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If you are an emotional person go for the photographer whos pics give you an emotional reaction. If they can give you an emotional reaction with a stranger's pics imagine what they can do with your wedding pics!
Good Luck!
FutureMrsMartin has excellent advice; emotional reaction was my highest priority for a photographer. Also, I'd say to match the photographer to the type of wedding you're having. If, for example, a photographer's best shots are of outdoor, flowery weddings, and yours will be in a giant, dark reception hall, I'd think twice.
Another consideration is responsiveness -- have your interactions been give and take or are you waiting constantly for the photog to email you back? Photographers have different schedules than people w/desk jobs and during busy season especially they get overloaded w/work. So be sure to know how quickly you'll get your pics back as well as whether they respond quickly to your emails or wait days or you have to send a follow-up to get a response.
Also, I felt like I had photographer overload one week when I was searching. Maybe take a couple days break and revisit their pics.
I am going through that right now! You are not alone! We have interviewed a few people and I think the more we interview the more I get confused. Can't help you much more than that... lol
We are meeting someone tomorrow night and I am hopeful with this one. I hope it works out well because I am sick of looking for one and I need to move on with the next vendor search!
Good Luck!
Thank you all for your comments.
@Future Mrs. Martin and @Mita - I think my problem is I'm too analytical and I'm thinking too much into this. I wish I would have an emotional reaction because then that would separate one from the pack.
@latenitesnackin - They have all been responsive, otherwise they would be eliminated (I'm type A and I don't want to be chasing vendors). We've actually taken a couple weeks off from the search. FI is ready for me to pick someone, anyone and I'm just not sure who we should hire.
@JoonBee - I hope the next photographer you meet wows you so you can just pick too!
Everyone had such great advice...and it made me realize how lucky I was to have had an amazing photog just land in my lap...but yes, I am gonna echo...
@krissycake - I'm not sure if any of them feel "me". Some of the poses in the pics just aren't us, but we've expressed we want a classic look and feel (not the jumping pictures, etc). So I'm assuming those photos wouldn't be taken at our wedding.
There was one photographer I loved from a personality standpoint, but the work wasn't what we wanted. The rest are perfectly fine, but I'm not dying to hang around any of them for an extended period of time.
FI is fine with all of the ones we haven't eliminated. He just wants us to hire someone. He thinks that if it makes me feel better we should meet with our top two or three choices again and just evaluate them based on personality (since we agree that we like the quality of pictures that each of them have). I don't really want to have a round 2 with our "top 3" but I don't really want to interview more photographers either.
I work in a visual field and am subsequently extraordinarily picky when it comes to photographers. I looked for approximately 100hours before I found ours. I had previously narrowed it down to 5-6 I didn't actively *dislike*. When I found our photographer (shout out, Erica Berger of SF!), I screamed with joy and made my FI jump out of his skin. I knew when I saw her blog.
Come to think of it, I had a much stronger reaction to finding my photographer than finding my dress... :-)
@cheerful - glad to know I'm not the only one investing more time in the photographer search than in the dress search!!
Do all of them include exactly what you what in terms of coverage, second shooter, engagements/bridals, etc?
Have you read any reviews online from other brides who have used them?
I would love to know who you are looking at :)
Ugg, I can totally relate! My fiance used to work as a photographer, and therefore he is VERY PICKY. However, all of the photographers I show him that are within his budget don't seem to pass his muster, and I don't know what to do. We really can't afford to much higher than $2k for a photographer, so that limits us to more junior people, and I think all of their photos are good, but not as good as some other portfolios I've seen.
Good luck choosing your photog!
@lampshade127 - they all will be able to provide us with what we are looking for. Some are cheaper than others, but they all will do what we want. Everyone we've met with has been a referral from a bride or someone in the wedding industry.
@elfe515 - It sounds like you're having different issues finding a photographer to hire. Good luck to you too!
A lot of people above have suggested some really helpful things. One thing that helped us in selecting a photog was to (gulp) start the search again. We had already interviewed with two, and were kind of stuck on what to do. I went back through several professional organizations' listings in reverse order, catching many who hadn't caught my eye before, and lo and behold, there were our photographers, just waiting for us!
If you don't want to search again, I second the suggestion of balancing the services provided by each photographer. Think photo booth, a second shooter, any included products/credits (albums, guestbooks, digital negatives), amount of time covered - perhaps judge what's more important for you in terms of raw services and go from there.
The last thing to consider, especially if you have access to full proof galleries from each photographer, is how well each photog does the one type of photo that's most/very important to you. Thinking about it between my fiancee and me, we decided that we really wanted a photographer would could take amazing formals that were posed but not stiff, that still had that fun element. So we went through and looked at examples in several weddings from each different photog, and that really helped solidify our decision.
Hope any of this helps - it is a big decision to make, but I'm sure you'll find the right one.
I don't think anyone else can help you with this decision. You need to consider the photographer's reputation, style, professionalism and personality along with how their services will fit into your budget. Don't wait too long to book someone running high on your list of possibilities. If you wait too long, they might get booked by someone else.
Also, don't overlook the power of referrals during your search. Someone else's good experience from start to finish is a good sign that you'll also have a good experience from start to finish. And please run background checks (i.e.: search the internet for complaints and also check their standing with the BBB) before signing with any vendor.
I think that what you are going through is completely normal! If photography is a big priority for you then it is good that you are not rushing into this and just picking a vendor for the sake of getting it over with.
Your wedding photographer should be someone that you connect with on an emotional level, because they will be with you through a very emotional day. The more comfortable you are with them, the more natural and realistic your pictures will be.
I don't know who you've looked at, and Texas is a HUGE state, so there has to be tons of people to look at out there... I'm a photographer and know a couple of girls out there who do great work.
Check out Sweet Caroline Photo: http://sweetcarolinephoto.com/
and Shy Photography: http://www.shyphotography.com/
Caroline is in Austin and Shyann is in New Braunfels, but both will travel.
I wish you the best of luck in your search! When you find the right photographer, you'll KNOW it. It's not unlike finding a husband :) It takes a while, but it is completely worth it in the end.
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I do not know what my problem is. We've interviewed a lot of photographers. They all seem nice and their work seems good. But I'm not dying to hire any of them. We've eliminated a few from our list (one on price, one on personality, and one on style). But I can't seem to pick a winner.
I guess I can try on a dress and see how it looks. I can go to our reception site and see our reception. But I can't manage to visualize how my wedding pictures will look if I hire this photographer over that photographer.
Since photography is the only think we really get to keep after the wedding (except for the spouse) and since its such a big part of the budget I want to chose wisely.
Can anyone relate? Please tell me someone else has had this problem.
Any advice?