Many times we have written and shared tips on how to choose the wedding photographer. Even though it can be quite helpful and useful, sometimes you need to focus on things you should avoid when choosing someone for your wedding photography and video. So, now we will focus on how NOT to choose your wedding photographer and what mistakes couples usually make.
- Do not rely on wedding vendor referrals! This mistake is maybe the worst one, because wedding professionals trade referrals with one another without the real knowledge of their work. Sometimes, however, it is the real and honest referral based upon their previous collaboration. In general, it is not recommended to trust a wedding photographer when suggesting the wedding music to you and vice versa. Maybe they like working together, but ask your vendors have they ever seen the wedding album done by that photographer. Is he/she really good at wedding video or bridal photography? Did they see the reaction of the married couple? Probably not.
- Do not judge a wedding photographer based just on a “greatest hits” wedding photo album portfolio. Nothing will mislead regarding a wedding photographer’s talent more than looking at some sample wedding photo album that is in fact a compilation of their best shots at hundreds of different weddings. Choose one of the photos, ask him/her to show you the photo album done on that wedding, an entire album from start to finish. This will give you the better picture of the photographer’s work and talent. Otherwise, you can be misled, because anybody with some decent equipment can get one or two great shots per wedding.
- Do not choose your uncle John because he has a decent camera! Everybody has a talented amateur photographer for a family member or a friend. And, yes, nowadays digital cameras are available to practically everyone. The fact that your close friend or a relative is very good with new camera doesn’t mean that he/she will be able to handle your wedding. Will he/she know how to do the correct backup? Even if you get really nice images, it is recommended to have a portable hard drive at the wedding and to upload and check images on the spot. After the wedding is over, the images have to uploaded on the computer and backed up on external hard drives. Does your uncle John knows he has to do all that?