Monthly Archives: May 2011

Most brides are not experts at hiring vendors.  Hopefully this is the one and only time you will do this!   Because of this, I think it is very easy for a bride to be misled and one of the most common ways I see that a photographer can mislead a bride is through their online portfolio.  How can you be misled by an online portfolio, those are examples of their work, correct??

The answer is most commonly, “Yes, those are their images”, but occasionally there is a REALLY unethical person who goes online and takes images from true professional photographers and creates an online portfolio that is not theirs.  This is VERY uncommon and is a huge example of fraud.  To be sure this is not the case, ask to see extensive printed samples of their work which will be MUCH more difficult for them to “borrow”.

Most photography websites are displaying that photographers work, but they can still be incredibly misleading.  The top seven things you should be aware of when reviewing a prospective photographer’s online portfolio:

1. Are there images of LOTS of different couples and different weddings?

If you see that an online portfolio features the same couple over and over, or maybe only shows two or three couples, this is generally a hint that the photographer has very limited experience.  If they have only photographed three weddings, this may be all they have to show.  Definitely ask questions about how many weddings they have photographed and ask to see samples from weddings not featured on the website.

2. Is the portfolio mostly detail shots?

Details are pretty easy to photograph.  You don’t have to pose them, you can spend hours messing with them and the mistakes are generally not as obvious to spot.  Details are an important PART of the wedding, but they are just that– a part.  The images that will go on your walls and be the main part of your album are of people– you and your husband, the bridesmaids, etc.  Be sure to ask for lots of portrait work to be sure the photographer can balance both parts of a wedding.

3. How many images are turned black and white or are heavily photoshopped?

Often, less experienced photographers feel they can rely on Photoshop to correct mistakes in the photography, but the bottom line is that if the image isn’t created skillfully, no amount of processing will correct it.  A joke among photographers is that if you failed to create a good image, just turn it black and white.  Black and white can hide a lot of problems in the image and while many brides love black and white photography, you should really consider what percentage of your wedding images you would like presented that way.  Is 30%, 50%, etc. too much black and white for you?  Ask photographers how they handle black and white, as many choose to present nearly everything in color, as it can always be converted to black and white later.  Most photographers who deliver an image in black and white will not deliver that image in color, so just be sure what each photographer’s policy is on black and whites.

4. Are you seeing group photos or couple portraits where they are very obviously looking at another camera?

Almost every wedding we photograph has an “aspiring photographer” who is a guest.  They attempt to photograph the wedding over the photographer’s shoulder and create an online gallery of those images.  This can be VERY misleading as they did not artistically direct those images and left as a sole photographer cannot recreate that quality.  As a professional, I do have images of the bride and groom looking elsewhere, but if you see a consistent pattern in a photographers’ portfolio where groups are looking off camera, its a good idea to ask if they were the hired photographer for that event.

5. Can you view a full wedding of proofs?

To truly get an idea of how YOUR wedding images will look from a photographer, ask to view multiple full weddings.  You need to see how they handle the entire day.  Often a photographer is good in only one setting and when you see a full wedding you can see that they struggle in strong sunlight, that they neglect detail shots or that the reception images are dark.  This is probably the best way to tell if you will be happy with a photographer– if you are impressed with an entire set of proofs that they have created.

6. Is there a variety of lighting conditions, or is everything outside in the sun?

Some photographers have a specialty– they like bright sunlight, gentle outdoor shadows or dramatic flash images.  Specializing and having a specific skill set is a GREAT thing!  The downside is that sometimes the specialty is ALL the photographer does well.  This can work well for portraits, but when you photograph a wedding you MUST have a broad set of skills to photograph a dark church, bright portraits outside, a nighttime reception and some dramatic portraits at the end of the night.  Be sure to talk to a photographer about what they feel their specialty is and also ask to see lighting conditions similar to what your wedding will be, even going as far as asking to view images from your actual wedding locations.

7.  Are any of the images from professional workshops?

This is the trickiest thing to spot as a bride.  Photographers often go to professional workshops to learn from top photographers.  At these seminars, the instructor will pose and light a professional model, then each student has the opportunity to take an image of it on their camera.  When these images show up on online portfolios, the photographer is representing it as something that they created, but the harsh reality is that they had little to no control over the situation and under normal wedding stress with a non-model subject they could never create anything close to it.  You should not be afraid to ask if any of their images were created as part of a workshop they attended.

I hope this post is helpful to brides who are sorting through the sea of photographers.  It is written to help you be sure you hire someone you are happy with.  It doesn’t have to be us (but we would love to have you!), but please ask your photographer lots of questions and be sure you hire the person who will give you amazing images you and your family will cherish forever.

As always, if you have any questions about this article, or anything else, please email me– Linda@LongsPhotography.com

So, you have spent months clipping images from magazines, meeting with every cake baker in town and staring at the color swatches that comprise your wedding theme.  You have the entire day completely envisioned… but outside of your brain who knows your vision?  Who will execute your carefully thought out theme?  Continue reading »