Photography POLL

1- Picture quality/style.

2- Price & whats included

3- Experience (or at least some previous works to view)

4- Personality

5- Reputation

1 -Photography style and quality

2 - I want to feel like the photographer is one of my mates, someone who i get along with and i am 100% relaxed infront of.

3 - Price - i think everyone has a top line price they are willing to pay for things. But as long as flexible packages are offered where things like albums can be added at a later date.

4 - Knowledge of the area is fairly important. Ours has worked at our venue quite a lot so knows where the good photos are, and also if the weather is bad, alternative places inside.

5 - Qualification didnt even cross my mind lol

Hi Dean

Cost was important to me but only in the fact that I couldn't afford to spend an absolute fortune. I had a budget of £1500 for a disc only package.

The most important thing to me was the style and quality of photographs. I knew what I wanted so when I was looking at websites I found it quite easy to discount or shortlist potential photographers. A well made and maintained website made this a lot easier. In fact, I often discounted photographers that didn't have professional websites.

Price was probably the next consideration - if they were way above £1500 I discounted them straight away. I discounted most that didn't have their prices on their website.

I didn't even look at qualifications if I'm honest.

Although knowledge of the venue wasn't a priority, it is actually how I found my photographer. I searched for weddings at my venue and looked at every photographer that came up on google and google images.

Hope that helps.

Yes, I really am looking for a wedding photographer too....I'm getting married in May 2014.

1. Quality and style of work

2. Who they are as a person

3. Their backup plan if something goes wrong

4. Price

HI

I agree that a good website is a must, I discounted loads straight away as I didn't like their website. My top 5 would be

1. Picture quality and style

2. Personality

3. Quality of albums

4. Price and what's included

5. Experience/reputation

Wow kharv, that's a lot for disc only! Did you end up spending that much?

Only because our TOG was £750 including a disc of all images and a storybook photo album, they would turn up whatever time you wanted and leave whenever you wanted and charged no extra for extra hours, did a projection of the photos already taken after our wedding breakfast, and got the album back to us within 4 weeks. And our photos are amazing quality, I couldn't speak higher of out TOG, a lovely guy and really made us feel comfortable.

The second cheapest quote I got for the same sort of package was £1200 but that still included disc and album.

This is a good point. I was a bridesmaid for a friend and her TOG charged £9 for a 7x5 print, I could only afford 2 at the time! My TOG charged about £2.50 a print I think.

No, we ended up paying £1200 for a disc only package but I don't think that's expensive for the style and quality we received.

Everyone wants different styles etc but I didn't find one photographer I loved that was less than £1000 for disc only.

Totally, her photos are gorgeous! Was just interested in the difference between each tog I guess!

Hmm, interesting. My 5 would be:

1- loved the two women, got on really well and was very happy with the thought of them being with us all day

2- budget, they offered all the things we wanted within a price we were prepared to pay (although we only visited TOGs within our budget)

3- they were actually interested (or very good actors) in what we wanted and our wedding, making suggestions for how to achieve what we wanted, asking various details

4- style of photographs, they are mainly reportage which is exactly what we wanted, people to just snap away when we werent looking and see what came out

5- hope for a good album (fairly new wedding TOG company, but both were already known photographers), so only had a couple of albums to look through when we booked/had wedding

Just to say that I have known Dean for around 8 years and he is a nice guy.....?

Peter

On another note, it is interesting to see how many people comment on the quality of the website.

Let me play devils advocate for a while......

Often these are put together by others such as graphic designers rather than the photographer themselves, so may not be an indication of what you will be getting. Surely the photography on the site should be more important than its layout. I also know of some very good togs...and one in particular who for years simply did nothing apart from having a one page presence on the web. The reasoning being that as they generated more than enough work without a website, what would be the point of trying to generate work that they would have to turn down. This same photographer has the claim of being the most qualified studio in Europe. Few professionals who know his work would disagree....SO continuing the devils advocate part.......choosing one or the other, is the photography OR the website layout the most important thing?

Devils bit over.....?

ps, I wont post the site I refer to although will reply to PMs....

1) Quality and crispness. Just my style. I love clear, crisp pictures with lots of varierty

2) Wow factor - are there pics that make me go wow, and how creative is the tog? I dont want the wedding package 101 with every picture posed and nothing unique. I want someone whos going to use the venue and surroundings including the guests. As well who can judge the bride and grooms style (ie - elegant, playful, dramatic, etc)

3) Website & Communication. Because I have to do all my searching online since I dont live in the UK, its frustrating when websites dont work, or are hard to navigate, or they dont have much on them. I do agree these togs may be absolutely amazing but I have tons of sites to check out so I need one to catch my eye. Also again because I am doing this via online I need someone who replies to email, can let me view full galleries etc. I found one tog I loved and that had the wow factor but when he sent me the gallery I was very disappointed with 97% of the other pictures

4) What is included - a 2nd tog/engagement shoot/full cd, and as well a rough idea of how many pictures will be taken

5) the vibe - do I feel like they are genuinely interested, are they really going to consider what I say and ask for, etc. I recently posted on here how I had a HORRIBLE bourdoir shoot. The whole time he was saying "amazing, awesome" and when I got them back they were crap. Id rather him say this isnt working, lets try this.

PS- Im really not a horrible bridezilla lol. My pictures are just whats important to me. Some girls its the dress or the food, for me its the pictures.

Mandunc14 you don't sound like a bridezilla at all. It's lovely to hear how important it is to you!

Peter, for me photography is a creative industry so anything visual related to your business should be aesthetically pleasing. If you don't care how your website looks, I'm going to assume you may not care how my photographs are going to look. Unfair? Maybe, but true (for me) nonetheless.

You're right Kharv.

If you don't have the tech savvy to build a decent looking site you pay someone who can.

Image is key.

PS- Im really not a horrible bridezilla lol. My pictures are just whats important to me. Some girls its the dress or the food, for me its the pictures.

?
It just goes to show the diversity of people on Hitched. A kind of reply that could make some togs very nervous or very excited.

The trouble is, if the layout is poor, it's often hard to see enough of the photography to work out if it's any good or not.

Sure, being in the industry, you might know people who are so good and have such a reputation that they are busy enough without taking bookings through their website. But as someone who has no knowledge or contacts of the photography industry, my choice is going to be decided by a)people I meet at wedding fairs and b)internet research. I am not going to know if someone is a "famous" photographer or not, unless it's Annie Leibowitz or somebody, so I wouldn't be impressed simply by a name. If they are so successful that they don't need my business, then I'm not going to give it to them - and if they're that good they're probably out of my price range anyway.

The impression I get is that most photographers are not in that super-famous league and so need to sell their business like anyone else. And these days, one of the ways you have to do that is on the internet. I'm not asking for a masterpiece of design with flashy mouse-overs all over the place. What I would want to see is a carefully presented website, which gives a good idea of what services are offered. Good spelling and grammar, as well as nicely-written prose, are important to me. I think having prices on there is very useful, though I know a few on here disagree. And I want to be able to easily access a wide range of photos, and preferably be able to click through a gallery, rather than having to go back to a homepage after each pic.

Of course the style/quality of the photos is the most important thing, but if I have to struggle through a clunky website full of spelling mistakes to get to the photos, it does make you think twice...

See, as a photographer myself I know that a poor website doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of work but it's still really important to me because of how it portrays the photographer and that business. A rubbish website (to me) says the tog can't be bothered, is a bit out of sync with technology &/or the modern world or is arrogant enough to believe that they don't need to create a good first impression. None of those characteristics are things I want in my photographer. Again, not necessarily the case, but it's the impression given- and when you have 200 photographers to sift through when you're researching, are you going to go out of your way to find out whether those things are true or not? Nope, you'll probably just move onto the next fantastic photographer who can be bothered. Speaking only for myself of course. I know everyone isn't quite as harsh as me ?

As another tog, but also a bride to be my top things are (basically what Chris said)

1. Quality of the work (& their approach/style)

2. Personality of the tog(s), who they are, how I feel around them

3. A satisfactory back up plan

4. Price

5. If I had to choose another one, their T&C's/contact.

All that said, I do judge pretty quickly on websites so if that's a mess I wont even be around long enough to find out anything else.

So to continue the devils advocate part, do you judge the website possibly designed creatively by A.N.OTHER a web designer or the pictorial content of the photographers work and their reputation? What is more important? Surely a good photographer is more important than a good website designer when it comes to your wedding photography. Has the internet blinded some people to those suppliers in the trade that simply don't need websites as they generate enough work from recommendations and word of mouth to more than keep them overly busy despite being quite expensive?

One tog I know aims for 50 weddings a year. He has to decline around 70 couples requests. In his words, "Why do I need a website?" Perhaps over time, the numbers may decrease.....

Remember, this is a devils advocate post..........and yes, I do have a website.....<vbg>

I would say...

1. Style/type of photography.

2. Personality of tog.

3. What's included.

4. Price.

I fell in love with my tog's pics before I was even engaged...she was the first supplier I contacted, and I would even have changed my date had she not been free.

We didn't want to spend more than £2k on a tog, and thankfully, she was well within that.

Agree!

They will. You only have to look at the highstreet to see the fate of those that don't embrace the internet.

Agree! I'd hope mine was quite nice as I get lovely comments about it when people enquire. Perhaps I wouldn't have got half of those enquiries if it was a pile of ass.

1 Website - and MUST have prices (even if a range)

2 Style of photos

3 Timely responses to emails with a friendly manner

4 Someone who puts you at ease

5 Reassurance about back up plans if sick or backing up photos etc

Peter, someones website is their shop front, their 'invite to treat', they could have the loveliest site in the world but have a criminal record as long as their arm.

The relevancy is that most couples don't have a clue about wedding photography or what to look for. Every week we get a 'what to ask the photographer post' and when they have such limited information about the profession they will go on visual cues like a nice website.

So whilst the quality of the website isn't always indicative of the work delivered, it's pretty much the case 95% of the time. Considering it's art that we sell, for a considerable amount of the wedding budget, we need to show we care in a pragmatic sense.

Good grammar, nice work, nice site all build an image up and it's then down to the couple to do due diligence on whether they are dealing with a pro or not.

And there are some truly pretty websites out there. Although as a tog I can see the blown highlights, noisy pulled shadow areas and just really shoddy editing that all too often frequents these blog type sites. They're of course natural light photographers because they haven't a clue how to use flash correctly.

The way in which we promote ourselves is changing. Online visual presence is key. Look at pinterest, visual cues everywhere. I have 1000 pins of my work on pinterest, the most pinned item? Some New Look wedding shoes. It's important to understand the market. Not just now but what people will expect to see in the future.

I concede that there are people who probably do perfectly well without the internet and as such don't need to fuss with a website. Site management and design is hard work but this source of revenue ( word of mouth ) can dry up faster than Instagram can lose half its user base and they could be losing enquiries that would be sufficient enough for the tog to raise their prices.

Haha honestly - IMO anyways Im a photographers dream (LMAO I dont mean looks! Far from!) I will 100% take direction and let them do what they do best. I will take the risks and love to have fun! If I need to stand outside in the rain or cold or be in some awkward postion, I will do it. I just know that I need a photographer who is fun or at least creative and will put some personality behind the pics ?

Mandunc14 on a side note, I'd love you to drop me a message regarding your boudouir shoot and an example of what you didn't like!

1. That both OH and I love the style of photos

2. Price

3. Can we get what we want for that price

4. How friendly the photographer is - can we have them around all day and be comfortable

5. Online albums - super important for our family in the states that can't afford to come over for the wedding

Chris, I agree with this, although aimed my comments in this thread at some I know who are very good togs who don't do the internet seriously although are extremely good photographers which can be ignored by some couples (who could miss out on some excellent togs) Many have excellent relationships over 20+ years with high end venues so it is unlikely that relationship will cease.....I have seen their 5 foot by 8 foot prints in these venues with their companies name on in the venues reception areas..........

There is life outside of the web.......

Good website was a must for us as we are in England but getting married in Scotland so it was our way of seeing what was available around our venue. We didn't have a long time when we were in Scotland to go and see people so had to narrow it down to 3. Out of the 3 we seen the one we booked wasn't the one with the best or most fancy website but it showed how good their work was and had enough of the information we needed to shortlist them. We booked them on the basis that they had the best work we seen when we met on the day and they were the loveliest people and could imagine sharing our day with them.

if they didn't have a good website we wouldn't have known about them.

Firstly I must say that I am overwhelmed by the response my question has had, THANK YOU !

Secondly, thank you Peter, for your kind words...

What appears to be coming through loud and clear to me is the fact people place more value on the Style & Quality of the images above all else. That is good for several reasons, but one major one being that it promotes and strengthens the photographic industry, and encourages togs to provide not only a saleable product, but something truly memorable for the couple.

It is nice to know people REALLY appreciate good photography and do not just go looking for the cheapest tog they can find and leave them to it, although I appreciate some couples may not have that choice.

Thank you all once again.

Dean