Choosing Your Wedding Photographer
Factors in Booking the Best Photographer For Your Ceremony
When planning a wedding, most brides and grooms are hiring a photographer for the first time, and the process can be daunting. How to choose?
Okay, so you've scoured the wedding magazines and the Internet, asked for recommendations from friends and family, and met with a few possible photographers for your wedding. Now how do you decide which one to book? There are many considerations that will go into your final choice of a wedding photographer, not least of which will be simply your gut feeling. But there are some important factors brides and grooms should consider when making the decision.
Compatibility With Your Wedding Photographer
Unlike a caterer or florist, a wedding photographer is someone you need to feel personally comfortable with. He or she will be following you around on your wedding day and capturing your emotions. No matter how good his samples might be, if the photographer makes you uncomfortable, you'll look it in your photos. If he intimidates you so much that you're afraid to ask for the shots you want, well, you may not get them.
Ideally your photographer will make you feel relaxed and at ease so that you begin to forget he is even there. If it's something you would like, he should be willing to meet with you as the event approaches to go over your plans for the day and any required shot lists or portrait lists.
Wedding Photography Style
There are different styles of wedding photography, from traditional to photojournalistic to something more stylized and modern. A photographer who specializes in photojournalism can probably take a few formal posed portraits if you want them, but do look for someone who shoots most of their work in the style you prefer.
Photographer's Prices
Wedding photography can be expensive. If you've already begun to plan your wedding, you probably have a sense of what your budget for photography will be. Costs can range from free (friend or family takes photos as a gift to you) to $10 thousand dollars and up. Prices will also depend on your location – fees are usually higher in major cities. Generally, a good photographer in a large market will cost between $2,000 and $4,000. Students or "second shooters" working on solo portfolios will be cheaper.
But remember, there is no wrong price or wrong budget. The point is only to figure out where photographs lie on your wedding priority list and what your budget is, and find a photographer who fits into that budget.
Wedding Photography Contract
The wedding photography contract protects both you and the photographer. It should outline exactly what you will pay and exactly what you will get for your money and when.
As the creator of the images, the photographer will always retain the copyright to his or her work. What you want to find out is whether you will have rights to the use of the photos. Some photographers require that you purchase all prints through them in perpetuity.
A better arrangement is if he or she gives you the digital images and/or negatives so that you'll be able to produce prints whenever you want and at reasonable prices.
If you are not satisfied with the contract, and the photographer does not want to negotiate, find someone else.
But once you've considered all the details, the important thing is your gut feeling. Just ask yourself, is this the right photographer for me and my wedding? And, just like you knew your spouse-to-be was "the one," you'll just know.
Further reading:
- Wondering why wedding photography is so expensive?
- Don't be afraid to try to bargain with your wedding photographer.
