How do you find a photographer

I don't know how helpful I'll be, as I found my photographer here on WW! But, I have a couple of ideas you can try.

Look at Facebook. Make a post, asking for a recommendation for a great wedding photographer in your area. I keep seeing these posts in my area, and a lot of people respond to them.

Try Thumbtack. There are professionals there who are often just getting their businesses off the ground, and therefore they are less expensive, and often times more flexible in style.

Maybe look for someone who is more of a photojournalist rather than specifically a "wedding photographer." This is someone who typically likes to tell a story with their photos, so is probably more flexible in style, and not so rigid with the posed shots.

Hope that helps. Good luck!!

Ask friends for recommendations. Looking at their social media pages really did it for us. Look at their tagged photos as well. There are lots of photographers in our area who only post photos of couples who fit their aesthetic and that wasn’t going to cut it for us. Not because we care if they share our photos, but because we didn’t want to give someone thousands of dollars who clearly doesn’t have the same morals as us and doesn’t care about representation. Having lots of candid photos was also important to us, so we looked for someone with more of an editorial style.

I focused on these things, because I agree most look the same. Do I like their lighting? Do I like their angles? Are they cutting heads off often? Are they doing a lot of photos in black and white or a mix? Are they doing a lot of photos where the background is blurry and one object is focused (I wanted a minimum of this)? What is the mix of candid and posed? Also pricing and reviews, but after that was covered I had to find other factors. I also followed them on Instagram to see what kinds of things they were doing.

If you have looked at the photographers on here and maybe other places, maybe make a list of ones that you kinda liked and in the price range and make an appointment with them and ask the tough questions when you see them like "how creative can you be with these photos? What kinds of photos do you take? I want less posed and more candid do you do that? Do you enjoy the parties you go to or do you want it strictly professional?" This question is going to be answered by their energy as well! You go this! You will find someone you connect with too! That's really important as well, that's why I say meet the ones you kind of like and in your price and see how well you mesh together. I hope that helps! Good luck you will find someone!

For me I made sure to ask for their portfolio. Seeing all the pictures and not just the staged ones really helped. I thought they all looked the same too. What helped is that my fiance picked a picture from each photographer that he liked, and I had to pick which one out of those I liked best. And Vice Versa. This is what honestly helped us. I didn't understand lighting or angles or any of that. I also looked at their other photos from family, engagements, or events. I found my photographer by looking at hashtags on Instagram and Facebook (which was hard since I don't have social myself). A lot of times newer photographers also second shoot for veteran photographers. Good luck!

Try Facebook market place and ask to see there work before you hire them

Have you looked on gig salad? I found a violinist on there

I found mine on thumbtack. I also checked out his Instagram before contacting and liked his eye for photos as well as how he edits. You could try there if you haven’t already.

If your venue has an instagram take a look at tagged photos. Lots of photographers will tag a venue when they post a photo. I found mine that way and also quite a few that I liked that I didn't end up booking. I also found quite a few photographers I loved by reading bridal blogs and websites and taking note of the photo credits.

Once you contact photographers, the usually send over an album of a recent wedding. This allows you to see not more than their portfolio. Don't be afraid to ask for this either!

This might sound silly, but I'd suggest reading up on types of wedding photography/photography styles so that you're familiar with the terms and you can research examples of each and see what you like.

When I first started looking at wedding pictures, I was overwhelmed and thought they all looked the same too. But after reading about the different styles and looking at different photographers and seeing how they described themselves, I was able to better pick out things that I liked.

For instance, my photographer considers herself to be fine art-focused with some lifestyle thrown in. She prefers outdoor shots with natural lighting, and does brighter, airy editing as opposed to the dark, moody editing (which is super popular right now).

I actually found my photographer on Instagram! I follow a wedding florist that I absolutely love, but cannot afford. One day I was browsing the people that she followed (since many of them are in the wedding industry), and stumbled upon my photographer. I loved what I saw, found her website, and reached out. It was a lucky thing, too, because she's not on WW!

Local Facebook wedding groups are also a great option.

Good luck!

I found my photographer on Instagram. I looked at different pictures posted at my wedding venues page and then when I saw pics I liked, I looked at the photographers tagged and then checked out their work. I narrowed it down to 3 and then picked one that fit with our wedding vibe the best (relaxed and candid) and it also is great because a photographer whose worked with your venue knows the great spots to get cool shots as well as the layout so they can maneuver around your guest better in order to get the best shots.

If it helps, we are using Amber Urey Photography. She’s out of York, PA, and coming to shoot our wedding in Maryland, no travel fee. We’re paying $700 for 4 hours (she does have other packages, but this is the one we could afford). Maybe worth looking into for you?

I used WW at first but couldn't decide on a photographer from it either. My photographer is on WW, but I didn't realize it until after I saw her Facebook page. I Googled photographers in our area and looked at their FB/website. My photographer has a HUGE gallery (like thousands of pictures) on her website so I was able to see a lot of different photos of hers. I loved what I saw, and after that, I looked on her FB page, and she was having a spring sale that week on wedding photography. I got an amazing photography/videography/photo booth package at a great price!

I unfortunately picked based on the number of photographers and price. I don’t have a specific style I want for pictures so I went with a company I found on weddingwire. It’s called classic photographers. They were offering two photographers for five hours at less than $1000. I was quote anywhere from 5k to 1500 so....I let my budget dictate to me.

I contacted places on FB that my friends had already used and looked at their portfolios. If I liked what I saw, I asked for a quote. Eventually, we found ours and we actually knew her husband, so it worked out super well.

You are going to have to do your research when it comes to finding a vendor. If you can find a find vendors you like, you can interview them and compare prices. Ask them to see there gallery. If you know people who knows vendors ask them about it and interview them and compare prices etc.

We found our photographer through friends. She is a friend of theirs and did their wedding photography. She also has some really beautiful pictures on her Facebook. When we sat down to talk with her, my FW, who is an amateur photographer, asked the technical questions while I focused on the shots we were interested in getting. She was on board with everything and had ideas of her own that we loved. Definitely reach out to your friends and see if they have recommendations.

We met our photographer at a wedding expo. We talked to her a little bit and she seemed super interested in shooting our wedding and was just generally really friendly. I followed her on Instagram and she followed me back which I know is like, part of the business game but it was a nice touch.

I think meeting photographers in person is helpful if possible because you can get a sense of their personality and vibe easier. But if there aren't any wedding expos around you I'd say just keep checking through portfolios.

I've asked a few friends... All have not give recommendations which is kind of weird. FSIL just said there photographer was expensive and wouldn't really fit our style. Other friends said theybused friends who don't really do weddings....

I reached out to 2 photographers I liked and they are both booked, but one gave me a recommendation so we will see.