Hiring a wedding photographer – things to consider

Jeff: Hello everybody, I’m Jeff Philips. Welcome to this webisode. We like to bring in businesses to share tips and ideas about their industry. Today I have Kevin Seifert with Kevin Seifert Photography. Kevin, welcome to the show.
Kevin: Thank you, Jeff. Thank you for having me.
Jeff: Sure. Why don’t you explain to the viewers a little bit about you’re self?
Kevin: I’m an editorial based photographer. I worked for the Durham-Herald Sun for about 9 1/2 years. I run a full-time photography business, corporate and private events, for the last 6 years.
Jeff: Okay. so today I brought you in because I know you’ve done quite a few weddings, and I want you gives some tips on how to hire a photographer.
Kevin: Sure. In photography … In a lot of businesses actually, there are 3 P’s to hiring a photographer. The first one is personality, the second one would be professionalism … This is my ranking of course, portfolio would be third. Then pricing is the fourth P.
An example of this would be personality, in a wedding especially, the photographer is going to be right near you the whole time, as the bride and the groom. The best compliment I can get or that I’ve got, that I get from brides is they say, I don’t even remember you being there, how did you get so close to me and I don’t even remember you being there. It didn’t affect the shot, but it made beautiful art. Personality is definitely a key. For weddings it’s probably the most important for the bride and groom, because that’s how you’re going to choose. You really got to get along with that person.
The second one for me is professionalism. Of course as the hiring person, as the guest of honor, you want somebody … You want good customer service. That’s really hard to tell on the phone. However, more so of for professionalism I would say working with other vendors. You’ve done several hundred wedding videos and you can kind of tell what a good vendor is, having that working relationship.
Jeff: Yeah, I just wanted to add that working with a photographer that doesn’t want to be a team member is so crucial, because I go into a wedding as like a team. If I’m videotaping and for some reason you happen to go to the restroom or get something to eat and they’re getting ready to cut the cake, I’m coming to look for you. I’ve worked with photographers in the past where it’s all about them and they barely say hi to you, they get in front of your shot, they just don’t work together. So it is very important.
Kevin: Yeah, likewise. I mean if you have the video in your way or the wedding planner allows people to put their cell phones out in the middle of the aisle, it’s going to ruin our shot. So, working with those vendors and making sure that they are clear to respective guests and serving the same purpose, which is to make the bride and groom enjoy their own wedding.
Jeff: Right.
Kevin: The guests as well. The next thing would be portfolio. Most of the time nowadays everybody is looking at online portfolios, so you are probably going to have an idea of the style you like in their portfolio. I’m a photo journalist by approach, meaning I’m not just saying hey I shoot in this particular style, I believe that’s an approach. You’re going to already look at some of these portfolios. You’re not going to call somebody up to find out their personality without at least kind of getting their portfolio.
That’ll also establish the last P, which is the price range. A lot of times you’ll notice photographers don’t list their prices. For the most part they might have a starting point, like my packages on Saturday start at 2,500. Keep in mind that’s a Saturday package. That same photographer might do a Sunday wedding for a little bit less, or might even do a weeknight wedding with 20 or 30 guests at somebodies house. There’s a wide variety, but the portfolio part of it will establish the pricing, as well as you can then compare that type of wedding.
If you see a wedding at a similar venue that you have with … That feels like it’s going to be about as big as your wedding then that gives the idea of how much that price can be. As opposed to asking that question first. I’m not going to have any answers for you until I know at least day of your wedding, maybe a little bit about your approach, and how many people are going to be there. There’s a lot that goes into that.
The one thing that can help with pricing is if you have a wedding planner working with that that has involved the photographer in the conversation. Then a lot of times they’ll have 2 or 3 photographers, and they’ll already know the price range of those. Before they hook you up with somebody that’s way out of your budget, or just not doing good enough work for your caliber of wedding.
Jeff: Right, I mean it’s real important to know that each wedding is custom, it’s a custom package. So, yeah. I mean if they have 60 people or 350 people obviously it’s going to be a different price.
Kevin: Yeah.
Jeff: Anyway Kevin, that’s all we have for today. Thank you for the information.
Kevin: Thank you again for having me Jeff.
Jeff: Yeah. If any of you out there would like more information or want to contact Kevin please check out his website, that will be displayed at the end of this video. Thank you for watching the In Focus Studios webisode! That’s all we have for this time, until next time. Take care.