I always stress the importance of photography and videography to my clients.  After the party has ended, your photos and videos are the only thing you will be left with other than memories of your wedding day.   Here are some things to think about when interviewing photographers:

• What type of equipment do you use? Is it professional-grade?  It’s not important to get into too many specifics here, but the thing you want to know about is resolution and print size.  If a photographer is using a camera from Best Buy, the resolution may not be high enough to create the wall-size portrait that you want.
• What is your backup procedure?  Most pros will “dump” their media cards (usually similar to what is in your point-and-shoot digital camera) as soon as the wedding is over and back everything up to CD or DVD.  But what happens from there?  Is there an external hard drive backup?  Does a copy get stored off-site in case of fire, theft or other damage at the studio?
• Also regarding backups, how long are your images stored?  I was recently at an industry event where Master Photographer Susan Michal was addressing this issue – she has backups for every wedding she has ever shot.  This might seem extreme now, but what happens if your house burns down in five years?  Wouldn’t it be great to know you can turn to your photographer to still have your wedding images?
• How many images are edited?  If your photographer gives you a CD or DVD as part of your package, find out if these images are edited for color correction, etc.
• Can I see images from an entire wedding?  Often a photographer might show you an album with one or two of the best images from several weddings – ask to log in to their online proofing website to see a full wedding.
• What are your emergency procedures?  Do you have backup equipment?  Do you bring it with you?  What if something happens to you on the wedding day, can you send another photographer?

One week from today, we will be announcing  the winner of Peek Romance Photography giveaway!  Check out the post about the contest here:

http://www.firstcoastweddings.com/wordpress/2009/11/were-back-with-prizes/

We’ve had some great entries but it’s not too late!  Get your entry in soon.

Super wonderful photographer Agnes Lopez just sent Danielle and I the link to her blog post with some of Kristen and Matt’s wedding photos. Love them!

Fabulous photographer Jennifer Brum just sent me an email with a sneak “peek” of her latest project, and I’m so excited to share it with you!  She has launched a new division called Peek Romance Photography, dedicated to making women feel sexy, alluring and romantic.

According to Jen, her style is “fresh and creative without being too revealing,” so there is a lot left to the imagination!  Here are some sneak “peeks!”

The following article was originally published in our e-newsletter, before we had a blog.  It’s great information – enjoy!

How To Hire a Wedding Photographer
Resources, Questions to Ask and Tips

By Jennifer Brum, Certified Professional Photographer
http://www.jenbrumphotography.com |  phone 904.382.7255

For many brides, the wedding photography is often the most important part of the event. After the music has stopped, the cake has been eaten and the guests are gone, the wedding photos are all that remain of your wonderful day. For that reason, hiring a wedding photographer can be one of the most important and yet, nerve wracking decisions you’ll make.

But, don’t stress! There are many resources available to brides-to-be including local and national professional photographer associations and many experienced, well-trained and professional photographers in Jacksonville. Even your friends that are former brides can be an excellent referral source for you. 

Did you know that there is a local association for professional photographers? The Professional Photographers Society of North Florida (PPSNF) is an organization of photographers committed to helping photographers achieve career success and professionalism through education and networking. They have an excellent website, www.ppsnf.org that includes a complete member listing. Brides can view member websites, preview a gallery of work and contact the ones they would like to meet. 

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An Interview With Wedding Photojournalist Dan Harris

Tell our readers what Wedding Photojournalism is?

DAN: The dictionary defines photojournalism as telling a story with pictures. Today there are more definitions of wedding photojournalism than there are photographers who truly practice it. Wedding photojournalism started when a bride hired a working newspaper photojournalist to cover her wedding and he did it just like he would any photo assignment using black and white film and unobtrusively documenting what really happened.

How is it different than regular wedding photography?

DAN: ‘Regular’ or traditional wedding photography has always involved lots of direction, posing and control by the photographer. The term Wedding Photojournalism was popularized by the Kennedy family photographer Denis Reggie. He categorizes unadulterated wedding photojournalism as photography that is captured without any control, influence or direction by the photographer.

What has made wedding photojournalism so popular today?

DAN: With so many wedding day plans and pressures many brides prefer their wedding day photography to be unobtrusive, spontaneous and natural. They prefer the photographs of the real moments captured that bring back real memories of what really happened rather than the staged or orchestrated ones.

Doesn’t every wedding photographer today offer wedding photojournalism?

DAN: Because of its popularity when asked if they offer photojournalistic photography most every wedding photographer will say yes. But what they offer may not be the same as what the bride had in mind. There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace and photography style terms abound. i.e.: Classical, Contemporary, Natural, Romantic, Photojournalistic, Documentary, Illustrative, Fashionable, Eclectic, Story-Telling, Dramatic, Artistic, Life-stylistic, Environmental, Fantasy, Fine-art, Elegant, Candid, etc. Any two photographers will use the same term to mean two different things.

How does a bride eliminate the confusion between the different styles and terms?

DAN: The bride really only needs to concern herself with two classifications of photography. 1) the staged type that requires pre-planning, setup and time out of your wedding-day schedule and 2) the type that occurs naturally during the course of your event without any interruption to your event timetable. Your preference in regards to these two classifications will determine how much time will be spent ‘posing for pictures’ (time away from your guests) on your wedding day and the type of photographer you should hire. (more…)