I Know Nothing About Photography

Or, more precisely, I know nothing about photographing people. I can tell you when a slab of cheesecake isn't in focus, but ask me which of five photos is most emotionally engaging and I'll probably give you the wrong answer.

Still, with the help of a few patient people, I've launched a photographer search and learned a little about the profession (but please, do tell me what I've gotten right and wrong!)

First of all, there are two reasons I need a photographer: to capture the day of the wedding and give me prints of the best shots and a DVD of all shots, and to create a photo album. Other brides might want studio shots, engagement shots, etc. but I'm not worrying about those. I'm just talking about the two basic reasons to have a photographer: taking pictures and making a professional album.

I'm considering using my entire photo budget to hire a GREAT photographer and forego the fancy album for now (which will save me $1000-2000). The photographers all give me possession of all the photos they take in digital form, so I could do an album later on. It might actually work even better to wait a year, see what photos we still like, and put those in an anniversary album. It's just a thought, but I really think having amazing photos of a day that will only happen once is more important than compromising $1000's worth of quality just to have a leather album.

Here are the photographers I've narrowed my search to. Prices are just for photography, no album. Tell me if you agree with these thoughts. I didn't come up with all these thoughts on my own.

$1000, sort of: www.hannahsuh.com
Hannah is good at close up still lifes, and at capturing color. However, her people shots are a little stiff. When I look at the photos, I feel like I am very far away from the subjects. However, Hannah is a friend of a friend and I'm sure she'd put a lot of post production work into the photos.

$500-1000: www.noelhadley.com
Noel is one of the photographers who has a day job (gathering from his blog), which is maybe why his rates are so low. I love his landscape and night shots, but he doesn't have very many people shots in his gallery and the ones he has are super casual. Yes, I'm a casual kind of gal, but for a wedding I'd want a little more formality. Just more questions to ask him, but I'm hoping he's one of those hidden gems.

$2400: www.stevenlamphotography.com
The price hike includes the participation of Steven's assistant/wife, so of course it's more than double the others'. Steven has the most impressive credentials (Vogue, anyone?) but has cultivated the reputation of being not cheesy. As you can imagine, that immediately made me want to work with him. Most importantly, his photos make you feel like you are standing at the scene with his subjects, not peering at them from far away. He gets up and close, captures emotions, and creates very kind of lovely lighthearted images.

$3300: www.nextexitphotography.com
Another husband and wife team. I think they are a little more quirky. They like crazy camera angles and goofy poses, but are generally quite good. I feel like their photos would fit right in on the pages of a zany hipster magazine. I e-mailed the wife a few times and she seems like a super laid back and fun person.

$4000+: Why even consider it?

There were at least a dozen I looked at that were just gawdawful. Why would you pay someone who takes blurry photos, washed out photos, who can't print a crisp postcard, or whose entire web portfolio consists of black and white shots?