With so many great photographers in Aberdeen, finding the right one for you can feel like an enormous task. Do you want the one with the very stylised images who popped up on your Instagram? The recent photography graduate who will do the job for beer? The guy your mum's colleague's son used twenty years ago?
I mean... maybe? Any of those photographers MIGHT be right. Any of those photographers COULD be wrong.
If you're not sure who or how to choose, here are the three main things you need to think about before booking your Aberdeen wedding photographer:
Price, Style and Personality
Price, style and personality. They're all important. I would go so far as to say, for most of us, they're all pretty much equally important.
But this is the order I recommend thinking about them in:
1. Price: What is Your Photography Budget?
Photographers come in at all different price points.
At the one extreme, somebody's kid has just finished their HND in Photography and needs to build up their portfolio - they will do the job for a very, very low (or sometimes no) cost. If photography is a "nice to have", you may be prepared to take a chance on them in return for an absolute bargain.
At the other end of the scale, big name, award-winning celebrity photographers can and do charge a five figure sum. If money is no object, you might be happy to pay that.
And then there are the rest of us, with prices ranging from £1000 (or £999 if we want to look cheap) up to around £5000 for a full day. The range of prices reflects the level of experience we each have, how confident we feel about charging our worth, and what our business and personal outgoings are.
Take a look at your wedding budget and figure out how much you can - and are prepared to - spend on photography, and narrow your search right down to that. If you absolutely cannot afford to go over a certain amount, don't spend your time looking at the photographers who charge more than that; if you're nervous of anyone charging less than a certain amount, don't waste time scoping them out. Figure out what you're happy to pay and focus your attention right there. If somebody's not in your price range, close their website and move on.
2. Style: Would You Hang These Pictures on Your Wall?
Okay, so you've narrowed it down to the photographers you can afford. What's next?
Style!
Gone are the days when the photographer showed up, posed a big group of people in front of a church door, took the same old picture, and went away. Now, there are a whole range of different styles to choose from and, if you've never thought about this sort of thing before, it can be frankly overwhelming!
So let's break it down.
First up: how do they edit colours? Take a look at all the white dresses and green trees on their website. Do they have a slightly orange or pink tint? Have they been toned down to muted pastels? Are the colours true to life? And most importantly: which of these editing styles do you prefer?
Most of the couples I work with have spent a lot of time choosing the colours which flow through their weddings and want a photographer whose editing style keeps them bright and accurate (like mine). But it's entirely down to personal taste and you may like something different.
Secondly: how do they deal with shadows and light? Photographers tend to get lumped into two categories - "dark and moody" (lots of shadows, dramatic contrast) and "light and airy" (brightly lit pictures, lots of white) - but, in reality, a good photographer will adapt their style to suit the space they're working in. Look through all the weddings on their website and check whether you like the way they handle the different locations and lighting situations, both indoors and out.
Thirdly: how do the people look in their pictures? Are they carefully posed in tasteful, flattering positions with still, calm expressions on their faces? Or are they moving around, caught mid-laugh or rushing in for a hug?
My personal style leans more towards candid moments and prompting movement, rather than having people stand still (although I do still do formal group shots), but, again, this is entirely down to what you like. It's going to be hanging on your wall.
Ultimately, if somebody is the right photographer for you, you should be scrolling through their Instagram (here's mine) thinking, "That is beautiful!" Don't just settle for a shrug.
3. Personality: Do You Like the Photographer As a Person?
You've made a list of wedding photographers within your price range, you've narrowed it down to the ones whose style you like.
Last, but very, very definitely not least: which one do you like?
Whether your photographer is with you for one hour or a full day, they're your third wheel for your wedding. No matter how unobtrusive they claim to be, they're right there. You need to actually like them.
With so many websites and social media captions written by copywriters or (eek) AI, it can be really hard to get a feel for each photographer's personality ahead of time, and I genuinely believe that clicking with your photographer is an essential part of enjoying your wedding photographs.
I write every single word on my website and on my socials myself so you know that the personality you see on the screen is the person you'll be meeting in real life, and sometimes couples go ahead and book me without us exchanging more than a couple of emails.
But most of the time, we do a Zoom call before a decision is made.
If you've narrowed your list down to just two or three photographers and you can't decide which one you like best - or if you think you've found the one, but you need to double check - it's time to book in some Zooms. They're a great way to check that your personalities align (FWIW, I'm calm, quirky and a chronic oversharer) and that they'll approach your day in a way which feels comfortable for you.
Do they talk over you on the call? Or make jokes which set your teeth on edge? They're a no.
Do they listen to your concerns, answer your questions thoughtfully and make you smile several times during the call? You might have found The One.
Obviously, I hope you've reached the end of this and decided I'm (most likely) the photographer for you. If you think I'd be the right fit for your wedding day, drop me a line and let's see if we make a good team.
