How to Choose a Wedding Photographer

A wedding day portrait taken in downtown Seattle

Choosing a wedding photographer can be a difficult and stressful experience. As a wedding photographer, I have been through the process hundreds of times. I constantly remind myself that my clients are still going through it for the first time and work on how to make it easier as well as more comfortable. My goal with this article is to break it down into a linear process that will allow you to pick a photographer and feel comfortable with the choice.

I’ve broken my recommended considerations into four steps. Images & Style, The Complete Story, Money, Personality, and Professionalism

Images and Style 

The first and most important thing is that you like the images the photographer produces. Obviously. It is super easy to check out a photographer online with their website as well as Facebook and Instagram. I would also recommend checking out their various social media accounts to see if their new work matches the style on their website, and if they are updating it somewhat regularly

There are real emotions that add to the story of the wedding day. This is sometimes called “wedding photojournalism”.

You should look at a lot of different photographers. Don’t stay on the first page of Google. As most people know, a lot of times the person on the top of the search results are those that have paid the most money to be there. Whether that is by hiring an SEO company or paying Google to be in the sponsored section. That does not mean you shouldn’t check those people out, just move on well past the first few to find a larger variety of image-makers. In addition to a conventional Google search, check out Google Images to find photographers that have worked at your venue, get some recommendations from people you know, and from your other vendors. You can also search for different or more specific things that you are interested in. If you are having a wedding at Willows Lodge, type in “Willows Lodge wedding photos” as well as “Seattle Wedding Photography”, and “Wedding Photographers in Woodinville” to get more varied results.

What I would avoid is places like The Knot that are purely paid advertising. The online wedding listings cost up to $3000 per month for a listing and is meant to increase the revenue of the website, which means they recommend the people that have paid the most. I have a very poor opinion of some of these sites. As someone that has served as a mentor for other photographers, I believe they take advantage of younger photographers that are trying to start up their business and present themselves as the only option to success. Even their editorial section that shows real weddings are based on a pay to play concept. The Knot specifically is now a large corporation that has gobbled up or forced out most of its competitors. 

As you look at your prospective photographer’s images, try to figure out what you like about your favorites and see if they use any keywords that you could use to find similar work. Some photographers are more portrait-oriented, while others are about the real moments and emotions of the event. Most include both. Try to look at the images with a critical eye and see both the substance and the processing style of the images. You should see if you have an obvious first choice where you absolutely love the images.

Some photographers will be quickly eliminated, but keep a list of those that you like on first perusal and go back and make some comparisons. 

The Complete Story

Photographers aim to show their best images online. Hopefully, they are amazing and make you want to choose them to photograph your wedding. It seems like an obvious thing to say, but make sure that you can see images from the entire day. Sometimes a photographer will show almost entirely beautiful portraits taken in ideal conditions when the sun is shining. Try to find images on their website of what images look like on days that are less than ideal, such as portraits that had to be taken indoors and images from the dark reception at night. Sometimes these are in a different section of their website, or they can be found on a blog or Instagram. If they don’t show these images, it could be a problem, or it could be that they don’t think those images hit their target market as well as the other images. If you love what you see, but parts of the story are missing, you can contact the photographer and see if they can give you access to the images you are looking for. I would recommend looking for or asking for images that will match your conditions especially if you are not having an outdoor summer wedding. 

Wedding portraits can have emotion as well as the more candid moments. I love how these two laughed together.

One particular thing to look for is if they use a flash and how good it looks to you at the reception. Those dark moments during speeches and dancing can make for some great images, but some, especially new photographers try to avoid using flash. Make sure you are okay with that if you find that with a photographer you have targeted. 

Money

Cost, price, cash, payola. It’s important. While I encourage you to be open to increasing your budget for the right photographer, it doesn’t make any sense to go to the Ferrari dealership when your budget is a well-used Ford. Some photographers have this information on their website while others do not. Not listing a price is not, necessarily an indicator that the photographer is super expensive. I don’t list my prices. I find that pricing varies so widely that it is hard to list a set price. That may not seem to make a lot of sense, but part of the expense of weddings is the scarcity of available dates for wedding vendors to make their annual income. The bulk of weddings will happen on 10 days each year on Saturdays in the summer. So, for a vendor that specializes in weddings, those dates become both important and expensive to book.

If you want to get married on a Thursday in January, you can expect discounts from vendors, and much lower minimum spending to book a photographer. For example, on a Saturday in the summer, my packages start at 6 hours, while on a Tuesday, I would be willing to go for two hours. 

Once you have your short list, email the photographers to get a pricing guide for your date. Even if they have a price listed, you may qualify for a discount or they may be running a special. Once you have the pricing, compare that to the quality of the images as well as your budget.

Many people are surprised at the cost of wedding photography. As a photographer, I am a biased source in both that my profit motive is to have people spend money on their photography as well as being a huge fan of the emotion and memories photographs help us keep. With that said, I will add a couple of things as to the value of photography. The first is that you are paying for more than just one day of work. A photographer is running a business. Some of that relates directly to you and your wedding and some of it does not. The part that relates directly to you is answering your emails with reasoned, personalized answers; meeting with you; photographing you; and the hours spent processing your images. This last one is rather significant. I spend 2-3 hours working on the images for each hour I spend shooting. That means that for one 10 hour day of wedding photography, I am spending 30-40 hours directly making the final product. That would not include the time that I spend with invoicing, taxes, paperwork, writing articles like this one to increase my SEO and to be viewed as an expert, and lots and lots of other little things that seem to fill every day. 

Something to look for is how a photographer works in adverse conditions such as a wedding on a rainy winter night and if they can make it work for them.

The other part of what makes photography valuable and treasured is the memories it preserves for us. When I hear about people that run into a burning house to retrieve their family wedding albums, it makes me realize what I do is important to the couples and families that are my clients. Here is where I encourage everyone to digitize all their family photographs. Amazon Prime includes free unlimited photo storage. Back to the point, when everything else is gone, your photographs will be how you, your kids, and your grandchildren will remember your wedding day.

Personality 

The next part of the equation is the personality of the photographer and how it fits you. For some photographers, you can get a sense of this online. The About Me pages on websites and FAQ pages are good to get an initial feel for a person. I’ve had people tell me how much they loved the blend of humor, sarcasm, and confidence on my FAQ page, but I’m sure others react differently. If the online presence seems okay, contact your top choices to figure out a time to meet. This is someone that will be spending your wedding day with you. Some photographers are directors that will be hands on and creating images and portraits all day. Others will be completely hands off and concentrate only on what actually happens. Some will be comforting and low-key while others will get excited with you. Figure out how you gel and what you would like for your wedding day.

Professionalism

The final part is the photographer’s professionalism. The first thing you may notice is the speed of responses, and how well they follow up. 

Do they make you feel confident they can handle the unexpected? Will the person you meet with be the person that is photographing your wedding? Does the studio have multiple people? You want to make sure that you get to meet the photographer that will be shooting your wedding. 

Do they have a professional contract? Do they charge tax? Not charging tax or having a contract could mean that this person is not going to show up, not legally a business, and may have other problems.

Once you have decided who your photographer is going to be, book them as soon as possible. Don’t wait. And remember to have fun!