1. Price
Budget is a big factor when choosing a wedding photographer and with prices ranging from £200 to £10000+ there are many different styles and quality of photographers out there. On average in the UK, a full day of photography should cost you between £1000-£1800 for a good qualified photographer with plenty of experience. You will find ads on groupon or Facebook for photographers who will do a full day for £200, very careful consideration should be given to these. A good photographer will use state of the art equipment, our current equipment (cameras, lenses, lighting and computer equipment) is valued at £21,000 using the very best allows the delivery of amazing images without compromise. A day of photography if edited correctly and to a high standard will taken 3-4 days working 12 hours a day, £200 for a weeks work for your photography/editing should be questioned. So whilst you can be enticed to sign up with a low cost photographer you have to ask at what cost as in most cases the equipment will not be current or quality, the photographer may be inexperienced or they may be rushing your edits delivery sub par images. More than likely it’s a combination in some way of all 3, you only get married once these memories will stay with you for a lifetime and your wedding photographs are an amazing way to relive those memories.
2. Experience
Being a wedding photographer can be a high pressure role, you need to understand the mechanics of each wedding, have a great working relationship with the venue, have the timings down to a tee, be able to control the wedding party without being overbearing but whilst ensuring you get the images the bride and groom want, you need to be able to blend into the background so the wedding day can take place with out everyone being aware they’re being photographed and you need to be constantly aware of what’s happening so your ready and in the right place at the right time to capture that magical moment that makes the album. As a wedding photographer you get one shot, there are no second chances. Getting this right every time takes experience and training and isn’t for every photographer. Check your photographers experience, ask to see a full recent album ask questions about how they manage the day, how they organise everyone, make sure they have the experience you need to ensure an amazing wedding album.
3. Qualifications
You can order an ok camera of Amazon for £400-500 with a kit lens, watch a couple of you tube videos and call your self a photographer but there is a bit more to it than that. It’s worth checking how your photographer trained, who trained them and what the training included. All our photographers at LUX Wedding Photography have advanced diplomas in photography and editing and were trained by professional photographers gaining experience as a second/support photographer for a minimum of 2 ye ars before being allowed to take the role as primary and even then under supervision for a further 12 months. We take our training seriously and constantly keep up to date with new equipment, software, styles and techniques. It’s important to check your not hiring an enthusiastic amateur and you are in fact hiring a professional who will deliver what you want for your wedding photographs.
4. Location
Location, location, location. The venue will be the backdrop for your wedding images, when booking give some thought to how this will look both for indoor and outdoor photos. When discussing room layouts with your wedding coordinator it’s worth bearing in mind your photographer will need to move around the room so if the table are close together it can hinder some images, where are you cutting the cake is it up against a wall and can it be photographed? Probably the most important consideration is for the ceremony if your photographer is at the front with you capturing the moment you get married can they photograph you with out being in the way or without being of to either side to avoid weird angled shots of the 2 of you.
5. How many photographers do you need
For full day weddings we shot with 2 photographers, for weddings with 300-400+ guests we will shoot with 3, this allows for multiple angles, avoids missed opportunities/photos, avoids your photographer running around and taking focus away from the 2 of you and delivers a larger wedding album.
6. How long do you need them
Your wedding photos will be with you forever and what we aim to deliver is a full story of your wedding day so it’s worth thinking about when you want the store to start and end. Some extra things in addition to the ceremony that make great photos, make an album extra special and tell a great story are
Hair and make up photos
Dress reveal to the bridesmaids and farther of the bride
Pre wedding drinks with the bridal party
Arrival at the venue
Friends and family photos
A big group photo of everyone attending
A bride and groom photo shoot
Speeches
First dance
Cake cutting
Party shots as the night does on
You may be tempted to book just a ceremony photo shoot and whilst these make for some great memories if you want to capture the full day it may be worth considering hiring a photographer for the full day from prep to party.
7. What 10 photos must you have
From experience the very best photos come from couples who have some poses in mind and are happy to work with the photographer until the images are right give some thought have a look online and get some ideas of what you want. If there are any must have photos of family members and loved ones it’s a good idea to get these detailed with your photographer before your wedding.
8. Why type of photographs do you want
Choose your photography based on a style you like bit then it’s also a good idea to talk through how you want you album to feel, do you want it to be majestic and elegant or do you want it to portray the love and laughter of the day and do you want the photographer to capture the emotion of the day. Having this discussion before your wedding will guide your photographer towards what images they take and what make the final cut for your album.
9. How do you want your photos delivered
You have 4 types of delivery. Online where you download them yourselves, USB stick, printed photos or an album. Usually you’ll get a combination of these, as standard at LUX we initially deliver the images online so they can be viewed and posted to social media or shared with family and friends, usually within a week of the wedding. Then all images are delivered on a USB drive in a beautiful presentation box with a selection of 6x4 prints. It really does make the memories extra special when a selection of the images are portrayed in a luxury wedding album and it’s something that we highly recommend.
10. What redundancies does your photographer have in place to protect you and your images.
We plan for every eventuality, does your photographer? It’s worth asking this question. Prior to your wedding we will drive to all locations to understand the routes and timings, we will meet where necessary with your venues and discuss the plans so nothing is missed. On the day we work with multiple back ups, we only use cameras with double memory ports so images are captured twice that way if a memory card fails we still have your photos, we have multiple cameras each with multiple lenses so in the unlikely event of an equipment failure we can still continue without even pausing. At LUX Wedding Photography we have 3 photographer and only ever book 2 out for weddings (unless 3 are required at the same wedding) so in the event of illness the wedding photography can still take place. After the wedding all images are backed up to 2 separate hard drives and stored in a fire safe whilst editing takes place and then once delivered all images are store for a minimum of 10 years on a physical hard drive and on a cloud drive so should you loose your photographs we’ve got you covered. We are also fully insured up to £2m
For more info about wedding photography visit us at www.luxweddingphotography.co.uk and for more information about our studio work visit us at www.luxphotostudio.co.uk
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