The online social media groups have been abuzz the past few days with yet another photographer scandal - and there have been several in the past several months. This one was pretty large scaled, effecting LOTS of brides, and my heart aches for what they are going through.
I had a wedding redo contest a few years ago, where I gifted a session to a couple who wanted new photos - for whatever reason. I have to say, I was shocked and saddened by the stories I got. Photographers disappearing, waiting a year to get photos, never actually even getting photos delivered at all, drunk photographers, missed big moments, poor quality images delivered after being sold on images that weren’t even the photographer’s, etc. I heard lots of variations on the same theme - the photographers were selling a product they couldn’t deliver, whether it was their style, professionalism, or service altogether. As a wedding photographer of nearly 20 years, that guts me. Some of these brides who contacted me got married 15 years prior and were still upset about the situation (and rightly so!)
Let’s just say this is a hypothetical situation I am about to tell you about, because it truly is. Imagine you are the bride I am about to describe….
You are super stoked! You just found the photographer of your dreams and she is available for YOUR wedding! You hire her and can not wait to see how she captures your big day. You communicate from time to time prior to the wedding, and now you’re even more excited about the day because SHE is just as excited for your day, too. But when it comes to the week of your wedding, she texts you that she thinks she is coming down with something and will need to send someone in her place. Of course you panic immediately! You wanted HER to photograph your wedding! But really, you realize she can’t help being sick and you’re just relieved when she says she has someone to cover it already, so crisis averted. You still have a photographer at least! Your big day comes, the new photographer is nice, so you’re feeling ok about things, plus the original photographer is still going to edit them for you, and her editing was mainly why you picked her to begin with. Then the deadline for your gallery comes and goes, so panic sets back in. You message her, but it seems like she’s ghosting your messages about delivery times, promising just a little bit longer each time or not responding at all. You eventually head to a local social media group for brides to get their opinion on the situation. But then you discover a few brides have stepped forward talking about their experience with your photographer and begin to realize she double, tripled, and yes, even booked FIVE weddings for the same wedding date, claiming she would be the one to photograph each wedding (not an associate photographer, aka she hires someone else under her studio name, which she does list as a package option, btw, but that isn’t the one any of you chose). You’re shocked to see someone talking about YOUR wedding date even. And then another. And another. One of them has received their images, the other hasn’t…so maybe everything will be ok?!? But then the person who ACTUALLY shot your wedding steps forward and says she had communication issues as well and says she doesn’t think the photographer has even begun to edit your images because she never downloaded the folder she sent to her. You’re also upset when you find out that you also paid $3500 for coverage and she only paid the fill-in $50 an hour! You begin to tally up the brides coming forward - your photographer brought in almost $15,000 on your wedding day alone!!! The pieces begin to fall into place as you talk to other brides….in total, 30 brides have come forward describing the same issue - all of whom got married within the past year only, and some future brides are already discovering they are double booked as well. Some have received their images and said they were ok, while others are disappointed in what the fill-in captured, and some have yet to see images at all. And where is your photographer anyway???? Wasn’t she in this group…..
I’m sure your heart is beating about a million miles a minute just thinking about that happening to you! The unfortunate truth is, things like that DO happen. You wouldn’t think hiring a non-budget photographer would bring those kind of problems, but it can. Before I got into photography, someone I know paid nearly $5k for their wedding day….and lets just say the photos were subpar to say the least for what at the time was considered a high end photographer. They also used a second shooter for the majority of the day, covering only the ceremony and formal photo time before leaving for the night…
So how to you know that the photographer you hired is legit and can deliver everything they promised to you?
1) Check to make sure their business is on file with the state and ask for insurance proof. You can look up registered business names HERE in Ohio. Legit photographers will be registered and will also carry insurance. It is ok to ask for proof of both!
2) Ask how many years they have been in business. A photographer that has been operating for 15 years didn’t stay open that long because they are unfairly treating their clients. But someone who has only been in business 1-4 years is truly still getting established. In fact, most stats will tell you it takes 5 years to set up a solid business, and most photographers go out of business within that five year period. Anything can happen anytime to anyone, but chances are better that if someone has been established longer, they probably will follow through with their promises.
3) You can ask for references. You may not feel the need to, but especially if you are hiring a newer photographer, ask if they can provide you with contact info to talk to any past brides. Look, reviews only mean so much….you can hire companies to post those. Shoot, the photographer can make them up and add them to their own website! Reviews are a great place to start, but aren’t the end all be all to tell the story of what someone is really like. If you’re going to look at reviews, check Google - that tends to be the most honest source.
4) Specifically ask who will be photographing your wedding day and if all the images in the portfolio of work you are shown are their own. Some larger studios employee multiple photographers and do hire associate photographers to cover events. And that is 100% ok! But you should be shown the portfolio of the photographer you will be working with, as well as have their name on your contract, not just the studio’s name. Some photographers who work solo also still hire second shooters, and they own the right to the images shot by that second photographer. It is perfectly legal to advertise with them, but perhaps not quite so ethical in my opinion (unless of course the second is guaranteed to also be at your wedding).
5) Look at their website. A trusted professional is going to use a .com address. Free host sites (like Wix) or a gallery delivery site (like Pixieset or Shootproof) are NOT a professional website.
Asking for these should help you establish the legitimacy of their business. Here are a few additional things to keep in mind when considering who to hire to capture your wedding day if you want the best experience:
1) If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. High end professional equipment costs upwards of $5k (not including backup equipment, which you should also make sure your photographer has). If they have a studio, they are also paying overhead costs as well as insurance. Someone who is legitimately set up in a professional capacity will charge accordingly to their cost of doing business. Yes, in the instance I described, the photographer was not cheap. Price doesn’t always ensure quality or professionalism. But an all around good photographer is never cheap. Professional photographers are not going to charge under $1500 for a typical wedding day, and that is still considered a low end budget in the grand scheme of the industry. If your package also includes physical items, realize that quality professional albums and prints are not cheap. If they are included in a $1000 price tag, you are most definitely not getting the best quality of products or service (it costs me that much to have them printed!!!!). Remember the old adage, “you get what you pay for.”
2) Consider the photographer’s responsiveness. If someone takes days to respond to you, that isn’t going to change after you hire them. Yes, technology can be a pain….emails get lost. I always tell people to send another email just incase the first didn’t go through and allow 24-48 hours for a response. A professional should be able to respond in that timeframe on a regular basis.
3) Ask to see a portfolio that includes images similar to your booked venue. If you are going to be in a dark wood barn, ask the photographer to see similar images to make sure they still match your style and expectations. A pro should be able to shoot in all lighting conditions. I have heard so many complaints over the years from brides (not my own of course) that the photographer didn’t meet their expectations! Upon questioning, I find they viewed an album from an outdoor wedding in natural lighting and had their wedding in a 200 year old dimly lit barn. Not all photographer’s have the skill level to shoot in such places, so ensure that your photographer does. As silly as it sounds, I actually know someone who hired a photographer based on their food photography portfolio! When the photographer showed up and had no clue how to act around people or pose them, the task fell to me (I was in the wedding party). Ask to see a full wedding, too. Just because they have beautiful shots of brides and grooms splashed all over social media does not mean they know how to handle anything but the couple’s portrait part of the day. If family photos are important to you, ask to see samples. If telling your whole wedding day story is important, makes sure you see a whole wedding day story (aka the full gallery).
4) Unless you dabble in photography, stop asking what equipment the photographer uses. I get asked this way more often then, “can I see a full wedding gallery?” Whether I shoot Canon, Sony, Nikon, etc. doesn’t matter. The fact I use an A9ii doesn’t matter. Or a 70-200 lens. Specifically a 70-200 f2.8 lens. I’m sure those are just numbers to you. The portfolio should speak for itself. A photographer can shoot a good wedding with a $1000 older camera or a $10,000 state of the art new camera. Their skills and knowledge of light is way more important than the model number or brand of a camera.
If you are a bride in search of a photographer, I hope you find these simple tips helpful! Most people have only ever worked with a professional photographer once or twice in their lifetime before getting married, so knowing what to ask and look for can be understandably confusing. If I can save one bride the heartache or going through a bad experience, it was well worth the time it took to write out these tips!!!!
