While choosing a planner, venue, fashion, or décor are huge decisions that determine how you’ll experience your wedding day, picking out a photographer makes a major impact on how you look back on your nuptials for years to come. And even if you might think anyone with a camera can capture your wedding day, shooting a wedding is an art that takes plenty of skill, stamina, creativity, and experience. You should invest in a photographer that is not only talented, but has a photography style that reflects the aesthetic you want to capture throughout this milestone event.
“The role of the photographer—whether more photojournalistic or more fine art—is to go into a wedding with a sensibility and vision, but being open to the wonderfully unexpected moments,” explains wedding photographer Corbin Gurkin. “Find a photographer whose work you feel so deeply connected to that you cannot imagine any other person interpreting your day. You are hiring this person for his or her eye and that should really guide the decision. If you look at this artist’s images and think to yourself, ‘this is how I want to feel’ in my photographs and you can imagine the visual spirit of your wedding being honored in those images, then this is your photographer.”
Photographer Adriana Rivera adds that it’s important to connect with a photographer before choosing to hire them as well. “Couples also need to think how the person they trust to capture their wedding will greatly influence their overall wedding experience, contributing their energy to every moment,” she says. “Rather than simply choosing your photographer solely on talent, look for chemistry, connection, and an understanding that the process is just as important as the outcome.”
It’s also important to have a knowledge of wedding photography styles to begin searching for a vendor that can fit your vision. However, don’t let yourself be too prescriptive with what style you think you want. “My typical advice to couples is to not actually put too many words into what they think they are looking for,” shares Lisa Raffo Ashley, who represents wedding photographers as the owner and curator of The Wedding Artist Co. “What one person thinks is editorial, another person might think is classic or artistic.”