Don’t book a wedding photographer based on a few pictures.
Take a look at these wedding pictures below, do you like them?
Are they the sort of thing you’re after in the search for your perfect wedding photographer?
Do they solidify my position in your mind as ‘the one’ wedding photographer who’s just perfect for you?
They do? Oh, that’s absolutely wonderful - send me your money…WAIT, don’t.
You’re not stupid enough to book a photographer based on seeing a few pictures....are you???
Well, it seems some people are, ok admittedly not a couple of pictures, but certainly a handful of carefully selected wedding pictures chosen to impress the pants off you on a website, some cool words written by a website designer, perfectly targeted at YOU - because that’s all they are, words, bio’s, blog posts all made to get your business.
I’m rather active in wedding and wedding photographer groups, and I’ve seen an alarming increase in the number of unhappy couples and photographers in these groups (brides complaining they haven’t got what they expected quality-wise, and photographers saying wtf, why don’t they like all my pictures in exasperated tones).
You know what the problem is? The cause of this misery? It’s wedding photographers only showing their very best pictures, editing the shit out of them so they look (in their eyes) amazing, then only posting these pictures (with the other 98% of a wedding gallery only getting the basics).
It’s like having 5 kids and only giving 1 love, support, proper care etc - the other 4 are most likely going to end up rather wonky. That’s what the majority of wedding photographers do to their pictures, they only post the very best ones - then a couple gets their gallery and goes…”Hang on a min, we though ALL our pictures were going to be as good as the ones on your website, why aren’t they?”
…and sadly these days, that’s a huge part of the problem, you can dress it up how you like but it’s basically false advertising - leading a couple to believe they are going to get hundreds of magazine worthy wedding pictures, when the reality is only around 10% of wedding photographers can actually photograph and deliver a full wedding gallery that is consistent (based on what they choose to show the world), and that’s kind of sad really.
Don’t be a dummy
I'm not calling you a dummy, nor insinuating you will ever be one, but as the saying goes "In the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man is King" - if you don't know, you don't know and it is very easy to get carried away with the WOW pictures and the hip cool website and words, and that miraculously the photographer you’re looking at happens to like animals, being green, veganism, pizza, coffee, chocolate brownies, long romantic walks and all that other stuff you like (it’s called targeted marketing and it’s no coincidence you’ve arrived at their website)…….just do yourself a favour, dig a bit deeper.
Personally, I think there should be a wide selection of wedding pictures on display, a balanced presentation to give a real honest view of what to expect from your full gallery. If there isn't a variety of wedding pictures in sight, ask to see some full galleries so you can set your expectations properly as to how capable your potential wedding photographer is.
Don't be pulled in by blog posts with 50 pictures, look past the shiny stuff, look at the normal stuff - often they're the pictures that will really make your wedding gallery what it is, the pictures that hold the real memories for you, the wedding pictures you’ll look back on in years to come and really value.
So, I’m here to say, don’t be fooled by any of the funny shit I say on Instagram, the pictures I display on Facebook or my perceived popularity - you’re looking for a wedding photographer, not a comedian, and trust me you need whichever wedding photographer you choose to be able to give you a gallery full of damn good pictures, not just 5 - after all, what kind of berk pays a few thousand £ for 5 pictures, not you hopefully!
