Post # 1
Member
363 posts
Helper bee
Hi! I have been searching for photographers for months…trying to find one that I love and that fits in our budget. My Fiance doesn’t understand why it’s so important to me (he think they all look the same)…but this is one thing that there is no promise you’ll love the result! I know I love the venue, it’s grogeous…I’m sure when I get my dress I know I’ll love it…it won’t change. But, just because I love their photos of other weddings doesn’t mean I’ll love ours. Eek.
So…with that being said. I need help picking between our final two! Both are a husband and wife team. One is here in KY where we live and the other one is in IN where the wedding is. I’ve met them both and they’re great. They have each been doing photography full time for about a year and a half (this made me nervous…but from meeting others I noticed most of the ones with the style I like just recently got into it) and will each have about 30+ weddings under their belt by time our day comes along.
#1
$2380 (normally $2800) for: Unlimited coverage the day of, 300-400 edited high resolution photos(rights), engagement session.
http://www.westkenyaphotography.com/blog/?cat=3
(If you look at Coleen and Jared they were married where we are having our reception.)
#2
$2575 for: 12 hours the day of, 600-700 edited high resolution photos (rights), engagement session, and hotel room for two nights/travel.
http://stephanielyell.com/blog/
What do you guys think? I’m sure I’ll be pleased with either one…I’m just so torn right now! Thanks so much.
Post # 3
Member
1403 posts
Bumble bee
@BluegrassBridetoBee: 300-400 images sounds light. Now I am all for quality over quantity, but they have only been doing this for 1.5 yrs (hopefully that means weddings and not that they learned photography only 1.5 yrs ago), so I think you will want more images to insure full coverage.
The prices also seem high to me for a shoot and burn, esp to someone with such limited experience, no prints, no albums, nothing.
Stephanie – Checked out the blog, images really did nothing for me until I got 4 pages in, and saw the engagement shoot. I know they are trying to show a certain style, but the images to me lacked pop and contrast, seemed very washed out. Also, I gave up after 4 pages but hvae not seen one wedding on the blog. Seems like they do more portrait work then weddings.
West – Only got through the first few blog posts, but the images are nice for the most part. They seem to lack a style but show versitillity in their processing skills.
Post # 4
Member
222 posts
Helper bee
I had the same problem as you. Choosing a photographer is the most important decision among all the other vendors. I stared at all of my choice’s pics for hours trying to disect them all too see if I could predict how mine would turn out.
My vote goes to Stephanie Lyell! Her pictures just gave me a better feeling looking at them. It’s hard to describe it without knowing much about photography. I think her poses are more creative, the pictures have more depth and emotion in it for me, and I like her use of color better. Just look at her first few pictures in her “best of 2010 album- they are so vibrant. You’ll also get more pictures on your disc.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that West Keny is bad, they are also talented. What I don’t like about them is that a lot of their pictures look washed out. I know that’s a ‘style,” but I just personnally don’t care for it.
Did you ask your family or friends their opinions? They know you best so maybe they can help you decide.
Don’t forget to google both for reviews. One of my top picks turned out to have really negative comments so that helped eliminate them.
Post # 5
Member
363 posts
Helper bee
@USER876: Unfortunately anyone with a similar style that has been doing it longer is $3500+ and our budget is around $2500. THey offer albums, but those packages aren’t in our budget. There are some photographers in the area for less or that offer more, but they just look like pictures to me…don’t capture the emotion/moment, etc. They have been photographing longer, just weddings for 18 months. Stephanie went to school for photo journalism and graduated in 2009. West Kenya just started to pursue it full time at that point. Thanks for you feedback!
@beebeebuzzbuzz: Thanks! That’s good advice. Stephanie has references and got an award from The Knot based on customer reviews. I did ask my friends and family and most people are torn between the two as well…saying I’d be happy with either one.
Post # 6
Member
4136 posts
Honey bee
i don’t love either one. 300-400 images for a full day is very light. both looked a little washed out/overprocessed to me. west has more candids though, which i like a lot better.
Post # 7
Member
222 posts
Helper bee
Oh I would like to add that I went staight to the Weddings catagory drop down menu for both, just in case you want to know what pictures I was looking at. Then I looked at the first few pages.
Post # 8
Member
426 posts
Helper bee
I like the photo quality of the first photographer better, but I think the second photog. tells a better story with her photos! ahhh, I see why it’s so hard!
Post # 9
Member
1403 posts
Bumble bee
@beebeebuzzbuzz: West washed out? This is anything but washed out
http://www.westkenyaphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/HWB23.jpg
I don’t look at websites at all, anyone can compile 10 good images from 1000’s taken. I look at blogs at recent and real work, and my comments reflect that.
Anywho, take those knot awards with a grain of salt too.
Post # 10
Member
54 posts
Worker bee
@BluegrassBridetoBee – has either set gone into detail as to the editing they will do to your pictures post-shoot? Will they do the color-adjusting, or will they outsource it to a company such as Colorati or Lavalu? What is the ratio of shooting hours to editing hours?
I’m curious to see what they say…you should get approximately 4 editing hours to every hour spent shooting, in my opinion.
Post # 11
Member
363 posts
Helper bee
@Mrs. Ranger: West Kenya said they individually edit each photo…I didn’t ask the ratio though. THey don’t do a batch edit. Stephanie does a batch edit (said it makes it more cohesive looking) then individually opens/edits all portraits…but not necessarily every detail picture.
I don’t know enough to know which is better?! Many people are saying 300-400 is low, which is what I felt from all day coverage but almost everyone we interviewed was in that range, except Stephanie. One other promised 1300 but they were all batch edited with 20 that were actually opened and edited…so I decided that wasn’t the best option for us.
@beebeebuzzbuzz: I just googled reviews and I only found one on West Kenya and it wasn’t good. But, one of the complaints was it’s a husband/wife team and aren’t both professionals also said her pictures looked amateur. He was upfront with me that his wife does assist and doesn’t do this full time. Stephanie had 6 (all on the knot) and they were great. Her husband assists, and doesn’t do it full time either…so I don’t know if that’s really a negative against West Kenya.
Post # 12
Member
1403 posts
Bumble bee
@Mrs. Ranger: I don’t think a photographer is going to tell you that, plus it really doesnt mean anything. People have different workflows and depending how efficient they are it may take some twice as long. I think the bottom line is the finished product you are getting for the money (not how they got there or how long it took them).
I would also gather that not many successful photographers are outsourcing their images for editing, they would want more quality control. Also, those services you will pay around 40-50 cents per image, if you are only charging 2500 for the wedding, you are forking over 500 bucks to someone else….doesn’t seem to be good business sense.
Post # 13
Member
1317 posts
Bumble bee
Both photographers take gorgeous pictures! I’m more leaning towards the 2nd one (Stephanie Lyell) but if the 1st one does more weddings, I’d pick them instead. Honestly, I’m a sucker for who’s nicer. But if that’s equal too then I’d pick Stephanie, it’s a lot more included for the price.
Good luck!
Post # 14
Member
222 posts
Helper bee
@USER876: It’s all a matter of personal opinion. No that picture you posted is not washed out. I was talking about pictures like this one below, which I think is more of a “style” and is probably edited to look that way. It’s not a bad picture, it’s just not my taste, is all. If you look at my original comment you’ll see that I wrote that I still think they are talented. I looked at both blogs, not just the “best of.”
http://www.westkenyaphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/MPBB4.jpg
@BluegrassBridetoBee I don’t consider that a bad review either. I guess the review search didn’t help narrow it down after all! The ones that were red flags from the photographer I was considering was that he was saying rude things about guests, sitting down all day instead of taking pictures, didn’t get more than one full view of the bride in her dress. Those are major things that made me go running towards the hills!
Post # 15
Member
1403 posts
Bumble bee
@beebeebuzzbuzz: Most of Stephanie’s pics on her blog look like that one
Post # 16
Member
54 posts
Worker bee
@USER876 – I am aware of MANY pro wedding photographers in our area who outsource their pictures for batch color adjusting. They do this as an efficiency tool, not because they aren’t able to adjust the photos themselves. What is a good business practice for one photographer may not be for another. As you said, people work in different ways.
In my opinion, an honest photographer SHOULD be willing to disclose that information. BluegrassBride deserves to get her money’s worth, and I wanted to ensure that she had thought about the amount of time/detail put into editing each picture 🙂 Isn’t that our ultimate desire for her?
@BluegrassBridetoBee – Ideally, you want the photographers to do a batch edit for color adjusting/lighting, so that your photographs as a whole will have a cohesive look.
They should also individually edit each of the photographs in your final batch (the 300-400 you receive).
I think for their pricing, 300-400 is on the low end, but if you look at it from a quality vs. quantity perspecitve, if you get 350 AMAZING final photographs (vs 500 mediocre photographs), it’s worth it 🙂
I am not a photographer by any means, but I have several friends who are wedding photographers, and have given me guidance as I navigated the wedding photographer maze. I wish you the best! and regardless of which business you choose, I’m sure you’ll look amazing 🙂