I touch upon this in my Wedding Website "DraigWeddings" in the tips section, but thought I may explore this more here for you Brides and Grooms to be :)
Your Wedding is one of THE biggest days of your life. It often has a long lead up, takes much planning and preparation, requires alot of time to organize and often includes alot of people from family to friends. And so all this is "captured" making sure you can relive and remember it for years you need a Professional Wedding Photographer.
Now, are all Photographer's created equal? Easy answer, NO.
Photography is part science and part art. the former is the easier part. A Photographer (at least a Professional, which I truly urge you to hire) will know about the techincal aspect of the job. They will know about the camera equipment and rules/laws governing light (which is what Photography is ALL about, using light). This they have learnt from experience, study etc. But ART, this, just like ANY art such as painting and drawing and music is truly PERSONAL.
So, lets assume you have found a few Professional Photographers (so they KNOW the science part of their craft) now you have to choose whose "art" you prefer. What I mean here, and maybe more easily understood, is their "Style". Every Photographer, no matter their experience or past have their own distinct "style" (we will refer to the ART as "style" from now on).
The first step here is obviously to look at their work. Check their websites and look at every single image they have. Check to see if they have other (non-wedding related) sites ,ours for instance is www.draigphotography.com ,showing their Photography. This is the easiest part as you can do this at your own leisure,in comfort and also anonymously.
When you have found a few whose "style" you like then I would urge you to make "first contact", probably with an email. Ask questions, how long have you been doing this? Whats your background? What do you bring to a shoot? Just a few questions to give you a guide. Another good one (and one I think can be quite telling) is What do you LIKE to shoot most? This should give a better initial understanding of their personal tastes and somewhat character. For instance, Portraits are somewhat more rigid and technical, whereas receptions are more of a Photojournalist thing.
"He just mentioned Portraits and Photojournalism, what is he talking about?".
Well, Wedding Photography generally lends itself to two distinct styles. Portraiture and Photojournalism.
Portraiture is the more traditional type of Wedding Photography where the shots are carefully posed and staged and more technical in their composition. This was the approach by many for years and years but slowly we have developed another style, that of the Photojournalist.
Without going into too much historic detail, think of the Photojournalist approach as the exact opposite of the Portrait Photographer. In Photojournalism the goal is to be completely unobtrusive to the Wedding party and capture completely natural moments.Basically to "freeze frame" a moment in time and let that image "tell a story" no matter who views it.
Now which style you prefer will differ greatly upon what you want your Photographs to look like and say to you. Personally I recommend a Professional Photographer who provides BOTH styles, often called a Portrait/Photojournalist. You may think you do NOT want any posed photographs (and indeed this may be the case) but remember Mum/Dad, Aunt/Uncle, Gran/Gramps etc. MAY indeed like their picture taken with you at the event and it may mean a great deal to them. It can take but moments to set up the "formal/posed" shots and take them so everyone is happy, but to miss them and wish after the fact, ahhhhhh.
Be careful of people saying that they are Only/100% Photojournalist style. I have been around awhile and can honestly say that VERY few Photographers take a 100% hands off approach to shooting (which a PURE Photojournalist would have to do to satisfy the title). Most do indeed pose some shots which makes them Portrait/Photojournalists and they should acknowledge this.
So, now you know what to look for and what style you are interested in (hopefully Portrait/Photojournalism as this will provide the full gamet :)). So now how do you choose?
Well, I would at this point "talk" to your prospective Photographer. You can call them, but I would also encourage you to arrange a meeting at this point (often times a coffee shop works well as it is a calm and pleasant surrounding and not stressful).
See what they act like, are they calm/relaxed (you probably don't want a hyper/stressed Photographer at your wedding). Do they communicate well? Do they seem attentive of your needs/questions? Are they well groomed (an untidy/badly dressed Photographer is probably not wanted at your Big Day either). It is hard to explain ALL the things to look for when "interviewing" a Professional Photograher as that would be almost a Psychology lesson. Being comfortable with them is the biggest thing, after all, they are going to be around alot on your Wedding Day :)
I will give more tips on "Choosing THAT Photographer" in the coming days but for now lets summorize what we have to start;
1. Look at friends/colleagues Wedding Photographs, surf the web, check magazines/books and find the type (i.e. Style) of Photography YOU like and want to have as memories.
2. Find a Professional Photographer who not only advertises that "style" but has work to show what he/she does.
3. Ask questions to narrow down the "character" of the Photographer.
4. Interview the Photographer in person to make sure you are comfortable with them.
This is a GREAT start to your Photography Journey and the true beginning to making sure you have visual memories of your Wedding Day that you treasure for years to come.
