How To Find An Elopement Photographer
So your engaged (or maybe you’re like me and want to just skip the whole engagement and get right into planning haha). But you’ve heard all the rumors that “wedding planning is stressful!” and so you’ve vowed to yourself that you’re not gonna let it get to you and it’s going to be easy-peasy.
So maybe you have a venue, or a date, or a location, or maybe you don’t have anything - when starting wedding planning, the thing you want to start out with is :
What is most important!
If your dream is to get married at Dunton Hot Springs Resort, then your first order of business should be reaching out to them about dates!
If your dream is to get married on 2-2-22, or during peak fall foliage season, or a particular date, then you want to decide on that date first!
If your dream is to have so - and - so as your wedding photographer, then you want to reach out to your photographer and find out about their availability first! Most photographers don’t need exact details to book you for your wedding day, but they will need a few things.
What you need to have ready when booking your photographer
Most photographers need a date to book you, because that helps us block out that specific date on our calendar. That’s also what your retainer is for! Some photographers will book you without a date, it just depends on the photographer so be sure to double check.
A location! Whether you’re getting married at a venue or eloping, most photographers need some type of location so they can plan and book travel - or include your travel fees in their rate, if they aren’t already included!
How to find an elopement photographer for your location
Some photographers travel and like doing destination weddings and elopements, others like to stay local, or relatively local.
Personally, I love staying on the west slope. While I’m well versed in ideal elopement locations in the front range from having lived there for 6 years, I also have an expertise in the San Juans & West Slope that comes with living out here and exploring every weekend!
Once you have a location, you can go about finding your photographer a couple of different ways:
Google!
“‘your venue photography” and see if there are any photos + photographers you like
“Your location photographer” and see if there are any photos that stand out
Check out wedding directory sites like Wandering Weddings, Rocky Mountain Bride, Equally Wed, Wed West Slope, etc.
Instagram!
Search location tags, hashtags, etc. You can start broad with “Grand Junction, Colorado” or narrow down to “Colorado National Monument”.
Referrals!
Ask friends or family if they have worked with a photographer that they loved.
Things to Look For on a Photographers Website
Once you’re in the process of going through photographers websites, there are a few things to look out for:
Do they specialize in either elopements or weddings? Whether you're eloping with just the two of you or a small group, or have a 50-150 person wedding - the expertise of the photographer you hire is going to vary significantly. Personally, I’m awesome at shooting in harsh outdoor lighting conditions, but I’m less skilled at properly lighting a large venue with off camera flash. Long story short, find a photographer that specializes!
Do they have example galleries of weddings and elopements they’ve photographed?
Does their about page make you want to spend your entire wedding day with them?
Is it easy to contact them to get info on pricing and availability?
Or is their pricing already listed on their website, and is it within your budget?
If it’s not in your budget, do you connect with them so much and can’t imagine anyone else photographing your day that you’re willing to raise your budget?
And last but not least, do you like their editing style?
How to decide what style editing you like
One thing that you might not think of is the style of the editing that photographers do. It’s wild that all photos look the same straight out of camera, or raw. The way a photographer edits helps them tell your story in a more in depth way. Some people go bright and airy, others go moody. Being able to identify the type of editing a photographer does, and what you’d like for your own images, can help you narrow down the search.
Bright and Airy: bright and airy photos typically have brighter exposure, are more colorful with bright pinks and greens, and more color saturation.
True to Color: a step back from bright and airy, true to color editing works to keep skin tones more true to life and environmental colors the same.
Film: more muted colors, or colors that emulate old film colors, film editing style also has more grain and typically less contrast.
Dark and Moody: more contrast, deep blacks, and less color saturation and colors define the dark and moody editing style.
Once you’ve decided which style you like most, you can keep an eye out for that editing when looking for your photographer. Personally, I do all my googling for photographers through google image search because I can see right off the bat whether I like their editing style!
Now that you’ve found a photographer who’s editing you like, whats next?
Documentary vs Prompts vs Traditional Posing
Getting photos taken is stressful. If you’ve never been in front of the camera before, you might not know exactly what type of shooting style you like, so lets go over them:
Documentary: Documentary photography style typically has less influence from the photographer. For example, if you’re on a beach, a documentary photographer will most likely give you space to run around and create genuine, authentic moments. Having an activity planned like a campfire or a picnic is one of the many ways that documentary photographers help create genuine moments and create variety in your session.
Prompts: Most photographers understand how awkward you can feel in front of the camera, especially for the first 15 minutes. That’s where prompts come in! Prompts are usually things your photographer will ask you to do based on the vibe they get from you and your partner and how you interact. One of my favorite prompts is just a quick game where you try to say the same color at the same time. It makes for some great laughs, and some good memories :) From there, prompts can be as simple as bump hips and walk towards me, to hang out and watch the sunset.
Traditional Posing: While most people think of traditional posing as “stand here, put your hand here, look here, smile”, it usually is a bit more in depth than that. Most photographers use some type of traditional posing for wedding photos because those photos are important to get! Traditional posing examples can be things like dipping your partner, or doing the typical, smile at the camera pose.
Personally, I mix and match all three of these for photo sessions to create more variety. I can always tell when couples need more or less direction so I base it off of that and how you interact with each other!
How to Reach Out to A Photographer
Now that you’ve found someone, most photographers have a contact form on their website and I think I speak for most people when I say, we love when you use the contact form! We get so many DM’s on social platforms that everything gets lost and we might not even see your message.
Filling out a photographers contact form is their first impression of you and I can’t stress this enough, finding a photographer is a two way street! You won’t vibe with everyone you meet in your life, and it’s the same way with photographers and clients! So when filling out the contact information, we love when you give us details! It streamlines the process, we don’t have to email back and forth about what location and the number of guests and what you’re looking for in an elopement photographer, etc. I’ve always found that the more info people give on my contact form, the more serious they are about me photographing their wedding (as opposed to just hiring any photographer) and it gets me SO EXCITED. Photographers are human and we are always stoked to work with people who are excited to work with us.
Long story short, fill out the contact form fully. If you aren’t excited for your wedding day, we wont be either. And if you aren’t excited about reaching out to that particular photographer, keep looking!
Questions To Ask on Your 1:1 Call With A Photographer
The most important step of finding your wedding or elopement photographer is the one on one consultation that you have with them.
This is the moment that you either connect and can’t imagine anyone else photographing you on your day
OR
It’s the moment you realize, na.
Some of the best questions to ask your wedding photographer:
How many years of experience do you have? How many weddings have you photographed? If looking for an elopement photographer, how much experience do you have with the outdoors?
Finding an elopement photographer is a totally different game than finding a wedding photographer. Elopement photographers are typically well versed in not only capturing you on your elopement day, but also in helping craft the adventures and activities that you do. They’re more up to date on locations and permits, and have experience photographing throughout the entire day (including the dreaded “high sun” times!). To learn more about how to elope or how to find an elopement photographer, check out these resource guides!
Do you photograph only in natural light, or use flash or off camera flash?
Personally I don’t like the look of flash so I only use flash when required, like for indoor receptions.
Do you have any gallery examples of weddings or elopements in the same location, time of year, or lighting?
This is so incredibly important! You need to look through example galleries of your wedding photographer and not just instagram highlights or blog posts so you can see everything they are photographing throughout the day. This also gives you an idea of how they edit different lighting scenarios, and if they can edit during tough lighter scenarios like a 2 pm wedding ceremony.
Discuss any different lighting scenarios you’re having:
For example, if you’re having a nighttime ceremony with twinkle lights and you don’t want flash, ask your photographer if they have any experience with that! For some photographers, that would be a great creative challenge. For others, it’s their worst nightmare :) Communication is key here! If you’re not sure if something would be a challenge to your photographer, just ask!
Are there any additional fees not included in your package price?
Some photographers include travel and permit fees in their package price. Some don’t, so you always want to check!
What all is included in your packages?
It helps to have the photographer go over each item clearly so there is no confusion. Some photographers include second photographers, guides, gifts, sneak peaks, engagement sessions, etc.
What type of backup system are you running to insure my photos aren’t lost?
One thing you might not consider when hiring a less experienced photographer is how they backup their photos. It’s important that your photographer has a camera that writes to two separate cards, so that if one of those cards corrupts (stops working), your images aren’t lost.
Personally, I have three cameras with me on wedding days so that if something happens to one of them, I always have a backup to be shooting with two. Each camera writes the images to two separate card slots. Once I’m home from your wedding, I download the images to my computer, and to two separate hard drives, keeping a copy of your images in 5 different formats until they’re delivered and in your hands! From there, I keep the two hard drives for forever, so if in 5 years you can’t find your wedding photos, don’t worry, I’ve got them!
About how many images will I receive back?
I return 50-100 photos per hour.
Will I need to pay to download my images, or will I be able to download the entire gallery for free?
Will I receive a print release?
A print release allows you to take your photos to your favorite printer to get them printed instead of getting them printed through your photographers favorite printer. No photographer will recommend you get your photos printed at walgreens, but if it’s important to you to support your favorite local print shop, this can be important.
How long will my gallery be online?
Some photographers leave your gallery up for a couple of months, others for a year, others indefinitely.
How much photoshopping do you do, and how much will be it be per image or per hour, for additional requests?
Whether its your brothers ex girlfriend that needs to be photoshopped out of every image, or those dark circles your aunt wants removed from under her eyes, every photographer has a different skill set and rate when it comes to in depth editing and photoshop.
Do you help plan timelines or day of activities for elopements or day after sessions?
Lets face it! Photographers have an expertise in lighting that you wouldn’t otherwise think about. I always tell my couples that I am 1) here to help you plan your timeline so that the photos that are most important to you, are during the best lighting, and 2) if you need help planning an activity for the day, let me help! I have so many guides and resources with things to do from horseback and sleigh rides to where to hike and grab a bite :)
Do you book your own travel, or will I need to book it for you?
For destination photographers, this varies! Personally, I like to book my own travel.
What is your retainer and when is the final payment due?
Another factor that varies completely depending on your photographer. Some require 50% due to reserve your date, personally I require $500 to reserve your date, with the full amount due 1 month out.
What is your cancellation policy?
This is something you can double check in the contract as well, just to check that it matches whatever they told you in your initial consult.
When will I receive my full gallery back?
Schedule a Test Run with an Engagement Shoot
You most likely don’t want a stranger that you’ve only talked to a handful of times showing up on your wedding day, so most of us will recommend you schedule an engagement session as well! I include discounted engagements for my wedding couples, as it lets us meet and get to know each other before your wedding date!
Engagement shoots let you see how your photographer works and directs you, and also gives you a chance to trial run your makeup artist!