Wedding photography is much more than just owning a high-quality camera or taking countless pictures to cover every angle. Time and time again, we hear from aspiring wedding photographers, “This is harder than I thought it would be.” Our response? “Of course it is!” Choosing the right wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your big day. This guide will help ensure you don’t hire the wrong photographer by breaking down key characteristics to look for and factors to consider.
What to look for in a wedding photographer
What makes a great wedding photographer? After training thousands of photographers through our online workshops, we’ve identified five primary characteristics that set the best apart:
1. Effort (25%)
Great photographers care! They hustle. They location scout and plan. They go beyond the obvious and look for second and third angles, anticipate key moments, and put in the effort to ensure the best possible results. They genuinely care about their couples and their work, making this a baseline requirement when hiring a wedding photographer.
2. Communication & Understanding (25%)
Strong communication is essential—not necessarily charisma or charm, but a photographer’s ability to truly understand your needs and desires. Instead of merely replicating images, they should focus on the “why” behind your preferences. Who are you as a couple? What do you truly value? What are your family dynamics? These are just a few things a wedding photographer should understand. How well do they interact with their clients and those at the wedding? Are they outgoing, personable, charismatic, professional, and honest?
3. Eye for Beauty (20%)
Even the most technically perfect photos won’t matter if you don’t love them and feel like they represent you. A great photographer understands posing, body language nuances, flattering angles, cues to direct for authentic expressions, and ideal lighting to create stunning images that capture the essence of your day.
4. Technical Skills (15%)
Lighting, camera settings, and troubleshooting—these are crucial technical skills every professional wedding photographer must master. Can they transform ordinary scenes into incredible ones? Can they operate in unideal lighting situations like dark rooms or midday sun? Are you going to get unintentionally blurry reception photos. A high level of technical expertise is important to avoid issues.
5. Creativity (15%)
A strong creative eye enables a photographer to see opportunities others might miss. Their ability to think outside the box when it comes to creative concepts and ideas, frame shots with interesting compositions, find elements to use in storytelling, and use unique angles elevates their work from ordinary to extraordinary.
What to Analyze and Consider
1. Photography Style – Do You Like Their Style Of Wedding Photography?
While researching photographers, you’ll come to notice the many styles of wedding photography. At the same time, you’ll begin to notice what styles you do and do not like. You will get a better idea of the photographer’s artistic style from looking at their blog or website rather than a few images on their Instagram. Taking the extra time to research the complete portfolios of your top choices will definitely be worth it in the end.
2. Strong Reviews – How Was The Experience of Past Clients?
When a business has numerous reviews, they are more likely to be established and deliver a great product compared to a company with just a few reviews. It is common for clients to rave about not only their final product, but their overall experience with the company as well.
3. Second Shooters or Assistants – Do they have more than one photographer?
We often are asked the question, “why do I need more than one wedding photographer?“
Well, if you were to look at a wedding written up as a movie script, you would see a primary storyline surrounded by smaller side stories that are happening at the same moment. For example, during a wedding ceremony, the main story is, of course, the bride and groom. However, there may be multiple side stories occurring at the same moment. For instance, mom or dad wiping the tear from their eyes or the flower girl sitting in the corner picking petals from a rose in her hands.
No matter how good a photographer is, he or she cannot be at all places at the same time; and so, to compensate, we use multiple wedding photographers, each with a different focus. For example, our lead photographer focuses strictly on the bride and groom. Our second wedding photographer would focus on reaction shots from the family, guests, etc. Our third (when needed) would focus on creative imagery by constantly surveying and moving around the scene to find unique angles and compositions of our subjects.
Having multiple photographers enables our team to broaden the coverage and creative eyes at the event. While we recommend two photographers regardless of the size of your wedding, we tell clients that it is almost required if you have 100-200 people at the wedding. For clients with very large weddings, i.e. 200+, we recommend three photographers.
4. Analyze Quality – Quality over Quantity
When seeking a photographer, it’s best to not get caught up in the number of products each photographer is promising. Stay focused on the actual quality of the work provided. We realize that some people are working within a budget. Think to yourself that you can always purchase an album or additional prints later (even 5-10 years later), but you can’t change the quality of the photographs taken at the wedding after the wedding day.
We strive to tell clients if there is something you need to cut from your package to make it more affordable, start with the products. Cut the prints from the package, remove the album, but don’t go with a cheaper photographer because they are willing to give you all the products you want up front. If you can, always keep at least two photographers in your package.
Overall Experience – Professional or Part Time Wedding Photographer
Once you get pass technique, creativity, and personality, the next thing you should be looking for is an experience. Is the wedding photographer actually a professional photographer, or is this their “weekend gig”? How many weddings has this photographer shot?
While experience is important, some of the best and most hardworking wedding photographers we have met are experienced photographers, but relatively new as wedding photographers. In situations where you love the photographer’s style but are concerned with them not having enough experience, ask to look at their entire collection of images from each event they have shot.
To help you out further when we hire applicants for assistants and associate photographer positions, we base their level of experience off of how many weddings they have shot as the lead photographer. (i.e. not under another professional photographer’s guidance or direction).
- 1-5 Weddings – Inexperienced
- 6-10 Weddings – Amateur (Qualified as an assistant photographer)
- 10-25 Weddings – Knowledgable
- 25-50 Weddings – Experienced
- 50+ Weddings – Professional (Qualified as an associate photographer)
Cultural Wedding Experience – How Familiar Are The Photographers With Cultural Wedding Traditions?
From the South Asian Baraat to the Chinese Tea Ceremony, cultural weddings include an abundance of exciting traditions. Documenting a cultural wedding requires additional time and attention to detail when compared to Westernized weddings. It is important that your creative team has that experience and understanding of your traditional wedding ceremonies.
About Lin and Jirsa
Creative. Clean. Different.
We are a team of passionate storytellers based in Orange County, California. Since our founding in 2007, we’ve been recognized as the best wedding photographers in Los Angeles and Orange County by numerous publications. We’d love to welcome you to our studio to explore our albums, canvases, and print products. We also offer expert wedding videography and would love to introduce you to our team.
Ready to capture your special day? Contact us today!