It is a difficult exercise because unlike a caterer whose dishes you can taste, an outfit that you can try, or even a place that you can visit, there you will have to trust a person based on his photos and his “speech”. Start by selecting the internet photographers near you or your wedding location. They all have at least a website, an Instagram account, and a Facebook page. Make the first sort by taking care, as you navigate, to make screenshots of the photos you see and you like and those on the contrary that you do not like at all. This will be important during the briefing.
wIDEN YOUR FIELD OF INVESTIGATION
Do not hesitate to widen your field of investigation, some photographers do not hesitate to travel a few hundred kilometers to work. Choose those who have news magazine-style wedding coverage rather than class photo processing. The result will be nicer.
Short List Providers
You must arrive at a “short-list” of 5 to 6 providers, plus one or two in reserve. Contact each of them by email, asking them if they are available on the date of your wedding and if so, willing to accompany you on the occasion of your Big Day, specifying the place where the ceremony will take place. No need to continue if the photographer is already “booked” or if it is outside his “radius of action”. For those who have answered positively, ask them if they are ready for a first exchange by Skype, just to get to know each other and discuss some essential points to save time.
Beforehand, you will have taken care to establish an evaluation grid comprising criteria such as “telephone feeling”, availability before or after the ceremony, the budgetary order of magnitude of the service, the deadline for the provision of photos, the existence of an employment contract, etc. and you will have thought with the help of the second part of the article about the cover of the “event” that you want. It is important to get an idea of budget.
Holding The Rope
Once this initial filtering has been carried out, you must end up with two photographers “holding the rope”. At this point a clarification write the photographer but see no sexism, it means that there are of course just as many super professional women in terms of wedding photos. Once the 2 candidates have been shortlisted, you have to go quickly because the good (good) photographers work a lot and are booked well in advance.
Now is the time to meet the one you placed number one in your selection grid. Make an appointment and meet him to get to know each other and get into the details.
The First Piece Of Advice: bring a friend or a friend who, not being a stakeholder in the deal will be able to observe your discussions and give you, after the meeting, their feelings about the person with hindsight and objectivity.
Second Tip: to make it clear to the pre-sectioned photographer what you expect as a type of photo, come with those that you have put aside during your research and that you like. You can complete this selection by going to photo sites where you can view and download additional certainly redacted images.