Help us find a wedding photograph in central Connecticut.

January 17, 2007 7:23 AM

Looking for a Connecticut wedding photographer and general advice on picking a photographer.

We want someone to photograph our wedding in central Connecticut in July: someone who is easy to work with and will deliver a quality product at a reasonable price. Negative reviews are helpful too (my e-mail is in my profile if you'd rather not trash someone publicly).

More generally, how should we go about picking a photographer? What are important signals given by good or bad wedding photographers both in person and on their websites?

posted by Xalf to media & arts (11 comments total)

Make sure to go with a professional photographer. When my wife and I got married, my father-in-law decided he could save some money (having already offered to pay for the photos) by having a coworker who was "pretty good and had a nice camera" have a go at it. He stopped us here and there for poses, not in the natural way I've seen with other photographers, but really awkwardly, breaking the flow of the ceremony.

We got back from our honeymoon to discover that his camera had been broken the whole time and the only photos we would have of the event were those taken by relatives. I would have happily paid a couple grand just to avoid having my wife cry.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 7:37 AM on January 17, 2007

My sister just got married in CT; she and her husband used this guy. He was quite good.
posted by Mister_A at 7:41 AM on January 17, 2007

Here in Maine there is a local Photo Coop where many of the members are not exclusively wedding photographers, but are professional or at least very skilled. If there's something similar in your area, you might want to check it out - they may charge less than your standard wedding photographer. You might not end up with the classic wedding shots, but they'll at least be interesting artistically!
posted by suki at 8:10 AM on January 17, 2007

We went looked locally and went to a couple "wedding expos" and we looked at photographs that they had in their portfolio and looked for a particular style that we liked.

In our case, we opted for a more journalistic style of photography. We met with the photographer and looked at her entire portfolio and got a pretty good idea of what she was capable of and tried to make sure that her personality matched well with us.

What made a big difference to us was that we set expectations very clearly in terms of what we wanted. It was important to us to have shots that were taken at the ceremony and to also take family portraits as well, since this was really a family event. We had already scoped out a good location for the family shots that was nearby the ceremony. We sent everyone there after the ceremony for family shots and then sent them off to get liquored upsettled at the reception, while we took some "candids".

At the reception, she did a great job circulating unobtrusively and taking great people shots. We couldn't have been happier.
posted by plinth at 8:46 AM on January 17, 2007

Be careful when it comes to wedding photographer. There are some large chains (e.g. Bella Photography) that basically lure you into signing a contract but don't actually assign you a specific photographer until right before your wedding. They are not always open about this, and will show you samples of work done by some photographers associated with them.

Basically, always make sure that you are seeing samples taken by the exact same person who will be photographing your wedding day. Otherwise you have no idea what you'll wind up with.

I didn't go this route but my sister-in-law did, and sorely regretted it. Instead I went with a local independent wedding photographer with a great portfolio, asked her lots of questions and I'm delighted with the results.

Another thing I would ask about is if you can keep your negatives and the rights to reproduce your photos. This is a huge benefit, because photographers sometimes charge an arm and a leg for extra prints or to buy your negatives.
posted by tastybrains at 8:52 AM on January 17, 2007

Some helpful tips:


1. Figure out your style before you meet with the photographer. I searched for wedding photos on Flickr and used the ones that I really liked to give my photographer an idea of what I was looking for.


2. Make sure that your contract includes ownership of the final photos. Whether the photographer is going to use digital or film, you will want to keep the negatives or CDs of the photos - reprints can get extremely expensive if the photographer keeps the originals.


3. Put together a list of photos that you want to take that day (Bride and Groom with Bride's family, Bridal Party, Groom's Family, etc). The wedding day will be hectic and you won't want to miss any important photos.


4. Some people leave disposable cameras at each table to get candid photos that the photographer might miss. Some people hand out blank CDs with return envelopes and ask their guests to send them back with any digital photos they take at the wedding. Either way, it's a good idea to have some back up photos and it will be fun to see your wedding from the perspective of your guests.

Congratulations and good luck!
posted by elvissa at 9:12 AM on January 17, 2007

I had a great experience with Peter Oberc. He's a really nice person and he takes a great variety of photos for you to choose from, and he gave us all 435 of the original digital photos on a disc one year after the wedding. He's not cheap, but I think the photos are important, and worth the extra money to know you're getting something reliable. I don't know how "central" into Central CT he goes, though.

Different people have different ideas about the photos they want of their wedding. We really liked Peter's unobtrusive style during the ceremony and reception, but it might not be right for you, if you want a 'paparazzi' feel. He was also very thorough about getting every people-combination of formal photo we wanted. He also took a formal photo of every table, and though we didn't put them all in the album, we have them all on the CD, which is great.

When you meet with photographers, be sure to ask to see some sample albums, so you can get a feel for their work. Same thing, by the way, with the flowers; ask to see photos of their previous work.

Disposable cameras on the tables have gone out of vogue, as far as I can tell. Folks very rarely get worthwhile photos off of them, and in an age of enthusiasm for digital cameras, you're more likely to get photos taken by friends with their own equipment.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 9:26 AM on January 17, 2007

I actually used to work in the photographic industry, in Connecticut. As I know some folks who do weddings there personally, I'm not going to name any names. But the quality can really range, moreso (in my opinion) than for other types of photography.

To put it bluntly: there are some really bad wedding "photographers" out there. I think this is because, when someone decides that they're going to be a professional photographer, weddings are one of the easiest parts of the trade to break into.

This has its ups and downs. I knew some really terrific photographers who started off doing weddings (and now don't do them anymore), and built their reputation by hugely undercutting the established names, and doing really good work. So occasionally, a younger pro fresh out of school might be good. But I'd caution you by saying there are a lot of hacks out there, too.

In general, the only way to judge someone is to meet them and see their work yourself. In addition, asking for references and asking around can be good, but be aware that many people have differing ideas of what "good" wedding photography (stylistically) is, so you should keep the sources of opinionated information in mind.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:05 AM on January 17, 2007

First, poll the important people in your family to find out what kind of photos everyone wants. No point in hiring someone photojournalistic if your mother-in-law wants a 30 varieties of poses that she intends to print 11x14" and array up her stairway.

Make sure the photographer already works in the style that you like. A wedding is very hard work, even for a seasoned professional wedding photographer, so s/he should not be trying to capture all your moments AND trying out a new style. If the photographer says she doesn't do poses, don't try to talk her into doing poses, even just a few -- they won't be good. If the photographer isn't a photojournalistic type, don't ask him to be on the day of the wedding -- he simply won't be able to, and you'll be disappointed.

When you've narrowed down your choices, meet with the photographer and look at entire albums of weddings. It's easy to highlight one or two images from each wedding, but what's important for you as the client is to see whether the quality and sparkle is maintained throughout the entire album. And the photos should look great even if the couple isn't physically attractive.

My recommendation is Sarah Bastille. She is a high-end photojournalistic-style digital photographer based in Boston who travels to weddings throughout New England.
posted by xo at 10:24 AM on January 17, 2007

My advice would be to go talk to your local pro photography shop, e.g. printers. They will know who their regular customers (i.e. photographers) are, which ones are good and which ones are reliable. They should be able to give you a bunch of fairly safe / high-quality referrals.

There's a print shop here that goes one step further and recently held a "best wedding photographer" competition amongst its clients and used it to promote the best local photographers, generate business for them and therefore themselves.
posted by polyglot at 4:50 PM on January 17, 2007

I know this is a v old thread, but look around the Wedding Photojournalist Association and also, don't discount The Knot's local boards.

My personal recommendation is for my wedding photographer, who has since moved to NYC. Sandra O'Claire of Eau Claire Photographics. Very reasonably priced, very personable, and a great photographer.

Good luck and congrats!
posted by pyjammy at 11:49 AM on January 23, 2007