Wedding photographer

garak112 · 24 Mar 2018 at 10:14

I'm getting married next year and need to find myself a wedding photographer but I've got no idea what I'm looking for.

I've seen some ropey looking wedding pics shot by pro photographers and I'm nervous about dropping money on someone that can't do the job.

I know we have a few pro's here so my question is what are the key things I should be checking before committing to someone?

aoaaron · 24 Mar 2018 at 12:46

Look through their portfolios and double check their previous venues versus yours.

Schizo · 24 Mar 2018 at 12:53

Depends on your location but Facebook might be a place to start.

Raymond Lin · 24 Mar 2018 at 16:12

Ask to see a whole set of wedding photos, not just the landing page on his website.
Ask for details of what you get - From shooting time, to files, albums, prints?
May be see your friends who has nice wedding photos and see who their photographers are and what they think of him.
Lastly, meet in person, he will be there all day so he's got to be a people person. His pictures might be good but might be rude, this is where your gut instinct will guide you.

Columbo · 24 Mar 2018 at 17:52

Word of mouth is all you need, go off of other peoples (friends / family / work colleagues) recommendations.
Talk to them, ask to see their shots and get the details of photographers you like the look and sound of.

We don't even advertise anymore because of word of mouth and feedback, all of decent wedding photographers I know are pretty much the same. Most importantly meet face to face, if you and your wife to be don't get a nice warm fuzzy feeling from the meeting, move on fine someone else.

Also know your budget, be honest with yourselves and set your expectations and don't go expecting the best job in the world for £100.

sieze2 · 25 Mar 2018 at 16:18

Also ask if they post process the images. It takes time and costs more, but is essential IMHO.

garak112 · 26 Mar 2018 at 15:11

Thanks for the pointers, now I just need to find someone to ask the questions of!

a1ex2001 · 27 Mar 2018 at 04:15

Raymond Lin said:
Ask to see a whole set of wedding photos, not just the landing page on his website.
Ask for details of what you get - From shooting time, to files, albums, prints?
May be see your friends who has nice wedding photos and see who their photographers are and what they think of him.
Lastly, meet in person, he will be there all day so he's got to be a people person. His pictures might be good but might be rude, this is where your gut instinct will guide you.

Raymond speaks the truth!

Find someone who's pictures speak to you then dig a little deeper any decent tog should be happy to show you a couple of full albums and make sure you like them I would happily have had our togs as wedding guests! Don't ask them what camera they use and if you can havecsll the raw files lol

D.P. · 27 Mar 2018 at 10:07

Actually, do ask if you can have the raw files. Any decent photographer shoudln't mind. It is mostly just the amateurs that have some perversion against giving away the raw files with inane excuses about proof of authorship or soem other nonsense.That absolutely doesn't mean you want to get a set of photos that are not processed. Choose the photographer that presents a compelte package that you like. The composition/subjects/framing/focus/lighting/exposure all go along with the processing style. However, down the line it can be useful to have a RAW photogrpah that you can go back to and change some of the processing. Maybe you need a full full color for a print, or a different tone/rendition, or different aspect ratio/crop

a1ex2001 · 27 Mar 2018 at 22:51

D.P. said:
Actually, do ask if you can have the raw files. Any decent photographer shoudln't mind. It is mostly just the amateurs that have some perversion against giving away the raw files with inane excuses about proof of authorship or soem other nonsense.That absolutely doesn't mean you want to get a set of photos that are not processed. Choose the photographer that presents a compelte package that you like. The composition/subjects/framing/focus/lighting/exposure all go along with the processing style. However, down the line it can be useful to have a RAW photogrpah that you can go back to and change some of the processing. Maybe you need a full full color for a print, or a different tone/rendition, or different aspect ratio/crop

I've never come across a decent pro wedding tog who has any interest in selling raw files but obviously your millage may vary!

Raymond Lin · 27 Mar 2018 at 23:51

Most people don't even have the software to open RAW files, nor do they know what a RAW file is, that's before the skill to edit.

If you think you can do better than the photographer in both shooting and editing, perhaps you've picked the wrong photographer to begin with. I wouldn't care of the RAW files, I just want nice pictures.

Dan103 · 29 Mar 2018 at 11:11

We got married last year. Our photographer was great and really helped with managing times and proceedings. He has done bespoke canvas for us since and would always go back to him for any more.

As above if you don't connect on your first meeting then the photos can feel like chore to do of enjoying them. Was great to have on the day and photos were top notch.

Get a list of everything what included and whats additional. And check over a few of their albums to get a taste of their style.

Combat squirrel · 31 Mar 2018 at 13:36

Raymond Lin said:
Ask to see a whole set of wedding photos, not just the landing page on his website.
Ask for details of what you get - From shooting time, to files, albums, prints?
May be see your friends who has nice wedding photos and see who their photographers are and what they think of him.
Lastly, meet in person, he will be there all day so he's got to be a people person. His pictures might be good but might be rude, this is where your gut instinct will guide you.

Exactly this and exactly what I do with my clients!

Combat squirrel · 31 Mar 2018 at 13:42

D.P. said:
Actually, do ask if you can have the raw files. Any decent photographer shoudln't mind. It is mostly just the amateurs that have some perversion against giving away the raw files with inane excuses about proof of authorship or soem other nonsense.That absolutely doesn't mean you want to get a set of photos that are not processed. Choose the photographer that presents a compelte package that you like. The composition/subjects/framing/focus/lighting/exposure all go along with the processing style. However, down the line it can be useful to have a RAW photogrpah that you can go back to and change some of the processing. Maybe you need a full full color for a print, or a different tone/rendition, or different aspect ratio/crop

Raymond Lin said:
Most people don't even have the software to open RAW files, nor do they know what a RAW file is, that's before the skill to edit.

If you think you can do better than the photographer in both shooting and editing, perhaps you've picked the wrong photographer to begin with. I wouldn't care of the RAW files, I just want nice pictures.

Again I agree with Raymond here.........raw files are raw materials, excuse the pun - any decent photographer will very likely take more or less the 'same' image (assuming its the same composition, framing etc.......if an experiment was done where the photographers where the cameras position was fixed) - the net result image off the camera would vary very little (also same DOF)..............what will make the image alter drastically is what editing the photographer does to the image and indeed where ones style is very much expressed.

Its not 'that simple' but a photographers images largely come down to their style which mostly consists of composition, DOF and then editing........there is of course other elements involved but if I had to choose 3 basics........you can obviously then play with exposures and flash etc, and generally you'd only over/under expose a shot for creative uses.