In a lot of the private photography groups I’m in, I am constantly hearing horror stories of wedding photography gone wrong.
The story is always the same: bride wanted to save money so the couple went with a cheaper photog that had great work in their portfolio. In the end, photos received are horrible or worse yet, are never delivered.
Here is my advice based on weddings, events, and 20 years in photography, video and digital imagery:
1) If a photog is charging less for their work than what the industry standard is, that is a 🚩, not a deal.
2) If a photographer shows you lots of beautiful work, but cannot provide to you references or proof of experience—past companies worked for, trained under or being part of a credible association like Professional Photographers of America or Getty—chances are that the images being shown to you are stolen from online and belong to someone else. 🚩 Run for the hills.
✅ When someone is accredited through an association, they’ve had to not only pass technical tests but a wide variety of portfolio work has been assessed by a board of professionals to be of high quality consistently.
3) If a photographer doesn’t ask you detailed questions about the environment, lighting and size of a wedding, they are not experienced and will most likely be under prepared. You will be disappointed with the results. 🚩
⚠️ However you need to be able to accurately provide environmental and timing information to your photog for your wedding photos to be the most successful they can be.
4) If your photographer is not insured or uses a boiler plate contract, chances are the photographer is inexperienced and you will have little legal recourse should something go wrong on your special day.🚩
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