Luxury Photographer Guide
Hi all,
We ended up considering over 60 photographers and interviewed around 10, so I wanted to give a guide as I’ve seen quite a few people struggling to choose a good one:
The biggest thing I learned - a lot of their photos may not be real. They will often do photoshoots where a group of suppliers (florists, cake, venue, decor etc) will throw a ‘mock wedding’ and the photographer will take photos. It gives them all a chance to have their work photographed and provides the perfect conditions for amazing photos. Their real wedding photos will NOT look like that. Solution: a tip a photographer gave - if the couple is ridiculously good looking (especially the man), it’s probably not a real wedding.
Fake photos part 2 - sometimes a very good photographer will do a mock wedding and then sell those photos to other photographers, who will post them on their own page. If any photos on their page doesn’t match their style, it could be this. At worst, it could be this. At best, it’s all their photos but they have inconsistent style, which means you won’t know what your photos will look like until after the wedding day, which is a big risk. Most luxury photographers start at $10,000 so don’t spend that much on a risk
Interview them and ask probing questions. Ask how many of their photos are styled shoots and not real weddings, and if they’ve ever had any difficulties during weddings and how they managed them. Ask them about your timeline and what they think they’ll be able to create based on the time you’ve allotted for photos. Ask them about working in different conditions, different lighting (they should bring multiple lights and more than one camera). Ask them about a rain plan. Some people recommend asking about their backup process but tbh you’re not going to get to luxury photographer level without having a good backup system.
Don’t give them every detail about you and let them speak more first. One thing I did was, because I wanted a very specific style of photography, I asked a question about an opposite style and let them talk. I didn’t say I liked or disliked the opposite style. I just wanted to hear their opinion. Some of them said they’d be able to do that (good answer), some were honest and said they hadn’t done that (good answer), some said that’s the best style in photography (bad answer, I’ll explain why). Once they finished, I then said “and what about this opposite style” and the ones who had previously gone on and on about it being the best style in photography suddenly changed their tune and said well now THIS style is the best. I don’t like salesman or people pleasers, I like honesty, so the ones who weren’t so over the top trying to appease everything I said are the photographers I ended up putting in my final list for consideration.
Be wary of male photographers who largely do fashion photography. Even in luxury. Unfortunately this is something a lot of people know about in the fashion industry and it seems some of these photographers act the same way when they move into wedding photography. If they hit on you during the interview, it’s ok to end the interview early. Don’t assume that just because you’re enquiring about your wedding, that they won’t have audacity. End the call and leave a review to warn other brides. It’s inappropriate and they need to learn that it’s not ok
Find your videographer before confirming the booking with either of them. They need to be able to work together. Some of them have worked together before so it’s easier for them. Some of them will recommend others to you. The impression I got is that luxury photographers do NOT want videographers who are also very specific about their styles. Because they’ll both be trying to get the same shots and getting in the way. Yes, they’ll be professional, but ultimately they’re prioritising their own work that they submit to you at the end. The last thing you want is annoyed suppliers on the day.
Edit: forgot to add this. Most photographers for luxury weddings will bring a second shooter. Most photographers will post their second shooter’s photos on their own page. This is not technically their work, but it’s under their brand and direction, so they can do this. This isn’t super important because usually the main photographer will be the more experienced one who gets the better shots, but still something to keep in mind.
Edit: as many people mentioned - FULL GALLERIES! I didn’t interview anyone who didn’t have full galleries available on their website. I shouldn’t have to enquire to get access to those, they should feel confident enough in their work to have them publicly available. Full galleries show you the shots they won’t post on Instagram - like the random guest reactions, the in between moments, and most importantly - the consistency throughout the entire day. Some get incredible aisle shots and then fall apart for dark dancing shots with flash. Seeing the gallery shows you what the full day will look like in their lens.
If you have any more questions, I’m happy to answer. I’ve been researching for many months now and wanted to share this info with anyone else who’s considering photographers. A lot of these tips can also be applied to other suppliers like 3, 4 and 5.