Choosing a Wedding Photographer, 5 Helpful Tips
- Rachael Jackson
- Jun 30, 2017
- 4 min read
Choosing a wedding photographer can be overwhelming. I have some advice on how to help you decide which one will be best for you. These days, the trend seems to be leaning toward choosing the least expensive option with the most amount of photos in some digital form whether it be CD, DVD or USB. Emphasis on the low cost. But I urge you to look closer at what you are actually getting.
Photography is so much more than a price tag. These are the memories you will cherish for the rest of your life. Aside from the dress and the ring, photographs will be the most important part of your wedding. The ring is obvious, you keep that and possibly pass down to your grandkids. The dress you may or may not keep, but your dress will be preserved in your photographs. Photographs, that’s what I’m getting at. Printed properly on archival paper from a professional lab, prints can last over 100 years! I’m not talking consumer prints from Wal-Mart. And your photographs will truly be a custom, one of a kind creation that is absolutely priceless and irreplaceable. The technology has changed so much over the last 50 years as well. Have you noticed that it’s hard to buy a computer now with a disc drive? Would your kids know how to get photos off of a 5” floppy drive? USBs could also be obsolete before you know it. CDs are also starting to decompose after as little as 20 years because they are not made of archival materials. I highly recommend choosing a photographer that can help you print your photos and or create a high quality archival album. The cost may be quite high, but the investment is worth it at just a few pennies a day.
You don’t need 1000 pictures! Speaking from experience with my own wedding here. I hired a photographer based on price, getting ALL the photos on a disc, and judged the style based on a few Facebook photos. We met for 5 minutes where I paid my deposit and discussed the date and time of the wedding and it was settled. We did not chat much or get to know each other at all. I wasn’t offered any advice on printing my photos. I didn’t get any information about photography related products. We did not keep in touch between booking and the day of the wedding at all. There was no contact. After the wedding I received a CD with several hundred photos. I did not print any for over a year! It was too overwhelming to go through that many photos and try to decide which ones to print and at what sizes. Unfortunately, I was also that photographer years ago. I provided a disservice to my clients by handing over an unfinished product. I’m not anymore so I made an album (by myself) with my favourite photos, about 100 or so and printed 3 to put in frames. I haven’t seen the rest of the photos on that disc since. I’m not even sure where it is. But I DO know where the album is. It’s the only thing I even think of when I want to show off my photos. I don’t think about loading a disc on the computer and scrolling through all the photos. How do you imagine viewing your photos 20 or 30 years from now?
Pleas meet your photographer IN PERSON and get to know each other a little. This person is going to be spending the whole day with you through all the ups and downs and stressful and joyful moments. This person will be interacting with all your guests. This person may be with you in the dressing room while you’re half naked capturing the getting ready photos. You want to make sure that your personalities mesh and they are polite and professional. Your photos may come out stiff and unnatural if you are uncomfortable with your photographer.
Shop around. Every photographer has different style of shooting and editing. 100 photographers could take a picture of the same man sitting on the same chair and you’d get 100 DIFFERENT photo styles. Go to different websites and have a look at their wedding portfolios. Browse through facebook at the wedding photographers in your area. Styles do change over time, but what you see on a photographer’s page should be very close to what you should expect to receive. Don’t hire a photographer with a documentary style of shooting and expect to get perfectly posed formal portraits. Find someone with a style that goes with yours.
Rachael Jackson Photography is a completely hands on and completely customized for each client. I always get to know my clients over the phone at first and then in person. We chat about ourselves and get acquainted over coffee and snacks. We talk about what kind of services and products are right for you. My complete process is discussed in detail and I show a variety of beautiful products that you can touch and feel. You can see the quality for yourself. We live in a digital world so USBs with digital files are also available but that's not my main focus. Printed products are undoubtedly my passion. Only after all that will you decide if I am the right fit for you. Theres no obligation to hire me whatsoever, but after we meet, I think you will want to.
So to recap:
1 Make sure to have a way to get high quality prints or album to stand the test of time.
2 Quality over quantity
3 Choose someone you are comfortable with. Meet at least once or twice before signing a contract.
4 Choose a photographer with a style that you love.
5 What kind of family heirlooms and artwork would you like to have? Contact me today!
