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Choosing Your Wedding Photographer Photographer Karl Grupe provides a practical guide to choosing your wedding photographer. "Don't be sold on sales talk alone," he advises. "Look at the work - really look at the work - and decide if it speaks for itself."

Photographs are the lasting record of your big day, so choosing the right person to produce them is crucial. There is no shortage of wedding photographers out there. Some are part-time, others full-time; some come with professional accreditation from one association or another, others do not; one photographer appears to have reasonable charges while offering you the moon, another charges you the earth yet offers what seems like an economised package. How do you decide?

There is a tendency for some couples to be so concerned about the details of the print package that they lose sight of the quality of the photography. My past experience as a talent scout for a large picture agency educated me in what to recognise when looking at a photographer's portfolio. Here are some of the most important things to keep an eye out for:

• Clean design/up-to-date material and styles. A successful, working photographer should be updating his or her book regularly.
• The ability to capture a moment or an emotion
• A flair for making the ordinary appear beautiful
• The ability to make the images tell a story
• The confidence to work under any condition of light, weather, and/or time constraints
• A complete set of images from the same wedding, not a series of selective one-offs
• Confidence in shooting one person or a group of 150+ people
• An eye for using different locations well to set the stage for the photographs
• Use of light to enhance the mood of the photographs. A portfolio should include images photographed under more conditions than just sunny days.
• Formal photographs which work well to the eye. Posed photos should be compositionally clean, postures should be confident and hand placements should look natural.

An experienced photographer will often remain quiet while their portfolio is under review, giving potential clients a chance to breathe; to step into his or her shoes and see what he or she sees. Look at the work - really look at the work - and decide if it speaks for itself. If it does, you are ready to move on to the next stage of the discussion - the fees.

A photographer will price an assignment based on their overhead, what they would like to make per year, and their skill level. Deducing whether you are getting a good fee for a good photographer entails judging the quality of their work, their experience, their creativity, their problem-solving abilities, and the service they offer.

Fee structures generally fall into one of two schools: those offering set portfolio packages and those offering bespoke pricing. There is no right or wrong here - it is a matter of what you feel comfortable with. The bespoke client prefers the opportunity to mix and match, have some input themselves and be charged for precisely what they request, while the package person is happy to fit in with a set offering.

Whichever pricing system you go with, make sure you are happy with the quality and level of experience of the photographer. I have heard of at least one 'experienced' photographer whose move into digital photography meant that he could offer a range of seductive options - websites, enlargements, CD-burning, copyright - but at the expense of his creative quality. His images were formulaic, dull and lacking in atmosphere. Watch out for that sort of photographer. Extras and big prints are useless if the work is dead and uninspiring, so, while getting a variety of quotes is always a good idea, make sure you match the fee to the work, and do not be seduced by all the extras if the work does not stand out.

A word on websites acting as marketing material to promote a photographer. When viewing work on a website, look carefully at the pictures themselves and try to separate them from the 'packaging' which may help to promote the work.

You like their portfolio and the price seems right, but you don't feel they are quite 'there' with you; there is no 'click'. First, ask yourself first why this may be. Is it something you can get over, or is it deeply intuitive?

You are commissioning an artist, and if there is a lack of rapport between you, this could show up in the final product. If you want wedding photography which feels personal, your photographer should invest time in getting to know you, and even in visiting your venue and pre-planning shots. It's about building a relationship. After all, this is the person who is producing the images of one of the most important days of your life.

To help steer communication in a clear manner, a photographer should keep up to date with the details of your day, and should provide a contract or terms in which they sum up what is expected of them. This should state:

• What the photographer is expected to do and provide for the fee agreed
• What the clients are expected to provide in order to assist the photographer in getting the best shots possible
• Details of the shoot - where, when, schedule, guest list etc.
• Fees exchanged.

Agreeing this a few months in advance means that client and photographer are moving towards the same goal - everything running smoothly on the day that counts, and the resulting images being the best they possibly can be.

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Karl Grupe is a member of our forums (screen name karlgrupe) and is available to help out with your questions.

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