Interview: How to Select the Right Photographer

Chantale Pitts: I would like to welcome Shelly Schoonerwoerd, of Shelley Lee Photography, to our show today. Welcome, Shelley.

Shelley Schoonderwoerd: Thank you for having me.

Chantale: No problem. Our topic is wedding photography. Photographs are the most precious momento of your special day, so you want to ensure that you chose a photographer wisely. Shelley, can you offer some advice, to engaged couples, on what key factors they should look for in a wedding photographer?

Shelley: There are so many things to consider, when you’re choosing your photographer. Probably the first thing would be to review a photographer’s portfolio. That can be done by visiting their website or arranging a personal meeting. Make sure you review the complete wedding, so you get a good feel for the photographer’s work.

Second, you would want to get to know the personality of your photographer. You’re really looking for someone who is going to work with you to create beautiful memories of your special day. You want someone who makes you feel comfortable. You might even asked to speak to a previous client, to see what the photographer was like on their special day.

Last, since budgeting is a huge part of wedding planning, you want to make sure the photographer offers packages that are within your budget. Check out the different packages offered, and see if they are in line with your needs and, of course, your budget.

Chantale: Excellent suggestions. How far in advance should you book your photographer?

Shelley: Wedding photographers book up very fast. Once you have your wedding date set, the photographer should be the first thing you start looking to book. The earlier you book, the more choice you’re going to have when choosing who will capture the precious moments of your wedding day.

Chantale: OK. Good advice. On the wedding day, what amount of time should a couple devote to taking pictures?

Shelley: Because each wedding is unique, I offer packages that range from three hours of photographic coverage, up to a full day of coverage. It’s important for a bride and groom to sit down with the photographer and go over the type of coverage they are looking for, as well as the time line of the wedding. This will help decide which package best suits.

Chantale: Good idea. There are many different styles of wedding photography available. Can you explain the difference between potrait style and the new photo-journalism?

Shelley: Sure. Portrait style photography is, what I would call, traditional-posed photography. This is where the photographer would carefully pose the subject, the bride and groom or the wedding party, and then capture the pose. Whereas photo-journalism is more of a candid approach. The photographer captures spontaneous moments throughout the day, and the result of that is a collection of memories that seem to tell a story of the day. I find that most couples are looking for a creative mix of the two approaches.

Chantale: So you still can mix the two together to make a nice momento for them?

Shelley: Absolutely.

Chantale: In your experience with Shelly Lee Photography, what can make a bride look extra beautiful, in pictures, on her wedding day?

Shelley: What I really like to do is try to take pictures outside, whenever possible. There’s something about the natural sunlight that gives the bride a glowing, glamorous look. Apart from that, I would probably say that, it’s really important for a bride to feel comfortable and relaxed. Just have fun with your pictures. To all you future brides out there, relax, be yourself, have fun, and your pictures will definitely show it.

Chantale: Good idea. What about group photos on a wedding day? They can be hard to organize. When and how do you suggest a larger group photos are done?

Shelley: Traditionally, couples don’t see each other until the ceremony. So I take the large group pictures immediately following the service. Once the group photos are complete, the wedding party can go start celebrating, which is what a lot of them are wanting to do. Then I’ll steal the bride and groom away for some private time, to take their pictures. That seems to work well for everyone involved.

Chantale: What about the wedding albums? Is there a special type of paper that the photographs should be printed on? Should they be placed in a particular type of album, so they last throughout the years?

Shelley: This is really important. The photos, themselves, should be printed on photographic paper, with archival ink. There are many types of paper out there. Most photographers use a professional lab to do their printing, so that shouldn’t be a concern. As for wedding albums, they have come a long way. Traditional wedding albums should contain acid-free paper, this will assist in preserving the pictures for year to come.

The latest trend is the photo book. This is a bound, hardcover book, that literally tells the story of your special day. These books can include hundreds of your favorite photos and can be customized to include poems, dates, vows, basically you name it. They are stunning, and they make a precious keepsake.

Chantale: They sound really nice. OK, million dollar question. When should a couple expect to pay the photographer? Before or after the wedding?

Shelley: At Shelly Lee Photography, this is definitely something that can be negotiated at the time of booking. However, most photographers require a deposit to reserve the wedding date. The deposit can range from a few hundred dollars, to a percentage of the package price, depending on the photographer. At the time of booking, usually a contract will be signed. The contract will confirm the date of the wedding, the package chosen, the terms of the agreement, and when the balance is due, which is usually on the day of the wedding.

Chantale: Well, thank you, Shelley. I think you’ve given everyone good guidelines that they can follow, when trying to select a photographer, and what to expect of the photographs on their special day. Best of luck in your wedding venues this year, with Shelly Lee Photography.

Shelley: Thank you so much.

Chantale: Thank you for joining us. Bye bye now.

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Source: This interview was conducted by MyDreamWedding.ca, The host for this interview about “Selecting the Wedding Photographer” was Chantale Pitts. Their guest was Shelley Schoonderwoerd of Shelley Lee Photography. A special thanks goes out to My Style Wedding 3D wedding planning software for sponsoring this wonderful event.

MyDreamWedding.ca is Canada’s premier wedding blog about wedding decoration ideas.

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Cost Saving Tips – Photography

There is always a way to save money when it comes to planning your wedding. With photography, your costs are a direct result of your choices at each step of the wedding planning process. Let’s look at all the different ways you can save some money!

Let’s start with the engagement portrait. Instead of paying $75 or more for a professional engagement photograph, you can take a picture yourself with a good camera. Look at the engagement notices in your newspaper, and take your picture with a similar background and similar pose.

If you want some great quality wedding pictures, but don’t really want hundreds of them, you might consider just hiring a professional photographer for pictures at the church. Along with capturing the ceremony, you can have all the bridal party shots, pictures with the parents, and so forth, done at the church directly following the ceremony. This will save a lot of money because the ceremony is usually during the day, and you are only hiring their services for a few hours, as opposed to all day. You can assign 3 or 4 guests to be your ‘reception photographers’ and give them a list of shots you want them to be sure to get. In addition, you might decide on disposable cameras at each table for your guests to take pictures of each other during the evening. Photographers have afternoon packages that can save you 10% or more on your photographs.

The Bride and Groom’s Album is the main reason for having photographs taken at your wedding. You have many choices here. Although you can purchase an excellent quality album that will last a lifetime, you can also choose lesser costing albums that will also last many years. Moderation is a good thing, and a medium quality album is a great choice. If having a leather, engraved photo album is not important to you, buy your own photo album somewhere else.

Many photographers create proofs, which are 5″ x 5″ photographs that you will use to choose your final prints. You can arrange to purchase these proofs instead of having 5″ x 7″ prints made of the same photographs. These proofs are great to make your own little albums for your parents, your wedding party, and any other special people who contributed to your wedding day. By not purchasing parents’ albums or gift folios for your wedding party, you will save hundreds of dollar over the cost of the proofs that you will purchase. You need to decide if engraved parents’ albums with 5″ x 7″ prints are important for you to do, or whether a small album purchased locally filled with the proofs will suffice.

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Photography Subjects

When you go to speak with your photographer, you will want to decide what photos you want them to take:  engagement photo, before wedding photos, ceremony, reception, and formal and group portraits.

Engagement photos are taken to send to your local newspapers when you publish a newspaper announcement.  Traditionally, the mother of the bride makes the engagement announcement in the newspaper.  If you want to save some money, take a look at the engagement photos in your local newspaper, and take your own picture paying attention to the pose and the background so your photo is similar.

When it comes to pictures taken on the wedding day before the ceremony, you have many choices.  The SmartBride Checklist will list the posed shots that are commonly taken.  You don’t need them all, but it depends what is important to you.  Some common pictures include a picture of the bride with her mother putting on the veil, or the bride with her Maid of Honour putting on the garter, or the groom with his mother putting on his boutonniere, or a picture of the groom shaking hands with his best man while looking at his watch.

Then comes the ceremony photographs.  Some churches allow photos during the ceremony, and some churches do not.  Sometimes, key elements of the ceremony are re-enacted after the ceremony and photos taken—like the bride and groom saying their vows, exchanging rings, or the kissing of the bride.  Sometimes, after the ceremony, group photos are taken in the church of the couple with the bridal party.

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Your Digital Photography Options

Digital photography has changed the landscape of wedding photography. Some photographers have fully embraced the digital age with many great options available to you. Here we will cover some of the options that are out there, but not all of them are available everywhere because this is still a new part of the wedding industry. If you are interested in something specific, you will have to ask to see if the photographers you are considering are doing what you are interested in.

So how does the digital photo album work? After the wedding, the photographer sends his film to a lab. The lab turns each shot into a digital image, and sends it to your photographer. This is where things deviate:

* Your photographer might upload the proofs to a specific website for you and your family to view and order your prints.
* Your photographer might use software to create a wedding album with all your proofs. For a digital album you will be shown sample layouts, enlargements, crops, mattes, and so forth that you can choose from. The finished product has the look of a magazine. Text and digital images can also be added to the album.
* Your photographer might create a slideshow of your photos for you to view on a big screen or computer monitor. From that you make your choices for a physical or digital album.

Whatever choices you are given, digital photo albums are here to stay.

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