While you start researching photographers, you’ll get a good feeling what type of photography style you prefer, as that will help determine which kind of photographer you’ll want shooting your wedding. You will dissect what feels most authentic to you and your partner. Maybe more the formal-posed portraits or a classic photography style or you seem to be more drawn to photojournalistic story telling.
Remember that you don’t necessarily need to narrow in on one style in particular, since many wedding photographers can do a blend of portraiture and documentary-style shots, a mix of black-and-white and color images and so on.
This is not a decision that can be made on a website alone, you must meet your potential photographer in person. If you like what you see on their site, call to see if they’re available for your wedding date. Set up in-person meetings with two to four potential photographers who are available on your wedding date to look at more of their work and assess whether your personalities are on the same level. Be prepared to talk about your venue, wedding style and what you envision for your photos.
You should ask your photographer, how many images you should expect. Will the proofs you see be the retouched versions, or does that happen after you select the photos you want? It usually takes at least a month to get all those photo proofs back from your photographer. Why? Your photographer is shooting enormous raw files far bigger than your typical JPG. Shooting raw files gives your photographer greater ability to correct the photo, but it also takes a longer time to upload, process and edit all those files. Usually, photographers spend an additional 40 hours editing images from a single wedding, so it can take up to six to eight weeks, to get proofs back.
Also, ask the potential photographer about your rights. The photographer owns the rights to all photos taken at the wedding, even the ones of you. In other words, the photographer can use them promotionally (on their website or blog, submit them for publication and even place them in ads). That also means you can’t just post the digital proofs they send you—most photographers have a policy that you can only share watermarked images or images with their credit on them. Also, unless you negotiate otherwise, if you want to print the images yourselves or order an album from another source, you’ll have to buy the rights to the images.
In all, the whole process to find the right photographer for your wishes and needs might take a couple of weeks. You might want to start looking at least 6 to 8 month in advance. Spots are always limited, even though there are many wedding photographer out there, so are people in love who want to tie the knot.
Wishing you all the best and good luck to find the best match for you and your special day!