Ceremony & reception details

Hi

I am looking for some advice on good photographers in Melbourne, how do you choose? There are so many and it is so hard to tell. I’m getting married at Montsalvat so all photos will be taken there.

Thanks

Hey Keibla,

Choosing a photographer is difficult indeed! But it is also a very personal choice. I would check out their online portfolios or go into their studio (after you have narrowed it down to a few) to check out the finished product. Photographers will all have their own style and touch up their photos in different ways so it’s really up to what you like.

Other people who can help with the decision:

- your videographer if you are having one

- the venue, if you want a photographer who has definitely worked that location before (p/s. I haven’t seen Mont Salvat in person but it was on my list to consider, I love the way it looks!!)

We went with a husban/wife team, Finessence, who have just started up. If you look at their photos, you can hardly tell! It looks like they have been at it for ages. They have a very modern, colourful take on their photos which I love.

Others that were in the running were David Fowler and Joseph Koprek. They were both recommened by our videographer, who I selected in a heartbeat the moment I saw their work as well. Unfortunately David was never really in the running because he was booked on our date and it ultimately came down to price with Joseph. Finessence was to willing give us the high res copies of the photos without too much of a price increase, meaning that we can make prints anytime we want. Budget will definitely also play a part.

A mate of mine runs http://www.beautifullifephotography.com.au and I think she’s amazing!!! We’re not using her because she had a baby and I wasn’t sure what the go would be by the time our wedding came around. But give drop her a line or check out the website because the photos are wonderful.

On the opposite note: another mate of mine just got married last year and used a company called Serendipity. Appearently they were nice to begin with but when they found out that the couple wasn’t going to be spending much on extras it all went south and they had to wait close to 9 months before they got their photos. This is all hearsay but I thought I’d pass it along.

Hope all this helps and I haven’t drowned you in too much info!

Cheers, Vanessa

Hi Keibla, The criteria we chose to evaluate photographers (you’re right, there are definitely a lot of them! and so many good ones) were:

-high res photos on disc (make sure they are unwatermarked/non-protected so you can make your own copies and share them online if you want to)

-price

-# of photos taken on the day (some photographers have a limit to the number they will take)

-# of photographers (if you’re not doing videography as well, it might be good to consider a photographer that works with another person so that nothing is missed)

-hours of coverage (including getting ready, ceremony, wedding party, reception)

-prints, album (keep in mind that if you’re provided with an unprotected disc of high res images, you can make your own prints and photo albums online at a much lower cost)

-photo finishing (black and white, photoshopping, etc.)

-any extras (e.g. thank you cards, online gallery)

We put all of our criteria into a spreadsheet and then sent emails to the photographers we were interested in. We ended up going with Sharon at Whole Package Photography (http://www.wholepackage.com.au/) because she is very affordable and meets all of our criteria. The photos on her website didn’t “wow” us, but the ones she showed us on her computer when we met with her were great. We also liked that she has a package deal with Turbo Productions, so we managed to get a video/photo package deal for under $4000. http://www.turboproductions.com.au/video-produc… They work together in the same office in Docklands.

Other photography vendors that we liked were Lisa Germany Photography, Passion8 Photography, Red Sparrow Photography, and Kerryn Lee Photography, but they were simply out of our price range.

Hope this helps, good luck with your search!