"What kinds of pictures are the ones you are drawn to? What pictures are you most looking forward to having?"If I am lucky enough to have the client in our planning studio and brides library I will sit down with the client and we'll go through some of the wedding albums photographers have given us and some wedding photography books. I have to go through this process because narrowing down the enormous list of talented photographers isn't a task I take lightly and it is incredibly time consuming.
Anyway, more often than not, the response to my question is:
"I don't like the posed pictures, I want candid (or photojournalistic), and I absolutely have to have sunset photos, and I don't want to see the sweaty dance photos."
I wondered if this is what actually ends up being the case though. So I asked some photographers who follow me on twitter,
"What are the 2 most REQUESTED pictures (before wedding day) & the 2 most PURCHASED after?"Here is what some of them had to say:
"I get a lot of formal requests and a lot of group photos are often purchased." Alicia Williams of Cordele Photography
"Most requested: formal poses, most purchased: guests buying posed & candid photos of themselves (not bride&groom)" Anne Ruthmann of Anne Ruthmann photography
"Requested: "lots of details" & "don't want to pose" Purchased: Posed couple and posed family." Kara hudson of Solais Photography
"2 most REQUESTED pictures: candid + romantic shots. Most PURCHASED: I agree with Anne, guests buying pix of themselves + formal" Shari Bare of Shari Bare Photography
"Requested: candids, photojournalism style shots. Purchased: posed groups, posed couple shots" Christine Tremoulet of Christine Tremoulet Photography
How about that? Looks like there are some differences. What does this mean? It means you should be looking very closely at everything your photographer shoots. Ask to see at least 2 recent complete weddings. Why two? Because every wedding is different, and different lighting, venues, and people make all the difference when you're "browsing". Ask yourself if all of the above mentioned requested and purchased photos are done well, and are there enough of them.
