Top 10 Secrets for Hiring Wedding Photographer from the Insider

My name is Wayne Lam, Vancouver wedding photographer and cinema videographer for Waynes World Studio, today I will give you the insider 10 tips for hiring your wedding photographer? This works with all budget photographers! Google Search is useful but can be over kill when you have limited ideas what you are looking for other than budgets. You want to find a photographer who can deliver the images and budget within your reach. Wedding Free Tips by Best Vancouver Wedding Photographers will give you my insight of the wedding industry since 2009. Hiring a wedding photographer is like picking up the right dress that will fit comfortably and makes you looking the best. Below are my Wedding Free Three Tips video to start off if you have missed.

Secret #1 Use Google Image Search for your local wedding photographer example: Vancouver Wedding photographer, here you will have a large pool of photos from many photographers. This are SOME of the best photos, it will allows you to view the style of the photo you like instead jumping from site to site. Bookmark the sites as you can revisit them.

Vancouver Wedding Photographer Image Search

Secret #2 Are you looking for a Photographer or a Marketer for your wedding day? Yes, there are many photographers who are more skillful marketing their works than spend time improving their skills. Can a good marketer also be a good photographer? Yes, there are only a handful in Vancouver but keep in mind those wedding marketer claim him or her as a Professional Photographer. (More of this below to weed out those proclaim Professional Photographer)

Does high end wedding magazine means they are better photographer? Yes and No. Just because their wedding Photos has been published by the high end wedding magazine like Wedluxe, doesn’t mean they are good at what they do? There are a lot of politics behind the Dollars spent in the magazine world, if you don’t have a vendors that advertise with the publisher chances you won’t see the photographers work in the magazine. It bores down to dollars!

What about Awards a photographers have won? I question some of the Online wedding photographers who have won awards because they have bought ads from the online site or voted by their friends and family. Remember awards means real little now a day unless it is an International Photography Award or National Geographic Magazine Awards.  A FACEBOOK Awards anyone can win! See my point!

Secret #3 A good photographer will have some form of training such as Photography School or been an assistance for other professional wedding photographers. Photographers who claims to be self taught distraught me! Would you go to the dentist who claim he or she is self taught? If someone is willing to spend the time to invest in schooling (I’m not talking about a one day seminar or a three week programs) or someone has been trained by the Professional photographer for a year. You know they are someone wanted to learn the craft of Photography right. This is more of the uncle Bob Scenario, self taught can take you so far! With the investment and your important day, would you truth someone who claim they are Self Taught Photography!

Classic QE wedding portrait

Secret #4 Pay ATTENTION to detail of the dress! Can you see details of the dress in the photograph, if yes the photographer has taken time to get the exposure correct and learned the technique skills. Remember camera is a tool, you still need someone to understand how it work before you can take proper right exposure photos. You will be surprise a lot of photographer lacks the skill to get the correct exposure of the WHITE Dress that have the details of the dress. You will never find a New Yorker wedding magazine to have a wedding dress image with over exposed like a white bed sheet. Since you have spent many hours searching for your wedding dress why would you want your wedding dress to look like a WHITE BED SHEET at all? This goes back to the photographer who has not learn the basic skills of photography!

Fashion modern vancity portrait

Secret #5 Since most photographer do hires second assistance photographer as a second shooter, do make sure the photography’s work you like are created by the photographer you are planning to hire. How would you know if it is the main photographer’s work? ASK! Remember main photographer cannot be everywhere therefore it will gives clues if the photographer is telling the TRUTH. It is very common when the photographer you HIRE who has a less technique skill will hire more skillful photographer to do the important work and getting all the credit as their own work.

I rememberI was hire as videographer for a big wedding, the main photographer for other company came in and took the details photos while her assistant came in and photographed the bride. WOW, I see there is something wrong there, don’t you?

You can always find those claim to be Professional photographer when they are telling you natural light is the best way to photograph and they don’t like using Flash for the photography, these are the people who is not welling to learn the skills of photography but just want to get pay. It is not an excuse not to have camera flash skills now a day! Believe me you do need flash to bring out the highlight of the eyes most of the time, indoor and outdoor!

Flash Photography skills are part of the vocabulary and skills of being a Professional photographer in this era. Remember more skillful of technique and creative  photographer will bring unique and creative style to your important day, do you want your images to STAND APART other couples?

Secret #6 Your Main Photographer MUST CARRY TWO CAMERAS during the important moments such as during Ceremony and Reception. Why your photographer should have two cameras strapped to him? Camera do fails when it does, the photographer can have a backup camera at all time. Imagine your photographer has only one camera body and when it fails you will get no photos during the important moments! It is NO EXCUSE to have ONLY one camera as a wedding photographer.

Traditional Poses Technique mixing with modern style giving a Contemporary Style. Many young photographers lack the skills of posing Groom and Bride. It takes deep understanding human anatomy, it is art by itself. It is no accident when a portrait stands out among many photographer, this you know the photographer has more skills than someone point and shoot.

caption id=”attachment_7751″ align=”aligncenter” width=”500″] Bridal party at Akali Singh Sikh Temple[/caption]

Culture wedding at Burnaby Akali Singh Sikh Temple

Secret #7 A larger studio company usually hire photographers from outside since they might have three weddings on the same day, this mean are you getting the photographer you are hiring for. Ask who is the photographer if is hiring from outside, meet him or her and sign contract to ensure they are the one will be your photographer NOT someone you have no knowledge! No surprises there!

Secret #8 Meet with the photographer as it is very important to see how he/she can help you on your day. Their easy outgoing person should make you feel at ease and understand your need. Ask them about their schooling, their hobby and what does photography means to them? Do they involve any project outside of photography? How early do they arrive at the event? Do they have two cameras at all time? Time to see their work in Album or Print and Canvas, a Professional Photographer will have PRINT, Canvas and Album Book to show case their work! Those photographers ONLY show their work on the WEB, it is time to skip those photographers.

Secret #9 Avoid any photographer who tells you he/she wants to shoot your wedding in jpeg. Raw Files are bigger but the quality allowing the photographer to the BEST for fine tuning the images. 22mb Raw files compare to 4mb jpeg, Photographers are not willing to photograph in Raw files you know they are not Professional. Those photographers will charge you less but again you lost all the important of the benefit of a Digital Raw files.

Secret #10 Album Book with the wedding package. With online digital album book, anyone can print their own album book but what separate the Pro and Cons of doing yourself. Some wedding photographer package comes with wedding album book but do you really need them? If the photographer will just put the images into an album book without doing color correction, enhance the image and adjust the paper print color space of the album book. I would suggest skip the album books and find someone who understand the design and good color printing for you. Printing and designing a good album book will require someone who understand PRINTING and DESIGN LAYOUT! Believe me, there are only few Professional Photographers can do this!

A good wedding photographer might have a team of artists onboard or hire a post production company to share their work load, is this good? Yes and No! If they contract out their post production work, chances their images will look like other photographer style. A good photographer is an artist he/she, all work should be under their control! Ask the photographer if he/she is involve with the design and post production work, an honest photographer will reply the truth but most photographers will pay someone to do the work.

Wayne Lam is Vancouver Modern Wedding Photographer who tailor his creative skills and outgoing character to create ‘Art of Storytelling’ Please feel free to leave me a comments, you can contact me
Wayne Lam BIO from Vancouver Film School to Traditional Sculptor and Oil Painter
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Contact Vancouver Wedding Photographer + Videographer Wayne Lam at 604 430 9888