How to Choose a Wedding Photographer

Step 2: Assessing a photographer's talent

When choosing a wedding photographer, it's important to evaluate the talent displayed in their photographs. Here are a few elements to consider when assessing the images in a photographer’s portfolio. 

1: Surprise and Delight

Look for images that surprise and delight -- images that make you take a second look,or maybe even a third.

Here's where your taste comes in. You get to define surprising and delightful for yourself. Your friends and family may have opinions that differ from yours, but you get to decide what you like. They don't.

2. Variety

Look for variety, in terms of what's in the image, how it's composed, the angle it was taken from, and the techniques used.

After all, when you look back a photos from your wedding, do you want them to all look the same?

3. Emotion

Look for photographs  that make you feel something.

Images that capture smiling eyes, a belly laugh, tears of joy or a special look between a couple. Photos that pull at your heart strings or make your soul sing.

4: Consistency

Look for a portfolio that shows a photographer can consistently produce emotional, visually meaningful images. Ask to see entire galleries, slideshows or album designs from several weddings.

Here's where a photographer's experience should really show. Someone who has photographed for years will be able to produce outstanding photographs on a consistent basis.

 5: Storytelling

Look for collections of photographs that tell the story of the whole wedding day -- scene-setting shots, storytelling details, images that depict interaction and action, as well as portraits that capture personalities.

Wedding album designs are a great place to see a photojournalist's ability to tell a story.