How to Pick a Photographer You Love
FINDING A PHOTOGRAPHER CAN SEEM OVERWHELMING AT FIRST, BUT IF YOU FOLLOW THESE 3 EASY STEPS, I GUARANTEE YOU’LL FIND ONE YOU LOVE!
Photography is a form of art… a way to treasure memories and freeze time. Finding a photographer that will capture your life and story excellently can seem overwhelming when you look at the many different photographers in your area. One glance through Facebook and you’ll find many different styles of photography, different editing styles, and even different ways to capture a moment (posed vs. raw/candid). How do you pick the right photographer for you? Here are my 3 simple steps to help you select a photographer.
Step 1: Find an editing style you love.
Bright and airy, dark and moody, vibrant colors, cool tones, or warm earthy tones…there are so many editing styles out there! Editing style is defined as the way your photographer will artistically color your photos when being edited. Oftentimes the editing style of a photographer is their artistic touch. This is often considered the signature style that a photographer will specialize in doing for all of their images. For this reason, it is important to find a photographer whose coloring of photos you love, and will cherish for many years to come! Also, ensuring it fits your vibe/wedding theme, and colors is important.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Which style draws you in the most? Do you like the artistic look that bright and airy photos give? Or are you more of a fan of moody, darker photos? What type of editing style would you want your wedding or engagement photos to look and feel like when you look at them years down the road? What would the photos look like when displayed in your home?
All of these questions may seem overwhelming, but trust me, they’re important because as we all know, people treasure photos. Your photos will be seen many years down the road. You may want to display them in your home or keep an album that you share with friends and family. Make sure you choose a photographer that edits photos in a style you know you will always love and that reflects your personality well.
Personally, I love editing in a warm and golden romantic earthy style. I also love capturing raw emotions and beautiful candid moments. If you like this type of style, I may be the right photographer for you!
Step 2: Meet The Photographer.
Hop on a Zoom or Facetime call with Photographer or meet them in person for coffee to get to know if you like their personality. It gives you a window into what to expect when you’re being photographed! Photographers have different personalities, and if you’ve never been photographed before, you might even be nervous about your session. Seeing the photographer beforehand helps ease that anxiety and brings trust and peace into your session because you’re building a relationship with your photographer.
More often than not, your photographer ends up being a friend, a person you trust to capture important life moments. A person who can help you relax and enjoy your session while you make memories with your loved ones. It’s nice to know ahead of time that you vibe well together!
Side note: This can be helpful for guys who are nervous about having to have their photos taken. Getting to see that the photographer is chill and nice, helps them feel more comfortable and ready for the session.
On the other hand, this can also be helpful for the wedding/elopement day too. The photographer will be the person that you’ll be around most on the day of your wedding/elopement session, so it’s very important to make sure it’s with someone you feel comfortable with.
SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER WHEN YOU MEET OR ZOOM CALL WITH THEM:
- What can I expect to experience during a photo session with you?
- Will you help guide us with posing and help us look relaxed and natural?
- Do you focus heavily on posing or do you try to capture a blend of natural/candid moments and a few posed moments?
- How do you make photo sessions fun for your clients?
Step 3: Ask to see a full gallery.
This is so important because many people don’t realize what is possible to capture during a session. Instagram and Facebook only show you a few photos from sessions, but if you ask to see a sample gallery from a photographer’s recent session or wedding, you’ll get a bigger picture of what to expect from your session or wedding/elopement gallery!
Seeing a full gallery also helps you get an idea of how your photos can look at different times of the day. For example, pictures at sunrise or sunset, pictures in blue hour lighting (after sunset when light is darker), pictures at night, pictures indoors or outdoors, sparkler photos, etc. This helps you make sure your photographer is not only great at natural photography but also great with any lighting scenario that they can run into or is requested from the client.
When you look at a full gallery it helps you see what another person, who trusted in that photographer, received as their “final product.”
So there you have it! My 3 best tips to help you find a photographer you’ll love. I hope this can help you as you plan your next photo session. As always, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!
