75 degree weather, partly cloudy skies, outdoors with the beautiful scenery of Wesleyan College.  Along with Julia and Abby, two gorgeous models made even more beautiful with hair/makeup by Jennifer Horton Makeup, this stylized session turned out to be a photographer’s dream come true.

Thanks again to Jennifer for organizing this session and to Abby and Julia for being so awesome in front of the camera!

–Uzma

It’s always exciting to see our photos featured on blogs, but when they’re published on super-cool blogs like Offbeat Mama, it just makes my day.

 Head over to their blog to see their post on Imani and Zidan’s 3rd birthday!

If you missed it before, here’s Part I and Part II.

Depending on where you live you can probably find someone willing to shoot your wedding for anywhere from $200-$10,000. You can also get a hamburger for anywhere between $1 at a fast food joint to $100+ at a nice resturant. Here’s where your choice comes in–if it’s the most important burger you’ll eat in your life…a burger you’ll not only want to cherish and remember, but one that your kids and grandkids will want to hear stories about, which one would you choose?

Yeah, I get that weddings are expensive. I was the bride who often had to decide between buying groceries or paying wedding vendors. Do I recommend doing that? Absolutely not.  In retrospect I could have prioritized and budgeted for the wedding much better than I did. Make a list of the 10 most important aspects of your big day. If photography isn’t in the top 3, this post is for you.  If photography IS in your top 3, this post is for you also.

For me it was, but even then I didn’t understand the true value of our wedding photos until after our wedding.

This investment isn’t exactly the same as investing in wedding favors, catering, or even your dress/tux. When you try on your dress or see those cute customized M&Ms with your names on them, there’s a feeling of immediate gratification.  After your wedding you see your photos and get a similar feeling. Some of the gratification comes with looking through your pictures and seeing moments that you either don’t remember or didn’t even realize happened!

So there’s maybe 20% of the gratification, where’s the rest? The true value of photography builds over time.

*2 years later when your spouse decides to eat cupcakes with bright orange frosting, then leaves that frosting on every light switch in your house for you to clean up (you know, hypothetically)…you’ll need those pictures to take you back to the love you shared that first day.

*20 years later when your kids ask how the two of you met and what your wedding was like, you can put your wedding album in their lap and tell them stories of how their grandparents got down on the dance floor to “Desi Girl“.

*Decades after that, your children will be telling YOUR grandkids the story of how their grandfather got down on one knee and sang to their grandmother during their wedding….and they’ll have photos to take them back in time to experience that day for themselves.

As a photographer I’d say if you want to give me $10,000 to shoot your wedding, I’d be more than willing to oblige. As a past-bride I’d recommend really prioritizing every vendor on your list to figure out what’s most important to you, and budget from there.  As someone who’s been married for a while now, I’d ask you to find a comfortable balance between the $200 -$10k+ by really thinking about what you’re paying for. You and your memories are worth it.

*Photo by the*reason

If you missed it the first time around, here’s Part I of the series: Where to Start.

So you’ve found a few great photographers through referrals or browsing online, and you’ve set up meetings to see how they’d fit in during your big day.  Now how do you narrow it down to the one?  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Skill:  I can’t tell you what makes a good photograph because as we all know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  To narrow down your choices, it’s important to know what style you like.  After going through their portfolio, try to imagine how you’ll look through the eyes of that photographer.  Do you like what you see?

One more thing to keep in mind as far as skill is concerned: If I had all the finest ingredients and kitchen equipment to make a creme brulee, my version would still taste disgusting compared to how my pastry chef-sister would make it.  Regardless of how cutting edge or expensive it is, ultimately equipment is just a tool.  A good photographer knows how to utilize those tools on a completely different level than the average Joe. This is why having a good camera doesn’t necessarily make someone a good photographer.  To give you an example, I need to let you in on a little secret.  Some of the travel photos on my facebook page were actually taken with a $100 point-and-shoot camera.  But can you tell which ones those are?  So as far as equipment is concerned, whether its a Nikon/Canon/Minolta/you name it, a camera is just a tool.  It’s the photographer that creates the photograph.

Point-and-shoot or DSLR?  Brownies points if you can tell me where these were taken.

 Obviously no photographer will bring a point-and-shoot to your wedding (I hope), since our goal is to capture your event with the best resources available.    So in addition to asking what they shoot with, remember to also ask about the back-up equipment they normally bring to weddings.   How many camera bodies will they have on hand?  How many lenses?  What if their memory card malfunctions?  Especially if you are hiring someone that works on their own, I can’t stress how important it is that they bring back-up equipment.   I think I can speak for most photographers when I say we treat our equipment like our babies, but things do go wrong. Memory cards may malfunction, a camera might get damaged.  But it is the photographer’s responsibility to make sure they have a Plan B in place to make your day go as smoothly as possible.  As a client, asking these types of questions is another way to gauge the professionalism of your photographer.

Professionalism

So you meet with a prospective photographer, hit it off with them, but forgot to ask about their Plan B.  How easy is it to get in touch with them?  If you find it hard to get in contact with a prospective photographer through email and/or  phone, this may not be a great sign.  Yes, we all have days where we get extremely busy, but even so most of us strive to provide great customer service to prospective and current clients.  How fast they respond back to your inquiries isn’t just an indication that they are good communicators, but it’s also a reliable indicator for the quality of customer service they’ll provide to you in the future.

So there we go, a few ways to narrow down your search.  This is really just the tip of the iceberg though, so if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below. Next up is a biggie: Part III-The Investment ::gasp::

I wanted to put this information out there because I remember how daunting and confusing it was searching for different wedding vendors for our own wedding. I hope this can make your lives easier and help you make an informed decision about choosing a photographer who’s right for you!

Where do I start?

Finding a great photographer can seem a little daunting at first because seriously–where do you even begin? As a former bride, I remember doing countless searches on websites like theknot and weddingwire, which can be great resources for scouting what type of work is out there. But ultimately they are just directories listing websites and contact info. It’s still important to check out the photographers’ portfolios online and read reviews/testimonials to get to know their work a little better.

Another simpler way to find a great photographer is right in front of us everyday: Facebook! After our wedding, we were tagged in almost 500-600 photos by family, friends, and also by our amazing wedding photographers. So if you like what you see by browsing through photos of recently married friends, take a minute to check out their photographer’s websites, blogs or even their Facebook pages. Most of us spend at least a few minutes on Facebook everyday, so why not use it as a resource? That way not only will you be able to see the photographer’s work first hand, but you’ll also have access to a personal contact that can give you honest feedback about their service.

What should I look for in a great wedding photographer?

Experience, professionalism and great talent–that’s a given. But something most of us tend to forget about is the photographer’s personality. Would you want this person around while you’re getting ready or during the first moments you and your fiance are together as a married couple? Can they mesh with your family/friends and also make them feel comfortable in front of the camera? Even if you find the most talented and affordable photographer out there, if you don’t think they can mesh with you and your loved ones this can be a red flag. That’s why it’s so important to meet prospective photographers either in person, over the phone, or some photographers can also set up Skype meetings! This will give you both an opportunity to get to know each other better and just see how well they’ll fit in during your wedding day.

If you have any questions you’d like answered, feel free to leave a comment below!

Coming up in Part II: How to Narrow It Down

and Part III: The Investment

]]> http://blog.uzbin.com/2011/how-to-choose-a-photographer-part-i-where-to-start/feed/ 0 http://blog.uzbin.com/2011/published-the-muslim-bride/ http://blog.uzbin.com/2011/published-the-muslim-bride/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:49:36 +0000 admin http://blog.uzbin.com/?p=113 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

Nargis’ Mehndi photos were recently featured on TheMuslimBride.com!  Check out their post here.  For any future Muslim brides out there, this blog is a GREAT resource for finding wedding vendors in your area.  So do check them out!

I recently had the honor of photographing fashion for Mehr ‘n Nisa Couture at the GA APPNA charity fashion show.  I’ve been a fan of MN Couture for quite some time now, so having the opportunity to see her new collection was a treat.  Mehr ‘n Nisa Couture’s boutique is located at:

Cobb Galleria Specialty Mall
1 Galleria Pkwy (inside Galleria Jewels)
Atlanta GA 30339
404.275.3628

These beautiful ladies modeling the fashion are students, businesswomen, moms, etc who took time out of their busy days to participate in this event.  How stunning are they?