What to look for when hiring a photographer

    My first experience with hiring a photographer was my wedding. We hadn’t gotten engagement pictures done and I had no idea how overwhelming the process of finding and hiring a photographer was going to be. There were so many different styles, price points, and packages. I had no idea what I was looking for. A few things to look for when you’re hiring a professional:

• Price point: everyone is going to have different levels of packages, make sure you have a budget in mind and discuss with your photographer before hand to make sure there’s no sticker shock.
• Client experience: these are things that your photographer does that go above and beyond taking and delivering photos! Things like customized location or style guides, planning assistance and location scouting, or helping create custom timelines. Make sure communication is something that’s important!
• Package: really think about what’s important to you here! Do you want all your photos or are you okay with 30? Do you want just digitals, or do you prefer USB, or both? Are you going to want products like prints or an album? Make sure to find out if those are included or cost extra.

• Style: this one is so personal. Look at the photographer’s portfolio and blog posts. Look at the use of light, colors, and how the couple is posed. Do you love the photos? Do they take your breath away? If you don’t feel a connection to their work, or even feel kind of “meh” about it, then its probably not a good match. That’s okay! Photography is an art, and everyone will have different opinions and styles. Pictures are forever and its important you love your photos- not just feel like they are sort of okay.

• Connection: personally, I feel like this is the most important one. Photographers are capturing intimate and important moments. Its our job to help guide you and find ease in front of the camera. If you don’t feel comfortable or click with your photographer its going to show in the pictures. You almost want it to feel as though you’re friends. Make sure personalities work together and that you have similar visions. Our wedding photographer was just excited to work with us as we were with her. She used lots of exclamation marks and smiley faces in our email exchanges, and it sounds silly, but it really made me feel at ease. We also talked about our deep love of sunset photos beforehand, so I knew we were on the same page vision wise. When our actual wedding day came around I was totally comfortable with her and posing in front of the camera!