Choosing a Wedding Photographer | Three Questions to Ask Yourself

Sometimes, like I mentioned on Monday, I lie awake at night thinking of things to blog about. But other times, the topic lands in my inbox in the form of a question from a bride and groom or another photographer. Today was one of those latter instances.

I received an email from a groom who is planning a wedding out of state (not anywhere near Pittsburgh) and looking for advice. He found me through a work and family connection, and explained: “I know absolutely nothing about getting a photographer and wanted to see if you could advise me on some questions and things I need to look for in a photographer.”

I know I’ve written about some specific aspects of choosing your wedding photographer, like demystifying wedding photographer prices and defining what a wedding photojournalist is, but I don’t know if I’ve ever really approached the topic from the most basic foundational questions.

What should you look for in a wedding photographer?

This can be a very overwhelming task if you have no prior experience (and who does??) with choosing a photographer. That’s probably why a lot of people ask for recommendations from friends, family, and co-workers. Who did they use? Did they like them? Sitting here myself, I’m wondering, what’s the best advice I can give? Where should someone start?

Well, here goes my best attempt.

At the most basic level, you’re hiring a wedding photographer to take photos on your wedding day (duh). The first question, then, you should ask yourself is this:

1. How much do I care about my wedding photos? Will I be sad if my photographer misses important moments? Or will I just shrug if off? Do I plan on looking at these photos for years to come, or will they likely sit in a box? Do I care if the images are crisp and clear, or am I fine with more head-on snap-shot like pictures?

bride putting on bangles in wedding

How much you care about your photos will vastly determine your search. And I mean this in a non-judgmental way. If wedding photos aren’t a big priority for you, then I would advise you not to spend a lot of money on them. Go on craigslist and find a student photographer or budding mom-with-camera and hire them to photograph your day. You’ll be much happier that way than spending a lot of money on something you don’t care a lot about.

But if you do care about the quality of your wedding photos, the next question you should ask yourself is this:

2. Do I want the majority of my photos to be an enhanced, stylistic reflection of me, or do I want most of my photos to reflect me naturally? In other words, how do you want to see yourself in the photos? Real you, or cool-looking model you? Or maybe a mix of both?

mattress factory art museum engagement photo

There’s broadly two main categories of wedding photographers these days, with a lot of overlapping between the two. There’s the fashion industry influenced photographers who focus more on creating art and incredibly compelling portraits of their subjects–turning average folk into supermodels. Very cool stuff. And then there’s the photojournalist influenced photographers who seek to tell the story of the wedding day and their subjects, capturing real moments and emotion. Also incredible stuff.

And like I said, there’s a lot of overlap. I know some fashion-oriented photographers who take nice story-telling photos of the day, and I know a lot of wedding photojournalists who create amazing portraits of their clients. What kind of mix of styles you relate to most will help you narrow down your search. Search online for local photographers and see what their work looks like. Do you like it? Can you see yourself in it? Does it move you or do you find it boring?

Assumed in all of this, of course, is that you’re looking at reputable, professional photographers. If you find a photographer whose work your like, look for online reviews of them, peruse their blog to see if their work is consistent with their website, and see what people are saying about them.

The last thing you need to think about is your photography budget. This, again, will stem from the first question.

3. How much am I willing to spend to get the style and photographer of my choice?
This is up to you, but at a minimum, I’d start your photography budget at $2,500 in current prices, assuming you’re looking to hire a professional. You may find some cheaper, and that’s great, but I wouldn’t count on it. From there, price can vary widely. It’s not out of the question to spend upwards of $10,000+ on complete photography packages. If I were getting married again, I’d probably spend a significant amount of my budget on photography because it’s very important to me. But you have to decide for yourself how important it is to you–how much you can really afford.

Once you’ve decided what style you prefer and gotten a rough budget, you can probably narrow down your favorite choices. Of course, some of this narrowing down may already be done for you in terms of the photographers’ availability. Starting early on your search means you get a better chance of securing your first choice.

In terms of albums and products, there’s so much variation in options that I would leave those questions for the photographers you are interested in. I would recommend brides and grooms get an album at least for themselves, but talk with your photographer to find out what they offer. The products shouldn’t be the first thing you look for. Go for quality, style, and the photographer’s personality before prints and products. As long as you have great photos of your day that you love as a foundation, everything else will work out.

Patricia Pentecost - Awesome post, Mary. I liked it so much, I tweeted about it. Great, great advice!

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