How did you find your wedding photographer?

Re: How did you find your wedding photographer?

• gymbugmj2k member

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  i did all my own research.  my FI is also into photography, and we wanted something more like art, and less like "dude clicking a button for an hour that my 10 year old cousin could do"
  
  A LOT of this depends on your area. but this is what we did and what we found.
  
  1. we asked friends and photog friends who they'd reccomend. we got a list of about 10 people
  2. we looked on their websites to get an idea of what we liked/didnt like about them
  3. we made a chart comparing prices and offerings
  4. we picked our top 3 and set up interviews
  5. we picked the first guy we met (nealurban.com) because he was an awesome personality and had everything we wanted
  
  a few tips/tricks:
  1. figure out what style you want. posed formal shots vs. candids, vs artistic, etc
  2. figure out a budget and research photogs within it (we found that there were 3 levels of photogs in our area. the 1-2k range was your average "dude with a camera". 2-3k range was "dude with a camera that pays attention to lighting and aperture. 3-4k was "artist with a camera")
  3. figure out what you need from your photographer ( we wanted digital rights to all the pictures, an engagement session, and a FULL wedding day's coverage - not just 6 hours)
  4. whats more important - the prints, or the photos?  lots of photographers will try to sell you print packages - which are great, but is that REALLY why you want them to shoot your wedding -- just for 200+ wallet sized prints?  us having the digital rights to all our photos means we can go ANYWHERE and have them printed on anythnig (canvas, pillows, posters, christmas cards etc)
  5. MAKE SURE YOU LIKE THE PHOTOGRAPHERS PERSONALITY. they're going to be with you ALL day trying to get the perfect shot! you better be happy!
  
  
  nealurban.com has an FAQ page that helps a lot when it comes to 'what to ask your photographer'. when you DO meet with them, you want to make sure that you have everything covered
  
  hope that helps!
  

  
  

  ~*~ Charmed By Wine Blog! ~*~
  

       

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• utegoggles member

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  FI and I googled, looked on theknot, and asked a ton of friends. We narrowed it down to 12 based on their photos. Then we made a spreadsheet of:

  
  

  Do they include Epics-

  Price-

  How many photographers-

  How many hours-

  How many photos they generally take (got this info through email)-

  What extras did they add that makes them stand out-

  
  

  This helped us a TON!

  My Planning Bio and Blog.
  

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• fallbride1109 member

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  I asked my local board here on TK for some recs and found mine there.  I must have looked at dozens online but once I found mine, she really stood out and I didn't look at anyone else after that.

  Planning the Meal
  With All the Trimmings
  

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• angybanez member

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  If you're in LA, check out 5byseven...they're based in San Diego but I know them since we have the same circles and they are amazing! If your wedding is in the east coast email me ;-), but make sure you have your questions, your know your budget, and really have a vision of what your pictures will look like. Best of luck!

  www.angelicacriscuolophotography.com
  updated 9/27/11
  
  
  OUR WEDDING 11/13/2010
  
  
  My Planning Bio UPDATED 11/8/2010
  

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• raspberrytart

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  I ended up finding my photographer through a local bridal magazine.  My fiance and I interviewed 5 photographers before deciding on her (we're both photographers, too, and so this was extremely important to us).

  
  

  When you meet with a prospective photographer, be sure to ask to see an entire wedding, so you can get a better idea of the entire body of work and not just the 8 photos on the website.

  

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• cmp1986 member

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  I asked the girls on my local board who they are using.

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• theKylieBride member

  

  September 2011 edited December 2011

  If you're looking for modern...I love, LOVE our wedding photographers ( www.jennandtravis.com ). Sometimes you get lucky with a referral. Sometimes you get lucky on google. I think when you find the one you'll know. I looked at WAY too many sites before I found jenn and travis. But that's because I value my memories more than the wedding favors or what not. 

  
  

  Good luck my friend!

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