Is experience necessary?

September 29, 2008

Choosing a Wedding Photographer

First of all, let me be overtly obvious with my bias. I have been shooting weddings for more than four years and in that time have been hired to photograph more than seventy-five wedding celebrations. I have watched the industry and myself and I can see in retrospect the risks associated with hiring an inexperienced vendor to assist with the biggest party of your life, enthusiasm nonwithstanding.

While I do NOT claim to be an expert, I have been around long enough to watch the trends. I know where brides go to do research. I’ve interviewed many couples about wedding photography, and have been in email correspondence with literally hundreds of brides.

I am writing this article because I see an ironic trend with the number of people who highly value photography, and do copious amounts of research for the perfect wedding photographer. The disturbing part is that despite some couples’ best intentions, hours of time obsessing over photographers’ blogs, and myriad discussions on wedding message boards, some of you choosy brides want to pay as little as possible while maintaining expectations of the highest results. You want photos that look like the magazines, but don’t want to pay for it.

I write today to call out some wedding photography trends as you search for your perfect photographer. If you looked at work of mine from four years ago I would be guilty of many of the issues I cite here as things that may indicate lack of professionalism on the job. Everyone has to start somewhere. I would ask you to look at a photographer’s overall body of work, and not just the few images dropped in a portfolio or shown on a blog.

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Effective event photography is a strange cross-breed profession. A wedding photographer’s success depends on both technical and social skills. It is the art of managing people, communicating to people, capturing their emotions and actions in a way that is real and beautiful. It is also vital to learn how to harness the power of today’s powerful photographic equipment. Neither skill set must be neglected; both must be nurtured and kept in balance.

SOCIAL
If possible, meet with a photographer in person, or talk with her on the telephone. With the advent of the iphone and the continuing struggle of trying to balance wedding planning with a busy professional and social life, I am finding that many couples today limit their contact with photographers to brief email exchanges… often from their handheld device and filtered by whether or not they received the quickest response from the photographer with the least expensive wedding package.

If you’re serious about connecting with the best photographic experience, take the time to go beyond asking for a price sheet. Meet with several photographers(especially if a photographer has offered to take time out of his/her busy schedule to meet with you!) to talk through your wedding day to get a realistic, face-to-face idea of how much it would cost for that photographer to shoot your wedding…. and whether that photographer is even a good fit for your needs.

Is the photographer interested in you? Excited about the specific details of your wedding? Or did s/he want to meet with you only to close the sale and get you to sign a contract? Your intuition will likely be instant when you are meeting someone face-to-face. You will know if you will be able to connect with them, which is a vitally critical factor when you consider that this is the person you will be spending the most amount of time around – in most cases you will see your photographer more than your significant other during the wedding day! Make sure you like that person AND they can get a solid set of images.

EQUIPMENT
This might be obvious, but it’s worth saying out loud. Just because a photographer appears qualified and seems to have all the right gear (they look good on paper and carry a big lens) does not guarantee a quality wedding photography experience. A photographer may claim to have years of experience and the best equipment, but may still have work that shows that s/he is struggling with fundamental issues that may prevent him/her from being able to present a polished, balanced wedding folio to every client.

Again, take a look at a few complete sets of images from recent weddings. Has the photographer made the best of lighting in different situations? In a dark reception hall, is the photographer able to create images that are natural-looking or do the reception images all look overly flashed? For an outside ceremony in direct sun, are groups posed in a way that shows unawareness of unflattering shadows?

The make of camera is not actually that important; it is what the photographer does with the camera. I am not interested in specifics of camera make and model, but one issue that may not be obvious is the necessity for your photographer to have backup equipment! Someone who has been in the wedding photography business long enough [to know what they don't know] will be aware and make plans to have backup gear (that means extra camera, flash, and peripherals) at every wedding. Cameras break; flashguns fail. Memory cards get corrupted. I learned this the hard way, and most wedding photographers do too. If it is your photographer’s first year in business (their second or third year by the time your date rolls around) and that photographer doesn’t have backup equipment then I would seriously caution you to take the risks into consideration.

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE… or, “we’ll just hire a student!”
Another good question when interviewing a photographer is to find out how many weddings s/he has photographed as a primary photographer. Some photographers do not realize that when you ask them about the number of weddings, the answer should not include experiences at their friend or cousin’s wedding where they practiced to build a portfolio (you know these photos when you see them – nicely posed groups of people all looking in another direction).

This question of tangible experience is important for many reasons. Some photographers right out of photo school or transitioning from a successful portrait-based business will already have a strong grasp of flattering posing and how to use light and shadows. What they don’t necessarily have is experience in the fast-paced, often unpredictable wedding environment.

All the enthusiasm in the world can not transport a body from the balcony of a large cathedral down to the front in order to get a close shot of the first kiss and declaration of husband and wife. Eagerness does not mean that a photographer knows how to handle a huge family portrait in five minutes or less, with that pesky uncle and his big camera shooting over his/her shoulder. When equipment fails or you’re forced to do photos in a room with less than ideal conditions, will that photographer still emerge with strong photos?

A solid photographer with experience at weddings and events should be able to show you recent work in which the subjects look natural and comfortable. Do you see people having fun? Are the groups posed in a way that seems comfortable? Does the wedding sample show a mixture of candid moments and traditional wedding milestones, such as cutting the cake AND the moments right after?

Whether or not a photographer has formal photography training or belongs to any professional organizations, or even what kind and how much gear that photographer has is not nearly as important as how many weddings s/he has shot.

It’s tempting to book a photographer based on sheer enthusiasm and ‘potential.’ But do you want that eager young photographer practicing at your wedding? Reconsider your budget!

PHOTO PROCESSING AND PRESENTATION
Look through several entire weddings photographed by a photographer. If s/he only shows portfolio images on their site, ask for access to a few of his or her most recent wedding galleries. Are the majority of the photos you see clean and in-focus? Are the colors normal? Do the images cover the span of the day without laboriously taking the viewer and every guest through 20 versions of the same family portrait or every angle of the cake?

Photographers who are just starting out can sometimes be special-effects happy, often to make up for a lack of something in the photos. I think this is like my college years when I would spend extra time overcompensating for less-than-stellar papers by formatting and designing elaborate cover pages for papers. I hoped that my brilliant design would wow the professor when the actual overall content did not. Sadly, that actually seemed to work. I hope you’re not only considering the images formatted on a blog or small portfolio, but taking time to look through the photographer’s overall repertoire of images and consider his/her ability to consistently deliver excellent results.

Your photographer should be able to show you a mix of black and white and color images that seem balanced. You will be looking at your wedding photos for the rest of your life! Many photographers will give special attention to the wedding photos they show on their blog, but if you look through an entire wedding where skin tones look off and harsh processing gives the work a look that will be dated in a few years, think about whether you REALLY want that photographer whose specialty is the flowers in color and everything else in black and white. (You know who you are.)

I understand that today’s bride and groom are statistically older and more independent and educated than previous generations preparing for marriage. I realize this means that mom and dad are not necessarily dropping bank, and you are likely paying for your own wedding and have high standards. I know the internet brings an overwhelming amount of options for every category of vendor and it can feel tiring sifting through the hoards.

If you are the kind of person who values the artistry behind the profession and wants to ensure a balanced portfolio of images to share with future generations, think about the impact of the photographer decision. Are you excited when you see that a photographer has updated his/her blog even when it’s not photos of you? Did you click with that photographer when you met in person or had a consult over the phone? Is the photographer excited to know more about you before the wedding day? Are you convinced that the photographer will be able to effectively photograph the entire wedding day no matter what may happen?

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Dear readers, I want to urge you to consider hiring someone who has a solid portfolio of wedding experience. This will likely mean that you need to allocate more of your wedding funds toward the expense, and spend some time with potential hires to ensure a quality match.

Find someone whose work inspires you and go for it! The photographer doesn’t even have to be located near your wedding location – import an artist for an unforgettable wedding photography experience.

Posted in clients, wedding, wisdom