Your photographer is, in my opinion, the most important element of your wedding. You have picked the perfect venue, a dress to die for and decided on your colours, you need someone to capture it and do all the little details justice. You need a good reliable photographer. How do you find your perfect photographer. You can look in your favourite wedding magazine, your local paper, bridal show and of course online. So you have found a few that have caught your eye, how do you decide which is the one for you. There are a few questions that you need to ask.
- The photographer credentials - what are their qualification
- Are they member of any of the photography association, the ones to ask about are SWPP and WAP
- Have they received any industry awards
- Are they willing to show you pictures from a full wedding and not just the best ones they have chosen for their portfolio
- Past customers testimonials
- What time are they willing to stay till and will that cost you any extra
- What exactly is included in the package
- If you want to make changes to the package how flexible are they and will this cost you any extra
- Are they familiar with your venue
- Will you have copy write rights once you have received your pictures and if you do not want the photographer to use your pictures for advertising etc. can you opt out.
Your Budget can be a big influence on the photographer you get, but even if you have a very small budget I would still recommend that you ask all these questions and take the answers into consideration when making your decision. If your wedding photographs do not turn out as you like or even worse you hate them, then there is very little you can do.
good piece and mostly agree with all of these recommendations.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say, there is no added value in hiring a photographer who is a member of SWPP (it's a event planner's group, and legit wedding photogs are members of either PPA or WPPI or none at all... but the only two of any consequence are those two, and those don't qualify them as good photographers)
When looking for a photographer, I tell couples there are three VERY important factors:
#1) do you LOVE the photographer's images? (both in their portfolio and in the complete weddings they show you (you need to see several complete weddings to get a feel for consistency, anyone can have one "good" wedding)
#2) do you connect with the photographer? their personality, quirks, anything... talk to them on the phone, or in person and make sure you'll get along with them, as they will be by your side most of the day.
#3) do they fit your budget, or are you willing to stretch/adjust your budget to afford them?
Those are truly the only factors that matter, everything else is just details that can be worked out.