Too often a couple’s choice of wedding photographer is decided by either what they cost or whether they are local – or a combination of both. While both budget and convenience should definitely be important deciding factors, neither alone or combined should be the only determining factor(s). With that in mind, below are three top tips for how to choose the perfect wedding photographer to immortalise your perfect big day.
Rapport
Essentially, you are inviting a complete stranger to watch and photograph the most intimate moments during your big day. In fact, you are paying a stranger to do exactly that, and should they fail – nobody would blame you for being fuming, or worse. Just imagine what the couples whose photographs were featured in the Daily Mail News must have felt when they first saw their own wedding snaps. I am guessing they felt pretty close to snapping, themselves…
Poor wedding photographs aren’t often the product of an inept or poorly skilled photographer though. As wedding photographer, Scott Rothney explains it is crucial to find ‘Someone who you feel really comfortable with, that you can ask questions and make suggestion to, so that on your wedding day you feel totally relaxed and that smile is genuine and not stuck on!’ If you aren’t comfortable asking your photographer questions, suggesting ideas and communicating your desires with them, most simply, you cannot consequently blame them if they fail to create your ‘vision’.
Style
Photographers are artists; hence, every wedding photographer has their own style. Take, for example, Katy of Katy and Co Wedding Photography, who states on her website that her style aims to incorporate ‘documentary-style realism with cinematic flourishes we aim to record all your memorable moments in beautiful, elegant imagery.’
Then, a photographer lacking in style is likely to result in your photographers lacking in style too. Perhaps the photographer will competently work their equipment, but they may fail to work the moment. That is, they may fail to spot how best to capture those special moments. Consequently, your pictures will, at best, be clear, but at worst fail to clearly capture the feeling.
Meanwhile, a photographer too wrapped up in creating their own ‘vision’ or telling their own story may fail to capture your vision and story. So, do your research. Visit photographer’s websites and don’t just pay attention to their photographs or online galleries; as well, pay close attention to their ‘about’ pages, where they speak about their specific experience, approach and style of photography.
Going that Little Further…
Do not settle for a photographer simply because they live locally or because you are unsure whether photographers will travel and how far. The trick is to simply research, and ask when you find a photographer whose style echoes your own – even when you do not share the same geographic location.
Many wedding photographers, like Francesca Hill, are willing to travel to accommodate their clients. Fran is one of Cardiff’s leading and most well known photographers. Fortunately for all of those living and getting hitched in other parts of the UK, Fran is ‘available for commissions across the whole of the UK and will travel to any destination in Europe, America, Australia and Asia’. Hence, open your eyes and broaden your horizons; in 2015 there is no need to shrink your dreams or settle for what is on your doorstep!
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