I’m not here to tell you to pick me as your wedding photographer. This isn’t high school gym class. I’m here to help you figure out how to choose a wedding photographer. I’ll be very honest with you; you have a lot of options. The wedding industry is very saturated with photographers. It seems glamarous and attractive to amateur photographers who are looking to make some money with their photography, and there are low barriers to entry. Anyone who wants to be a wedding photographer can become and call themselves one if they have a “professional camera”, so how do you know who to hire?

Let me begin by emphasizing this very important point: Not all wedding photographers are created equal. This isn’t like buying a car at a dealership. When you price-shop for cars at dealerships, you’re getting the same car regardless of the price. This is NOT how you want to go about booking a wedding photographer. If you randomly take 2 photographers who charge $5k per wedding, I promise you will get very different results and experiences. Photography is an art. Each artist has their own style, strengths, and weaknesses. Here’s how I would break down choosing a wedding photographer:

1. Availablility - Most straightforward and self explanatory. If they aren’t available, they can’t help you regardless of points (2), (3), and (4) below.

2. Budget - Weddings are expensive so yes, budget is important. Have a realistic range in mind. There are some photographers out there who are going to be out of your budget, and that’s fine. There are plenty of photographers who will be a good fit for you and within your budget.

3. Style - Each photographer will have a style of what they are good at doing. There are two parts: how they shoot, and how they edit. These two are very different from each other. The style a photographer shoots is about how they will pose/direct you, how will they compose a shot, what kind of emotions do you feel when you look at their photos? Is the style more playful or deep and romantic? How about film/editorial? The second part is how they edit. Are they light and airy? or dark and moody? How about the color tones? Is it vibrant and colorful? Or desaturated. Warm or cool? You don’t have to evaluate it to this much detail and you really might not care. Just look through the photographers gallery and ask yourself if you like those photos. If you do, then you can expect your photos to turn out to be a similar style.

4. Experience - This one is a bit more difficult to assess. What kind of experience will you get working with the photographer? Is the photographer professional and responsive to your inquiries? Can you tell if the photographer really cares about delivering a good experience and making sure you get what you’re looking for? To truly get an idea if you will work well with the photographer, you should ask them questions! Think about what you really care about in a photographer, and ask questions to help you evaluate if you think the photographer will be able to deliver what you need. Do you need someone who will be good at connecting with your close friends and family? Or perhaps you just care for someone to just take good pictures. There are so many aspects of the experience, and each client has their individual preferences. If they have blog pages, reading them will give you a sense of what they value as a photographer.

The main point to drive home is this: Not all photographers are made equal. Again, this isn’t like buying a car where whichever dealership you go to, you get the same product at different prices. If you come across two photographers you like with different prices for the same package, do not just default to the less expensive option.

So what is it about me that would make a couple want to hire me to shoot their wedding? Assuming I am available on their date, I provide my service at affordable prices because I want my photography to be accessible to those on a budget. I have a very specific style that took me many years to figure out: playful, authentic, clean, bright, crisp, and vibrant. I also deliver very customized experience to each one of my clients. I never have the exact same workflow for any two clients. I believe in the art of storytelling, and every person’s story is unique and personal. To best tell my clients’ stories, I need to understand what they need for themselves, so I can figure out how to best tell their story in the way it needs to be told. If this is what you’re looking for in a wedding photographer, I will be the right fit for me. Contact me and tell me your story and what you’re looking for! I will be happy to help.