The bride groups are full of ghosted brides, so how can you tell if your photographer is really a professional wedding photographer, and not some person who has a couple of decent photos? This stuff can be super overwhelming, so here are a few things to look for when shopping for your photographer.
I thought I’d have everything covered but I was sadly mistaken. They [Daisy Blue] were the ultimate professionals and exceeded my expectations. They were a pleasure to work with and took control when I had a few pops too many and when my children wanted to do anything but take photos.
Brandon Jarvis
Style
Every photographer has their own style. For instance, our style is Candid, True to Life with Vibrant Colors. There are other styles out there, dark and moody, light and airy, etc. Most important though, what do you like to see in photos. Do you want that trendy today look that screams this year, or do you want something more classic and timeless? Check out Pinterest, or Instagram to see what kinds of styles you really dig.
When you look at a full professional wedding photographer’s gallery, you want to see:
- Consistency in style,
- Is your photographer using lighting or no lighting.
A skilled and experienced professional wedding photographer will use a combination of both natural and artificial lights to tell the story of your day. All while maintaining solid, consistent photographs of your day from start to finish.
See at least one Full Wedding Day Gallery
We cannot stress enough how important it is to see at least one full wedding gallery before you book your photographer. Anyone can take one or two good pictures a day, but you most definitely want your photographer to be able to take great pictures in full sun, shade, in your relatively dark ceremony space (most likely without lighting allowed) to your reception space which will most definitely require artificial external lighting. You will see how well they do all this by seeing a full day.
A wedding consists of almost every kind of photography.
- Candid photography: just taking photos of people doing their thing.
- Photojournalism, where they tell the story of your day.
- Portraiture, both formal and romantic.
The formal photos are those with you and your families, and the romantic photos are much more artistic and fun. A professional wedding photographer will excel at all of these photography styles.
Experience
How many weddings has your photographer done? This matters because with great experience comes great responsibility… wait, sorry. That’s power, and Spiderman. Seriously though, as a professional wedding photographer gains experience, they gain skills. Skills like learning how to help run your day so that you stay on time while still getting all the photos you really want to get; like staying calm when the day is like a whirlwind around them; like being creative and fun even with children under-foot and your favorite uncle is telling them the best way to take a photo. All while still making sure each-and-every “must have” photo is checked off your list throughout the day.
Amy was AMAZING! Her talent, attention to detail, and lively personality made our wedding day so much fun! It has been two weeks and I honestly can say I have not stopped smiling! When planning she helped us with our timeline of taking photos and made suggestions from her experience. I am so glad we listened to her because it gave us more time to take photos before the ceremony. She made sure we stayed on time (and even got us ahead of schedule .. which is great because it kept us feeling stress free).
Rebecca R.
Equipment
If your photographer has the proper professional equipment, they are much more likely to have the means to take fantastic photos throughout your day.
As a professional wedding photographer, we bring our two work-horse lenses (24-70 2.8, [wide angle] and 70-200 2.8 [zoom lens]) that we use for most of the day, but also a couple of portrait lenses for certain parts, a macro lens for the details to really show just how awesome your rings really are, and 2 or 3 DSLR and Mirrorless cameras. Why? Because ANYTHING can happen, and we want to be sure that we have the right gear for the right photo, and backups for everything JUST IN CASE.
Does your photographer understand how to use their external lights? We are the kind of photographer that pretty much always has a light with us, either on our camera, and most times also an external light as well. And the reception, we bring several lights, so that you look your best, and your reception’s ambient light is prominent and visible. We want to tell the whole story, and that includes what is around you on your day.
How long until you see your photos & your Reveal!
When do you get to see your photos?
So your wedding has happened, and it’s time to see all your photos! How long will it be before you see your preview? How long until you see your gallery? Does your photographer just deliver a gallery and leave you to figure out what to do with your photos? These are all questions your professional photographer should be able to answer.
At Daisy Blue, your preview will be delivered by the Monday following your wedding. Your gallery will be delivered by your one month anniversary, and best of all, you will get a full service Reveal session with your photographer.
Your Photo Reveal
But, what does that mean?
It means. That as soon as your gallery is ready to view, instead of sending you a link and some well wishes, we will reach out to let you know it is ready. At that point, we will set up a date either to get together to view everything, or to set up a Reveal on Zoom (whichever is your preference).
This meeting is about 3 hours long, but so worth it because nothing is waiting to get done, it simply gets done! This involves snuggling up with your new spouse on the couch with a drink to see your photos for the first time as a beautiful slideshow set to music where you’ll relive your magical day together.
Immediately after, you’ll have your custom design print consult where we discuss wall art options and how we can beautifully preserve the best photos of your day in a Daisy Blue Legacy Wedding Album. The album company we are partnered with only works with a select number of photographers a year, and we had to apply to be a vendor of theirs. The difference is in the quality, and these are designed to last to be passed down for generations. It’s just a better way to preserve and enjoy your photographs than simply storing them on a hard drive where they’re more likely to get lost and forgotten.
and they were married at St. George Romanian Orthodox Cathredral
What will happen in case of an emergency?
What will happen if there is an emergency? If you read the bride pages on Facebook, it looks like they’ll just not show up, or will cancel on you with only weeks to your wedding. That is some stress that you do not need when you are planning your wedding.
At Daisy Blue, we have backups for our backups for our backups. We will NEVER call you with a problem, but with a solution. What does that mean for you?
Let’s say, in a worst case scenario that we have an accident on the way to your wedding and we broke our leg. What happens?
- We have a network of about 10 full time (female) photographers that we work with, talk with, and network with almost daily. This is our first call.
- If they aren’t available, there is a larger network group for all of Michigan that we belong to. This group is AMAZING. I don’t say that lightly. We help each other, we step in for each other, we help each other with business questions. Again, these are real working professional photographers.
- And finally, if neither of these bear fruit, we have a company we will call that we’ll pay to have someone sent out.
The end result is, you will get a call that says “Here’s the problem and here’s the solution”. The last thing you need is stress on your wedding day, and we get that to our bones. We got you.
What services does the company offer?
What services does your photographer offer? Do they just offer photography? Do they offer other services, like the convenience of adding a videographer on your day? This is a great question to ask when considering your options.
Daisy Blue offers both photography and videography services in an effort to give you a whole professional photography team working together.
Are your personalities a good fit?
How do you mesh with your photographer? This person is going to be your shadow for a great deal of your wedding day. Do you get along? Do they make you laugh? Are they going to be “directy” enough for you? Do you even want someone to direct everything? Will you meet your photographer before you book either in person or on Zoom?
At Daisy Blue we like to say “if we aren’t like best friends by the end of the day, we are doing something wrong”. During the Romantics photos, the pictures with you and your new spouse, and you both and your bridal party, we are not only setting you up and taking pictures, we are bantering, and being maybe a little bit goofy, so that it doesn’t just “look like” you are all having fun, you ARE all actually having fun. By the time we get to the speeches we are so invested that we are laughing and tearing up with each speech.
Our photos are absolutely STUNNING! We have received NUMEROUS phone calls and texts from family and friends raving about how breathtaking the photos are. With guests asking how did you find your photographer because she is one of a kind! We are not one who enjoys taking photos of ourselves but she made us absolutely love it! Our groomsmen, bridesmaids, and even our guests all mentioned to us how much they enjoyed Amy and how impressed they were with her talent, organization and helpfulness on the wedding day.
Rebecca R.
Let’s Chat!
We hope these tips help you in your search for the perfect wedding photographer. We still have a available dates in 2023 and are now booking for 2024 and 2025. Reach out to schedule a quick phone consult now to share your wedding photography vision and to see if we’d be a good fit for you!
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