Things to look for when looking for your wedding photographer.

If you aren’t a photographer, it can be hard to differentiate one photographer from the next. Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for.

I know, I know. This one is obvious. It’s the thing. But there are a few key things to look at in a picture to get a sense of a photographer’s style.

• Skin tones: If you’ve read my post on photographic trends (Timeless, Not Trendy) then you’re already aware that I’m suspicious of styles that lean too far into current trends. Looking at skin tones is one way to gauge the photographer’s color grading style. Does skin look natural? Is it too tinted? The current “orange-hue-everything” trend really.
• Grass, Trees, and Greens: Another good indicator for how colors are being adjusted is to look at the greenery. How far from natural green is it? Do you like the appearance of the grass?
• Saturation: Desatured editing styles are huge right now. Is that your vibe? Will that still be your vibe in 10 years? Your call.

Below are five edits of the same image, each using a slightly different editing style. (For reference, the first edit is neutral.) Drastic color grading can look pretty cool, just be sure you’ll still think it’s cool years later.

This one is hard to tell from a cursory glance through a photographer’s website, but it’s something you can certainly ask about. Especially for photographers who are shooting 30+ weddings a year, the time it takes to edit the thousand or more pictures you might get on a wedding day is pretty bonkers.

One solution is to use presets, which are collections of edits that can be applied to all images with the click of a button. It’s not inherently bad to use these as a starting point, but some photographers may over-rely on them and not give your photographs the individual attention they might otherwise get.

When looking through a gallery, pay attention to how the photographer frames a scene. Aside from edits, this is what separates one photographer from the next. Do they use varying angles and perspectives? Do images seem thoughtfully crafted or mindlessly snapped?

Images are carefully composed to tell the story and reflect the environment.

It is easy to take pictures of good looking people in a beautiful, well-lit landscape. If a photographer’s portfolio exists primarily of people who look like Calvin Klein models kissing in the morning glow of Yosemite National Park, it’s worth asking yourself “Will my wedding look like this?”

The hardest images of the day are after-dark reception photos. Look through the portfolio and be sure the photographer has included a variety of settings and lighting scenarios.