If you haven’t read my previous top five things I would look for in a photographer’s portfolio, its still well worth a read. I have however been trying to think of a new top five for a while, I mean you’d expect after two years of shooting that there would be some change in what I would be looking for in a portfolio? The start of a new year seems as fitting a time as any to put together a new list.

So, the top 5 things I would look for in a photographer’s portfolio in 2008, in no particular order and keep in mind that some of them may be similar to my previous top five:

• The first thing I would look for is consistancy across multiple weddings, i.e. I want to see a range of weddings in a variety of conditions, indoor shots, outdoor weddings, cloudy days, rainy days, days when the sun was shining so brightly that hissing sounds could be heard when water hit ground. You never know what kind of conditions to expect on your day and your photographer should be able to handle any weather and lighting conditions.
  I recently read in another photographer’s blog that they would love to do a destination wedding in South Africa, and I thought that’s nice for them, not so much for the client. The sun in africa, especially on a clear day will turn the plastic on camera into gum. You have to know how to handle that amount of light. It isn’t the soft golden light that is common in pics from the US or the even wraparound lighting you get in the UK. Its brutal, and your photographer should be able to shoot the same kind of magical shots in their portfolio under any weather conditions, not just the soft mid-afternoon light that we often see. You need serious flashpower to overpower the sun on those days, and if your photographer doesn’t know what that means, best you get your photos taken in the shade.
• The second thing I like to see in a portfolio is the kind of photos that I want, it may seem like a bit of a tautology, but if you want killer moody pics don’t hire someone who has a portfolio of beautifully exposed super saturated images. To quote everyone’s favourite photo editor “… Never hire a photographer to shoot something that’s not already in their book. This is worth repeating. Don’t hire photographers to shoot pictures they don’t already have the skills to take. Don’t misinterpret this to mean you need kittens playing with yarn to get a job shooting kittens playing with yarn. And, don’t take it to mean we never try photographers out or take a chance on photographers. We do, just not with the big shoots …” Magazines don’t do this with their big shoots, and this is probably one of the few times that you will hire a professional photographer. Just don’t do it. For your sake and for your photographer’s sake.
• My third must have item is one that has been suggested to me by one of my clients. Its the power to surprise. Of course, I’m talking about surprise in a pleasant way, not Surprise! I forgot the lenscap on and all of your pics are a bit dark. Its a tough one to gauge from a portfolio, but if they have a blog, a quick scan through it should show you whether they take the expected standard images or does every (ok, that’s a bit harsh, do most) weddings in the blog have an image which you think wow! I haven’t seen that before, or that is an amazing image. Do the research, you’ll be grateful when your photos show up.
• My fourth one, something which started me thinking after a comment on my blog, Do the weddings blend into each other after a while? Or does each one look different, have a different feel or a different look? Anyone can talk about not shooting cookie cutter weddings, I’ve only seen two or three that do. You can often take photos from the one wedding and fit them into a set from another one without noticing a difference besides the fact that there is a different bride. You’ve spent so much time and money to make your day unique, your photos should reflect that, there should be some element of you in your pics other than the fact that you are in them.
• Last one on the list is similar to one of my previous top five and I think that this still holds true. If you are looking at a portfolio, make sure that it shows a wedding – you know, guests, emotions, moments. Since no one ever reads this far in my posts, I can let you in on an industry ’secret’, there are a large number of the ‘big guns’ in the industry whose entire online portfolio consists of shots taken of models, at workshops or just shooting bridals. Beautifully composed, well lit, incredible expression, but she’s a professional model, and the photographer has had over five hours, several locations and a stylist. You won’t get that kind of time at a real wedding, the lighting may be off, the groom may get tense after a couple of minutes, the guests may start to get hungry and the co-ordinator is pushing for the photographer to hurry up. In your mind, it doesn’t matter, you just got married, you hired a photographer with beautiful photos in their portfolio, they will make a plan and get the same kind of photos in the 30 minutes that have been allocated. Maybe. Most likely not.

These are just my thoughts, hopefully they’re helpful or at least a bit more helpful than those ten things you should look for in your wedding photographer articles that they have year after year in the mags which say things like make sure that your photographer has a complete set of backup equipment – I have never met a pro with only a single camera. Do the research, you know what you want, look for it, it is out there.

This entry was posted Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 10:11 am and is filed under Info.