Researching Photographers

Jeannine12

So hoping that in the next week or so to have my venue squared away and next on my list was photographers.  I am looking for photojournalism style at a reasonable price with a good package.  Any ideas ladies?  I want to have a good chuck of research done before I pick a few to meet with.

Jenn7778

What do you consider reasonable?

Jeannine12

@jenn7778 I figure between 3,000-4,500 depending on what they offer.  And I am ok if that total doesnt include engagement shots because I have a very dear friend who does that.

Jenn7778

My photographer fits that bill. He is amazing. He is out if Philly but does a lot or NJ weddings. His name is John Barone and his website is wwe.baronephoto.com.

I am getting 2 photographers all day, rights to all photos, flash drive with all photos and 110 picture, 60 page album for $4,600.

I can recommend him enough!

Jeannine12

Thank you!  I will look into him and add him to my list...my main goal is to own all my pictures.

Jenn7778

He also sets up this black screen for a modified black and white photo booth which is awesome! It eliminates a huge cost if you were planning on a photo booth.

Jeannine12

Thank you just looked at his pictures and they are amazing!

majesty318

We used KS Photo Studio. They are also in that range for 2 photographers all day, rights to images, and an album. We just got our pictures and I LOVE THEM!

Jeannine12

@majesty318 thank you

Jenn7778

@jeannine12 he shot my brothers wedding and a couple of my friends and their pictures are amazing! He is totally easy to work with and captures amazing moments!

Gordo2014

Robert Wayne Photography and Jason Rhee often come up on this board.  Both are very talented and in that price range; maybe even a bit less depending on whether or not you want a second photographer.  We went with Bob for a number of reasons, but either would be a good choice.

MissADS1981

If you want photojournalistic try Kella McPhee, shes doing my wedding next summer and is fantastic. I personally found it hard to find many in NJ with the style i wanted. you may also consider researching photographers in Brooklyn who do amazing "no posey" style shooting.

As a photographer in my free time as well i foudn it hard to find people whose work reflecting their prices. some charge a ton and the work, white balance, etc was no good.

good luck!

Michele1114

We recently booked with Kinga at KS Photography after seeing recommendations here.  We met with her and she is such a lovely person.  Her prices are in line with others we researched but she is giving us so much more.  ALL of her packages include an engagement photo session and a post wedding session which we thought was great.  Good luck!

danielle60314

@Jeannine12- Check out Angelic Studios.  They are based out of NY but, he does amazing work.  He is def. on my list of vendors to talk with. 

jlr92588

I booked The Artist Group for photo and video. I am working with Matthew and he is great. My combined package is about $6,000 with tax and it does include an engagement session. They also do separate photo and video packages. PM me if you want specifics about my package and good luck!

silver0319

We used Dawn Joseph Photography, and she was amazing.  I know her pricing and packages have changed since we signed our contract, but I believe she's within your price range. 

love0208

@Jeannine12 I completely understand what you want.  

I personally booked Jason Rhee because I felt while being photojournalistic he had a very romantic edge to his work which I adored, check out his blog, it speaks for itself and his prices are unmatched....His pricing is also extremely reasonable!! 

Jason Rhee:

http://go748.wordpress.com/

NOW, if you want photojournalistic with a 'editorial' edge than hands down click below, julian Ribinik.  The only only reason I didnt go with them is because I wanted a romantic feel to my pics and not the editorial feel, however, his pics seemed almost 3 dimensional, like the pics were PHENOM!! Also his photoalbums were drop dead gorgeous.  He is based out of New York, it is him and his wife, and hands down were the nicest people I spoke to besides Jason of course.

http://www.julianribinikweddings.com/

Julian and Jason stay booked, so don't wait to long on these two.

I felt Robert Wayne was very good.  He wasn't really the type to go too far 'out the box' ......And he kind of admitted to it, but his albums were nice....and his price was extremely reasonable!

chasingsunlight

We are using Aesthete Photography out of Oakland.  VERY reasonable prices and we absolutely loved Tom's work.  Our engagement shoot was great, and we're looking forward to having him at the wedding

Peaseblossom55

Just used Jason Rhee for my wedding 2 weeks ago. He was amazing, we haven't gotten any pictures back yet but I loved our pics from the engagement shoot.  He will be in your price range, we had him bring a second shooter as well.

Jeannine12

Thank you all for your feedback.  Hopefully we will sign a venue this weekend and then I can get the ball started meeting some of these photographers.  I did look at their photographs to narrow them down.

amt6

@pearl78 and @peaseblosson55 - we are strongly considering Jason Rhee as our photographer next September. We live out of state and while we have looked at his website and blog, we cannot get down to NJ to see the quality of his albums which are included in the package. Are they high quality / comparable to others? His prices were so reasonable and include so much! We too are having him bring another photographer.

Michele1114

AMT6- I saw Jason Rhee and didn't think he included as much as KS Photo for the price.  The price was comparable and she gave a TON.  His work was nice and he is a nice guy but his price would have needed to be way less to beat Kinga.  He also comes by himself and she comes with an extra person.  She takes a lot more photos than he does.  Not trying to sway you but just think you should check out someone else if you live out of state and are doing this long distance.  However, his photos were also very nice.

amt6

@Michele1114 - thank you so much for the feedback!

Jeannine12

I have like 10 down on my list to look at their pictures with weekend with my FI.  And start sending out emails and seeing what do these packages contain and the value we are getting.  So hopefully by next week I can start meeting with them and narrow my list down to 5.

Peaseblossom55

@atm6 the albums Jason showed us were great.  It was seeing his albums that made us think wow he is great let's book him.  He overall felt more polished than the other photographers we narrowed it down to and we noticed that based off of the albums he showed us.

jrf028

Check out My Havana Photography. Best value and wonderful photographers/people. Liz and Carlos are the best.

goldenwf81

Is it normal to pay your photographer in full before the wedding date?  I am okay with this but my parents want to pay the final balance on the day of.  

Jenn7778

I have to pay the day of or prior. That was pretty standard from all the photographers I met with and have used for prior events. My contract states that 50% was due to book the date and the balance is due the night of. I am going to send him the final payment 30 days prior just because I don't want to have to deal with payments the day of.

silver0319

My photog required a deposit of 20%, and the balance was due a week prior to the wedding. It depends on your photographer's payment policy, which should be outlined in your contract.

Gordo2014

pearl78 said:

I felt Robert Wayne was very good.  He wasn't really the type to go too far 'out the box' ......And he kind of admitted to it, but his albums were nice....and his price was extremely reasonable!

 

 

To be fair to Bob (who we hired), I'm thinking you may have either misinterpreted his comments or are not expressing them well here. We found Bob to be extremely flexible and accomodating. That doesn't mean he's going to shoot in a completely different style of photography. 

You described Jason to have a romantic style (we agree and that's why we looked at him, too).  You loved Julian's journalistic style.   

If you asked Julian to shoot in a style that is more romantic or Jason to shoot in a style that is more editorial, I'm sure they'd each say that their style of photography isn't something they change for each individual client; they are who they are and they shoot in a style that they've developed for themselves.

I remember a post here some months ago by a bride who was very upset about her photographer.  They selected someone who shot in a very traditional/posed style because the family had used them for years.  But she wanted a more journalistic approach and asked him to do that.  She was very dissappointed in the results as they were generally traditional.

I'm not stumping for Bob; we hired him for no other reason than we love his style of photography.  But that's the point; make sure you love the way your photographer shoots and hire him/her for that reason; don't hire someone and ask them to shoot in a style like someone else; that's a recipe for disappointment.

supermal

I am loving Jason Lyte of Lyte Studios, they're based in Elizabeth NJ and travel.  They worked with my fiance and I to stay within our budget and I loved our engagement shots- looking forward to seeing how my wedding photos come out!!