Step 1: Identify Photography Style and Photographer Skills

Choosing a photography style is similar to choosing a movie: you would consider the cinematography, composition, approach, or the era of the film, such as animation, documentary, or vintage classic, etc. The same movie could be portrayed differently by the film's presentation, hence bringing a completely new experience to the audience.

The same dramatic effect could be transcended into your wedding photography by your photographer using a blend of creative vision. Your photographer embodies the responsibility and expertise of a film director and a production studio.

Today's professional wedding photography is dominated by two major commercial styles: traditional and photojournalism. Before you rush to tell your photographer that you want photojournalism because you've heard the buzz word, let's get some understanding about what these two photography styles actually are:

• Traditional Photography is setup in a controlled environment. It's less creative, but often produces high quality results; as subjects are carefully positioned to achieve the maximum pose and lighting effects. From cloth position to facial expressions, the photographer maintains absolute control. However the time it takes to set up often interferes with the wedding.

• Photojournalism is a process in which the photographer shoots a large quantity of photos, and produces a timelined story. The environment is uncontrolled, very similar to shooting a documentary film. Photos are shot as the wedding day is happening. Although picture quality doesn't quite match up to the controlled traditional photography, photojournalism is extremely spontaneous, and often produces very creative images without interrupting the flow of the wedding.

Now you have a firm grasp of the two photography styles, let's proceed to the fundamental of identifying a good photographer / photojournalist. A good wedding photographer should have a distinct style that sets him/her apart from the competition. The best and fastest way to identity this quality is by examining the photographer's portfolio. A true artistic approach to photography should demonstrate expertise in the following three key areas:

1. Subject Matter - What the photographer is shooting at and what his emphasis on? Does the photographer have a keen eye and quick trigger to capture special moments, surrounding, and pay attention to small details.

2. Composition - Is the photo layout creative and mesmerizing? How are the subjects positioned inside the picture frame? How are photos cropped?

3. Colors – Great vibrant colors are achieved via the combination of a photographer's understanding to lighting, photo equipment expertise, and post processing skills. (Post processing refer to photo touchup, often are done via a professional software package such as Adobe Photoshop)

Below are some examples to demonstrate the above qualities:

Step 2: Image Consistency – Look beyond a Photographer's Portfolio

Have you ever gotten excited after seeing a great movie trailer, but than regret paying the $10 to watch the disappointing film? A photographer's portfolio is just like the movie trailer: it's a compilation of best images taken from many weddings, could be 10, 20 or even 100 weddings. It's not difficult for an average photographer to produce a few good images from an entire wedding. But would you settle for just a few?

Using the movie analogy, you should never book a photographer based only on the portfolio (trailer). You need to look beyond the portfolio and verify the photographer's ability in producing good quality photos consistently over the course of a single wedding. This is what separates a good photographer from an average one.

• First Choice: Slideshows - So how do you ask the photographer to verify image consistency? The easiest approach is to ask for several slideshows; each focuses on a single wedding, preferably from recent weddings no later than two years old.

  A slideshow is the digital end-product the photographer provides for the bride and groom. Each slideshow features a wide selection of photos from an entire wedding; accompanied by transitions and music. Photos in a slideshow are often approved by the client, and touched up by the photographer with post-production software such as Photoshop.

  Because each wedding's locale, seasonal conditions, and the photographer's choice of artistic approach maybe different; be sure to judge the image consistency localized within each wedding slideshow, not necessary across all weddings.

• Second Choice: Online Proofs – Difficult last resort: if the photographer can not provide slideshows, ask for samples of client online proofs instead. Be warned, online proofs is the archive from the entire wedding shoot, often contain anywhere from 400 to 1,000 images.

  In addition to the challenge of reviewing the overwhelming quantity of the online proofs, keep in mind a proof is not a finished product. Professional wedding photographers often apply a unified touch-up process to the entire proof archive (refer to as Batch Processing) before submitting for clients review. Once good image candidates are selected, special attention and extensive post-production process are then applied to the photos by the photographer.

  Try to average out the number of good quality images from online proofs. By your standard, does the photographer get five to ten good images per wedding or more than a hundred? This statistic could provide a rough estimate to what you could expect.

Step 3: Photographer Personality

If you are impressed by the photographer's skills and work consistency, you could stop further review, and book the photographer while he/she is still available. After all, you could gain solid insight on how comfortable the clients are with the photographer based on the photographer's works. However, personality compatibility is always a big plus. The following is a list of optional things you could do to put the icing on the cake in ensuring a pleasure experience working with your photographer:

• A nice phone call or two should be suffice; open up your conversations, perhaps even covering topics beyond photography.

• Request a list of client testimonials. Some photographers include this information directly on their websites.

• Although not a requirement, if you're lucky to be living close to the photographer, it would be usual practice to request a quick meeting over coffee.

That sums it up. Choosing the right photographer is a lifetime decision. Do not rush your selection process, and stay true to the three steps. I wish you best of luck, and a wonderful wedding photographic experience.

About the Photographer: Danny Iskandar, IN, Indiana

Danny Iskandar is an internationl award winning photographer of the Artistic Guild Wedding Photojournalist Association. He's the recipient of the top 10 award from the AGWPJA international wedding contest 2006.

You may directly access Danny's Wedding Photo Portfolio, Photographer Bio, and Indiana Wedding Photographers Index.

Other Related Articles:

• Choose Your Photographer Base On Credentials
• How Much Does Wedding Photography Cost?
• Wedding Day Schedule and Planning Strategy

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