Tuesdays with Nate | Choosing a Wedding Photographer

We just hired our own wedding photographer, and I’m SOOOO thrilled to tell you who it is. At the end of this post, I’ll spill the beans, and share a brief interview with him. Needless to say, we know what it’s like to try and decide on something so important, not only did we go through it ourselves, but we meet with people all the time making the same decision. And since we hear, “I don’t know what to ask or where to start.” all the time… We thought try to help.

If you Google “how to choose a wedding photographer”, the majority of the pages that come back to you are either outdated guides, links from actual wedding photographers, or planning books with huge lists of seemingly random questions. (Liability insurance, RAW files, megapixels, oh my!) I wanted to share some things that I’ve been mulling over recently. I’d love to hear your thoughts afterward too…

First, lets get on the same page and make a few assumptions about couples looking for their photographers:

• 1. Obviously budget is always factor, however, these same principles are important whether you’re hiring a neighbor (how many ridiculously talented neighbors do you have?) or Ansel Adams (he shoots weddings now?). But money aside, what’s really important in the search?
• 2. No matter how cautious you are, there are always a few bad eggs out there that give everyone else a bad name. By taking the time to evaluate what you want in photography and by doing your homework, you can easily avoid any potential messes. Let’s assume that you are choosing between established and reputable professionals so all the standard (do you have liability insurance, do you have backup equipment, do you shoot RAW or JPEG) type questions can be thrown out the window for now.
• 3. Assuming there are many talented pros to pick from, who is the right choice for you? We’ll be the first to tell you that we’re not right for everyone. This is not a ploy or an attempt at false humility. We’re really just not. Our style is not a one-size-fits-all style and neither are our personalities. But we’re okay with that, and we don’t change it on purpose because we feel that by being true to ourselves, we are better artists and people. Your job is to find the photographer who is perfect for you.

And a few other statements before I proceed:

Fact: Picking out a wedding photographer can seem daunting. You should approach it as a couple (you both need to be confident and comfortable in your decision) and you should always explore several options before making a choice.
Quasi-fact: You normally get what you pay for. And you get back what you put in. Take the time to be confident in your choice.
Fact: Seahorses do not have a stomach or teeth, and process food so fast that they must constantly eat to live.
Opinion: Seahorses are neat.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way. These next few principles are the three things that I think are paramount when deciding on your photographer. Let’s call them the Four C’s.

Character
If you’re a bride, you have a right and responsibility to research your vendors. Some things will be apparent right off the bat. Do you like their work? Do they post a lot of weddings that are consistently good? Are they quick and courteous in their responses to you? Do they make it easy to get ahold of them? Photography is a service provided on your wedding day, but you don’t see the product until weeks later. You put a lot of faith in your photographer to deliver what they say they will, based on the assumption that the work they deliver will be of the same quality as what they represented before hand. Ponder that for a minute, I mean, really really think about how much faith need to have in them.

Consistency
“Even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time.” Anyone can buy a website template.  Anyone can buy a “pretty fancy” camera. If you take enough pictures you’ll probably get enough to make a decent portfolio. Look at websites, blogs, full sample weddings, and pay attention to the PHOTOGRAPHY, without focusing on the manner in which it is presented. A nice website is important to any photography business, but is should not be a mask to make mediocre pictures look prettier. And if you, as a client, would like to see a full wedding of ours, just send us an email and we’ll be happy to send you a link and password to an entire wedding on our proofing site.

Compatibility
This is what we really believe makes us different, what we believe makes us unique, and a part of our business that we take exceptional pride in. We take very seriously the fact that when wedding day comes around, we will spend more time with the bride and groom than they will with each other, with their families, their wedding party, and their guests. I once walked into a room with my cameras out, a camera bag and backpack full of gear, and the groom said to me “who are you?”. How comfortable do you think that day was? How much harder was it for me to take pictures that day? If you don’t feel a personal connection with your photographer during your consultations, run away. This is one of the reasons we encourage every single couple to do an engagement session before their wedding, and it’s one of the reasons our engagement sessions so often turn into wine and/or dinner dates.

Cuality and Style
Normally pronounced “quality” (but I needed a fourth “C”) this is pretty self explanatory, but is often overlooked when all of the aforementioned prerequisites are met. Spend time with your future spouse looking at several photographers images, and talk about what you both like and want when it comes to style, price, and how your images are returned (do you want albums or large art pieces, prints or digital files). Ask your friends to see pictures from their weddings. Ask your photographer to define their style, and ask for more of a description than “traditional, modern, or photojournalistic” (currently the most popular buzzwords in our industry). Make sure their description is consistent with what you talked about and saw in their portfolio.

And lastly, once you’ve made your decision, give yourself the freedom to be proud of it and be confident in it. Nothing kills a photographer’s creativity like being micromanaged by a couple that doesn’t really trust that they’ll do a good job. You know what it feels like when you can tell that someone doesn’t truly trust you and it isn’t that great of a feeling. You chose the person you did for a reason. And, since you are brilliant, stylish, and completely on top of your wedding planning game, they are probably pretty darn fabulous. If you’ve done your homework and followed your gut, we’re sure that you’ll be just fine.

And on that note, we are excited to let you all know who we have coming with us to Italy next year to take what we can only imagine to be the most voltronic wedding images in the history of wedding photography. I give you…. Mr. Jeff Newsom.

Jeff lives out in California but we got the chance to hang out with him while we were out there last month. He’s pretty awesometastic. We’re both really excited that he’s going to be coming with us to make some amazing images (and hopefully a gold record or two) and keeping our fingers crossed that he won’t starve to death as a vegan in the land of cheese, pizza, and ice cream. The image above left is from his trips with the Mammoth Men and on the right is from his website. (It’s one of my favorites.)

We know you’re sort of a one-man-band shooting and editing everything yourself. What do you think is another key to creating consistently awesome photos?
I find the key to making awesome images is to not try making awesome images. More often than not, we as photographers interfere with the simple beauty of the moment with our pre-conceived ideas.

How would you describe your style, in haiku form…
My style
A Voltron of Awesomeness
5 more syllables

What do you think is the most important thing for couples to consider when choosing a photographer?
It is most important that you make a complete connection with both their photos and them as a person. The photographers personality carries much weight when it comes down to the flow and overall comfort of the wedding day.

What characteristics define your ideal client? What about your dream shooting location?
Awesome people who trust me completely to do what I do. My dream location? It’s a tie between Italy, Japan and space.

In one word, what mistake do you think most brides and grooms make when searching for their wedding photographer?
Rush

What’s your favorite holiday and holiday tradition?
Favorite holiday = Christmas, because 1 year ago on Christmas day my son Everett was born. I don’t think there could be a more meaningful holiday!
Favorite holiday tradition = Our thanksgiving feast of homemade lumpia! We make our own traditions.

If you weren’t a wedding photographer but still had to be a wedding professional, what job would you want?
Wedding singer.

If you had to get a tattoo across your chest, what would you get?
I would tattoo muscles on my chest. Final answer.

Clearly you’re better than I am at Call of Duty. What’s one other thing that you’re secretly really good at that no one would expect?
I’m really good at not knowing how to answer this question. I’m also really good at over eating.

We’re going to assume you put your pants on one leg at a time like everyone else, but what happens after your pants are on?
Would it surprise you to discover that I put my pants on both legs at the same time?