How To Pick A Wedding Photographer

Over the past couple weeks, Leesburg Today has been publishing a series: "How To . .", such as how to pick a dentist, how to pick a CPA, how to buy a home. So I got to thinking, how do you go about picking a photographer for your wedding? Do you just open up the yellow pages and start calling? Or do you rely on recommendations from friends? Or maybe you find one by going to some bridal show. Well, of the three I just listed, the last two are probably better than the first one, and the second one is probably the best of the three; but going with your friend's recommendation may not always be the best solution for you. I'll explain in a moment, but first let me explain what I think you should look for in a photographer.

To me, the most important consideration is style. Does the photographer shoot pictures that you enjoy looking at? To answer that you kind of need to know what types of images you are looking to have from your wedding. Do you want posed, studio looking shots, or do you prefer more natural looking ones? Do you want photos that tell a story, or do you want snapshots? Do you want images that convey a lot of creativity, or do you want more traditional images? These are important questions because not all photographers shoot with the same eye or with the same style. Some are extremely creative, and some are extremely not. In the middle are a lot of photographers who mix traditional shots and experimental ones with varying degrees of success. Some photographers who lack creativity will try to mimic other photographer's styles, again with varying degrees of success. I have seen a number of images by photographers where I can tell they are trying to copy a pose they saw online, but they are not reading the location or the people well enough to pull it off. In the end they have an image that looks forced and unnatural. I guess you chalk it up to practice, but do you want them practicing on you at your wedding?

For a lot of people, especially today, price becomes the deciding factor. Just like some cars are out of many people's price range, the same can be true with photographers. I can afford a Honda. I could possibly handle a Lexus, but do I need a Lexus, especially if the Honda will suit me just fine. But there is a point where that reasoning stops working. At some point I am not willing to get by with something less. I don't want to sacrifice quality or comfort or safety in order to save a few more dollars. What good is it to buy a car for less if that car is something that gives me a backache, or if it keeps breaking down? The same can be said about wedding photography.

Style trumps price when it comes to wedding photography. If you are stuck in a budget that gives you few options, then you do the best you can with what you have, but try not to completely sacrifice the style you want. If price is not the deciding factor and you are comparing Photographer A with Photographer B, and A's package doesn't include everything that Photographer B offers, but you like A's images much better . . to me that is a no brainer . . go with Photographer A. Why would you want more of what you don't like when you could have gotten what you do like? If I eat out and this restaurant has below average french fries that do nothing for me, but they have great mashed potatoes, why would I want an extra serving of the fries in lieu of the mashed potatoes at the same price?

If you look at a list online of what to look for in a photographer, many lists include things like: does the photographer work with an assistant, do you get full resolution copies of the images, what kind of equipment does the photographer use, how long before you get to see the images, will the photographer work with a shot list you provide, and on and on. First of all let me just say that many of these lists are not put together by photographers or in many cases by anyone that really knows anything about the process. They were told by their editor to put together a list, and so they come up with as many things as they possibly can, with no context distinguishing which points are important or not. Most of their points are nonsense, and some I believe miss the point. For example every wedding I have ever photographed was shot without an assistant. Now I have absolutely nothing against assistants, and if I had a good one I would maybe wonder how I ever did it without one before; but the truth is I believe I can successfully shoot a wedding without an assistant. I have over 150 weddings I can point to as proof. So if/when someone comes along and makes that an issue in deciding whether to hire me, I have to wonder: are you hiring me or are you hiring an assistant? If you hire a skilled carpenter to install crown moulding around your home, are you hiring the carpenter or are you hiring his helper?

So how do you pick a photographer? Style, I believe is most important. Does the photographer have an eye for the kind of images that you love? Along that line, are you comfortable with the photographer? Will they be a source of frustration or will you look forward to having them at your wedding? Getting back to your friend's recommendation, this can be a good gauge for you. How was their experience? It is important here though to keep in mind that your friends might have a very different style than you do. Maybe they were looking for something different than what is important to you. Maybe they liked working with the photographer, but they (or you) did not like the images. or vice versa. Maybe the photographer was a jerk and they ended up hating the guy, but the images were awesome. Now there is a tough decision.