
If you want "formals" of your family and bridal party please make sure the photographer
knows how to pose people. Many photojournalistic style photographers do not know
how to pose. It's more of an "Ok, everyone come over here and fall into place" style.
Unfortunately I have seen many brides disappointed with their formal photographs
because they assumed the photographer knew how to pose people. Please, please do
not assume ANYTHING. Ask to see samples of formal posing the photographer has done.
3) When viewing the photographer's sample work bear in mind that the images have been
manipulated in Photoshop or some other software editing program. Ask to see some
images straight out of the camera. With digital photography there is not a lot of room
for error when it comes to exposure. What does this mean to you??? Most
photographers give you your wedding images. If they have not been exposed properly
in camera, they will not enlarge or print without falling apart or "color shifting". One
quick and easy way to tell if an image has been properly exposed is to look for details
in both the shadows and the highlights. Now you may be wondering "What is she talking
about?" You paid a lot of money for the beading and lace detail of your wedding gown.
You should be able to that in your photographs. Your gown should not appear as a
glowing white mess. If you have dark hair you should be able to see the natural
highlights in it. Your hair should not be solid black.
4) Ask what type of equipment do they bring to your wedding. Do the just bring one
camera and an on-camera flash? Or do they carry extra equipment in case of equipment
failure? Digital is wonderful but it does fail. This is your wedding and cannot be
repeated. Do they bring different lenses so that they may photograph any situation to it's best advantage?
5) Ask how long they have been doing photography and if they have received any formal
training or apprenticeship. Many people buy a camera and then advertise they are a
professional photographer. They have received no training and allow the camera to
make all the exposures for them. I have seen brides devastated because they went
the cheaper route and hired an inexperienced photographer. They received no room
shots, no detail shots, no first dance photographs, etc. Images have been improperly exposed because the photographer has allowed the camera to pick its settings. The story of their day was NOT told. Remember you can not repeat your wedding day!
6) Remember photographers are human too. We get sick, get into auto accidents , etc.
Ask your photographer what their back-up plan is if something were to go wrong that
they could not make it to your wedding.
These are a few tips to help ensure that you have the best photographs to tell you wedding story. We would love to be your wedding photographers, call us today at
904.704.7071 to set up a consultation.
Happy Wedding Planning!
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