Hello everyone!!! We’re back… we took a couple weeks off from… well social media and online life! Everyone once in a while, breaks are needed to refresh and recharge. Photography is our passion and our dream will be to quit our full times jobs and work in our PJs (unless we have meetings with clients)! Until we put in our notices, we just need the occasional break.

During out time away, we had an opportunity to meet with a wonderful couple. In a follow up email from the Bride, she explained how after talking to another photographer she realized with wedding photography it is a matter of “you get what you pay for.”

Choosing a photographer for your wedding is, in our professional opinion, one of the top choices in wedding planning (after the soon-to-be spouse of course). Once your day is over, there are a few things that will remain and one of them will be your wedding photos. There are many options when choosing your photographer(s), today, we will explain a few options.

1. Wedding Photographers: A wedding photographer is simple a professional photographer who specializes specifically in weddings. They have invested in education and equipment. This is where their passion lies and what gets their creative juices flowing! The benefits of choosing a photographer specializing in weddings is you know they’ve seen it all and understand how a wedding day will flow. They will have the knowledge and proper tools for just about any situation. Most importantly, they will keep cool and you will never know or feel their stress (even when your day gets 2 hours behind).
2. All In One Photographers: Some photographers love all types of photography and will not pick a specialty. These photographers will work with families, pets, and even capture landscapes. They spread their knowledge and training across all types of photography. One advantage of hiring someone who trains in variety of avenues is they may be able to pull out tricks they’ve learned in other avenues and utilize them on a wedding day. Variety is their spice of life and they draw their creativity from photography something new all the time.
3. New Photographers: Everyone is new at some point in their life. New photographers are trying to find their way and figure out what type of photography sparks their passion and gets their creative juices flowing. Often, they offer their services for less than the average professional. With the lower price tag, a new photographer usually comes with little or no experience and training. They’re still learning and growing both in the technical and business aspects. However, a newer photographer could bring a fresh perspective or even a creative eye.
4. A Large Company: Most photographers start out as an individual, but some grow into a large company, with many photographers on staff. They are usually specialized in a certain type of photographer, such as wedding. When you choose a larger company, you will either pay more for the “main” photographer or must accept an associate of the company. Often, there will be no or little knowledge of the exact photographer photographing your wedding. On the bright side, with having multiple photographers on staff, the likelihood your day would be unavailable is much lower.
5. Family Member or Friend: With the availability of DSLR cameras, photographers are popping up all over the place. Almost every knows someone who wants to be a photographer and once you’re engaged, they will seem to come out of the woodwork offering to photograph your wedding. Whereas there is nothing wrong with trusting your family or friend to capture your day, unless they do this professionally, you are trusting someone who may have never photographed a wedding. Majority of the time when a family member or friends offers to photograph your wedding, there will be minimum cost.

Wedding days are a one in a life time events and most photos or situations cannot be recreated. The best advice we can recommend is to research any photographer you are considering and be sure you have seen a thorough portfolio (one that includes samples of all parts of a wedding day… most professional, will even release a full wedding gallery to preview). Knowing what to expect will ensure you are not disappointed with your wedding day images. We agree with the saying “knowledge is power.” Hiring a photographer with the knowledge to capture the essences of your wedding day and creating gorgeous portraits will ensure you’re more than ecstatic about your wedding photos.

Happy Planning,

Nicole and Ryan