Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Photography and BM dresses...can you tell that's what has been on my mind?!?

And this one is about Photography. 

So, a few weeks back i posted some pictures from some photographers that i'm considering. I now have some updates and additions to that post. Zoeiac Images is not available for our date and Arden hasn't gotten back to me (it's okay, i only sent one email...i'm not devastated or
 anything) but i found another photographer that i'm really loving. It's W. Scott Chester Photography from Atlanta, GA. They really seem to have a perfect balance of artistic, detail and [somewhat] traditional photos. I love the color balance and - one of my favorite aspects - the pictures have great lighting, used in interesting ways. Another awesome thing about them is that when i asked to see a full wedding gallery they gave me links to 5 different weddings! Now, on a side note...Let me just say that I've learned to ask for this very important piece of information from photographers because when you're looking through someone's portfolio it doesn't necessarily give you the best depiction of their work. The portfolio, of course, is their creme de la'creme of photos and not always their "typical" work. So it's always best to ask if you can see a full wedding they've shot - this way it REALLY gives you an idea of the kind of photographer they are. What shots they choose, the different angles they take, how they use the lighting in their photos, the different ways they edit and process the images, and their breadth of coverage. Well, W. Scott Chester Photography was obviously confident enough in their work to show me not just 1 full wedding gallery (as many photographers that i've spoken with have), but they showed me 5 different wedding galleries! And i have to say that i was VERY impressed and i can certainly understand (and agree) with their confidence! 

So, without further ado...here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure...






all images are owned and copyrighted by W. Scott Chester Photography

Pretty great right? So you're probably wondering why i'm writing about this instead of immediately hiring them....well, their fees are at the very top of my price bracket....then with the addition of their travel fees it pushes it over the edge. So boo-hoo once again! I'm hoping maybe something could possibly (in a fairytale land) come through with it...but i'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. 

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Negotiating Tips?!? :)

5 comments:

Becky said...

Liz, I think we have a winner!!!! If I were you I would cut something out of the budget! Like, idk, something no one cares about and will be thrown away when it's all said and done. You'll have your photos forever!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Rebecca! If I could go back and do anything different about my wedding I would have hired my FAVORITE and TOP CHOICE photographer and done with out something else. I spent money on things no one will remember like renting a fountain punch bowl or buying super expensive cakes. Hind-sight is always 20/20. So my advice... pics are the most importatnt purchase you make! They'll be the part of the wedding you keep forever.

Unknown said...

negotiating tip - we threaten to break his legs, capeesh?

Deanie said...

100% agree that you don't skimp on pictures!! Price doesn't always mean quality though. For my wedding I used the most expensive photographer in town, J.D. Hayward, Pensacola, FL. I used him b/c I had seen his artistic work as well as I knew 2 brides that he had done their weddings for and they have fabulous taste- so how could I go wrong!!! I was soooooo wrong. My pictures turned out terrible ( he totally forgot to even take a picture of me and my mother- of all pictures to forget!!!)and when I saw those other 2 brides that had used him- they said' oh I wish you had called me for a reference because our pictures were terrible too!!!! I even went to a wedding in Atlanta and the photographers were wonderful. I mentioned to them how bad my photographer was and they asked who it was and they told me they were shocked that was doing weddings b/c he was really only a artistic photographer. Anyway- 8 years after my wedding I still do not have a wedding album and I thank God everyday that we had 2 people at the wedding who were very talented in photography and took loads of pictures for us- otherwise we would have none. By the way- at the time- we paid $2500 for the photographer. My best piece of advice I can give you is call for references and make sure your photographer has an assistant. SO many great things are happening at your wedding /reception and your photographer can't be all places at once. Any photographer that tells you that they don't need an assistant needs to be walked away from!! I could go on and on forever- I am still quite bitter after all this time- I feel my blood boiling already!!!I would hate for this to happen to anyone!!!

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