Choosing your wedding photographer can range from a daunting, to a seriously insane process. Some couples get lucky. They pick up a student fresh out of college, and he does an amazing job. Or on the flip side, you pick a seasoned pro to photograph your wedding. They charge you an arm and a leg (and a kidney, and spleen) and you’re not really impressed by the photos. Maybe the photos lack the ‘pop’ you were looking for, and don’t really capture your personalities.

First things first:
What exactly are you looking for from your wedding photographer?
– Do you want someone artistic, someone with talent?
– or Do you want someone just to press buttons?
– Do you just want a print it yourself package, where the photographer gives you a dvd?
– or Do you want an amazing album that family and friends will drool over?

There’s about 1000 questions, and somewhere in the process of meeting with all of these photographers, you might lose sight of what you were originally looking for.

My advice: start shopping early. A lot of the better photographers in the world are booking up 10 – 18 months in advance. Currently I’m sitting at around 20 bookings for 2009, and it’s only just out of September ’08.

You might have to do some digging to find your photographer. There’s a lot of good ones lurking in the shadows, you just have to enter the right search terms into Google. Don’t always settle on the photographers that your venue, caterer, or planner suggest.

Watch out for kickbacks!

A kickback is kind of like a commission for a coordinator, or venue, or anyone who profits out referring a photographer.
Ever go into an electronics store, and the sales person is really pushing one product on you? You’ve done your research at home, and you know there are better options…so why is this guy so adamant on selling you what he wants? Well, products that don’t sell, or need a little bit of a sales boost can offer the best commissions. So it’s in that sales mans best interest to sell you what’s going to make him money. Sadly, the same goes in the wedding world.

So now you’ve found a few photographers you like, and they’re available for your date.
Oh, side note: if everyone seems to be booked, ask the photographer who they suggest in the area. Photographers know other photographers, and know who does a good job. I’m aware of most of what’s going on in the wedding photography market around Southern Ontario – other good photographers will too.

Alright, back to business – you’ve found a few photographers you’re going to meet with. What do you talk to them about? You could bring a huge list of questions from that bridal book you picked up at the wedding show…but some of them look a little bit embarrassing to ask…so lets get straight to the important ones.

– Is it you who is going to be shooting my wedding?
This ones only really important if you’ve gone to a ‘studio’ where they have many photographers working under one banner. If you’re coming to a single photographer…say Taylor Jackson Photography..it’s probably a pretty safe bet that they will be the one shooting your wedding.
– Can I see a full wedding you’ve photographed?
– Do you have backup gear?
– and Can you control the weather?

I haven’t met any photographers that can control the weather. So, if they say they can, it’s probably safe to assume they’re a liar.

If you get along well with them, they’re within your budget (yes, couples meet with me knowing they can’t afford me), and you like their work, you’re probably in good shape.

From here you’ll likely have to sign a contract, and give some sort of down payment to secure your date with the photographer. If you got an engagement session, great! It’s time to book some time together. Hopefully after you see the photos from the engagement session, you know you picked the right photographer.

Hopefully my scattered thoughts here helped someone.  I’ve met with a lot of couples, and spent a lot of time analyzing every part of wedding photography. If you have any questions, just shoot me an email, and I’ll do my best to help — even if you’re not booking with me.

Taylor
Kitchener Waterloo Wedding Photographer

Posted in Tutorials

Hello blog readers. This weekend I had the opportunity to finally photograph along side a long time friend Marshall Angus

More photos from Cambridge Mill up at http://www.taylorjacksonphoto.com/blog/cambridge-mill-weddings-lots-of-pictures/

Alecia & Matt ended up with a beautiful day for their wedding.

This was actually my first time photographing a wedding at Mill Race Park in Galt.

The guys brought the Kanye West shades along for Beastie Boy’s-ish formals.


We decided to stop by L.A. Franks for some ice cream.


There may or may not have been a little bit of ice-cream-melting-on-the-dress panic here. Alecia’s amazing tip – get white chalk, it will cover up anything.

Kitchener Wedding Photographer

Posted in Weddings

– I will be the one that photographs your wedding day. I’ll also be the one designing your album, editing your photographs, and responding to your emails/phone calls.

– I would say that I’m a blend between contemporary, photojournalism, and traditional. I try to keep everyone from grandparents, to modern artists happy.

– I spend a great deal of time editing your photos after the wedding –somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 hours. And you will receive a mixture of colour, sepia, and black and white photos. If I feel that the colour is too distracting, and pulls the attention from you (the bride) then I will likely make the photo black and white, or sepia toned.

– I consider 10 hours to be the full day. At our first meeting we can discuss timelines, and if it looks a little tight, I will consider bumping the 10 hours to 12 hours at no extra charge.
I am usually there from when you’re getting ready, until the first dances, or cake cut –whichever comes last. This is what I consider a full day of coverage.

– My package includes only myself. If you are interested in hiring another dedicated photographer for your day, contact me, and I will see who is talented and available on your day.

– For bigger weddings, usually 190+ guests, I will always bring an assistant. Any other weddings are on a case by case basis. Let me know if you’d like to request an assistant or second photographer.

– I shoot all Nikon digital equipment. I have backups, and backups for backups – at least 2 of everything imaginable. I also carry a Tide-to-Go pen…just in case.

– There is some travel included with each of my packages. For custom packages, travel is 35cents a km outside of the Kitchener area.

– All of my packages come with an online gallery. From this gallery, family and friends can view, and purchase photos from your wedding. The photos will be shipped directly to whoever purchases them.

– I am yours for the day. There are no extra charges for extra locations, or any short travel.

– I will set you up with a website gallery where family and friends can view and purchase your photos. All of your photos will come on a high resolution CD, and you can print them whenever, and wherever you wish.

– I try to include a CD/DVD with every package I create. They are high resolution photos that you are able to print from at any time, and you should expect your CD within two weeks after your wedding day.

– Absolutely. I generally have customization to all of my packages. The packages and prices are just a starting point.

– I love love love my high end coffee table book, and will love it too. I also have slimmer, more moderately priced books. I can provide you with custom parent albums, and pocket brag books as well. I do all of the designing myself, and will show you what your album looks like before I get it printed. I generally let you make 4 or 5 modifications to the album after I’ve completed it.

– Anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months, depending on how extravagant you go. Bigger books generally take longer to design, and longer to bind.

– I take unlimited photographs on your wedding day. This usually averages about 500 keeper photographs on a 7 hour day.
Kitchener Wedding Photographer

Posted in Engagements,Weddings

Every month I sell about 1000 stock photos around the internet, and every now and then I get an email from a designer saying that they used one of my photos.
One evening I happened to get an email on behalf of a company working for Fox Entertainment Inc.
They purchased my photo off a stock site, and sent me a link to a final design containing my image:

They licensed the photo for print, TV, and billboard use. Sadly none of the billboards were scheduled to appear in Canada – I guess it is American Idol.
I told friends and family to watch out for the image on TV, and a few of them reported back seeing it over about a 6 month period last year.

So that’s the story. Not as exciting as many would hope..but it is pretty funny that one of the main pieces of American Idol advertising was a photo that I took in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Docks.
Kitchener Wedding Photographer

Posted in Commercial,Music
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I managed to end up in New York City twice over the winter/spring. The first trip was to follow a band into the studio to record their first record. When I wasn’t doing photos with the band, I wandered around the city.
Here’s a few photos I took while I was there:

From the top of the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan:
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If you go to NYC, go up the Rockefeller Center, and not the Empire State Building…that’s my advice.

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Outside the Brooklyn studio at night.

The Brooklyn Bridge by day:
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Times Square…it’s always nuts. Don’t try to get a table at the Olive Garden 7pm on a Friday night with no reservation.

Wandering around in Brooklyn

Flight out of LGA

Things that are a great idea:

1. Going to New York City at some point in your life. Just wander around Manhattan, you don’t need a tour bus, or guideance. Figure it out as you go. It’s a lot of fun.

Posted in Commercial
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