My wife and I decided to hire a photojournalist for our wedding instead of a traditional wedding photographer, because we believed that we could find an especially excellent and experienced photographer at a relatively attractive price, i.e., more bang for the buck!
Fortunately for us, our very high expectations were exceeded. I searched Google for "Florida photojournalists" and quickly came across Chip Litherland's website. His portfolios speak for themselves, and we quickly got in touch with him, worked out the details, and looked forward to the wedding. Several months later, we had the pleasure of meeting Chip in person, and he photographed our rehearsal dinner and wedding. He also sent beautiful prints and a book after the wedding.
Anyway, to make a long story short, most people who get married will be satisfied with their wedding photographer and his/her services. Additionally, since most people who provide online reviews of wedding photographers have probably only gotten married once, it's hard to offer a sense of *relative* strengths, as one has little in the way of comparative metrics! However, I'll go ahead and take a stab at what I believe sets Chip Litherland's Eleven Weddings apart from the rest:
- As a photojournalist who with extensive experience covering sports, arts, performances, and other events, Chip is relatively more capable of capturing moments - special light, brief expressions...things that just happen once and can't be posed or repeated. It's likely that a couple's favorite photographs from after a wedding aren't the staged shots of the bridal party or different family members, but instead the handful of unexpected, funny, and special things that happen at YOUR wedding and set it apart from everyone else's. As an example, I accidentally leaned in twice to kiss the bride at different points in the service, and Chip captured a really funny moment of my wife smiling and rolling her eyes at me - that lasted 1/8 of a second, and we thought that nobody saw it but ourselves, but Chip got it. I'm not sure that wedding photographers who DON'T have Chip's journalism background could have captured that.
- Chip pays special attention to light, which is probably the quality (IMHO) that distinguishes prosumers and advanced amateurs from true professionals and artists. This is abundantly clear on his website. He's also good in terms of vibrant colors, which I appreciated, because we had overcast and dark skies on our wedding day, but in all of the photos, all the dresses and colors and grass and ocean, etc....they all pop and look great, and I was amazed at the photos that Chip made despite the flat, dreary light. Clearly all these wedding photographers have great equipment, but Chip's eye for light means that he can use that equipment more successfully than can other wedding photographers.
- value proposition. If memory serves, Chip was in the bottom third in terms of pricing of the 15-20 photographers whom we considered. I think that his output is probably in the top 10%, so that's a great opportunity to maximize your value. Remember, this is a guy whose work appears in top level publications around the country, e.g., the NYTimes, so you're getting a top-shelf photojournalist rather than some carbon copy wedding photographer who's yet another leech in the wedding-industrial complex!
So, those are relative strengths. In terms of absolute strengths, while I can't guarantee that Chip is the friendliest photographer in the country, it's hard to imagine someone cooler, more laid back, or friendlier. The last thing we wanted was an annoying photographer who made our guests uncomfortable. Just the opposite. It wasn't that Chip had to "disappear" or hide in the corner to be the unseen fly on the wall. He's cool enough and charismatic enough that he basically "fits in" with all your wedding guests, regardless of their personalities. This is because Chip is dynamic and experienced, as well as being generally friendly.
Additionally, Chip is fair and honest in terms of pricing and services, which isn't always the case when it comes to wedding planning. I'm particularly cynical about the "wedding industry," because I think it preys on inexperienced, young couples who are eager to make the most of a very important day in their lives...consequently, they get cajoled and bullied at every step in the process into spending more money than they can or should. Chip was a breath of fresh air: he's straightforward and direct...these are his services, these are his prices, everything's transparent, and he's not going to "upsell" you along the way or trick you into paying for stuff you don't need, etc.
My wife and I have been pleased to recommend his services to a few other young friends who have been married, and we hope that he can become the "go-to" for weddings all over Florida and elsewhere!
