Sunshine Coast Celebrant
Sunshine Coast wedding Photography tips

Tips to choose a Sunshine Coast wedding photographer

Selecting a Sunshine Coast wedding photographer can be a challenge.

I was a wedding photographer for 21 years prior to becoming a Sunshine Coast celebrant.  I am therefore privy to a wide range of feedback from couples who have just been married.

Fortunately, the majority of couples have the most amazing experience, and can’t praise their suppliers highly enough. However there are a few who have their day soured by receiving poor quality wedding photos or in some cases, not getting any photos at all!   Disaster!

Weddings can be expensive, and there are so many photographers to choose from.  Therefore it is daunting trying to find an experienced, trust worthy, creative, fun to hang with, and affordable professional wedding photographer.  So how to do you make sure that doesn’t happen to you?

First, and most importantly, actually choose a professional photographer!  Yes, Uncle Frank has a nice camera, or Sally from mothers group has taken a couple of nice snaps of her kids, but do they REALLY know enough about how to capture the most important day of your life?   I witnessed a ‘friend with a nice camera’ turn up to photograph a wedding, and part way through the ceremony, I noticed them using a phone to capture the photos!  Their one and only camera battery hadn’t been charged, so the phone was the back up!   Scary!  The bride was NOT happy!

Now the hard part. There are hundreds of wedding photographers servicing the Sunshine Coast.  Some are crazy expensive, most are reasonable and some are very cheap.  So how do you choose the right one for you?

Taste, personality and budget!

Taste!   Do you actually like their work?   This is critical – why buy something you don’t like!  All photographers have a personal style.  So look closely at their work online.   Do you feel any emotion from the photographs, do they appeal to you? Can the photographer vary their style, or are all the photos exactly the same.   Are their lots of different weddings or engagement shoots on their website?   If there are, then this shows they have extensive experience and depth to their work.

Personality!  This may seem weird but you will be working closely with this person ALL DAY!  So look for someone who you feel comfortable with and who you feel you could hang out with out with.  The photographer has the awesome job of spending more time with the bride on the wedding day than the groom!   Because they are right there during all those stressful times, they can either help make the day fun and stress free, or create tension and stress.

Budget!  Notice I didn’t put budget first.  This is because you are trying to find someone you can trust to deliver those priceless and beautiful wedding photographs.  These photographs will be passed down through the generations so they are important.  Yes, there are some good budget wedding photographers, but many low cost wedding photographers are either inexperienced, not qualified (yes, you actually can be qualified), don’t have the back up equipment or any insurance.  At the other end are the mega expensive photographers.  Some of these are absolutely amazing and extremely skilled photographers that are in high demand and can command a higher fee.  But for some, you are just paying for their ego or supporting their lifestyle.  In the middle are the average priced photographers who range from $2500 up to $5000.   Please don’t just look at price.  Find out what is included in the package so you can honestly compare your bang for buck.   Have a think about what you want covered.  Do you want the whole day from dawn till midnight or just a couple of hours coverage.     A typical coverage that will capture all the important aspects of the day is around 4-8 hours, but this will depend on how you have timed the ceremony etc.    So carefully consider the timing of your day, and review your whole wedding budget and ensure you allocate a reasonable amount for the photography side of things.

What do I do now?   Research!

To get you started, there is a list of some amazing photographers on my Friends page.

sunshine coast wedding photographers

 

 

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