how to choose your wedding photographer
Once the proposal has been successfully completed, the good part begins: organizing the wedding. It's more than normal to be a mess at first.And it is no wonder, a wedding is a very important event and quite complex to organize. Once you have chosen the date and place where you will celebrate your wedding (or at least the approximate city or area), one of the first suppliers you will have to look for will be the photographer who will be in charge of the report of your big day.
Photographers normally open their agenda for the following year, that is, if you have your date decided a year from now, you won't have much time left. Above all, if you have a specific professional in mind, since agendas fill up very quickly and even more so if you celebrate your wedding in high season (from May to October). If photography is a very important factor for you, the sooner you start contacting photographers, the better. So it's time to get to work and start the investigation!
Instagram is a good place to find wedding photographers, since we usually use it as a portfolio and to maintain contact with our clients. A tip to start seeing on Instagram which photographers work in your area is to search for #cityweddingphotographer (change "city" for your city), since we usually tag our photos in the cities in which we usually work. Keep in mind that if you want A photographer from another province or who is located more than 50-100km from your city will probably charge you an extra fee for travel. For everything else, San Google is at your disposal.
There are several things to take into account when choosing a photographer:
-The budget: one of the first things you are going to do is establish an approximate budget for your wedding. Once you have decided how much you want to spend on each supplier, you can start looking. Normally photographers do not have our public rates, so you will have to contact each photographer you like. A tip to get an idea of how much they charge is to search for the photographer's name on Google and see if it appears on weddings.net. You won't get the complete rates there, but it will show you in what range their prices move or at less from what price they start. You can find a photographer from €700 to whatever you want to spend. In Valencia, wedding reports cost around €1000-€1500 on average.
-The color: do you like the color you see in the photos on their website or Instagram? Color is a very personal subject for the photographer. As an artistic work, we express ourselves through color, which is why it is usually our personal brand. If you like the style of photography, but not the color, it is best to find another photographer. Even so, you can always ask him if he does color tests so you can choose.
-The style of photography: do you like more spontaneous or more posed images? This is another quite personal aspect of the photographer. Some like to get very involved and others prefer to photograph from a distance. There are as many styles of photography as there are photographers, so among the questions you should ask the photographer when you ask him for information is how he works: if he intervenes a lot or not, if he takes posed photos or group photos... This is important so that Don't be upset later: we don't know which photos are important to you, so the more information you give us, the better the final result will be.
-Full weddings: do you remember that Tinder date where you arrive at the cafeteria and find someone totally different from the one in the photos? We all upload our best images to Instagram, whether we're photographers or not, so that can be a little misleading sometimes. Asking them to show you a couple of complete reports will help you better see how the photographer in question works and if he or she adapts to your needs. Among the things you have to take into account are: if you give importance to the details of the wedding, if you take group photos, if you take a lot of close relatives, if you take stolen photos (the most emotional moments are usually captured from afar ), what are the party photos like, how many photos do you take in the session before the cocktail, how many final photos do you deliver...
-Do you like the photographer?: This may seem silly, but it is really important. The photographer you choose for your wedding is a person who will accompany you throughout the entire process and who will be present (and sometimes in the middle) at every moment of that day. Having a good feeling with your photographer will make the results infinitely better. This is a little more complicated to know and a good way to resolve it is in a meeting, physical or by video call, with the photographer. A tip to find out a little more about what we are like, is, again, on Instagram. Photographers usually have quite a presence on social networks, especially those of us who dedicate ourselves to weddings and social photography, so you will probably find us easily in our Instagram stories. If the photographer gives you a good vibe, go ahead. And if not, even if the price or style is closer to the idea you had, it's better to keep looking. There's nothing worse than spending the entire day with someone you don't connect with, chasing you around with a camera. Furthermore, when there is a good connection, he will know how to capture your essence better and you will come out more handsome and relaxed.
-BONUS TIP: If you share your life with a furry friend who is a very important member of the family and who has to appear in the photos with you, having your photographer like animals is a priority. And if you don't believe me, look how pretty we made Vela while her human mom was getting ready for her big day.
I hope this little guide is helpful to you and if you want to know more, just call me!
