We are so excited that today we have a guest post from Emily Troutman of Emily Troutman Photography. Ooooh.... her website is so cute and I am so glad that I get to gush about it here. Emily chooses to spend her days not only as a photographer, but as a mommy of three! She love spending time with her twins, 6 month old, and hubby, Matt. They love to go to the beach, head to the park, and pretty much anything else fun outdoors! As far as her photography goes, she loves to shoot on location with a classic feel. Emily loves working with beautiful natural light to illuminate her subjects and finding the right location for the subject makes all the difference. I loved reading what Emily had to say about choosing your wedding photographer, and could not wait to share it with our readers:
How
to Choose Your Wedding Photographer
By: Emily Troutman
Other than a spouse and rings, the
photos last the longest from your wedding day! I joke with friends that your
wedding day and honeymoon is really the best you will ever look! You will certainly
not get any younger and most likely not any thinner… at least that’s the case
for most of us!
It is important how
you go about choosing your wedding photographer. Unless you are one of the
fortunate girls with an unlimited budget, I think a lot of brides start out
thinking “What can I get for the least amount of money?” with almost every
aspect of the wedding. I have to say, that’s probably the worst way to approach
most things, especially photography.
I personally went
through this experience planning my own wedding, I got down to two
photographers that I had met with and had personal references for. First guy
was a gentleman who I knew would do “fine” and was inexpensive. As for number
two his work was way more my style, current in wedding photography, and I could
imagine treasuring the images he would create. He did cost 3 times the amount
of the first guy but I have learned that “you always get what you pay for.” I
didn’t want to walk away from my wedding with images I felt “blah” about….I
wanted pictures to capture my day specifically to my own style and aesthetic. I
also considered who I could imagine being my literal shadow on my wedding day
and photographer number two fit the bill much better than number one. Do
not underestimate the importance of getting along with all of your vendors you
choose for your big day, after all they are creating your wedding experience.
With all that said, we chose to invest into the more expensive photographer and
are so glad we did!
Here are some important things to
consider when choosing –
- Style is a great place to start. Start looking at photographers in your area and get a feeling for what types of images you are drawn to. What type of end result do you want when all is said and done? You cannot hire a JCPenney Portrait photographer to try to take Annie Leibowitz type images. This is just a research phase, where you learn what you like and don't focus on budget.
- Reputation and references go hand in hand with researching style. Start asking friends who did their weddings. Ask if they were happy with not only the photographer’s final product but their personality? Was he or she an asset to the day? If you find a photographer that you love but no one you know has used him or her, feel free to ask him or her for a few references you could contact. Any photographer with professional services will be willing to give you a reference. I cannot tell you how many wedding photographer horror stories I have heard & witnessed but I will save those for another blog post!
- Budget is of course essential to consider as you start to narrow down. You might love a photographer that starts at $10k but have a $2k budget, this is when you can get realistic about who might start to fit the bill. The average wedding photographer cost or package now in the US starts around $3k. There are certainly options under this, as mine even start below this point but please be realistic with your starting point. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Someone offering to do your entire wedding for $399 is definitely suspect...they might be extremely inexperienced and therefore unprepared for what might come on your wedding day or they might turn up so-so images.
- Product options are important once you narrow down who might fit your style, personality, and budget. If you know you are only interested in buying the digital files, make sure that’s an option for you to purchase. Every photographer will have options, just make sure you can see some samples and you like what they offer. I know that I keep my product line fairly simple so if someone wants something very elaborate, I might not be their best fit.
- Availability, of course you would need to find out who is available for your date so once you get narrowed down to a few, see who is even available! More popular photographers book quickly as well as prime dates like Saturdays in June fill up quickly!
These five things are just a few
suggestions on how to go about who to work with on your wedding day. I am
making these suggestions in relationship to photography but they actually work
fairly well with all the vendors you will choose for the day! Make sure you
will love the people, love their work, and feel like they are worth the
investment you are making in them, as well as being trustworthy to deliver!
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