I am a professional wedding photographer. With this article I want to give you some tips to choose the right photographer for your wedding. There are things you really need to know that many don’t know.
It is not an article to convince you to call me, I already tell you that I photograph an average of 20-25 weddings a year and almost never photograph outside of my city, except for very rare occasions. I say this to make you understand that it is an article in which I really want to reveal some little secrets about wedding photographers.
Word of mouth
Asking friends who have recently gotten married is the best way to find someone you can trust. Unfortunately, you also know how the world works. 10 people are good, but there is always a rotten apple, and who knows why the rotten apple always happens in the least opportune moments.
It is important to rely on a photographer like this Sussex wedding photographer who proves to be a serious person and who may have already been a photographer for someone you know or who has some experience. Maybe ask how long the photographer has been and how many weddings she has photographed. He might be telling you a lie, but if he has a site with a few weddings done so far he’s definitely better than someone just starting out.
It may seem impossible, but I often have requests from clients who ask me to fix their wedding photos because their photographer made a mess, and I also happened to do a “fake” wedding shoot because the photographer they had chosen made a slaughter. Practically, the couple put their dress back on 1 year later and we went to take pictures properly, because the ones they had were repulsive. Besides the damage, then, the insult, because their “photographer” demanded payment for the service: over 1800 dollars! I swear it is a true story, even if it seems to have come out of the worst of nightmares.
Budget
I also wrote an article on how much a wedding photographer costs, which I invite you to read. I think that the indelible memory of the best day of your life is worth much more than 500 dollars. I am not saying this to convince you that a professional is necessarily the best choice, but I know that there are weddings in which 2000 dollars are spent on the rental car, but to save money, a friend takes the photos for free.
Professional, Friends or Abusers?
Until a few years ago, professional photographers had very high prices. Because they photographed on film, perhaps because they took advantage of it, because there was little competition. Nowadays, with the internet, you can find really fantastic offers and the prices are not those high. It is true that 800 dollars is not petty, but the work involved in arranging wedding photos really requires many days of work. If you reach out to friends for a free photo shoot, ask more than one person. Photographing the most important moments of the day is not so simple, in addition to the fact that at the last minute even the most reliable of friends could give you the hole, also simply because they may not feel like having this responsibility.
When to book
To give you an idea, generally my services are booked on average 8-9 months in advance. But if you are running out of time, don’t despair. To me, even in high season, I happen to have mysterious “holes” in the agenda, and therefore be available. So if your wedding is just around the corner, start contacting all the photographers in your area, and beyond. It could also happen that you find some last-minute proposals.
Style
I prefer a spontaneous and modern style, with mainly reportage photos and some posed shots but trying to create something new, leaving the “classic” photos to other photographers. This is the style that best represents me but not everyone agrees, it is simply a matter of taste.
I hope this guide was useful.