How to compare wedding photographers

Here is the quick reference guide.  See below for more detailed explanation.

EXPERIENCE: How many weddings have they shot?  What do they have to say about preparing for a wedding, and anticipating great moments?

STYLE: Does the photographer have a defined style?  Do you like it?

PERSONALITY: Do you like them? Could you see yourself hanging out with the photographer?  Is it all just a show?

REFERRALS: Have you seen them work at a wedding before?  Did you find them online? Have they been published?  Are they endorsed or referred by other quality vendors or locations?

PORTFOLIO: How do the images look?  Do you see a complete wedding story?  Does the portfolio show a variety of work from different locations,  lighting, couples?

QUALITY: Are they focused more on quality, or quantity?  You never get both for the same price.

PRICE: Figure out how much you want to invest. Wedding photography is truly an investment.  Make your decision based on how important the photographs are to you.  Always better to pay more for an experienced wedding photographer.

HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

At almost every wedding I photograph a family member or guest approaches me, and says “that’s a great camera, I bet it takes amazing pictures”!  It’s kind of a loaded statement because, the images I deliver to my brides and grooms, are in fact all captured on amazing digital cameras with top of the line lenses, and equipment.   While it is important to have quality photo gear in your camera bag, what is ultimately more important is having a solid technical understanding on how, why, and when to use certain, cameras, lenses, settings, and lighting.  Having true expertise in the field of photography is especially important when we decide to capture couples wedding memories.  The moments only happen once and they are gone forever!  A re-shoot is really not an option.  True expertise comes from two things.  Education, and experience.  Not experience with the latest camera, or photo gadget, but experience photographing weddings.  When I say education, I mean fundamentals, school, classroom, textbooks, instructor, and critique….photo101.  Does your photographer understand how light works, behaves, and relates to getting the shot?  If not you may not want them practicing on your wedding day.  With the recent explosion of digital photography, and digital photographers, the fundamentals apply more now than they ever have in photography.

 

When in search of the best match for your wedding photographer, consider this criteria.

1. STYLE. Traditional or photojournalist, or fine art, but wait, what about fashion inspired.  There is also new age, lifestyle, or Vintage/antique.  Without getting too wrapped up in semantics of this just ask yourself the question.  DO I LIKE THE STYLE?  If not, keep searching.  If so, figure out what it is that you appreciate about the photography. For example I love the way the photographer uses blur in his/her portraits.  Or how the background of the images are really light, or dark for that matter.  Beauty is unique and subjective, so put some thought into what appeals to you and why, and you should be able to drop some impressive insight on the photographer when you pick up the phone to schedule a consultation.  BTW our # is 562-537-6844.  pardon plug for our studio.  Speaking from my personal experience I love clients that have a vision, and an aptitude to express their ideas.  It’s always exciting to get the creative energy flowing!

2. EXPERIENCE is ultra critical.  Old school or newbie wedding photographer.  Every wedding photographer fits somewhere in this continuum.   Experience is the combination of two factors Anticipation, and preparation.  The truth of the matter is that while each couple, and wedding is unique and special, there are typically many of the same ideas the photographer is trying to communicate through his/her photographs.

ANTICIPATION

In wedding photography Anticipation of events before they unfold is a massive yet often overlooked idea by most couples deciding which photographer to commission for their wedding day.  I will illustrate a great example of this here   Say bride/daughter has just finished getting ready.  Her hair is perfect, face flawless, dress immaculate.  Dad is probably going to stop bye her dressing room to see how things are going with his daughter, and ask his wife if she needs any last minute help before the wedding ceremony.   A true professional wedding photographer has to understand when dad and daughter lock eyes in the dressing room emotions are going to happen.  The opportunity for an amazing image should be dancing around the photographer’s head well before the tears start flowing.  The ANTICIPATION of the photographer is critical to capturing the image. Remember ANTICIPATION COMES WITH EXPERIENCE, and these moments are truly once in a lifetime.  There are hundreds of important moments necessary to properly tell a wedding story over the course of the wedding day.  Some are obvious like the kiss at the end of the wedding ceremony, but others are less pronounced, but equally important.  Speaking from my personal experience having photographed over 300 weddings over the last 12 years.  There are quite a few moments that I was unaware of in the beginning of my career.  In the beginning a typical wedding photographer is much more focused on the technical side of the camera, trying to master his/her skills through trial and error in the course of a wedding day.  Intangibles, like style and timing can be completely missed while a photographer is looking at the back of their camera deciding if they need to make an adjustment.

PREPERATION

There is a quote my father use to say when I was younger, that always stuck with me.  “Good luck happens when, preparedness meets opportunity”.   This idea is universally true.  So lets pose the question, how does a wedding photographer become prepared for a wedding?  Well it starts with relationships.  Getting to know the bride and groom is critical.  When I go out with the couple to photograph their engagement session.  We get to know each other a bit more.  I get a feel for their likes and dislikes, and get to observe their chemistry.  This helps the photographer be more prepared on the wedding day.  Another small, yet important trait of a prepared photographer is memorization, and recall.  Personally, I love to go over the bride and grooms family, and bridal party’s names well before the wedding day.  I’ve found that when I walk into a family’s home, and address mom and dad by their names with a handshake, I’m usually met with a hug.  Now I know they are already on my team.  Family and other key players in a wedding will bend over backwards for the photographer when he/she has taken the time to learn their names.   Another aspect of preparedness is preplanning.  This consists of things like shotlists, schedules, directions to hotels, and having gas in the car.  For destination weddings add on, flight arrangements, and hotel reservations, customs, work permits,  and don’t forget the cameras, batteries charged,  memory cards, lenses flashes, stands, lights, EXTRA BATTERIES.  I could keep going with this one.  Please just be sure to hire a prepared photographer.

A good way to tell if your photographer is prepared is to just observe them.  Does their website make sense, or feel disjointed?  Was it easy to find the information you sought easily?  Do they return your email or phone call quickly, or slowly? If you meet your photographer in person, are they late, or on time?  Do they appear organized or messy?  Is there presentation clear or hard to follow?  This should give you a good starting point to decide if your photographer is Prepared.  The more weddings a photographer has shot the better prepared they will be .

Here is a good guide for a wedding photographer experience level

1-10 weddings-         Very inexperienced. NEWBIE.  Heavy focus on technical side of the camera.  Happy to get a couple great shots.  Definitely missing come key moments, during the day.  Probably some major to minor technical problems. Should probably be working under a master photographer.  If you value your wedding memories, think twice.

10-50 weddings-          Somewhat experienced, but probably hasn’t encountered many potential pitfalls that can occur during a wedding shoot. Should have basics down, but still lots more to learn.  Hopefully starting to overcome some of the previous technical difficulty, and beginning to develop a personal style.

50-100 Weddings-         Experienced. Knows the ropes, and has probably captured enough weddings to “get it”, and understand when he/she has the shot.  Gaining understanding into importance of preparedness, and anticipation to telling the wedding story.  Realization that there is still much more to learn and improve upon.

100+ weddings-         Master wedding photographer.  Probably encountered just about every technical problem, and has figured out how to solve or prevent such problems from occurring.  Has vast experience dealing with different personalities.  Has moved past technical difficulties in terms of camera, and lighting comprehension. Knows what the image will look like before the shutter is released.  Has acute understanding of their signature style with focus more on content and storytelling. Fully acquired the ability to work extremely fast, in high pressure situations.

 

3. PERSONALITY Is the photographer loud, and outspoken, or quiet, and introverted?  Maybe somewhere in the middle.  How do they make you feel? Can you relate to them, and do they relate to you.  Do they listen to you when you speak?  Could they work effectively with your friends and family? Just a shortlist of questions to consider when deciding what personality type could successfully step into your family for a day, and  come away with a complete story of incredible images.

4. REFERRALS did it come from a friend? Have you seen their work before?  Does the photographer have a proven track record with friends or family?  Referrals are great because you can find out information that a website or portfolio can’t easily communicate.  It’s a great way to get an idea about the overall experience of the bride and groom had.  Factors like customer service, communication, and if the photographer delivered what was promised in a timely manner.

5. PORTFOLIO Any master wedding photographer should have numerous examples of their wedding photography.  #1 It’s important to make sure the images you view are in fact the work of the photographer your interviewing.  You would be surprised how often images are stolen from websites and passed off as others work.  Ask to see entire wedding collections.  Don’t be afraid to insist.  Since all weddings are different, it makes sense to see 2-3 at a minimum.  You might look for the quality differences with an outdoor wedding, a dark church ceremony, or a midday wedding, full sun, clouds, rain, wind, etc.  It’s important to understand if all the details you see in a portfolio is similar, you might be surprised by your final images if your wedding setting differs much from the photographers favorite weather, location, or time of day.

6. QUALITY & QUANTITY.  I know we are getting into subjective territory, but I have to say it’s always better to get quality over quantity.  For example,  I bought two bikes this past year.  One bike for my wife’s birthday, and one for me.  My wife’s bike was pricey.  It was a beauty with 7 speeds!  Very light to handle.  It was also very fast, and comfortable.  The components were top of the line, and it felt solid and smooth to ride.   Now, my bike looked just as nice in the shop, great paint job, and 21 speeds!  It was half the price.  I got a great deal.  Right?   Lets examine.  After a couple rides to the beach, my spokes are starting to rust.  The chain has fallen off 3-4 times, and the gears keep sticking. The entire bike feels loose, and rattles over every bump.  Every time I go for a ride, I wish I could go back in time and choose the better bike.  My wife’s bike still looks like it just came off the showroom floor.  As smooth and solid as the day it left the bike shop.  In our society, we are conditioned to always try to get the most for our money.   This kind of thinking makes absolute sense when your comparing equal items, or services.  But falls apart when comparing apples to oranges. Like studio A versus Studio B.

Here is an easy way to ascertain a studio’s quality

Studio A: Two photographers 12 hours coverage.

One 11×14 album, with 30 pages

Two parent albums, with 30 pages

Disc of entire wedding images.

Engagement session with disc and sign in book.

$2500

 

Studio B:  One photographer 8 hours.

Disc of entire wedding images

$2500

This comparison is pretty easy right?  You get way more from studio A.  All the extra time, and 4 albums, with an extra engagement session.  So that’s the easy choice.  NOT SO FAST.

Studio A.  Newbie photographer, with little experience.  Second photographer hired off craigslist (unknown quality level).  Albums/binding/printing, are very low quality.

RESULT:  Problems with some of the images.  Some moments missed all together, gaps in the wedding story.  It takes 3 months to get your images.   It takes 6 months to get your album.  Cheap albums start to delaminate after a couple years.  Couple happy with some aspects of experience, but overall unsatisfied in retrospect.

Studio B:  wedding captured by master photographer that has photographed over 200 weddings.  Nails the technical side of the photography.  Anticipates some amazing moments and captures them beautifully.  Delivers a complete set of images that tell your entire wedding story, without gaps or missed moments.  Images put online and delivered quickly because limited corrections necessary when images are captured properly.  Leaves option open to purchase albums or products in the future.

 

The knot.com (largest online wedding related website) surveyed 17000 brides after their wedding last year.

QUESTION: What part of your wedding do you wish you invested more $$ in?”

ANSWER: Wish we hired a better Photographer.  (This was the most common answer from 17000 brides after their wedding!)

Studios that give out multiple albums, and tons of products for the same price that other photographer will only shoot and deliver a disc, are probably not the highest quality.  Wedding photography is really just like everything  else.  You get what you pay for.  It’s really so important with your wedding pictures because there is no returns, or redo’s if your not happy.

7. PRICE: Figure out how much you want to invest. Wedding photography is truly an investment.  Make your decision based on how important the photographs are to you.  Always better to pay more for an experienced wedding photographer.