Wedding photographer

What helped us was the quality of her pictures. They were amazing. Also upon meeting, the connection we had with her felt great and comfortable

View Quoted Comment Photos of all 3 are fantastic and meetings with all 3 went great. We’re in a pickle. Haha

The biggest thing that helped my fiance and I choose our photographer was meeting with them. We looked at their portfolios online, found out their pricing online, and narrowed it down to a couple that we liked. When we met with them in person (before COVID), there was one that my fiance and I both felt that we connected with best and whose photography style matched what we were looking for. Choose a photographer you feel comfortable talking to and being around, and who makes you feel at ease. Also, choose one who you are confident in both their photography skills and their work ethic (show up on time, reliable, good communication, etc).

View Quoted Comment We’ve met and like all 3. Still can’t seem to narrow it down

View Quoted Comment Mhmm, how ours responded to covid helped. We got married in may and she still came & was helpful. Maybe seeing how they would respond if covid got worse

We ran into the same issue when choosing our photographer. We ended up making our decision based on who we were most comfortable with personality wise, and we are so glad we did. Our photographer helped us in the planning stages, especially with the timeline. She helped make our wedding day fun, and essentially became our day of coordinator. She told people where to go, what to do, when to shut up so we could get the group photos finished, kept us on schedule, managed everyone's demands, and even bustled my dress when all of my bridesmaids forgot how it worked. And above all of that it honestly felt like we were life-long friends by the time our wedding day rolled around.

Maybe choose by location/how far they would need to travel? I chose my photographer because I loved her style, we had a great connection when meeting, AND they lived super close to where our venue is, so I didn't have to pay extra for travel fees.

View Quoted Comment All of them live within travel distance 😭😭

View Quoted Comment We were hoping one would stick out in this area too

View Quoted Comment Maybe meet with all three again to try to make a decision? Ask additional questions about things that may be important to you and that might help you decide between them, such as, where do they typically stand during the ceremony? Do they go anywhere they need to in order to get the shot, or are they cautious about blocking guests views? Do they bring a second shooter with them? If so, is it also a professional, or is it a student photographer? Do they including an engagement photo shoot in the package? Do they have any creative ideas of how to make your wedding photos unique? Or do they use the same general set of poses? Look through their portfolios again and see if each couple has unique poses and/or if the photographer uses the scenery in a clever way in the photos, or if a lot of the photos look similar with just a different couple.

View Quoted Comment Some of these we know but the others are great questions!

View Quoted Comment Sometimes it just comes down to questions like those! If you ask each of them more questions about how they are able to get the pictures they do, and how they work around guests, you might be able to come to a decision based on each of their replies. Good luck!!

I only spoke with one. She was the photographer for my friend's wedding right before I got engaged and I loved her photos. I wanted a package that included engagement photos and all of three of her standard packages included engagement photos in her pricing. I also wanted a second shooter and her husband is her second shooter and he was included in all of her packages as well. I am very glad we had a second shooter because that meant more photos and photos from different angles.

It was less about the price or what was included and more about their personalities. Every single vendor I picked for the day I picked because they felt like an old friend

Outside of packages and price, what helped us decide on our photographer was how well we all clicked! From our first face to face meeting (pre-COVID), we got along so well and she was so easy to talk to. I could also tell she was passionate about her work and willing to listen to me and my wife's wants & needs. That sold us.

Have you looked at full wedding galleries from each -- especially if they've ever shot at your venue or one similar to it? (A full gallery is the complete set of edited photos they returned to a couple -- it gives you a VERY different sense than you might get from their portfolio, which tends to be a group of their best, carefully selected photos from a number of different weddings.)

There was a photographer that was a preferred vendor of daughter's venue. When we met him at an open house, he had a gorgeous slideshow of his portfolio. However, when daughter asked if he could send her links to a couple of complete galleries for weddings he'd shot at her venue, her impression changed drastically. He sent two galleries and the poses and locations for both were nearly identical. There were even some shots of just the venue that she was pretty sure were "stock photos" he'd taken in the past and just includes them in each gallery for events at that venue. Hers was a beautiful venue with tons of spots to set up beautiful and creative photos, and that photographer frequently chose other, completely uninspired spots for key shots like the dress hanging, family photos (against an ugly wall with a sign visible in the background), etc..... Daughter quickly got the impression he'd be "phoning it in" and moved on. A gallery can also give you a really good idea of how thorough the photographer's coverage of the day will be -- you want them to capture as much as possible. Daughter received 1100+ edited photos from the 11 hours they had with their photographer, and they probably took 8000+ over the course of the day to ensure that kind of coverage.

She LOVED her photographer. Not only was his work (full galleries...) beautiful, but he had a wonderful personality -- easy to get along with, but not a pushover -- you want someone who will take some control and keep to the schedule. His contractual turnaround time for returning photos was good, and his package included full rights to all photos, an album, and an engagement shoot. If right now your options all seem equal, I'd probably dig a little deeper. Have you asked to talk with past clients? (Not just read Yelp reviews, but actually TALK to people -- you'll likely hear different things!) Good luck!

PS -- I agree a second shooter is a high priority. Not only can they cover things that are happening simultaneously, but they can get both your faces during the processional, vows, etc.

Because you equally like the artistic aspects of all 3, definitely look at the contracts. When and what % is due for deposits and payments, what are cancellation/change protocols, how many weddings do they do a year (many means more experience, but also could be less personal and more difficult to potentially reschedule), do they encourage engagement pics as a way to get to know you, how do they handle required shot lists (is it on you/family, do you fill out a questionnaire), how strict are they on timing (if grand exit is 15 min late will they charge extra?), what is the backup plan if they get sick/cancel last minute? Also worth asking how they backup and deliver pictures (do they use multiple cards or cameras, download to a portable hard drive while onsight, etc).
We are learning from this year that anything can happen and vendors that are prepared and willing to work with you in the event of a problem are worth a ton!

Price was my biggest factor and also local. While I have friends who have done photography, they’re not currently doing events, but most of what I was seeing would’ve cone out of nearby cities. Then I found one actually based in my town and her prices reflected the smaller town budget. I love her.

Honestly, the deciding factor for me was that the photographer we met was an animal person and so are we. he had this adorable boxer dog when we met him at his house.

really though a good deciding factor is have they been to your venue before. having a photographer who knows your venue will really help your photos because they'll know the angles and stuff.

also he gave a good package compared to the others photographers. but i'd look mostly at which ones photo quality you like best, the package (and contract details) you get from them which gives you the most you want for the money, and if they know your venue. I also wanted to make sure the photographer was taller than me cause i noticed that i have a lot more of a double chin in photos from people shorter than me... and yes i understand a professional is a professional but thats something that was important to me lol (the angles are different from a tall person or someone who kneels a lot while photographing) sounds silly saying it out loud but its true.

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These are all really good questions -- especially the one about how they back-up their photos -- that was a biggie for daughter. Her photographer included a second shooter, and each of them used at least two cameras (I think the photographer actually used three). They wore their multiple cameras all day, and constantly switched back and forth between cameras -- so, if, God forbid, something happened to one camera, there would be additional shots taken during that same time/event on at least one other camera. He also had a thing where all of the photo files were backed up throughout the day.... Daughter felt quite confident she didn't have to worry about anything happening to her photos.