Be Confident with your choice!
“If there was one thing I could change about my wedding it would be my photographer. He/she was nice, but (insert one of many reasons here)… I wish we knew you guys when we were getting married”
We couldn’t tell you how many sister-of-the-brides (and about half the other married women we come into contact with) have said almost these exact words to us.
Why? Why are so many couples unhappy with their choice in wedding photographer(s)? For starters, because they didn’t see a comprehensive collection of their work. Or they didn’t know what to look for.
Choosing your wedding photographers is a hard task! Just about every bridal magazine has an article about it. The wedding photographers play a huge role in the wedding day. They are the only vendor that is with you throughout the whole day and their work is one of the only things you will have past the day of your wedding.
You need to be confident with your choice!
Here is how to be confident with your choice of a wedding photographer in 3 easy steps:
Step 1: See Their Work.
If you are considering a photographer the first thing you should do is hop on over to their website and check out their portfolio. What are you looking for?
- VIEW: Be sure that you are seeing at least 2 complete wedding albums, not just the photographer’s favorite 30 images from multiple weddings. They will pick the best photos, and even someone with no experience can manage to get 30 good images from an entire wedding day.
- INSPECT: Inspect the quality of the images. Are indoor photos orange? Are the skin tones flattering or are they kind of green? How is the light on the subjects face? Is the focus sharp? Are the angles of the photos flattering? Do the poses look awkward?
- PHOTOS: What did they capture? “Out of all the photos our photographer gave us, I only got one photo of just myself and I didn’t even like the way I looked in it.” We hear this quite often, and it isn’t something anyone wants. When viewing the gallery pay attention to how many photos there are (having a good selection is important) and where the photographer took the most photos (this will show the photographer’s priority level). Ask yourself questions like: “Did he get all the shots I would want?” “Are the candid photos of people smiling/laughing/crying or are they a bunch of ‘deer in the headlight’ looks?” “Did the photographer lean towards photographing one side of the family more than the other?” “Is there an important moment missing?” Although I will caution as you look for moments that every wedding is different, so a moment you would have another bride and groom may not.
- QUESTIONS: Ask the potential photographer how many hours they were hired to cover the weddings of the galleries you’re viewing. Were two photographers covering the wedding or just one? The answer to these questions will help you gage how much time you will need to get a similar size gallery. If compared with other photographers it can help you know how quick they work, how much downtime the photographers take, etc.
- TASTE: This one is pretty simple. Do you like the photos? Do you like the photographer’s editing style? The types of photos he/she takes? Techniques/angles he/she uses? Some photographers are just there to get the necessary shots, everything else is extra work. Some photographers, like us, approach the day with a creative photojournalistic style, every moment is an opportunity to get a creatively captured shot. (No, we don’t sit down much.) Do they include any artwork style photos, photos you could see someone hanging a 20×30 of on their living room wall?
View our Work:
Hannah and Luke’s Complete Wedding Gallery
PHOTOGRAPHED in 2014
Location: Outerbanks, NC
Photographers: Matt and Holly
Hours Photographing: 11 hours
Vince and Claire’s Complete Wedding Gallery
PHOTOGRAPHED in 2015
Location: Cleveland, OH
Photographers: Matt and Holly
Hours Photographing: 9 hours
Molly and Tom’s Complete Wedding Gallery
PHOTOGRAPHED in 2015
Location: Cleveland, OH
Photographers: Matt and Holly
Hours Photographing: 7 hours
Dominic and Victoria’s Complete Wedding Gallery
PHOTOGRAPHED in 2016
Location: Michaud’s
Photographers: Matt and Holly
Hours Photographing: 6 hours
Tiffani and Chaning’s Complete Wedding Gallery
PHOTOGRAPHED in 2016
Location: Legend Lake’s Golf Club
Photographers: Matt and Holly
Hours Photographing: 6 hours
Step 2: View their contract and ask them about their policies.
- Ask what happens in different scenarios. You need to be confident that they have enough experience to handle possible stressful situations at your wedding. Our Answers here.
- Ask what their turn around times are for their photos. One year is WAY too long! Ask what their payment deadlines are. Ask what is the longest and shortest turn around time they have had yet. You can read about all of our promises here.
- Ask How many photos they give, what their editing policy is, and what their printing/print right/ ordering policy is. We don’t limit the number of photos we take/give because they are your memories. We have been hired to document and deliver them, and yes we edit every single one. We now give a full print release with all of our Wedding Packages.
- Ask how they deliver the photos. CDs and DVDs can break, be scratched, or get lost. And you can’t upload a CD/DVD to your phone or iPad. The galleries you viewed earlier, that is part of how our clients receive their photos. Nicely organized in an easy to view online gallery that doubles as a back up without taking up space on your computer. You can easily share images on any social media platform, comment on the ones you would like in your album, purchase prints, make edit requests, download individual images to mobile devices, download the entire gallery to your computers, and much more. Can you tell we love our online galleries? They really streamline the process. We deliver the links and passwords and instructions for your galleries at your reveal session. A reveal session is where we have you over to our cozy, cute, little farm house to view our favorite photos from your wedding day. We go over any questions you have about ordering, show you how to work your gallery, and reminisce while drinking your beverage of choice and eating a homemade treat. Can you tell, we also love hosting?
Step 3: Read their reviews!
- Look up their reviews. If the photographer does not have any reviews on their website, then ask for the phone number of 3-4 recent brides. (yes, I am serious!) This is one of the best ways to find out if the photographer will help your day be the best it can be. You may read some of our reviews here. Or you can just search #fivefivereviews on Instagram or Facebook
Photos from Hannah and Luke’s Wedding (2014)
We hope this post helped. Have questions? Contact us, we’d be happy to answers.
