Choosing between photographers

I would decide based on personality. If you "clicked" with the 1st guy, go with him. He's probably looking to show everyone what he's made of, so this will help him build himself up, too.

I agree with Kerin, you want to connect with the photographer so you look comfortable and authentic in your pictures. If you had fun chatting meeting him, that will carry over and show during your engagement session and doing wedding photos. That said, there are definitely advantages to a second shooter, but that’s something you have to decide if it’s important to you.

I think it sounds like the first photographer is good for you guys but maybe look at his portfolio to see what his style is like?

If you like both of their portfolios, then I would go with the one you feel the most comfortable with.

I would pick the second one. I had separate photographers for engagement and wedding since I did them in different states. Chatting at the engagement session helped some, but there wasn't even time or space to be chatting with my wedding photographer that day. I think the quality and experience level is more important.

That's a tough one! Clicking with your photographer definitely makes the whole process better, but experience is really key!!

Can you see a full wedding from one of the weddings photographer #1 did by themselves?

I would go with the first one. I think we will spend more time on your photos. When vendors do so many events like 35 weddings a year they have bang things out and have a fast turn around. The first one might not be as experienced but he will work harder for you so he can build his portfolio.

To me it’s completely down to the portfolio. There’s something to be said for having 7 years of experience of getting the shots and editing them correctly. There are of course plenty of photographers with a lot of experience and bad portfolios and photographers with little experience and great portfolios. To me it comes down to what you want your photos to look like. The couple might not have vibed with you as well on the phone because they’re used to having more business like calls because they’re a bit more established and know what they need to get out of introductory phone calls. If your main concern is what the photos are going to look like because you’ll have them forever then that’s what it comes down to.

Without more information, my gut is the second couple, but I'd do two things before you decide. 1) Ask each for contact info for 3-4 prior customers you can talk with and 2) ask each to send you a few full galleries from weddings they've covered that seem similar to the vision you've shared. Then, I'd call and chat with each of those customers, and I'd go through every gallery with a fine-tooth comb. A "gallery" is the full set of photos a photographer shot at a wedding; when you look at a gallery you'll get a good sense of what you can expect your wedding gallery to look like. Anyone can curate an excellent photography "portfolio," which typically only includes their hand-picked "best pictures ever taken." There might be a big difference between what's in a portfolio and what an actual gallery looks like. One of the photographers daughter talked with had a GORGEOUS portfolio, but when she looked through a couple of galleries from weddings he shot at her venue, they were ho-hum -- almost like he was phoning it in (a bunch of standard photos were shot in the exact same locations & poses for both couples -- not much creativity there). She quickly dropped him from consideration. Good luck! (I agree personality & connection matters a lot, if the quality is similar.)

Do they have websites you can share so you can get second opinions on their style?

We met with 3 photographers and really clicked with the third one we met. She was the least experienced (still had quite a bit of experience though) but we really connected with her and her husband (her husband is a DJ so we hired him too). I’d usually say go with who you click with, but do you want 2 shooters? For me that was important and our package comes with a second shooter. Maybe ask the first guy if he can pull in a second shooter if you liked him better?

I would pick the second one personally. It all depends on what you’re looking for. If you don’t want to have any stress or worry I’d say go with the second one. If you’re choosing strictly based off of personality than the first one would be better. At the end of the day you’re probably not gonna stay good friends with this guy after your wedding, but the pictures will be there forever.

That’s a tough call! If the guy you connected with really well has an adequate portfolio and work you like then I say go with him. However given that he only has 2+ years of experience shooting weddings is a little bit concerning. Has he photographed anything aside from weddings beyond the 2 years?

I would definitely go with the 1st photographer. Let me give you my experience: We met with 5 different photographers. The first one was on time and made us feel like we were his only appointment. He showed us his portfolio and explained the different angles and lighting and why he chose to go that route. He provided a list of locations for our engagement session which was free (2 hours) if we booked him for the day. The rest were on time, but they rushed the appointment, just gave us a list of their packages, but didn't offer any explanation. Not that we needed it, but it would have been nice. At that time, he was working full-time for an accounting firm but had the seniority within the company that he made his own schedule. To help keep costs to a minimum, he did hire 2 student photographers (he showed us their work) and just signed an agreement that they could use our photos in their portfolio. The other photographers were full-time photographers but did not concentrate solely on weddings. We went with the first guy based solely on how at ease he made us feel. I am normally very nervous in front of the camera, but our engagement shoot, ceremony, and reception I was calm and enjoyed every minute of our day.