Picking out Your Wedding Photographer – What is Their Attitude?
Reading the title of this short article you happen to be possibly questioning what attitude has to accomplish with photography or your wedding; to my pondering an awful lot! Get additional information about Studio Three West Photography
The Wedding Press, Wedding Blogs and Photographers web sites are full of assistance on selecting your photographer. The Press and Wedding Blog writers will emphasize which include very carefully looking at earlier weddings they’ve shot, looking at the quality of Albums they sell, meticulously thinking about the cost, looking at strategies of decreasing the value, asking for a free engagement shoot, or asking for a disc only shoot and generating your individual Album etc and so forth. Whilst Photographers web site will wax lyrically about their qualifications using a experienced body, their insurance level, what their packages involve, how a lot of hours they will commit with you, how low their cost is or justifying how high their cost is!
Though all of the above are valid strategies of searching for the Wedding Photographer it can be sensible to look at these tangibles ahead of explaining why Attitude is vitally critical in your decision.
Earlier Wedding Pictures – For certain any Photographer is only going to show you his most effective work in print, firstly because it will be madness to show you typical or bad work and secondly the price of making various sample albums is prohibitive.
Looking at Album Excellent – Sample Album excellent is directly relational to cost up to a point. A photographer who values his work and puts time and effort into correctly processing your photos will only use high good quality Albums from established Album Printers. Why would an individual who values their very own work present you a low-priced coffee table book from a mass market place producer.
Look at strategies to decrease price – In the event you have to have to cut down cost at your wedding you’ll need to minimize it across the board. There’s a value point for Photographers under which it does not make economic sense to work – although you may always obtain some who will for those who usually do not worth the photographic memories. Couple of Photographers can come across weddings to shoot 5 days a week 48 weeks of your year, then there is certainly the time required on top rated of a Wedding for meetings with the Bride & Groom, processing the pictures (a minimum of 2 x the wedding booking), transport to and from the wedding, insurance and lets not forget equipment (which unlike your home camera will wear out & get damaged).
Free Engagement Shoot – Well done you get something for free, if a photographer is prepared to do it for free then he has worked it into his cost already or he has made the decision that you have booked and paid the deposit so if you don’t get on with him and cancel after the engagement shoot he has your deposit.
Disc Only – There is a market place for shoot to Disc but for the photographer it relies on higher volume number of weddings a year on this single package. It is often favored by new start up photographers as a way of quickly building up a number of weddings. Lets be honest 40 weddings a year at $500 is not a bad supplement to a complete time income but would never cover the costs of a complete time business. If anybody did a study of those Brides opting for Disc Only Photography I am sure it would show that less than 20% ever have any on the pictures printed, they just end up on social media. Most photographers will be happy to give you your Album pictures perfectly prepared for Social Media anyway.
The 2 big things that Photographers will tell you about are:
Insurance – This should be a given and something every bride should ask about. Personal Liability and Experienced Indemnity Insurance are a must. Unfortunately, just like car drivers, there are those who will not have it either to save money or out of ignorance. Just like the uninsured driver, you may get little recompense from an uninsured photographer if something goes drastically wrong or their actions injure one of your guests.
Expert Membership – to my knowledge there are about 10 ‘Professional Photographic Organizations’ in the USA and 6 in the UK and no doubt similar numbers in other Countries. In the USA and the UK none of them are Mandatory. For most Membership is as easy as paying $2-300 per year. Any qualifications awarded by one particular organization are rarely recognized by another and are, in general rescinded when you stop paying your membership. In reality you can gain a qualification with one organization at age 20 and as long as you continue to pay your membership you can have hat qualification at 50 without anybody assessing your ability in between!
So although all of the above are integral parts of looking for the photographer what has attitude got to perform with it all and why do I think it should be an crucial part of your decision generating.
Everything you pay for your Wedding Day is consumed on that day, the venue, the celebrant, flowers, cars, suits, dress, food, band, disco or fireworks; the next morning they are used. You go away on honeymoon and the memories start to fade.
Your lasting memories will be contained in the pictures taken on your day; those photos are the trigger for good feelings and memories not bad. How you got on with your photographer will be the biggest influence of those feelings. Every time you open your Album you cannot help but trigger memories on the photographer.
Yes when you see the Dress Pictures you’ll think in the dressmaker, the venue will trigger memories in the staff and food and pictures from the flowers thoughts of your florist.
You’ll need to get on with your photographer from the moment you meet them for the first time – their attitude needs to match yours in the same way you would never choose or recommend a Wedding Planner you clashed with!
After your wedding planner, when you have one, the next person who has a plan and overview from the whole day is your photographer; in the absence of a wedding planner they should be your De-facto Planner, organizer and timekeeper but can they step as much as the mark?
Three things to consider when seeking for your Photographer are Passion, the Iceberg and can they ‘step up to the mark’.
Passion – In reality doesn’t matter how lots of awards your photographer has or how cheap they are! You have to be able to work with your photographer and they with you. After all you want the Photographs from your wedding to be your lasting memories of the day not your struggle using the photographer. Plan early, by all means look at the awards or price tag but most of all find somebody who shares your passion for the Wedding. Somebody who is happy to take your calls at anytime to discuss your plans, somebody who will accept changes to the running order without concern, an individual who can adapt their flow to cope with over runs, late arrivals etc.
Iceberg – Knowledge and Skills are very critical when selecting your wedding photographer and they are apparent above the surface in their marketing or in questions you can ask. Don’t forget to ask about a photographer’s depth of experience – do they only do weddings? What else have they done? What life experiences do they have in their armory that may come in handy? What is not normally visible and is easy to hide behind a polished sales pitch just like an iceberg could be the attitude. Get to know your photographers – are they putting on a pretense or is what you see what you get. Consider not asking for free engagement shoots but offering to pay your short list of 2 or 3 for a shoot. It might seem expensive but you might work together with the photographer as a paying customer who has not made their decision yet and get a true feeling for the photographer. You may be able to accomplish a deal based on the fact you have not made a decision at that stage.
Stepping up to the mark! – When push comes to shove will your photographers put down their cameras, roll their sleeves up and get stuck in to help with any aspect of your day? It’s the little things that matter, are they likely to pull out a sewing kit to quickly repair a hem, will they help the venue re-arrange things if the heavens open and the group shots have to be moved inside? and so on and so on.
You might never know for positive till disaster looms but in the event you have made confident you have no conflicts and understand the attitude (not the sales pitch) of your photographer then you will feel safer that any potential disaster can be averted or resolved quickly.
The attitude of your Photographer and how you relate to them is vitally essential to your Wedding Day; it can be the key to your lasting memories. Yes the ability and professionalism on the photographer is important as will be the price point for many but your relationship with all the Photographer is paramount. Does their Attitude match your expectations.
