Washington DC Wedding Photographer | Ben Rasmussen Photography

I just read this great article that really struck home with me.

Wedding Photography - Focus on Results!

It's a pretty short article, so I won't quote much. But, I highly recommend reading it if you're looking for a wedding photographer.

The author notes that a lot of time is spent talking about photographic styles, camera equipment, techniques such as flash vs. available light and other issues like film vs. digital, full-frame vs. crop sensor and so on. Then, he gets to the main point of the article:

Huh? So what does all this tell you? The answer:

Nothing!

Exactly! When you're looking for a photographer, all of that stuff is beside the point. In the end, what really matters is the photos. If the photos speak to you, what difference does it make what camera the photographer used, or if it was shot on film or digital?

And since all posts are better with a photo, here's a photo from Karen and Mikey's wedding last year that has just grown and grown on me. I feel that it's a great example of the kind of photos that I strive to take: simple, honest, and real.

I'm an avid user of Google products. Seriously, I'm a total fan boy--I use Gmail, Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Voice, and search (of course). My phone even runs Google Android. So, I was really interested when I saw this blog entry on the official Google blog:

Simple Wedding Planning with Google Docs



Google has partnered with Style Me Pretty to create 20 or so templates to help manage your wedding planning. I've looked at a few of them and they are great. They're well organized and include a bunch of tips that are really helpful.

They include templates to collect guest addresses, choose a photographer, plan and manage your budget, organize the seating chart and more. There's even one, the 'All-in-one wedding planner' that includes everything you need in one.

You can check them out at docs.google.com/wedding. They're really a great resource that can help to keep you organized in your wedding planning.

--Ben

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It's been a while since I've posted a new entry in my occasional blog series of Wedding Tips for brides planning their wedding. This entry is going to discuss three articles from The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. A friend forwarded a link to the first one, and I found the others from clicking around on the ISPWP's site. It looks like a great resource for brides and photographers alike, so be sure to look around.

The Secret Life of Wedding Photographers

First up is the article my friend sent me, about the secret life of wedding photographers. It starts with two pie charts. First, the perception of how a photographer spends his time:



Then, the cold hard reality chart:



It's kind of humorous, but I can attest that it is a pretty good breakdown of what really goes into running a photography business and what is really behind the price of wedding photography. I link to it in the hopes that couples who read this will have a better understanding of what they're really paying for--that it's not just 8 hours of shooting on their wedding day. It's a whole lot more.

The other two articles, Five Myths about Wedding Photography and 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Wedding Photographer are very complimentary to each other and I recommend reading them both all the way through. I want to specifically highlight a few myths and mistakes that I feel are particularly important:

MYTH: “Wedding photojournalists don’t take formal portraits”

Wedding photographers who shoot in a photojournalistic style spend most of their day documenting the wedding day as it happens without intervening or directing. Their goal is to take images of the day as they happen and not create or setup images. This often leads to the misconception that wedding photojournalists don’t take ANY posed portraits or group shots.

I definitely lean more towards a photojournalist shooting style. For the most part, I am there to capture your wedding day as it happens in beautiful photos that you'll enjoy for the rest of your life. The main exception to that is the formal portraits and family group shots. A wedding is one of those times when the whole family gets together and is a great time to get a few photos of everyone together. It's rarely anyone's favorite part of the day, so I do my best to make it efficient and go smoothly so that we can get great shots of family without intruding on the festivities. I also like to take a little while with the bride and groom after the group photos to make some beautiful portraits of just the two of them before we head to the reception.

Mistake # 1 – Don’t Make the Mistake of Overlooking the Photographer’s Personality

When you are hiring a wedding photographer, don’t hire someone whom you don’t really like on a personal basis! Their photos might be great, but remember that your photographer is going to be a very substantial participant in your wedding day, not only capturing your memories, but becoming a big part of them!

I've touched on this in the past, but it's always a good point to reiterate. When looking for a photographer, make sure you like them personally, in addition to liking their photos. You don't want to look back and think "what a great photo, but man, the photographer was obnoxious!"

MYTH: “It’s better to have two mediocre/inexpensive photographers than one excellent/expensive photographer”

If you’re thinking of hiring multiple photographers for the sole reason of getting lots of images and viewpoints, don’t forget that you shouldn’t skimp on quality. It’s more important for you to focus on the talent and portfolio of the photographer(s) you are considering rather than the number of photographers who will be at your wedding.

This is a good point that I don't think gets made very often. It can seem like an obvious thing to think that two photographers are always better than one. While I offer the option of a second photographer, I think it's really only necessary if you're having a particularly large number of guests. I believe that for most weddings, as the article points out, that "talent and experience (quality) are more important than focusing solely on quantity."

Like I said above, both of these articles are very informative and helpful and I recommend reading them all the way through. There's a lot of conflicting information out there about what to look for in wedding photography and I think these two articles do a good job of pointing you in the right direction.

As always, I hope these tips have been helpful to you!

--Ben

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I found a couple pocket-sized wedding tips this week. To keep with the theme, this post will also be pocket-sized.

First up, I read on TechCrunch that wedding planning site WeddingWire has updated their (previously unknown to me) iPhone app. If you're using WeddingWire to organize your wedding plans you can now view your plans, budget, vendors, etc. on the go. I think this could be incredibly handy when out running wedding related errands and when meeting with different vendors. The timer counting down to your wedding day, combined with the list of items still to do could be a source of stress, though.

I looked around a little for other phone apps that could be helpful for those planning weddings, but didn't find much. One that I found is this wedding budget app, that looks to replicate part of the functionality of the WeddingWire app.

The other pocket-sized thing I found were these awesome DIY day-of schedules.



In a previous wedding tips entry, I pointed out how important having a well-defined wedding day schedule is. This is a cool way to have a little fun with it and incorporate it into the overall design of your wedding.

-Ben

The other day, I met with a great couple and told them something that I tell all of the couples that I meet. I think I've mentioned it in a previous wedding tips post, but I think it's so important that I'm dedicating a full post to it.

The point that I try to make is that our initial meeting, when you're looking for a wedding photographer for your big day, is not about the albums that I offer. It's not about my wedding packages or engagement portraits. It's not even really about my wedding photography.

What it's really all about is the two of you and me. Do we click? Is there a connection between us? Do I bug you, or make you laugh? Can you trust me to take great photos that make you look great and capture the moments and emotions of your day? This is really the main reason for the initial meeting.

Of course, we'll talk about the albums and the packages and everything else. That stuff is all very important, too, but it really comes down to getting to know each other a little bit. You've seen (and loved ) my photography and know my price range. What you don't know as well, although I try to put it into this site as much as possible, is my personality and how we'll get along.

It's so important to like and trust your wedding photographer. Your level of comfort with your photographer is going to directly impact the quality of your wedding day photos. The more comfortable you are with me, the better the photos that we make together will be.

I hope this is helpful and that you'll keep this in mind when meeting with potential wedding photographers.