How to Get Wedding Photos You Love!
By Alicia Laird, Owner of Alicia Laird Photography
Your wedding day is going to be one of the most memorable and exciting days of your life! All the planning over the past months or even years comes down to a day that will pass in the blink of an eye. When the vows have been made and the cake has been eaten you are left with memories and your wedding photographs. You will look back on these photographs for years to come, and they will spark reminders of exactly how you felt in these special moments. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to choose a photographer that you can connect with, who has a style you love, and who you can completely put your trust in. The following tips will help you sort through all of the different types of photography and guide you in making the perfect choice for your big day!
1. Go Professional Over Bargain
There is a reason why some photographers charge $500 per wedding and some charge $5,000 per wedding and everything in between. It takes years of practice and perfecting the craft of capturing a wedding day, as well as investing in equipment and education. Passionate professional photographers will put every ounce of their being into educating themselves through workshops, schooling, and second shooting to become the pros they are. We all started somewhere, but chances are someone who is shooting at incredibly low prices is probably just starting out, and may not have experience and equipment to handle different lighting situations on a wedding day. Do your research to make sure they have experience! A little breakdown on what you are paying for, since it’s not just the day of the wedding work:
1. Education, equipment, advertising and experience it takes to run a business
2. Pre-wedding consultations, questions and planning
3. Engagement session travel, the actual session, and editing afterward
4. The wedding day (4-10 hours on their feet with little rest), and the hours of culling, editing, providing sneak peeks, uploading the gallery and blogging the photos.
So when a professional is charging a rate that gives them a livable wage, you know you have a competent business owner with experience that you can trust, and that won’t run off with your photos and money. I recently heard a story about something like this happening to a friend and my heart aches for them!
2. What to Ask at a Consultation
At your wedding day consultation, before you book, the photographer should as you lots of questions to get to know you and what your expectations are of them. This usually takes place at an in person meeting, or a phone call or Zoom chat. This gives you a chance to get to know your photographer personally, as you will be spending a lot of time on your big day with them! Ask as many questions as you like, most professionals will be happy to spend time with you and answer all of your questions. Some common questions Brides ask are:
1. How long have you been photographing weddings?
2. What kind of equipment do you have and do you have backups? How do you back up images?
3. Do you specialize in weddings?
4. What does a wedding experience look like with you?
5. Do you have a second shooter/ assistant?
6. How long will it take to get my images/ see sneak peaks/ see a blog to share?
Most photographers are happy to chat about their experiences, show you full wedding and engagement galleries that align with their style, and answer any of your questions.
3. Style
When you Google wedding photography, you will see work from hundreds of different photographers pop up in the images section. Some of them may look like they belong together but chances are, since it is work from all different people, it will not. Looking at a photographers style is one of the most important things when you want to see how your photos will look.
There are two different kinds of styles, how they edit and what approach they take to your wedding day. Some editing styles are bright and airy, moody, bright and colorful, dramatic lighting, and rich color. Search these terms and see what style you like and what resonates with you! When you look at their portfolio, you should see consistency all around, and not see work that looks like it was edited with 10 different filters by 10 different people. It should generally have a consistent mood and feel. Photographers are usually passionate about their style, so if one tells you they have a bright and airy style and love natural light, don’t expect them to set up a bunch of lights or create dark or dramatically lit photos for you.
The second type of style is how the photographer approaches the wedding day. Some styles are artistic, editorial, or photojournalistic. An artistic photographer is one you will see with the most unique angles and compositions. An editorial photographer will pose, perfect every little detail with styling, and make every image look magazine worthy. A photojournalist will try to be as discrete as possible and let the moments unfold exactly how they happened, wile capturing all the emotion along the way. These are all wonderful styles, just think about how you want your day captured and make sure you discuss it with your photographer, so everyones expectations are on the same level. I consider myself an editorial photojournalist.
I will style details in the bridal suite, pose you like a pro for portraits and family formals, but be discrete as possible during the ceremony and reception and capture the action as it happens!
4. Anti-Pinterest
We all love Pinterest for inspiration, and if your photographer sends you boards they have created so that you can see ideas and inspiration that is great! Going back to trusting your photographer and their artistic vision, if you don’t see photos and poses you love on their site and have to resort to sending them tons of stuff from Pinterest, you may not have a good fit. Remember, photographers post on their site the work they love the most and that represents them and their work. If you don’t see dresses hanging in trees, jumping bridesmaids, a blurred out ring with a kiss in focus in the middle, sepia tone or selective color in their portfolio, it is probably because this is not their style. Never fear though, there are so many types of photographers that work in all different ways. You should trust their style and vision to pose and create images you love, so you can relax, enjoy your day and have the most fun ever!
5. Personality and Connection
There is nothing worse that not getting to know the person you will be spending the majority of your big day with, and meeting them for the first time on your wedding day and realizing your personalities completely clash! Not that everyone has to be exactly alike, but a lot of “box store” photography studios will just send you whoever is available and you won’t even know their name until a few weeks before your wedding day. A personal interest and connection is such a huge part of the experience. Weather it’s chatting in person, on the phone or through e-mail correspondence leading up to your wedding, you want to get a good sense of their personality, and make sure you will enjoy spending time with them on your wedding day!
So don’t be afraid to do some digging and research to find a style you love and several photographers that you can meet with, that have that style, so you find your perfect match. You’ve already found your perfect partner, now finding your perfect photographer should be easy!
Cheers!
Alicia
