Choosing your Wedding Photographer
Choose your wedding Photographer as carefully as you choose your dress. After all, a decade from now your wedding dress may not fit anymore but the pictures should show just how beautiful you were when you wore it. Please don’t underestimate this. You’ll spend a lot on details, shoes, clothing, flowers, food, entertainment, the venue and the list goes on and on, yet how much remains when your children are at University? Just the ring and the photos. Choose a wedding Photographer based on two things alone… The pictures and the personality. If the pictures make you excited when you see them then you’ve found yourself a good photographer but do bear in mind that you’ll spend a large part of your day in this persons company so ask yourself the question, Do I like the photographer as a person? – If you love the work and the person creating it then it’ll be worth whatever you have to pay for it.
After that, the cost and the number of fancy packages are far less important, because if you get the pictures you want, you can really have them packaged anyway that you want. However, if you save a little money and get dull, unexciting pictures which would bore even your mother, then surely whatever money you’ve spent has been wasted.
The rules are changing and the cost of your wedding photographer does not always reflect the quality of what you’ll get. Mum’s wedding album was always a series of rather dull ‘grip and grin’ pictures of assorted family members, mounted in cumbersome leather albums which looked the same as every other wedding album.
Modern Brides have been brought up on Cosmo, Vanity Fair and the glossy colour supplements. Why can’t their wedding album reflect the images they see every day? Well they can and indeed, there’s a sea change in the industry towards a more contemporary style showing the Bride and Groom at their best. Albums have simply become far more sophisticated in their design and now look as beautiful as anything you could buy in a high class bookshop.
Because the personality of the photographer is so important to getting good pictures, make sure they offer you a pre-shot (Engagement shoot) This is a chance for you to get used to the camera and for the photographer to get used to you as a couple. This rapport will pay huge dividends on the day itself as you’ll be far more relaxed having your picture taken and the result will be far more natural pictures. Make this a necessity.
Your photographer should never underestimate the importance of group shots since this is one of the few times you get your family together in one place but make sure they don’t just line them up against the wall and say “cheese” I shoot a handful of group shots and make sure that each one is different by carefully selecting the setting and the pose. It’s all over very quickly with the minimum of fuss.
Another way of spotting a good photographer is by seeing how much flash they use in their pictures. Flash is intrusive, particularly in dark places, such as churches and if you can spot the use of flash in a picture it’s been used badly. These days, modern cameras can take amazing pictures by candlelight and a master photographer will use flash only when necessary and it’ll never be obvious on the picture.
I would question a photographer who charges by the hour since far more time is taken up in post production to make the extra hour or two on the day insignificant. I would also question photographers who charge on an individual print basis. It takes lots of shots to tell the story of the day. All the intimate pictures of the bride and groom getting ready with their close circle of friends and family, through all the little details which often cost so much, such as the cake, favours, details of the dress, shoes, cufflinks, rings, flowers etc. I also focus on events at the wedding which the bride and groom would otherwise never see. Mum crying at the exchange of vows, the serious auntie blowing bubbles, the kids running around playing, joyous, happy expressions everywhere. Often the story takes three pictures to tell and these triptychs will look wonderful in the wedding album.
How long does it take to get your pictures? Personally, I try and get the initial proofs ready by the time the honeymoon is over.(That’s about 1000 pictures) After that it’s between 4 weeks and several months to make the album. I liken it to buying a car. Off the peg Fords take only a couple of weeks to buy but Aston Martins have to be made to order. Waiting several months for a bespoke item is a small price to pay if you’re going to treasure it forever.
Finally, when do you book a Wedding Photographer? Now of course. Don’t delay or you’ll be stuck with the man who says “cheese”!
