Wedding photographer - advice please

LateX'Dog

LateX'Dog

LateX'Dog

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I'm getting married in January at Ripley Castle (near Harrogate) and am starting to look at wedding photographers. However, I have no idea how to go about this, what to look for etc. Can anyone give any advice?

What are the things I should look for in a photographer? What should I ask them? Is it usual to arrange a meeting before committing to anything? What is a typical price (how long is a piece of string I assume?!). I have a budget of £800 - is this achievable? I am not bothered about getting an album printed, but I would like digital copies of the edited photos.

I don't know much about photography at all. However, I don't like the very staged, forced smile-at-the-camera poses. I like the photography that is more spontaneous - capturing shots that people don't know are being taken. I guess I like a more subtle, naturalistic approach.

If anyone can give any advice that would be great :D
 
there is quite a few people who do wedding's.

im sure they can give you some good advice.

raymond is one of them.
 
Carefull - you might get banned - no commercial chat.

To the OP - head over to talkphotography.co.uk and have a look over there - loads of talented togs including most of the ones here.
 
To be fair, the OP is just asking advice on how to choose, not necessarily asking for someone to present themselves
 
I know very little about wedding photography but when reviewing possible photographers make sure when they are showing you examples they provide full albums and not just the best pics from each.
 
I'm a wedding videographer and although not all of our couples meet us we are quite removed from the day as opposed to a photographer. For that reason I'd say you'll always want to meet them beforehand and as much as having great photos you need to get on with them. They're going to be bossing you about a lot during the day so if you think they're weird in an office then it's not going to take long before you find them annoying in a wedding setting.

As above ask to see a full album, and preferably one that matches for your venues roughly. For example a wedding shoot at a castle may look beautiful but you need to know they're capable of the same results in say a small converted barn.
 
Russinating said:
I'm a wedding videographer and although not all of our couples meet us we are quite removed from the day as opposed to a photographer. For that reason I'd say you'll always want to meet them beforehand and as much as having great photos you need to get on with them. They're going to be bossing you about a lot during the day so if you think they're weird in an office then it's not going to take long before you find them annoying in a wedding setting.

As above ask to see a full album, and preferably one that matches for your venues roughly. For example a wedding shoot at a castle may look beautiful but you need to know they're capable of the same results in say a small converted barn.
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Another thing to bear in mind is that you want digital proofs, rather than an album.

The cost of the actual album is - I think - actually quite small compared to the time invested by a decent photographer in binning/editing photos from a wedding, so asking for a load of DVD/CD will probably make up the bulk of your costs (assuming you want a decent pro, rather than a mate who will do it as a present).

Make sure the photographer's style suits you, too - my wife and I went for a very standard set of portraits and that what exactly what we got... it's very trendy to have arty photos to capture 'atmosphere' at the moment, and - to have a tog there for the whole day - costs a lot of money (it's a lot of their time, after all). What the images look like in real life is also important - mine were very neutral, whereas some of the examples posted on this forum make my eyes hurt in terms of the colour balance and saturation. But some people like that - I don't.

Get example albums from him/her, get references if you can (always helpful), see how you and your bride-to-be get on with him/her (it's her wedding, not yours - NEVER forget that... ;) ), set out your expectations and then determine whether or not the tog suits you.

Also remember that you will probably not look at the photos much after your first year of marriage: they may be considered art by the tog, but they are just photos at the end of the day. One of my favourite photos of my wedding was actually taken by my younger brother, and it's pretty much the only one that's made display in my house... so go figure. ;)
 
LateX'Dog said:
I'm getting married in January at Ripley Castle (near Harrogate) and am starting to look at wedding photographers. However, I have no idea how to go about this, what to look for etc. Can anyone give any advice?

What are the things I should look for in a photographer? What should I ask them? Is it usual to arrange a meeting before committing to anything? What is a typical price (how long is a piece of string I assume?!). I have a budget of £800 - is this achievable? I am not bothered about getting an album printed, but I would like digital copies of the edited photos.

I don't know much about photography at all. However, I don't like the very staged, forced smile-at-the-camera poses. I like the photography that is more spontaneous - capturing shots that people don't know are being taken. I guess I like a more subtle, naturalistic approach.

If anyone can give any advice that would be great :D
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Aloha! :)

The main thing you should look for in a photographer is, does his style suit you and your other half, don't employ a guy then complain to him if you don't like his processing, best bet is to look at their work on their website and go from there really.

Meeting with the client beforehand is standard practice :) - I'd be very worried about any photographer who does not insist on meeting first...you will be spending a lot of time dealing with this person, you need to make sure you get along with them, answer any questions or doubts beforehand as well, that way on the day you are completely relaxed and don't even need to think about what this photographer is doing, as you then know he has it covered :)

Prices vary massively, depending on area and experience I find. But bear this in mind...you get what you pay for :) - I may sound biased, but I wouldn't look to pay less than a grand for a 'tog unless I was really really reassured he was going to get everything, was professional about it etc. Good photographers cost money, make sure you spend it on the person whos going to be your way of remembering your day rather than something pointless like cameras on a table :p

Again with the natural approach make sure you clarify this with your guy beforehand, I know myself and Ray both have this approach when it comes to our work but some are not the same.

Any other questions, fire away :)
 
I have no connection, but this guy did a fantastic job for my friends wedding near Wetherby: http://www.ashleynesbitt.co.uk

My sister got married a few weeks after the photographer was nowhere near as good. With weddings it's not just the camera work that's important, it's organising and getting people into the right shots that's half the battle.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. Lots of info to use so really helpful. I'll be sure to dig this thread out again if I have any more questions.

As an aside, I've been being nosey and I LOVE the work of both Phate and Ray :D Just the style I'm after
 
I don't get the whole watermark rule thing, it lost its value to me years ago though, I assume if people are interested they would click one someone's signature anyway :p


But yeah, most important thing when choosing a photographer is to check out their style of work and see if:

1. It suits what you're after
2. If the photographer takes requests to cater for anything you'd like but isn't on display on his or her portfolio.

IMO finding someone who has both of the above and is near you and is competitive price wise is quite hard to manage but with some work people do find the right person!
 
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mrk said:
I don't get the whole watermark rule thing, it lost its value to me years ago though, I assume if people are interested they would click one someone's signature anyway :p
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To discuss this properly we would need a seperate forum :p
 
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