I don't have a clue...

[TipsyTraveler]

Sorry, this has nothing to do with Disney but it is about weddings, so I hope it's okay to post here.

I'm getting married in September and I would like to hire a photographer. My issue is, I don't have the foggiest idea what I should be looking for or what questions I should be asking. Beyond looking at someone's portfolio to get a sense of their style and asking for a quote, what else is there? And what should I be expecting to get -- albums, prints, digital copies, how many? We're getting married out of country so meeting with the photographer beforehand or doing something like a test shoot won't be possible.

I apologize for sounding like such a buffoon, but I really have no idea how to go about this and I'm hoping to not get screwed. Any advice you can give will be most appreciated.

 

[MiaSRN62]

The questions you posed are good ones. Review their work and style and research brides' personal experiences with them (you can search many photographer reviews here and look at the complete blogs of brides who posted their wedding story and pics in this forum. You will see many different photographers and their work style. When you get to talk to your photographer for the first time, they will give you options they offer from having all photos on a DVD to more elaborate bound albums to photo booths etc you can have at your wedding.
You don't sound like a buffoon.....this can all be very overwhelming! I am the mother of a recent DFTW Wishes bride. I would live on these boards for months to try and learn whatever I could. All the best to you!

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Thanks for replying. I'm getting married in Nairobi, Kenya, so it's difficult to even find photographers' names let alone blogs or reviews of them. That's why I feel like I'm really going in blind on this.

 

[Amanda132]

I recommend asking to see a full wedding's worth of shots. That'll give you an idea of how many photos you'll get and what they'll look like, beyond the portfolio. You want to be sure that you like all the photos, not just the ones that are portfolio-worthy. I'm not sure if there's a review site like WeddingWire that would have vendors in Kenya, but something like that's also a good place to start. Or, I bet there are photographers local to you that would travel to Kenya, though I'm sure their travel would be costly.

 

[twinkybel81]

You could also potentially hire photographers from the states who are willing to travel internationally.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Asking to see a full wedding's worth of photos is a good idea. I'll see if someone is willing to do that.

I had a bit of a breakthrough the other day in finding a UK site that lists some Nairobi photographers, so at least I have a starting point now. Although, the few examples of their work that I've seen so far has been underwhelming but, oh well. It is what it is.

Taking a photographer with us is NOT in the budget, plus I don't want to deal with the headache of finding them accommodations, transportation, etc. I'm going to have to make the best of it with whomever I can find locally. Honestly, I don't even know if it's worth it to get a photographer at all because there won't be much for them to photograph. We're having a quick five minute "I do" in a pretty location surrounded by giraffes and that's it. No gown, no reception, no guests, no flowers, no cake... Then again, if I don't hire a photographer we won't have any pictures of us on our wedding day because like I said, no guests. So it's not even like I can hand my iPhone to someone. Lol. Lots to think about.

Thanks for the suggestions so far; I'm open to any other advice anyone has.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Just wanted to give a quick update. After lots of searching, I think I found my photographer.

There's a site called Fearless Photographers where you can submit availability requests to photographers all around the world. (Wish I had known about this when I started my search. I'm naming it here in case it can help anyone else looking internationally. Mods, please remove if this isn't okay.) Anyway, the guy I wanted is available. I'd actually found him elsewhere initially, and had put him at the top of my shortlist. He has numerous pages of weddings featured on his website, each one showing a hundred or so photos, so I feel like I have a pretty good sense of his work. I also found him included on a top 10 list of photographers in Kenya. So I think the guy does quality work -- at least to my untrained eye.

He was willing to tailor a package to my needs and eliminate some of the extras I didn't want. Even though we are only going to need him for a couple of hours, he said he's ours for the day (up to ten hours). We'll be given all the photos he takes, with rights, and 150 edited images. $800. Seems like a good deal to me, so I told him we could move forward with the contract.