There are a lot of articles out there that will tell you how to choose a photographer for your wedding…so why write another one? In reading a number of these I noticed that the advice you are given is more geared toward asking the photographer questions that will determine if they are a good fit for your personality, or if their wedding package will meet your needs. I haven’t found many that will tell you how to determine if the photographer is actually any good at taking pictures. The purpose of this article is geared toward making sure the photographer you are considering produces consistent, quality work.
You will regret nothing more than choosing a bad photographer for your wedding. So how do you know if the photographer you are considering will produce quality work? Review their online galleries and look for the following things:
1) Are the photos properly exposed? Essentially, is the photo too dark, too bright, or just right? A good photographer will never have an underexposed or overexposed photo on their website (unless they are going for something artistic, but you should be able to tell if it is intentional or not). Here is an example of an overrexposed, properly exposed, and underexposed picture.
2) Is the photographer’s website overloaded with black and whites? Some photographers really like black and white photos, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, if half or more of their photos are black and white, then you better like them too because that’s probably what you are going to get. These photographers may have problems achieving the correct color balance in photos, so keep your eye out for that.
3) The difference between good black and white photos is black and white! Make sure that the black and white photos have the proper amount of contrast between the blacks and whites. Too little and the picture looks grayish or “muddy,” too much and the picture loses detail. There should be a nice balance of blacks, whites, and grays in the photo. Keep a close eye out for this and make sure the photographer you are considering can create great looking black and white shots.
4) Focus on focus! You want your subject to be sharp, and that’s fairly easy when your subject is just one person or thing. However, a problem some photographers may have during formal portraits with large groups is not being able to keep everyone in focus. Make sure you review the photographer’s formal group shots to make sure they can keep everyone in focus. Particuarly pay attention to photos of large groups where there may be 2 or 3 rows of people. You may find that just one of the rows is in focus, and the rest are blurry.
5) Most importantly, don’t book a photographer until you can see an entire collection of wedding images from one of their recent weddings. Don’t settle for an online gallery containing a combination of their best photos from a number of shoots. If you want to know what you are really going to get from your photographer, look at what they just gave to their last client. Keep in mind the format you will be reviewing these photos in is an online gallery...it is unrealistic to expect the photographer to carry around a portfolio of 500+ prints from a single wedding. If the photographer won’t give you access to look at an entire gallery from a recent wedding,
move on! You should expect to see anywhere from 300 photos from a very basic wedding to 700+ for an all day full-coverage wedding.
In closing, remember that there is some truth to the axiom, you get what you pay for. Now, that doesn’t mean that the most expensive photographer is the best…that is where the term “value” comes into play…but use your judgment. If a photographer is giving you all day coverage, a disc of all wedding images, etc, etc, and is charging you less than $1,000 ask yourself why? A good photographer will need to be fairly compensated for their time and equipment investments.
We hope this information is helpful to you as you are selecting your photographer. We would be happy to answer any other questions that you might have. Feel free to e-mail us at
nexisphotography@hotmail.com.
- M&L
Nexis Photography
2009 Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award Winner
We met Rachel and Jeremy in Downtown Montgomery for their engagement session just a few weeks ago. We had actually first met Rachel a couple of years ago at a friend's wedding where she was a bridesmaid...so it was pretty cool that we're now shooting her wedding! Rachel and Jeremy were tons of fun...they were completely laid back and we had a great time taking pictures with them. Hope you guys enjoy the slideshow and the gallery. We've also posted some of our favorites below with some captions. Enjoy!
...I just love the symmetry of this photo...its about as balanced as you could want.
...Jeremy was trying to put the flower on her ear...he accidentally stuck it IN her ear :)
...Leigh's favorite.
...Matt's favorite.
...very cool architecture in the courtyard of this church.
...talk about hops...we told them to jump...and they said how high? I'm still amazed!
...another one of Matt's favorites. 
...another one of Leigh's favorites.
...love this photo...can you see the heart they form when they kiss? You can't teach that :)
...we caught these native stick dwellers in their natural habitat...they are a friendly people... Hehe, this display just happened to be setup in front of the Museum of Fine Arts, so we had to take advantage and get some photos.
...love this one.
...you guys look great together.
...one last picture at sunset.
