Post edited 5:13 am – 04/15/2009 by Lynnell

Choosing a photographer is, for some people, one of the biggest decisions that they have to make in their wedding (or other event) planning process, so how do you find just the right one that fits your style, but also fits your budget? 

There are many things to consider as you pick your photographer.  Just keep in mind that this is the person, or team of people, that will work with you more closely than any of your other vendors on your special day, so you'll want to make sure that you feel comfortable around them.  First of all, it is important that you enjoy and “get” their style of photography. To be very general, there are two or three broad types of wedding/event photographers.  Traditional, Journalistic, and a mix of the two. 

To sum up the differences in style, traditional photographers focus mainly on the posed shots of the bride, groom, family and friends mostly during and imediately after the wedding, whereas a true journalistic photographer shoots NO posed shots.  They approach it as a newspaper photographer would.  They capture things as they happen and don't affect the happenings at all.  Due to the fact that there is usually some amount of posing or arrangement needed, there are very few photographers that shoot TRULY journalistic style all the time.  Most of them end up falling into the third category of a mix of the two, and that is where we fall.  We take the posed shots that everybody always wants, but our main focus is on documenting the little things that happen along the way that make your wedding absolutely unique to you.  We try to understand what makes our couples tick, discover that unique bond between them and those around them, and then bring that out in our photography. 

The biggest factor besides style in choosing a photographer is many time price.  Just make sure that before you set your budget, you get a feel for what experienced photographers in your area charge.  It can be a bit of a sticker shock at first if you've never hired a photographer before, but just be aware that for every hour that a good photographer is at the wedding, she will be spending about 3-4 hours sorting, editing, designing albums, etc.  It is one of the most labor-intensive wedding positions other than your wedding coordinator.

You also want to make sure that you are realistic about how long you will need them.  It's easy to think that you won't need your photographer for more than 3 or 4 hours, but once you really start going down the timeline… a few getting ready shots, some shots of the guys before the ceremony, some shots of the girls before, 1/2 hour hiding time before the ceremony, the whole ceremony, group shots after, the receiving line, an hour or two at the reception… etc.  The majority of people that ask us to be there less than 6 hours end up adding on time.  For a medium size wedding I would recomend budgeting for at least 6 hours of photography whether you think you need that much or not.

Those are some of the things you should think about before and during your photographer search.  Of course, one of the other things is to make sure that they are available for your date.  If they aren't, and you liked their work, ask them if there is someone they can recomend.  Many times an experienced photographer will have worked with or at least know of other photographers in their price/experience range. 

I hope that helps, and good luck with your search!