5 Areas To Evaluate Wedding Photographers

5 Areas To Evaluate Wedding Photographers – To Find Your Perfect Match

When planning your wedding, finding a Wedding Photographer should be on the top of your short list of high priority items. You will only get one chance to document your special day. So hiring the right Photographer is crucial. If you have never done this before, it can be pretty difficult to tell the difference between one Photographer and the next. So here are 5 areas to evaluate Wedding Photographers to find your perfect match.

1. First And Foremost – Make Sure Their Style Matches What You Are Looking For

I believe that the most important factor on finding a Wedding Photographer should be their style. Take the time to look through the portfolio on their website. Not only their wedding photography, but also their family portraits, maternity portraits, etc. Are most of the images overly posed or does it seam that they are captured naturally? A good way to evaluate a Photographer’s style is to ask yourself, “Can I see myself in their images?” If you cannot see yourself in the super romantic and posed images on their website, they may not be a good fit. Check out their social media and any other areas where they post images.

Finding a Wedding Photographer whose style matches yours is important. Not ever Photographer will shot in the same style; and you do not want to hire a Photographer and try to get them to match your style. This will not turn out well for either end. Photographers do not want to try and create images that you liked from someone else’s portfolio; and trying to get them to do this can lead to being disappointed with the final images.

2. Gauge Their Experience As A Wedding Photographer

Number 2 in the 5 areas to evaluate Wedding Photographers is to find out how much wedding photography experience they have. Photography has many different genres and you want to make sure that your Photographer has wedding photography experience. Weddings are very fast paced, can be stressful at times, and takes experience to understand how to navigate the day. A Photographer who has established themselves as a great Newborn Photographer may struggle in a fast paced wedding environment. You do not want their “learning curve” to be experienced on your wedding day 🙂

3. See If They Do Photography Full Or Part Time

Working as a Photographer is a really fun job. You get to see and be apart of really positive moments in the lives of people. I would venture to say that a lot of people would want to pursue a profession that encompasses all of the great things photography can provide. With this being said, most Photographers do it on a part-time bases and there are some who do it full-time. This does not mean that either is better than the other; however, Photographers who do it full-time tend to have more “invested” in the craft. So the third of the 5 areas to evaluate Wedding Photographers is part time vs full time 😉

When hiring a Wedding Photographer, you want to make sure that they are reliable and will deliver on all of what is promised to you. There may not be a huge difference between the images that a part time or full time Photographer creates. Certainly, a part-time Photographer can be MUCH better than a full-time Photographer. But the small details, like if they have business insurance, if they have you fill out a detailed contract, and if they have a physical office to meet at may matter. It can give you peace of mind to know that they are invested in their craft. Again, this does not have anything to do with their ability to capture your wedding – but if all things are otherwise equal it may be a deciding factor.

4. Read Their Reviews

Another really important thing to consider, when hiring a Wedding Photographer, are their reviews. We have all encountered people who can sell you anything – because they are really great with their words and can seem SUPER convincing. Full disclosure, I have been ripped off by a handful of people myself. Both in establishing my photography business and otherwise. For example, some Photographers are very talented in engaging on social media, while other Photographers are not great at this at all. A really objective way to evaluate a potential Wedding Photographer are their reviews. The more reviews that a Wedding Photographer has can paint a clearer picture than the picture they can paint of themselves. The amount of reviews, and what the reviews say are really important in evaluating them.

5. Lastly, Look At Their Pricing – > Not 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. LASTLY 🙂

One of the biggest mistakes couples make is going with a Photographer based solely on their pricing. Establishing a budget for your wedding and fitting a Wedding Photographer in it can be a challenge. But this should not be the first place you start. When you look at the total cost it will take to hire a Wedding Photographer, you may not see the value in it. Photographers are not like most of the other vendors you will hire for your wedding day in the sense that most of the work they do will take place after the wedding. For every hour that a Wedding Photographer is covering your wedding, you can add on at least 2 additional hours afterwards. Wedding Photographers include all of the meetings leading up to the wedding, the actual wedding day, and the entire process afterwards into their pricing. This is important to understand 🙂

Hopefully these 5 areas to evaluate Wedding Photographers has been useful! If you are looking for a Wedding Photographer, I would love to connect and go over exactly how I would approach your wedding day. The best way to reach out to me is through the contact form on my website. Thanks!