Your wedding photographs are a precious record of the most important day of your life. They are not just pictures, but a representation of the day as it happened, and a historical record of a significant changing point in your lives. There are many tales of wedding photographs going wrong – restaging the whole event after a disaster on the day is not unheard of – so you need to make sure you take the time and care to choose the right wedding photographer for your big day.
How do you decide which is best in a market, that is, to put it simply, hotly contested? Well, the first thing you do is talk to others who have used NYC wedding photographers for their albums, and start making a list of those you want to talk to. You will want to meet the photographer upfront as you need them to get to know you. They may work alone, or they may be a couple who offer wedding services, and there are essential questions you need to ask, and guarantees they need to provide before you give them the job.
Check Them Out
Have a chat with your friends who have used wedding photographers and make a list – just as we mentioned above – then, before you go any further, have a look at their website. A good wedding photographer’s website should give you plenty of information and examples of previous work and be well laid-out and easy to navigate just like getstak.com, which is the website of a top New York City wedding photographer with many satisfied clients.
Once you find examples you like, give them a call and arrange a meeting, and then plan what you want to talk to them about. One often-overlooked factor is that there is a choice of styles of photography when it comes to capturing a wedding day, so here’s some details about these.
Choose Your Style
A good wedding photographer will be able to offer you a choice of styles of photography to document your special day, and there are generally three styles that can be used to good effect: these are traditional, contemporary and reportage photography. The choice is yours as to which you want to use – or you can combine elements of each – so let’s look more closely at the differences involved.
Traditional wedding photography is that we automatically think of, in which the photographer provides direction to the various parties involved and creates a group and individual photos of the bride, groom, and family, and friends where required. The result is beautifully co-ordinated and informative photos – indeed, this remains the style of choice for most – but there is often a feeling that things have been staged, and there is a lot of time involved in setting up traditional photography.
Contemporary wedding photography is about capturing the vision of the couple involved; think of this sort of shoot as more like a fashion shoot or that for a magazine, removed from the formality of the traditional wedding shoot, and providing something altogether more loose and carefree, yet still organized and impressive. This sort of style will certainly give you something unique, but make sure you check out examples as it is not to everyone’s taste.
Reportage wedding photography should be thought of as a genuine document of what happens during the day. Using this style, a photographer will get among your guests and use a selection of candid shots, and the photographer will have a keen eye for emotion and the skill of capturing a moment. This is often used in conjunction with traditional style – one does the staged shots, the other keeps an eye on what is happening throughout the day – but that depends on something we haven’t discussed yet – your budget.
Budget Considerations and More
Your budget will naturally be of great importance to you. A wedding is not a cheap event to organise, and host and your photographer is just one of many expenses that will be incurred. When you sit down with your chosen photographers, among the first things you should do is ask them for their set rates.
They will be able to give you a cost for a package of photographs of different types and quantities – and also those for additional copies that you may wish to order later – so it is important that this factor is established early in the choosing process.
However, the budget is not your only concern, as there are a number of things you also need to check with your photographer. For example, are they familiar with the venue? This is important as a photographer who knows the venue will know how to get the right shots. It’s worth asking your venue if they have recommended photographers for this reason, as it can make a great deal of difference to the quality of results.
One popular way of checking out photographers is to book a shoot, pre-wedding shoot. This allows you to get to know the photographer better, and his or her method of working, and will undoubtedly enable you to cross some off the shortlist. However, it is an extra expense, so it is something you might want to consider carefully.
Perhaps the most important factor to consider when you meet the photographer is the quality of the portfolio they present you with. Customer testimony and actual, physical results are very important if you want to build that trust you need with a wedding photographer, so make sure you spend as much time as you want with the photos they have provided, and don’t be rushed into making a decision.
Choosing your NYC wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions of your life and one that you, as a couple, should definitely make together. Follow our advice above, ask around and get recommendations from friends and family – and the venue and other parties who are supplying you – and you’ll find a photographer who can give you a fantastic record of your wonderful day.