Photography help needed!

shoe_gal_84

HELP!
I've become a real nightmare when it's come to photographers for the day.
I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anyone, so I've literally looked through all photographers in Norfolk and surrounding areas, must've been about 30.
Anyway, I put them all on a spreadsheet with prices and other info and I'm now fast becoming my own worst nightmare.
I can only seem to narrow it down to 14 (if you can call that narrowing it down). Of the ones I have left, I like all of their pictures, how do i choose?
How many is it normal to meet up with?
Any help hugely appreciated!

Emma1988

hey, The key reasons we picked our photographer were...

- he is prepared to be there from when im getting ready til midnight if we wanted all for the same price
- he doesnt just take 50 photos, he takes about 450-500 and then will let us pick and choose...
- he was recommended by a friend
- he is 250!!! and only charges cost for a huge photobook which is gunna be about £60, when i say huge, i mean huge!

Okay, he isn't as good as the ones i have seen that charge 2,000 for 50 photos but he does nice relaxed photos which is what we wanted, plus we have a relative who is also a semi professional who will be taking loads of piccies too!

You need a photographer that does what you want, like he said he just listens to the bride on the day haha!!! :j

Brucie_Bonus_4

I cant be of much help as to how many you should meet up with but i was like you there were loads that i loved!

In the end i chose our photographer because he was recommeneded and i love his pics, he knows the venue, he negotiated on the price (my kind of guy!) and i just had a good feeling about him.

Try contacting the 14 you like and see if they are available (some seem to get booked up way in advance) and what their communication is like - some took ages to reply to me but the guy we chose replies within 15 min. That might help you get a smaller shortlist

Brucie

RainbowDrops

Brucie_Bonus wrote: »

Try contacting the 14 you like and see if they are available (some seem to get booked up way in advance) and what their communication is like - some took ages to reply to me but the guy we chose replies within 15 min. That might help you get a smaller shortlist

This^^

The contact can be casual, simply enquiring about their availiability, telling them you'll get back to them, so you don't feel committed.

bella-h

i have been struggling with photographers too - i seem to spend all my time trawling the internet looking at their websites!! i would agree with above - email them and see what their contact is like. some of mine have not been very communicative, and that makes me worry about what they will be like. others are really good, asking lots of questions and 'selling' themselves. I have met with one so far, but am hoping to meet a few others.

i would meet them all if you want, and can! its your day and will be spending a bit of money on it so you want to make sure you have someone you can feel comfortable with. it may be that you find the right one on the 3rd or 4th meeting.

clearing_out_my_pockets

I agree that you should contact them and see what they're like to talk to and how quickly they respond. You don't necessarily need to physically meet all 14. One of the photographers we contacted to ask if our date was free, he replied two days later and (no word of a lie) said "Yes. My bank account details are xxxxxxx. I'll contact you to confirm receipt of deposit." :eek:

The firm we've gone with sent me a brochure with their most recent weddings within a few hours. They called me the next day to ask if I liked the photos and to see if I wanted to come and meet them. They held the date with no deposit and would have held it for a further 48 hours after our appointment. They let us select photo albums at random from their shelves rather than picking the ones they wanted to show us. No hard sell, they actually encouraged us to go away and think about it :T

sandraann

You need to think more about the style of photography you like. It's very unlikely that 14 photographers have the same sort of style and if they have it may be a good reason to look elsewhere.Do you want posed traditional photos or more reportage style and do you want an album.Meeting 14 photographers is a soul destroying process but you should remember that the good ones will be booked very quickly.

Impet_Limpet

definately drop them an email. We then chopped most of them from our list for various reasons including.

The receipiants mailbox was full or it bounced back for another reason.
They weren't available on our date
They failed to reply within a week and didn't have anyone else get in touch.
Their response was just a bit "off"
When we put the components together that we wanted they were way out of our budget.

Then you may have a more manageable number to meet.

Bluespirit

I would agree with the others - contact them, and if possible meet a few. Our photographer was happy to come and visit us one evening, and stayed for about an hour taking us through his photos and having a good chat. We picked him because we liked the package he offered (he's there from me getting ready right through to the first dance, takes as many photos as he can for us to pick from, etc.) and we got on really well with him. I think its important to actually like your photographer as a person, and like they way that they will work as they will be there for a lot of the day, and you want the photos to go stress free, not take up too much of your time, etc.

Our photographer also responded really well to some difficult questioning - I asked how he could recreate pictures I loved from magazines, what he would do if he was ill on the day, whether we could give him list of must have pics, and he answered them all quickly and with good answers.

Good luck x