Photographer for the Wedding – how to choose not to regret?

Your wedding is one of the most important events in your lives and it definitely needs to be photographed!  A souvenir in the form of beautiful wedding photographs will make it possible to evoke your memories throughout your whole life. The wedding photographs will stay with you forever; therefore, the choice of a photographer who is going to take these photographs, must be well thought out.  This is an important decision! How to choose the right photographer who will grasp the magic of this event? How to distinguish between a professional and an amateur? Photographer for the Wedding – how to choose not to regret?

1. Wedding Photographer’s Portfolio!

The portfolio is of key importance! Against all appearances, not everyone can take photographs. It is not enough to release the shutter or just have some good equipment! Not only does the camera deserve the credit for beautiful photographs, but mainly the person who took them! All depends on the photographer’s taste, imagination, and skills!

Not the quantity but the quality of photographs should determine the choice of photographer for your wedding. A good photographer will not deliver bad photographs – fuzzy, blurred, overexposed and unprocessed. Neither will you receive several identical views, taken one by one, as if in a photo booth. After all, it is not about the largest number of photographs but the best, most beautiful and chronologically arranged ones to present your entire day!

Therefore, get to know the photographer’s portfolio first, discuss the suggested views on the wedding day and at the outdoor session, and carefully analyse the results of the photographer’s work. Since the portfolio usually contains carefully selected gems, it is worth looking through some wedding reportages.

2. Wedding Photographer’s Offer

Not all the photographers provide the same services and the wedding session offer may significantly differ from each other. Many photographers offer several packages at a different price, depending on the volume and type of work. Most frequently, it involves the number of working hours, number of photographs, type of additional materials such as prints or albums.

Before taking a decision, carefully learn the photographer’s complete offer. Make sure you know what the basic package means, how much it costs, what the potential additional charges might be and how much time you need to wait to receive the photographs. It usually takes no more than 3 months from the outdoor session. Do not expect to receive the photographs a week after the event. The photographer needs time to collect and process them. It is better to wait longer than to receive hastily arranged photographs.

3. Wedding Photographer’s Fee

Certainly, everyone would like to pay less but it is truly not worth saving on the wedding photographer. Reliable and professional services will certainly cost more. The photographer will accompany you during the preparations before the event, at the ceremony and wedding reception, namely about 14 hours of one day! The outdoor session takes 3 hours and the processing of one hundred photographs takes another 20 hours!

Certainly, the quality not always coincides with the price, but the professional photographer’s fee in amount of 500 PLN is suspiciously low! 13.50 PLN per one hour of work?! Let us deduct the costs of developing the photographs, social insurance, tax, fuel and other costs and it turns out the photographer is running the business at a loss!

4. Contract and Security in Case of Emergency!

First and foremost, the contract! Always! The contract must certainly include precise hours and date of order, number of photographs, the type of photographs and the delivery date. Additional information should refer to the cancellation terms and a replacement photographer in case of unpredictable random events.

Emergency situations may occur so ask the photographer whether in case of indisposition there is a replacement arranged? What if the photographic equipment fails?  Is there another camera always at hand?  It is also important to have a permission to perform photographs in sacral buildings.

5. How to Choose the Wedding Photographer?  – Summary

All photographers have their own character, style, imagination, sensitivity, and aesthetics shown in the photographs! Therefore, choose the one who has the same taste as you! In fact, neither the experience nor the price matters.

Most importantly, the photographs must appeal to you! It must be the best wedding photographer for you – not the guests or anybody else!  There is no appraisal of the photographs apart from your taste and preferences since there is no accounting for taste!

fot. White Smoke Studio