The bf and I are getting married on Oahu, Hawaii, this October. It’s our home town, but we aren’t living there now. That makes wedding research and planning kinda difficult. Can any kama’aina recommend a decent, not-crazy-expensive local photographer?
For all the rest of you not living in Paradise, thoughts and comments on your wedding photographer. Digital photography vs. traditional film? Digital is so tempting value wise, but I’m worried about quality. Also, anyone try the journalistic style instead of the traditional poses? What about weddings with no brides maids/grooms men? Are all the photos redundant? Feed me info!
You get what you pay for. Lots of wannabe wedding photographers out there, myself included, but it can be one of the most difficult kinds of photography to do well. Don’t judge a photographer by the equipment he uses. A good camera no more makes a good photographer than a piano makes me into Mozart. Look for a photographer that can walk the walk and show you a portfolio that justifies the price they show.
I’m not sure what you mean by digital being “tempting value wise.” I don’t know a serious photographer who will charge you less because they aren’t using chemical film. A pro level DSLR is in a different universe from a consumer digital camera. Ask to see samples of the kinds of prints you are going to want as this will likely not be an issue even if you are getting monster sofa size enlargments. I see no reason to think that a good photographer working with adequate equipment will give you results inferior to film.
Thanks for the advice, Padeye. I plan on meeting with a number of photographers and asking to see their wedding portfolios. And whole portfolios, not just a “greatest hits” album. Even I take a good picture now and then.
Digital photography is “tempting value wise” because I won’t have to rely on the photographer to get prints. I have access to high quality photo printers already, so the photographer can just give me a digital file. I’ve heard that a large portion of the expense with photographers who use film is getting the prints themselves and the album that you must purchase.
Most if not all photographers will charge you extra for the right to reproduce their images even if they are digital. They still own the copyright, you know.
Not in Oahu, but we wanted our daughter to be married on Maui She wanted a traditional wedding in STL. The wedding was planned in under 6 months so we had to do some…
My advice is DON"T cheap out on the photographer. Said daughter’s photograper was a total professional. By the time we started looking for a photographer all that were left were the outrageousely expensive but probably over-qualified and the cheap but totally incompetent. Don’t settle for cheap. In wedding photogs you get what you pay for (if you do some research). Daughter wanted journelistic type coverage, and that’s what she got. We are very happy with the result.
For a comparison of costs: we had a formal 5 course dinner for 75 with open bar for 4 hours and the photographer cost was the same as the reception.
Her friend, married two weeks previousely, got a good $$$ deal on her wedding pics, and is very disappointed. Her photographer was a more traditional king of guy.
Look at the previous pics and albums the photographer has done and decide based on that.
Also be assured in writing what is included in the wedding photo package. Our daughter gets all the negatives 12 months after the wedding.
I’m not looking to totally skimp on the photographer. I’m just looking to spend $600-800 instead of $1000+. Very disappointing if the photographs cost as much as the 8 night Waikiki hotel stay and airfare for two honeymoon.
Fortunately, it’s fairly simple set up. No bridal party, no real reception. Just need a professional photographer for the ceremony. After, we’ll give our friends disposable cameras and glean out the best for the candid shots.
And, according to research I’ve already done, some digital photographers will give you the files on disk for you to print out yourself. I just need to get there and talk to some local photographers.
You probably won’t get the original files from any real pro unless you pay a lot extra. I won’t give out original files for copyright reasons not to mention I can’t guarantee the quality of work with my name on it unless I am in control of the printing. I don’t think anyone who gives you the original files (most likely raw format files you can’t work with anyway) without charging a premium is likely to be an experienced wedding photographer.
Okay, well, I am from Oahu… who are you looking at? I think that everyone I would recommend is crazy expensive, but I think that photography is one area where I would really splurge.
I liked photojournalistic for most of the pictures, but stressed to the photographer that I wanted some standard smiling posed ones as well. Most of the photographers I talked to included the negatives/digital files in their price, so that wasn’t really an issue. The one I went with gave me the negatives right away.
Email me at paige3838@gmail.com if you want more info… tell me your price range and who you’re thinking about.
I got married in August and had all of my photos taken digitally. Absolutely loved them, all of them. And the prints that the photographer was able to make were gorgeous, don’t think you’ll find anything lacking. Also was able to get a very unique and gorgeous wedding album, no one else I know has ever seen anything like it!
In terms of the journalistic vs traditional (journalistic being taking photos of things as they occur, telling a story vs posed, setup pictures), I had a mix of both. I got pics of the families together in the posed format, but also got a whole lot of more journalistic style pictures. And I must say, some of my absolute favorites are the journalistic ones. She did a great job of catching raw emotions instead of posed pics.
My sister hired a very good photographer for her recent wedding, but cost to get prints of the photos (digital) seemed pretty high $18-$30 per print. You might want to consider more than just the fee to do the photography as you compare photographers.
Also, she had a videographer (two people did it). The DVD was excellent, they gave her 5 copies, and no restrictions on making more copies. The two guys did an excellent job of capturing the ceremony and the reception w/o being at all intrusive.
For example, I printed some flyers for a local (Texas) wedding photographer this morning. He charges about $500 for two hours of work, with 20 8x10s and 70 other prints of various sizes included in that price. If you instead want him to give you the images on disk, he charges $750 and doesn’t make any prints for you.
Good news! I found a great photographer through a friend. She’s still new and does photography part-time, but her work is excellent. She’s willing to combine a journalistic style with classic poses so I can have an interesting wedding album and my mom can have the stilted photos for her mantle. And, best of all, I get the originals to make prints myself! She offers retouching and printing, but she doesn’t mind sharing since we can do it too.
As many photos as I want for $750! After printing and whatnot, maybe $800!
She wanted a traditional wedding in STL. The wedding was planned in under 6 months so we had to do some…