Choosing Your Wedding Photographer: A Warning REVISITED

This is the follow on from a post I made at the end of the summer concerning avoiding the potential pit falls of employing the "wrong" photographer for your wedding.

As the festive season sees the announcement of many engagements, and the commencement of the planning of so many weddings, I thought it would be a good idea to go over this again. In the excitement, many things can be overlooked, leading to couples having a lifetime of regret long after their wedding day, and there's no going back!




Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event and you only get one opportunity to get it right. However, long after the dress has been cleaned and put away for safe keeping, the food, music and venue are a long-distant hazy memory, the only thing you will have to look back on it with are your wedding photographs.





I, for one, have heard so many stories of "buyers regret" long after a wedding but with some thought, research and care most of the problems I hear can be avoided. You wouldn't take a chance on your venue or your dress, so I find it amazing how many couples risk everything on a whim, or to save a couple of hundred pounds, on the only lasting memory they will have to show their children and grandchildren.

Professional Wedding Photography is very much a specialist career that has unfortunately been "cheapened" by the proliferation of folks picking up a digital camera and thinking of making a few quid on a weekend. Every time I take a look around it seems there are another 20 newcomers trying to make a go of it, mostly to the detriment to the long term good of the profession and, of course, to their clients.

Most lack basic training and know-how. It's one thing being able to take a few good snaps of the family holiday and at parties, but its a completely different thing photographing a wedding with integrity, style and professionalism. I remember when I first started how the days seemed to race along at a 1000 mph but, fortunately, I had good training behind me and I was well versed in how a wedding day might pan out before I started my own business 15 years ago. I've always considered that my clients deserved the very best professionalism, service and images I could produce and, even after covering nearly 800 weddings, this ethos is still firmly engrained into my way of working.

Weddings throw up all sorts of potential problems. A wedding photographer has to work at a time and location or locations set by the couple, has no control over the weather conditions which, as December has just shown us, throws up all sorts of logistical and snow problems. Despite all of this a professional wedding photographer will usually excel and produce photographs way above anything else a friend or family member with a camera could dream of.



I hear it all the time from photographers and brides. What I am talking about are the excuses and moans about not being able to produce good images because it was "TOO COLD", "TOO WET", "TOO WINDY", "IT WAS DARK","IT WAS IN THE WINTER YOU KNOW" or "WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME" etc etc ...

OK, shooting in less than ideal weather, at colder times of the year and when daylight is at a premium, can make life tough for a wedding photographer. However, surely one of the main reasons a couple hire a "professional wedding photographer" is that they assume their chosen one is able to produce images way and above those that will be produced by their uncle, mate, or colleague with a camera who "like to snap a few shots".




In my opinion, if a professional can't cope with the hurdles that nature may throw his/her way, they shouldn't be thinking of taking a client's hard earned wedding budget money in the first place.

Time and time again I hear wedding photography horror stories and the post-wedding regrets that they didn't find the money for a decent wedding photographer. However, many couples are still taking a huge risk and booking someone from the ranks of the Saturday Cowboys who are often working uninsured for cash in hand, with little idea of how to shoot a wedding to a decent standard regardless of the situations they may find themselves in.

More than once in the past year, I have had a tearful bride call to see if I am available to cover her wedding at short notice because the "photographer" they booked has left them high and dry because he/she has to go to work!




I feel this is wrong with both my profession and clients suffering. Personally I would like to see some sort of licensing of photographers or some kind of "Corgi Standard" to protect consumers and the industry for the long term, but this seems a long way off.

For couples reading this there are a few things to do and questions to ask when selecting your wedding photographer.

1: Form a short list of wedding photographers from recommendations. Friends, colleagues, venues and other wedding suppliers may be able to help with this.

2: Carefully check the websites of these photographers. Look for dynamic composition, strong expressions, good lighting, variety, and surprisingly sharpness within the images. Be wary of websites that show a high proportion of still life and detail shots.

3: Make sure you see a few complete weddings, preferably as full albums in the flesh. This will enable to see the print quality for yourself.

4: Check the work that has caught your eye, was taken by the photographer him/her self and that the images are from real weddings and not portfolio days, model shoots or taken as a second photographer.

5: Discuss the options available and get the price you will actually end up paying rather than a "starting from price". Post wedding upgrades can really mount up!

6: Check to see if the photographer carries professional insurance, which is for your protection.

7: Don't skimp on price (I know, I would say that) as too often I hear about post wedding regrets. A top photographer will produce a priceless record of your day which should show the full story of your wedding rather than a few happy snaps.

8: If you have any questions, worries or concerns about your photography ALWAYS ask your photographer. A professional will be happy to put your mind at rest.




Finally here is an image i took in Scotland on 27th December. I had never been to the venue or Scotland before, hadn't met the couple and the air temperature was -10 degrees! I had to move fast and the contrast with the mist over the loch combined with the bright sunlight far bank made life interesting.

This has received my "Vintage" treatment.