It is bewildering and wearisome choosing the right photographer. While all professional wedding photographers take pictures, that's about all they have in common. Asking a wedding photographer on the telephone how much their packages are is like calling a car dealership and asking how much their cars are. In the end, if you select a car based on its pricing, and you don't like it (or even see it), or it falls to pieces when you drive it out of the lot, you are stuck with a useless piece of metal that you might have to pay on for years to come! You don't want to continue to pay emotionally for selecting the wrong photographer for your wedding coverage.
Pricing structure for wedding packages, a-la-carte options, and quality are so different among wedding photographers that it is impossible to directly compare them. You may find some sell "fast food value meals at a drive-up window" and some sell from a full menu where you can sit down, enjoy the atmosphere, communicate and get to know the staff, and have an option of eating filet mignon.
Since planning a wedding is a one-time event in a couple's life, knowing how to choose a quality photographer can be overwhelming. Here is some information to help couples select the right photographer for them.
1. Do not shop for price over the telephone or through email. Asking for price before viewing the work fails to recognize the professional's time, skill, education, experience, and personality. Decide if you like the qualifications and style of the photographer first and then discuss price and options. Most photographers will strive to work with you if you have a particular budget in mind. Here's something to think about: If you are applying for a job--will your salary be based on your experience and education?
2. Since most photographers do want to try to work with you and your budget, it is unfair to base your decision on your photographer if he/she has a price list on their website. Most experienced, high-quality professional photographers do not list pricing on their website, because they want the flexibilty of working with you and your budget. Since most people in general will assume the pricing listed on a website is set in concrete, they will not call to ask if there is some flexiblity in the packages listed.
3. A photographer's preparation time before your wedding is important to you. The more high quality or technologically advanced his/her equipment is, the more time it takes to plan, test, and prepare. All professional wedding photographers should spend careful time testing, cleaning, and recharging their equipment before your wedding. Is this important to you? Do you want your photographer to find out an equipment problem while he/she is photographing your wedding?
4. Do you want a photographer to have an assistant or an additional shooter? It's difficult for one photographer to be everywhere at once. If an assistant or an additional shooter is included in the wedding package, this means there are two salaries involved and double the time spent on your wedding day coverage and post-wedding day work.
5. Some wedding photographers spend hours with pre-ceremony preparation and consultation; post-editing; uploading images to a professional lab; assembling proof albums; uploading images to an on-line website where family and friends can view your photos; post-consultation with the couple; designing, ordering, and assembling formal and family albums. Others just show up at your wedding, shoot, and hand you a CD of unedited images or a handful of photos on low-quality photo paper.
6. The owners of most photography studios spend time with you personally, and others pass you off to a freelance photographer, who is learning the job or has no commitment to the studio other than a paycheck. How does this make you feel?
7. A highly qualified wedding photographer will be a member of a professional organization with other experienced or equally qualified members, or be in association with other wedding photographers with equal experience in case something happens to your wedding photographer on your wedding day. Some of the professional organizations give the wedding photographer the benefit of purchasing insurance to protect you on your wedding day in case of equipment failure. Both the memberships and insurance do not come without a price tag for the professional wedding photographer, but both protect you and give you more of an assurance of your images being recorded and perserved.
8. All of the items listed above require countless hours and extra effort by a high-quality wedding photographer. To work on a total wedding properly--pre-wedding, day-of, and post-wedding--requires an average of 40 hours or more devoted to each wedding couple, families, and friends. This is an average work week for most people. This is not just the six or so hours you and your guests see the photographer at your wedding.
9. All the above information gives you some idea as to the differences in amateur and professional wedding photographers, but what about talent, education, skill, and the experience level of the wedding photographer? The time and labor of an expert professional wedding photographer is more important to you on a per-hour basis than a beginner who picked up a digital camera, saw the image on the back, and said, "I can shoot a wedding!" These beginners are looking to build a portfolio and will even offer to do your wedding for free or at an extremely low price. This is a definite sign of an inexperienced photographer and one that is not have confidence in his or her skills. They may be weekend hobbyists who have no previous experience in photography. The weekend hobbyist, who works a full-time job elsewhere, does not, in most cases, have the time to devote to a couple that a full-time professional wedding photographer has. He or she may run the risk of having to work on your wedding day at his or her full-time job because of a special requests of the boss, too.
10. Another aspect to consider is the equipment used at your wedding. Simple techniques used on your wedding day require inexpensive equipment. More elaborate techniques and sharper photos require highly advanced and costly equipment. A photographer who uses a camera body that costs $3,000-$10,000 and lenses that average $1000 or more each will likely charge more than a photographer who uses a $300 camera body and the lenses that came in the kit. It is nothing for one highly qualified professional wedding photographer to carry equipment on him or her that averages $10,000. But, do you want two photographers at your wedding? Do you want your wedding photographer to have backup equipment for all the equipment he/she is using on your wedding day?
11. Is it important to you to have a wedding photographer who has a background and/or education in photography, such as a corporate, magazine, or newspaper photographer? Or are you satisfied with a photographer who says, "I've always loved taking snapshots of family and friends since I was a little boy or girl," or "I took a class in photography in high school or college?"
12. Lastly, how much will your photos mean to you in the future? Does it matter to you that the memories of family and friends be recorded in such a way that you can relive them even after these family and friends pass away? Do you want them to show your children and grandchildren? It is sad to say, but some couples consider the alcohol costs at the wedding more important than the photography that will be with them for a lifetime.
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After shooting over 600 weddings, it still amazes us how each wedding is uniquely different from any of the others we have photographed. We have learned, too, that a wedding photographer has to be highly flexible and go with the "flow." Wedding photography isn't just about shooting photos, it is, also, about working with a wide-range of personalities. Many times the photographer is called upon to "calm the waters" during stressful situations and give some direction when questions arise. After all, for a lot of us, this will be our first and only march down the aisle. When searching for a photographer, it is not only important to look for quality in the photography, but to look for experience. 
It was a beautiful day yesterday
ment portrait. We went from
Our son the pitcher!
At the end of our day.
Eric at work.
With the forecast of 90 degrees tomorrow, there will be a whole lot more boats on the water than this!
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