Top tips for choosing your wedding photographer

Getting married is an incredible experience. It is a day full of excitement, joy, happiness and sometimes a little sadness when a family member or friend who is no longer with us is not here to share our special day.

As professional wedding photographers, we know how stressful planning your wedding day can be. With so many photographers around, where do you start? What do you need to know when looking for a wedding photographer? With prices ranging from a few hundred pounds to many thousands, how do you know if they are right for you?

It is a simple fact of life that with the advent of digital cameras, many people now call themselves “photographers”. In recent years there has been an explosion of people offering their services as wedding photographers, many of whom have never been trained, do not have insurance, do not use professional equipment and do not have enough backup to take care of any eventuality.

A professional photographer will have all of the above and this post is a quick “Help Guide” to things to look for and questions we recommend you ask when choosing a wedding photographer. Have a cup and make yourself comfortable. This is not a definitive guide, just an overview of what to look for.

Looking for a photographer:

Personal recommendations: Have you been to a wedding recently? What did your friends think of your photographer? As a Yorkshire wedding photographer, most of our clients come from personal recommendations from grooms who have used us, or from venues that know the quality of work we produce and the fantastic value for money we offer.

Google and other search engines:

A quick search on any of the major search engines will produce an overwhelming number of options. For example, if you type the search terms “Wedding Photographer” into Google, you’ll get millions of results. Simply going through each result would take you ages, so as a general rule of thumb, stick with the ones on page 1 or page 2. The reason for this is simple: if they’re on page 1 or 2, then they’ve taken the time to Make sure your website is well designed, optimized, and positioned to ensure your products or services are easy for potential brides and grooms to find.

choose a photographer

As soon as you have decided on a date, booked your wedding venue and received confirmation, book all other necessary services for your wedding day as quickly as possible. Leaving the hiring of your wedding photographer for the last minute is not a good idea.

Many brides and grooms start looking for their photographer the day they get engaged.

Websites:

The first thing you should do is look at a photographer’s website, but DO NOT be fooled into thinking this is it and the end of it. Always focus on the images and not on the design of the website. These days, for a few hundred pounds, you can design a really fancy looking website. Never forget that a website only displays content that the photographer WANTS you to see. You’ll usually only see the best images, the ones you want to use to show off your skills, so take a look at the website. Take a look and see how many different weddings you can see. If there are only one or two, have they only photographed a few weddings? Also, how much information does the photographer give you? Are they honest about their prices or do you have to go see them to find out how much they charge? Do they give you detailed specific information about their services?

Also be VERY careful if they say they are a member of a “Professional Trade Organization”. Some commercial organizations only require photographers to pay an annual subscription fee to join and then allow the photographer to use the organizations logos on their website. In fact, some organizations have absolutely no requirements to join, you don’t even have to have a camera and your grandmother, who has no idea about photography, could join if she wanted to. Do your homework and check out business organizations carefully, as they are not all the same.

Some are for full-time professionals only and members are required to undergo insurance appraisal, inspection and verification of documents, others simply allow you to pay a nominal amount and declare you a “professional photographer”. Remember that the photography industry is not regulated and anyone can claim to be a “photographer.”

Price:

If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is! Many photographers just starting out tend to charge really low prices and just cover their costs. Many see their wedding as a way to build a portfolio of wedding images. Now, this won’t apply to all cheaply priced photographers, but as a general rule of thumb, if the price seems really low, then there’s a reason for it, so try to find out what it is.

For many Brides and Grooms, price ends up being the determining factor. You spend hundreds if not thousands on the dress, the venue charges a small fortune, then there are the cars, the grooms attire, the bridesmaids dresses, the cake, the flowers – cutting costs in photography your wedding can result in poor wedding photography. in a big disappointment and pictures of the day that you just don’t want to look at.

Remember this is a one-shot event – ​​getting everyone to retake the pictures will be the moment. consumes and is very expensive.

Make an appointment:

Until you get to know the photographer, you won’t be fully informed if he or she is the right person for the job. At the meeting ask to see pictures of AT LEAST five recent weddings. Ask if the photographer has worked at your location before, and if so, ask if you can see some pictures from that wedding. Ask to see the demo albums – is there a good variety to choose from? Does the photographer have letters of recommendation from previous clients? If so, ask to see them. Does the photographer work from home or from a studio?

During this meeting, there are some really important questions to ask, some of which are listed below:

Q. How long have you been in business and how many weddings have you photographed? If the answer is “6 months and 2 weddings, both family friends I didn’t charge because I need the experience and images for my portfolio”, is this the right photographer for you?

Q. Is it insured?

All professional photographers must have Professional Civil Liability and Civil Liability insurance. If they don’t, tread carefully.

Q. What are your prices and what do I get in my package?

Seems like a silly question, right? Well, no! There’s nothing worse than handing over your hard-earned money only to find out after the wedding that she’s not getting what she thought she was. Is there an album in the package? How many hours of coverage do you have? What additional products are included in the price? Does the price include image editing? Do you have an overtime rate if we get run over?

Q. Do you hire your wedding photography service?

Picture this scene… you spend months researching photographers, finally decide on one, hire them, and then on your wedding day, someone you’ve never met before shows up to photograph your big day. How are you going to feel? Pissed off?

Make sure the person you book with is the person who will be attending and taking your wedding photos. Sounds simple, I know, but you’d be surprised how many photographers outsource their work to other photographers, often with no experience and no insurance.

Q. Is this your full time job?

Many photographers have full-time jobs and shoot weddings part-time, so they may not necessarily be available to answer your questions or emails during normal business hours. If you have a last minute question, it may take a while to get an answer or you may not be able to schedule meetings that are convenient for you.

Q. Do you provide a written contract?

It is absolutely critical that you receive a written contract detailing your exact expense and what products/services you are receiving.

Q. How many weddings do you cover per day?

If the answer is other than ONE, be careful. Many photographers will cover more than one wedding a day and this can create problems for YOUR wedding. What happens if the first wedding is delayed? This will mean that the photographer may be late for yours.

Q. Can I see some of your work/see the demo albums?

Be sure to take a good look at the work of the photographers. Look at the quality of the picture, look at the quality of the album. Looking at pictures of babies, sunsets, buildings, or family portraits will give you no idea of ​​his skills as a wedding photographer. Also ask the question “Is this from a royal wedding?”. You’d be surprised how many photographers use images taken on training days in their portfolios. They attend a training session where a Trainer sets up the shot and then tells the photographer how to take it. The image may be stunning, but can they reproduce it during a royal wedding with all the pressure and stress involved?

Q. What backup team do you bring to the wedding?

It never ceases to amaze me that photographers still attend a wedding with only ONE camera! If that camera breaks, what are they going to do? Take out your cell phone and keep shooting?

Q. Do you do a site visit before the wedding?

Have you ever been to a wedding and when it comes to taking the pictures, it’s absolute chaos? Uncle John has gone to register, Aunt Flo has gone to the bathroom, your godfather has gone to the bar. Surely the bride and groom should have been a little more organized, right? Well not really!

This is up to the photographer and not the happy couple. Site visits allow photographers to create a plan for the day and are a critical component to overall planning for the day.

Q. In what “style” do you photograph?

There are different styles, such as traditional, reportage, photojournalism, fashion, glamour. Does the photographer shoot in the style YOU want? Do they do it on the weekends, or are they trying to photograph in a way that they don’t necessarily do it on a regular basis? Do this right and you will love your wedding photos as you will receive what you expected. Get it wrong and you could end up hating them.

Q. Will you put my wedding photos online for our guests to see?

Most photographers now do this as standard, although some still charge extra for it. Check if there are any additional costs involved.

Q. Do you do a pre-wedding meeting?

A professional photographer will prefer to sit down with each and every bride and groom at some point before the big day to talk about the day itself. Topics covered may include things like what photos will be taken and where, any special requests from the bride and groom, etc. This helps ensure that the day runs as smoothly as possible.

Q. What will you wear when you photograph my wedding?

Sounds like a silly question again, right? You will be surprised by the number of “professional” photographers who come to photograph a wedding dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. Smart companies attract is the norm, but check it out!

Reserve your photographer:

As soon as you have decided on the photographer who is going to cover your big day… CALL US BY PHONE! It’s not uncommon for photographers to work on a first-come, first-served basis and there’s nothing worse than doing all the hard work only to find out someone booked your appointment 2 hours early.

Many photographers will require you to pay an advance to secure the date. This will be a fixed amount or a percentage of the total package price and will be deducted from your total photography costs.

Remember: Make sure you get a written contract that details how much you’re paying and what you’re getting.

One last thing to think about: personality. Chances are your wedding photographer will spend more time with you than any of your other vendors. Can you spend a whole day with them? Can you work with them for an extended period of time? This is a point that is often forgotten!

I hope this helped and if you do get married in the near future, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Brand