Wedding Photography & Photographers

Selecting a Wedding Photographer and Pictures

Let's begin with some helpful advice on the best way to schedule your special day to get the most out of your photographer.

When deciding on the best times for ceremony and reception, most brides do not take into consideration the time that the photographer needs to take your wedding pictures between the end of the ceremony and beginning of the reception. You’ll be spending a lot of money on your wedding photographer so you’ll want to make sure you make time for him! For example, a common situation is to have the ceremony scheduled from 2:00 - 3:00pm with the reception starting at 3:30pm. THIS IS A NIGHTMARE FOR MOST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS, especially if the ceremony and reception are in two different locations.

Even if they’re not, this still leaves very little room for the much needed time it takes to obtain some really special portraits of the two of you. A much better schedule is to have the ceremony from 2:00pm – 3:00pm with the reception starting at 5:00 or even 6:00pm. If you’re fortunate enough to find a photographer that gives you unlimited coverage with your package, then you can space the events out as much as you feel comfortable and won’t have to worry about paying your photographer anything extra. Not that it would take that long to get the shots he wants, but why rush it? Your day and your wedding photography will be much more relaxed and memorable if you space things out and allow yourself to enjoy every aspect of the day, including your unrushed photo shoot.

There are other very important factors to consider when selecting your photographer. Please envision the following scenario which is based on many a true story:

You’ve spent months preparing for your perfect wedding. You’ve selected everything, including your photographer, whose selection of work was outstanding and the photographer’s personality was also wonderful. You really clicked with him (which is very important!) and felt very comfortable with your decision of hiring him. You really looked forward to interacting with this person throughout your special day because you got along with him so well. A huge weight has been lifted from you because one of your biggest concerns was being able to find a photographer not only whose work you loved, but whose personality clicked with yours as well. After all, you want to be as comfortable with this person as possible since you’ll be dealing with him throughout your entire wedding day!

So, the big day comes and you’re nervously getting ready. Suddenly, there’s a knock on your door. ‘Oh, that must be my photographer!’ you exclaim excitedly. With a smile from ear to ear you rush to the door excited to greet this kind person with whom you’ve meshed so well during your many conversations over the past several months. You open the door and greet... a strange looking unshaven man in rumpled clothing that you’ve never seen before in your life!
‘Hello...’ he spews, ‘I’m your photographer!’...
There’s really no need for us to continue with this very true horror story. The scene just gets uglier from there, and yes, this has happened more than once! So right now you’re probably thinking ‘But she didn’t hire HIM! Where’s her knight in shining camera equipment???’

Sadly, there are way too many photography companies that run their businesses this way and believe it or not, completely get away with it. These companies contract out their jobs to freelance photographers, or sometimes they have many wedding photographers working for them and just neglect to inform brides of this oh-so-important fact. What does this mean? It means that the wonderful photographer you spoke to most likely had no intentions of photographing your wedding. (That is IF he was even a photographer at all. Sometimes they are just the salesperson for the company!) But there’s more! It also means that his beautiful work and photography style that you fell in love with was most likely a compilation of work from the many different photographers they employ!

So in our above scenario, how many of this unknown photographer’s wedding pictures did this bride actually see... IF ANY? We can conclude that there’s really no way of knowing for sure. So what could she have done to prevent this from happening? The answer: HER HOMEWORK! Don’t be a victim of this kind of photography nightmare! BE SURE TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS WHEN SPEAKING TO POTENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS!

Unless this type of company can show you several weddings from EACH of their photographers and then YOU get to pick the photographer you want, then we suggest staying right away from them. The chances of finding a photography company that will allow you to do this are slim to none. We recommend searching for a photographer that shoots all of his weddings on his own, or better yet, a two person team that will photograph your wedding together so you get 2 photographers for the price of one! They’re hard to come by, but they’re out there. The great thing about a 2 person team is that you get 2 separate points of view of your wedding. Some photographers offer strictly traditional photography while others offer strictly photojournalistic wedding photography. That’s fine if you’ve decided that you only want one or the other, but most brides prefer a variety and feel they are getting the most for their money if they can find a photographer that offers both. Additionally, traditional photography is usually what the parents prefer, while most couples tend to prefer photojournalistic wedding photography, so finding a photographer that does both is definitely a bonus. These versatile photographers are also hard to come by, but again, if you do your homework you can find them.

Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer