Finding a Wedding Photographer in Los Angeles

FINDING A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER:

Hiring a photographer for your wedding can be a daunting experience- this is the person who is going to capture every detail of the event you have spent months or even years planning.  You want to choose someone whose work you will love for years to come. 

Most people have digital cameras or at least know someone who has one.  It can be tempting to have your cousin shoot your wedding to save you some money.  But be warned,  this hardly ever works out well (unless your cousin is a professional photographer!).  This isn’t the time to let someone hone their amateur skills.  Good photography is much more than simply clicking a button.  It takes technical skill and creative artistry.

The first step in finding suitable candidates for many brides is often the internet.  More often than not, though, internet listings can be overwhelming due to the sheer number of photographers listed, and there are no quality rankings.  So how do you find a photographer for you?

If you’ve already chosen your venue, finding a photographer who has worked there recently is a good bet.  Most likely the venue will not give out specific vendor information, but you can try a simple internet search using the search terms of your venue.  Photographers will often categorize pictures on their sites by venue name.  Take a look through the images you find and see if any speak to you and how you envision your wedding captured.  From there, you can click through to the photographer’s wedding site to check out more of their work. 

Another way to find a photographer is through word of mouth.  Friends, family or coworkers who have been thrilled with their own wedding pictures are all great sources.  Maybe you’ve seen someone’s pictures on Facebook and admired them.  This is the time to ask for the name and contact information!  Photographers love to get referrals. Just make sure that you take a look at some other weddings the photographer has shot.  Photography is an art, and a good photographer should be able to make each wedding he or she shoots look completely individual, even with their own personal style.  You don’t want carbon copy pictures of your best friend’s wedding!

Once you have some photographers you’d like to contact, flip through wedding magazines and browse through online image catalogs for the wedding pictures you really like.  Imagine where you will display your pictures.  What kind of shots do you want?  If you have a clear picture of what you’d like, you will be able to recognize a photographer who has the style you want, and whose style truly fits you.