Photographer Thoughts/Opinions

Peaseblossom55 · June 2013

We are in the process of looking at wedding photographer and I had a few questions. I know everyone has their own opinion so if I 20 people answer I full expect 20 different answers too! :-)

Thoughts on having a second photographer? Your reasons for having not having one? Did you notice some pictures captured had you not had a second photographer? Did you wish you had one if you if you didn't?

Did you buy any albums from your photographer or did you go out and create your own? Did you get any wall portraits from your photographer? Did you get your parents an album? Did you creater your own or was this part of your package? Was there an advantage did you find to creating albums on your own or getting them from your photographer?

Just curious

AddieCake · June 2013

We used only one photographer. It never occurred to us we would need more than that, and we were happy with our photographer and our pictures.

We bought the disc from them and 2 8x10 pictures to frame. I plan on having one of them made larger using another company b/c it will be a lot less expensive. We didn't get any albums. Honestly, we haven't even done anything with the pictures from the disc yet,either, other than to print one for each of our parents at Walgreens. We look at them online when we want to. We do plan to have a few more of our favorites printed at Walgreens, but for now, it's just not that important to us to have a bunch of pictures in an album.

MobKaz · June 2013

Both son and daughter had two photographers.

They definitely had different perspectives. The lead photographer was responsible for the more traditional and portrait style pictures. The second photographer had more of a photojournalistic/artistic perspective. The pictures from the men were very different.

Having two photographers expedited picture taking. Prior to the ceremony the men were able to split their time. Once both spent time with the bride, the traditional gent left to take pictures with the groom, his family, and the groomsmen.

During the ceremony and reception, they worked in tandem to take different perspectives of the same "event". We have pictures of "the first look" from both the groom and bride. Having two photographers made quick work of the obligatory post ceremony bridal party pictures and remaining family photos.

Both of my children had some albums included as part of their package. The biggest/best sales point is to be able to own the rights to your own photos, and to receive a high resolution CD (I don't recall the actual terms of it) of all the photos taken. Once you have that, you can create as many albums/portraits as you wish, at a cost that works for you.

The advantage to creating your own album(s) is that you can "customize" it to the recipient. For example, in our album from our son, we have fewer pictures of the brides family.

[Deleted User] · June 2013

We are using a pro-photog couple. They're sort of family friends of FH's, but we wouldn't have invited them to the wedding as guests (they're not that close). Pictures are a big deal to me (for everything) so having the team of 2 photogs was something I wanted for sure - and so we're "splurging" a little on this particular item.

We're not married yet, so... I can't answer the rest of your questions yet. I'm fairly certain we'll be getting discs from them with almost all of our pictures on them (they said they can easily take over 3,000 during a wedding) and will filter through them to give us the best of them (which I think they said was something like 400). We won't be giving our parents printed albums. We are planning on giving our parents and grandparents a picture of us, though, not sure if we will (or even can) buy those from our photogs. I'll have to look into their contract again soon to figure all this stuff out.

Peaseblossom55 · June 2013

With both of the photographers we love we own the rights to all photos and we get a disc so we do have the option to create our own portraits and albums after the fact. That was important to us.

misssunshine17 · June 2013

My photog came with his 'assistant' who is in college for photography, but I've seen his work and some is great. His price also includes to rights to printing all pictures. This is where I get hung up with photographers because many charge a ton for a single print (in my area for a 5x7 can be upwards of $30).

itzMS · June 2013

Thoughts on having a second photographer? Your reasons for having not having one? Did you notice some pictures captured had you not had a second photographer? Did you wish you had one if you if you didn't?

The second photographer was worth every penny for us. One took the portraits of DH and I, while the other caught some awesome candids. We also have pictures of our "first kiss" from multiple angles which I love. The second photographer was able to use different lenses for different effects, too. We had about 250 guests, so the second photographer really helped capture everything. If you're having a small wedding, it really isn't necessary. We also didn't have a videographer, so I like having tons of candids.

Did you buy any albums from your photographer or did you go out and create your own? Did you get any wall portraits from your photographer? Did you get your parents an album? Did you creater your own or was this part of your package? Was there an advantage did you find to creating albums on your own or getting them from your photographer?

We didn't buy any albums from the photographer. We did receive a DVD of all of the images with the rights to the photos. So, I got all of the 4x6 prints I wanted as well as 4 photobooks via Shutterfly for like $150. We gave our parents photobooks and kept one for ourselves. Our photographer did send us an 11x14 print as a gift, and we have it hanging on our wall.

cwaggoner07 · June 2013

mobkaz said:

Both son and daughter had two photographers.

They definitely had different perspectives. The lead photographer was responsible for the more traditional and portrait style pictures. The second photographer had more of a photojournalistic/artistic perspective. The pictures from the men were very different.

Having two photographers expedited picture taking. Prior to the ceremony the men were able to split their time. Once both spent time with the bride, the traditional gent left to take pictures with the groom, his family, and the groomsmen.

During the ceremony and reception, they worked in tandem to take different perspectives of the same "event". We have pictures of "the first look" from both the groom and bride. Having two photographers made quick work of the obligatory post ceremony bridal party pictures and remaining family photos.

Both of my children had some albums included as part of their package. The biggest/best sales point is to be able to own the rights to your own photos, and to receive a high resolution CD (I don't recall the actual terms of it) of all the photos taken. Once you have that, you can create as many albums/portraits as you wish, at a cost that works for you.

The advantage to creating your own album(s) is that you can "customize" it to the recipient. For example, in our album from our son, we have fewer pictures of the brides family.

Did you have our photographer???

We had two, and one took straight traditional photos, all the ones you really want, and they were great. The other was VERY artistic. You don't think the two can be different, but they totally are. The one below? Artistic photog took that one.

As for us, I think having a leather bound album is VERY important, but we can't afford it right now. I know growing up I looked through my parent's album countless times, and I wouldn't have looked through them as much had they been on a computer. I'm not sure which route we will go when we order, but we will spend the money and get a good leather-bound. For Christmas we gave our parents Shutterfly albums, which were great quality and we spent a good amount of money on them, about $100 apiece. We were happy with them, we just want something more classic for ourselves.

southernbelle0915 · June 2013

We hired a team a team of two that work weddings in tandem. We could have gone with just one or the other, but it was only a few hundred dollars more to get both of them so we went for it. They work together a lot so they won't be competing for shots and are used to working together to get different angles. Also, one will be with the guys when they're getting ready and one will be with me and my BMs while we're getting ready so we'll have professional pictures of both and won't have to split time.

Peaseblossom55 · June 2013

You all give very interesting perspectives. One photographer we like allows us to hire a second photographer by the hour and the other just has a flat fee for them to be there the whole day. So we are debating if we do get a second photographer if we want them there the whole day or just partially.

OliveOilsMom · June 2013

I think two photographers is needed to get multiple perspectives. While my main photog was getting WP photos the 2nd shooter was taking some candid shots of the family waiting around for their turn. I think you can get two great artistic views when you have two shooters.

We did buy our album from our photographer. She had packages that included the album but we couldn't afford them prior to the wedding, so we waited until after it to purchase the album. The package we did get came with all rights to our photos on disc. We were given a $500 print credit for the recommendation from my friend. We used the print credit towards an engagement shoot. And we used the rest up on some prints from the wedding.

We made albums for our parents using the photographers CD, once it arrived in the mail. We used snapfish and bought two copies - one for each parent.

Peaseblossom55 · June 2013

I'm having a hard time determining what we want and not having any regrets about it either.

QueerFemme · June 2013

we had a second shooter. She didn't have the same fancy equipment, and she wasn't as experienced, but we are really glad we had her. Our main photographer's camera jammed at the moment of the "kiss", so she didn't get any shots of that. Our second shooter did. She also got a lot of guest photos at the reception. It didn't cost us much, and it was beyond worth it.

MobKaz · June 2013

Peaseblossom55 said:

You all give very interesting perspectives. One photographer we like allows us to hire a second photographer by the hour and the other just has a flat fee for them to be there the whole day. So we are debating if we do get a second photographer if we want them there the whole day or just partially.

Some photographers can be very egocentric. They can also be extremely "overprotective" and sensitive in the professional sense. By that I mean, they may have very strict "rules" and an abrupt nature when it comes to friends/family or other "outsiders" interfering with their efforts to take photos. They know how important it is to document the wedding day, and know they quite literally often have one "shot" at THE shot.

If you have an opportunity to hire two photographers that know each other and are accustomed to working together, that may avoid any conflicts or competitiveness.

[Deleted User] · June 2013

We're using a husband and wife duo. THey're amazing, I love the idea of having two perspectives, and I especially love the idea that we're hiring a husband and wife to photograph our wedding day

We're getting an album with it and I think our package includes a canvas print. We get a disc with the photographs, so we can print additional ones if we want. I wanted the album becuase I am NOT artistic and anything I tried to put together would be a mess.

Peaseblossom55 · June 2013

Thanks for everyones thoughts and opinions. It's interesting to hear what you have to say. I"m thinking a second photographer might be a good idea at least for part of the day.

FizzySips · June 2013

We have two shooters for 7 hours, this was particularly important for us since we were foregoing video. We have an album and one larger print included with our package, in addition to a CD with the wedding images. If we were to upgrade anything (and we still can opt to do this) I may extend the amount of time that we have them up to 8 or 9 hours, to be sure we get some good nighttime party shots. I'm not super concerned about the "exit" sequence, I'm sure one of our friends will capture it.

We haven't decided if we're going to buy the CD of our ephotos yet, or if we'll just purchase a book and some prints, or maybe specific images.

Summer2011Bride · June 2013

We had two photographers and I loved it. They were a husband/wife team. The husband got all the traditional shots, like the first kiss, first dance and what not. The wife snuck around (you honestly didn't even hardly notice her) and captured some absolutely amazing candid shots. She focused more on people's reactions.

For instance, she got a really touching photo of my grandfather crying during the ceremony. She got the looks on all our parents' faces when watching our vows. She got the GMs having what looked like a mischievous conversation in between photos. I wouldn't have traded in our second photographer for the world.

We did albums on our own because they were out of our budget with our photographer. I did ours through Shutterfly and like it. It was very reasonably priced and the quality is fine. Eventually I want to save up for a flush mount album.

We got a free 16x20 canvas of a photo from our choice from our photog. We also had a $200 photo credit since we did not use him for an e-session, so we put that toward a huge photo of us and our WP that was $300 total. All other prints I did through Walgreens (I have the photo rights).

erinlin25 · June 2013

Thoughts on having a second photographer? Your reasons for having not having one? Did you notice some pictures captured had you not had a second photographer? Did you wish you had one if you if you didn't?

Well we technically had one photographer, but my best friend is also a professional photographer (if she was not in my wedding I would have hired her)-- so she took a bunch of photos and did full edits and all. It was like having a 2nd photographer and her photos were just as awesome as my hired photographer plus I was amazed at how different her style was--i got the best of both worlds and many of her pictures have been my favorite so far. I would have been completely satisfied with just my one photographer though; it was just a special bonus to get more pics throughout the whole day.

Did you buy any albums from your photographer or did you go out and create your own? Did you get any wall portraits from your photographer? Did you get your parents an album? Did you creater your own or was this part of your package? Was there an advantage did you find to creating albums on your own or getting them from your photographer?

our album is included in the package we did; We will get the rights to all of the photo's so can make copies and more books on our own. We are going to order single pictures and make our parents albums through an online site (shutterfly, mixbook, etc). We just received our proofs so have not picked the pictures for the book yet; Seeing the previous books our photographer has done I would say its money well spent--but if it did not already come in the photography package I would have just made it on our own. Since I have the second photo pics from my friend, I plan on making another small book incorporating her pictures as well.

WinstonsGirl · June 2013

We had a husband and wife team too. She came with me while we got ready, and he went with DH for the before photos. She did a lot of the dress adjusting, holding lighting equipment, grabbing lenses too, so he could just shoot lots of photos, especially the day after when we did a second session. I couldn't tell you who shot which photos with the exception of the getting ready ones, since I knew who was with who.

We did get an album through them which was part of our package. We didn't order anything else though, although we could have. We actually used the original album mock-up they sent us, before we chopped out 30 pages and "copied" the pages into a Shutterfly album, which we gave to our parents as albums. We got one for ourselves too, so we have a more portable, more photos one, and a larger professional one. They were totally cool with us doing this, as they knew we were chopping out half the photos. We also got a CD copy of our pictures, (2 sets - 1 high resolution for printing photos, etc. and 1 lower resolution with their logo for web uploads). We are free to print these as we please.

We paid through the nose for our photographers, but they were worth every penny. If you can afford 2, I'd do it, as for myself personally, the photos are pretty high up on the important list.

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