Hiring the right wedding team is a critical part of the wedding planning process. Personality, budget, skills, compatibility are just a few of the factors to consider, but whats the deciding factor in hiring the team to run such an important event? We are excited to bring you this insightful, in-depth 5 part blog on hiring your vendor. Though its written with hiring your photographer (a VERY important vendor!) in mind, its applicable to hiring all of your vendors. Thank you to our Guest Blogger, Paul Bellinger Photography for this great piece. We will be posting this complete blog over the next weeks, so check back weekly. Now for Part 4. Read the Entire Blog…. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
PRODUCTS YOU
NEED
Problem: how to
find a wedding photographer that offers the products you need.
Solution: Meet
with photographers face to face and inspect the products they offer, looking
for heirloom quality albums and large prints that are only available from
professional photographers.
It’s great that
photographers offer lots of unique products, but it can get a little
overwhelming with so many options out there. On top of all of the cool unique things a photographer may
offer, there are a few key products that every bride should look for: albums,
large prints and digital negatives.
These three items are absolutely essential for preserving the memory of
one of the most important days in your family’s history. These are the first family heirlooms of
the new family you’re creating on your wedding day, so they should be heirloom
quality products that your family will be proud of for generations. Fortunately, professional photographers
have exclusive access to the finest quality products that are not available to
the general public. Any
photographer can provide digital negatives, but only professional photographers
can offer heirloom quality products worthy of your special day. Here’s what to look for in each
product:
1. Albums: Your wedding album is the
single most important wedding product you’ll purchase. It’s going to be telling the story of
your wedding for generations. It
may be your only major family heirloom that will literally be preserved forever
and it may be the last documented record of your family elders, including your
parents. So the wedding album is
very important! You want one that
will be a work of art in and of itself, and that will last forever. This is where hiring a professional
photographer pays off, because pros have access to heirloom quality albums that
are not available to consumers.
Meet with potential photographers and inspect their albums closely. Ask them about the durability of their
albums and listen for them to use words like “handmade,” “archival inks,” and
“museum quality papers.” Ask them
if their albums are available to the general public. If they are, it’s a sign the photographer is either not a
professional, or are not interested in offering their clients the highest
quality products available, both of which are a bad sign.
2. Large Prints: As important as your wedding album is, large prints are the
wedding artwork that will brighten up your day every day. Albums will be put on shelves and in
boxes for preservation, digital files will be buried on your computer or on a
disc in a drawer, but you will see your large prints every day. And every time you walk past your
artwork you’ll get a little tinge of the emotions you experienced at your
wedding, and trust me, it will put a smile on your face! And size matters! I recommend you get your wedding
artwork printed as large as possible, with 20”x30” being the minimum size to
consider for your large artwork (personally I prefer 40”x60”). But why not save money by making your
own prints instead of buying them from a professional photographer? The reason is because printing is
itself an art form and each print requires the special attention of a trained
professional with printing experience.
Each print should be finely tuned for the medium it is being printed on,
such as photo paper, fine art paper, canvas, metal, acrylic, etc. This is especially true for large
prints that are going to be proudly displayed on your walls. Professional photographers will make
sure your prints look perfect.
Pros have probably made thousands of prints and tested a variety of
print labs, so they can save you a lot of time and effort by getting your
prints right the first time, while saving you the hassle of dealing with print
labs yourself. And again, pros
have access to professional print labs that offer archival and museum quality
products that are not available to the general public.
3. Digital Negatives: It’s a popular misconception that
digital negatives are for making your own albums and prints, so at this point
you may be asking yourself why you would even need digital negatives if your
photographer is supplying albums and large prints. The answer is that your digital negatives are for archiving
and not printing. It’s true that
you can make your own prints from digital negatives, but most people never
do. Why not? Because it’s a hassle! And most people have very little
experience making prints and albums.
Meanwhile, a professional wedding photographer has years of experience
and can offer you products that you can’t get yourself. So for most people, digital negatives
are for archiving and backup, not printing. Your kids may pull them out one day to make a print for your
50th wedding anniversary, or you may have a few prints made for the
funeral of a loved one that attended your wedding. You may need them someday, so be sure to back up your
digital negatives in multiple locations (including online in the cloud) so that
you and your family will have access to them no matter what may happen. Hopefully your photographer will also
keep a backup. When meeting
potential photographers ask how they will deliver the digital negatives. Are they going to give you a disc that
will get scratched up, or a cheap USB drive that will get corrupted? Ask to see the products and judge for
yourself. Lastly, ask potential
photographers what your printing rights will be, and to see a copy of the print
release you will receive with the digital negatives.
Key tip: Seek out a wedding photographer that
offers albums and large prints, and save yourself the hassle of trying to make
prints on your own so you can start enjoying your beautiful wedding artwork as
soon as possible! Anyone can provide
digital negatives, but only pros can offer the finest quality products worthy
of your first family heirloom.
Guest Blogger
Paul Bellinger
406-850-2674
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