Wedding | Advice from a photographer

It’s that time again. Time for me to give you my unsolicited advice on selecting a wedding photographer. Here we go… hold tight.

1. Like the style the photographer shoots/edits in.
   Duh. Except not really… please never send a photographer a Pinterest board of “what you like” because if you don’t like what’s already on THEIR website, don’t hire them. Period.  It’s incredibly insulting for someone to be like, “I like this better than what you do…” #eyeroll  You’d loose your lunch if you knew how often this happens. Stopit.  On the same note… if you’re getting married at night, under the stars, refuse a first look (which is OK!), think twice about hiring a photographer that shows nothing but daylight, afternoon images on their site. I’m not saying they cannot handle what you want, but they probably don’t prefer that setting.
2. If photography is important to you…
   Don’t let you cousin with a nice camera shoot your wedding photos. I completely understand that photography is not always a priority to couples, and that is OK. Maybe great food or a great band tops your list of important things, perfectly fine…. but for the love of all things sacred…. hire a professional for the important stuff (ceremony and formal portraits). Just an hour or two of coverage will be pretty inexpensive, make room in the budget for it!
3. Inspect the products offered.
   I know, I know… getting the digital files is king these days, but hear me out. Get SOMETHING printed professionally…. because this is what’s going to happen…. you will get your digital download code or thumb drive in the mail… you’ll scroll through the images, ohhhing and ahhhing, reminiscing and then that’s it. You might post a few to Facebook or Instagram. What on earth will you look at when you lost the downloads, your computer crashes or that thumb drive is now obsolete? I’m not saying you need to drop 5k on prints or albums, but get something nice, that’s also color correct. If you take that flash drive to Walgreens, don’t expect anything but disappointment. Your skin might look orange, the church might look green… you get the point. They don’t operate with color correct machinery, and don’t really care because their game is laundry soap and prescription drugs. Do you trust your pharmacist to produce beautiful images? Nope.
4. Respect the photographers talent and time.
   If a $6000 photographer is over budget, don’t lead them on with meetings and emails. However, if you have a less popular date or are getting married within a few weeks of inquiring, you may have a bargaining tool in your favor. January, February and December are the least popular here in NC, so you might get a break there…. as well if you are having a super short engagement. I happily entertain all budgets, but be realistic about what you might get for the budget. You won’t be getting all day coverage and a quality album for $1000.OK…. I’ve said my peace on what I think 🙂