How to choose a photographer for your wedding

There is no shortage of wedding photographers. A quick glance at the Exeter Yellow Pages has over three pages of photographers and most offer wedding photography among their services. As well as full-timers there are also many part-time wedding photographers, semi-pro or amateurs, not to mention relatives who can be persuaded to take photos as a one-off.

How to choose?

Do you have a style of photography you are looking for? Formal poses and family groups, photojournalism, arty...? Ask to see samples of the photographer's work in the style you want to see if matches your vision.

Some wedding photographers have very impressive web sites showcasing their work. Naturally these will be edited to show the best. Look for samples showing a variety of  couples. Not everyone looks like a fashion model, but a good photographer should be able to show everyone at their best on their big day.

Is the photographer happy to work with you to achieve the look you want? This best done in a personal meeting which is also a chance to assess the photographer's personality and how he will fit into your big day. As well as taking the pictures the photographer will  need to be able to organise guests and stage manage some of the proceedings to get the right pictures. Nowadays with the internet there is nowhere for bad service to hide so have a google around for any photographer you are thinking of using to look for reviews from past clients.

Price.

The difficult subject. No price is too expensive if the couple can afford it and are overjoyed with the photos, no level of cheapness can make you feel good if the pictures are terrible. On the face of it professional wedding photography can seem expensive. "How much!?! For three or four  hours work on a Saturday!?" To look at it another way. Think of an average annual salary then imagine the number of weddings a photographer can book in a year, say 30 or 40? Divide that salary by the number of weddings and what do you get? On top of this the cost of photographing a wedding will include running a studio or office, renewing digital cameras and computers every couple of years and the costs of getting prints or albums produced if these are part of the package. Many photographers work with an assistant as backup who will also require paying. The actual shooting time for a wedding photographer is the smallest part of their week which is taken up with editing and adjusting the digital images, meeting potential clients, (who may not follow up with a booking), uploading samples to a website for guests to see, taking orders for prints and generally running the business side. By all means if you can afford it hire the most expensive and highly respected photographer you can find. The thousands spent on dress, venue and reception will have evaporated when the big day is over, a good set of photographs will be giving pleasure for generations to come.

Unfortunately, (for clients and photographers alike :-) very few couples have an unlimited budget for their wedding photographs.

The cheapest option is free photography. Most guests carry a digital camera which in the right hands could take some great photos. You could assemble an album from the best of all the hundreds taken. Unfortunately random shots are not likely to capture  the important moments without having a stray arm in the frame, and be prepared for lots of red-eye!

Also free is the "Family Photographer". This is the relation who is a keen amateur photographer who has an expensive camera (and is even rumoured to own a tripod!) Many photographers who went on to become top professionals in the wedding photography field started out like this but you are taking a chance especially if they have no experience of photographing people. Photographing beautiful sunsets or steam trains doesn't equip you with the ability to deal with what is a highly pressured situation and your big day is not the right situation to have someone learning on the job. It's also a big ask to expect one of your guests to spend the day working when they could be enjoying the celebration.

Part Timer offering a budget service. Building a wedding photography business can take some years and photographers will probably have other jobs until they can support themselves full time. Because their day job allows them to subsidise their photographic work some part timers may charge significantly less than a full time photographer who must service all his business overheads and will probably be registered for VAT. If considering using a part-timer look very carefully at how they operate. Someone proposing to use a single camera and lens and their pop up flash isn't set up to deal with an equipment failure or to photograph a large group of guests indoors if the weather is bad. Just because someone is a part timer doesn't excuse them fom the responsibility of doing a good job and operating in a professional manner.


There are genuine savings to be made by employing a "non full time" professional. As mentioned VAT may not be due, (though you might like to check that he pays his national insurance and income tax like you have to!) Part timers are more likely to be happy providing a disc only service. Some  photographers will only offer a package that includes an album of prints and this involves work to assemble which adds to their production costs and they may aim to make part of their income selling extra prints to guests and will therefore charge a hefty premium to supply high resolution images on disc. Using a disc only service gives you the freedom to do what you want. It's great fun to assemble your own album and many photo printers now offer easy and affordable ways to turn your wedding photos into a glossy coffee table book. You can put your photos on facebook or make a slideshow to display on your TV. Money may be tight now but ten years down the line you may want to get some large canvas prints made to hang on the wall of your new mansion and few would have predicted 20 years ago that we would be looking at 50 inch plasma screens in our living rooms, so who knows what future ways there will be to look at your wedding photos. Having the best possible versions of the original photo files will give you the most options for the future.