“What Should People Be Looking for in a Wedding Photographer?”

I take this subject seriously because weddings matter and photography at weddings matter. There are few buying decisions in our lives that actually can cause life-long regret, and wedding photography tops that list. You may spend a lot of money buying a bad car or even a couch that isn’t comfortable, but the problem is solved once you get rid of it and replace it.

But when it comes to wedding photographs, they can only be done once. People who have made a poor decision in this area will lament even 50 years after their wedding and will still hold regret. I’ve found that if one bride doesn’t hire me, it’s usually her regret afterwards that gets her friends to hire me. If a mother of a bride comes in with decades of regret from her own wedding, that feeling is usually enough for her daughter to spend the extra money to hire me.

The reason people worry about their wedding photography is simple, it only happens once, it can’t be re-done, and you don’t know what you’re paying for until a month or so after the wedding.

Of all the expenses of a wedding, the photography is the one thing you keep your entire life. And as people get older, their tastes change and improve and they become more educated. If their photography is faddish or sub-par, it will only get worse as the years go by and your tastes improve.

There are literally thousands of photographers in every state saying that they are professionals. Many of those lately are your friends, neighbors and relatives needing you to hire them for friendship sake and as a favor to them to help them build their portfolio. These are not photographers with credentials other than their love of photography and the fact that they are spending what seems like a lot of money to them on equipment.

Guilt of hurting a friendship or feeling the need to help build someone’s portfolio with your one and only special day are bad motivators. These should not be reasons you hire any photographer. There is a wide gamut of skill, education, abilities, and price options, but when it really comes down to it, price and quality are related very tightly in photography.

Weddings are incredibly difficult for photographers as they provide a wide range of variables, locations, lighting conditions, weather, body shapes, and people’s personalities. Despite all these, the photographer must create great images without excuse, and usually under incredibly tight time constraints.

A wedding photographer must be skilled, knowledgeable, and versatile, and at the same time creative. But these things are hard for a client to really see when they’re shopping around.

So my advice when shopping for a wedding photographer is to not trust the initial samples a photographer shows you, and that goes double for any sample images online – there isn’t enough resolution in web images to see the flaws.

You must get in and see the images first-hand in printed form as big as possible. You must meet the photographer and see how you like his/her personality. You must ask to see more samples than are shown, particularly entire weddings in album or printed form.

If they don’t have printed samples, and lots of them, spanning years and years of weddings that look wonderful, then they are too new for you to hire. They are either not making enough money yet to afford some samples and/or are too inexperienced for you to hire. You are not someone’s guinea pig for practice. You need a professional on YOUR one big day!

When you look at samples, look past the flowers, the dresses, and the things in the images, and instead look at the photography, the consistency of the images. Look to see if the bride looks thin all the way through, if she always looks good, and doesn’t look fake, plastic or “photoshop-ed.”

Also make sure to pay particular note to the sample album and how it is constructed and built. How many sample albums are there? Do they go back years? Are parts of the book coming apart?

Hopefully there are plenty of albums that span years, show all sorts of locations, lighting, and options, and despite lots of use and traffic from clients, the books should be holding up beautifully.

Keep in mind that most photographers will show their lucky shots taken on an easy day for lighting (usually called “natural light” images taken on a cloudy, overcast day). Those kind of lucky images require no real skill. They do nothing to show YOU how you will be photographed on your day in your unique lighting conditions.

So ask instead to see entire weddings in broad sunlight, or in the middle of the night outside. Ask to see entire weddings all the way through, and not just the photographer’s favorite samples.

Photographers on the cheaper end of the scale rely on their equipment and the law of averages, shooting thousands of images in hopes of getting something somewhat decent and saleable. They then cover up their images with lots of software and effects. They attempt to hide the common problems of bluish-grey skin and the dark eyes caused by bad technique, with effects like yellow tones and washed out looks.

To a new bride, these effects make images seem fun and “different,” but to the trained eye they just look bad and trendy. In fact they are not different at all, but very commonplace as almost all new photographers are doing the same thing.

A more experienced (and yes more expensive) photographer will shoot fewer images, all of which will be great, and he/she will do it under any lighting condition, and this will be done with control. The images will look great and will be powerful on their own without all the trendy effects. They will be emotional, will be hip and cool, but will also have a classic and timeless appeal.

Finally, one good way to gauge a photographer’s level of expertise is their credentials! Always ask about a photographer’s credentials and what it is that makes them “professional?”

How many years have they spent learning how to photograph people? How long have they done this as full time career? Where did they go to school and with what degree? Is this a new career or have they dedicated a large portion of their lives and their hard-earned money to continually learn and understand their profession?

You wouldn’t let someone without a license cut your hair for your big wedding day, and you shouldn’t let a photographer potentially ruin your wedding day photographs without having at least basic Certification. A bad hair cut at least grows back in a few months, but bad wedding photographs will live with you your entire life.

I believe that any photographer who calls himself or herself a professional should at least prove it by having Certification. On top of that, hopefully they’ve earned some national titles like Master and Craftsman. These titles and ranks help a prospective client know that a photographer is consistent in their skill and will do a better job. Photographers with credentials can be found under the “Find a Photographer” section of PPA.com.

You’re based out of Utah but you seem to travel all over shooting weddings. What do you think is the most important thing couples should look for in a wedding photographer …Value? Talent? Consistency? Quality? Why?

Yes, all of those. Price is always an early question, as everyone wants to save money on a wedding. But price is never the final deciding factor. Most people understand that nicer products and services must cost more, but still most people have some type of budget constraints. Yet almost everyone would still rather cut in some areas in order to have better images that they can enjoy the rest of their lives.

A photography business is not a cheap business to run when you want to produce great images. Every step of every process is expensive when done right. Some things we spend money on in life are mass-produced. Great photography is instead custom made each time for just one client.

A lot goes into each job in terms of expertise, constant training, equipment, computers/software, insurance, overhead, and the supplies that go into the final products. There are cheap ways of cutting back on all of these, but it always shows in the final images and album.

And yes, talent and consistency do play a huge factor. No ones wants to worry about how their wedding images will turn out and no one knows until after the event is all over with, how the images really did turn out. Knowing they have someone who consistently is proven to do a great job gives them peace of mind, and that makes the extra expense of travel totally worth it to them.

What are the brides-to-be and families generally asking about when they make first contact with you? Does this change as they go through the process of engagement photos, bridal photos and then during the day?

Yes, most people start off asking about price, mainly because they don’t know what to ask. But as the process moves forward, those who are really interested in the way that I work, will talk more about the things that are actually important to them like quality and style.

Interestingly, many of the people that complain most about price at first become life-long clients of mine, coming in again and again throughout the years. Once they get it, they love what I do and come in for everything. They schedule shoots of their new babies, events and other special moments, and I get to see them and their lives change over the years.

It’s especially fun to deliver wall prints to clients and see their homes already decorated throughout with canvases, collages and portraits I’ve done for them in the past.

I’ve seen research on how brides usually make decisions on a wedding photographer. After cost, how do brides evaluate your work?

Price may be the reason a bride doesn’t hire a particular photographer, but price is never the reason a bride does hire a photographer. Price may be the first thing people ask about, but both photographers and brides both say that quality and a photographer’s personality were more important than price in the decision making process.

(Continue reading part 2 of interview.)

As one of the only Master portrait photographers in Utah, I know just how to make you look amazing and real, without making you look stiff, even in candids!  I then take those beautiful images and instead of using a pre-designed, drag-and-drop album templates, or an out-of-town design house (full of people who don’t know you and weren’t at  your wedding), I instead personally design each page from scratch.  I design each page to be a vignette or mini story with impact and emotion, so that every page turn makes you say, “WOW!”

It’ll be completely unique because I also use my own edges, fleurs, and other embellishments that I personally have created.  It’ll be unlike any album you’ve ever seen.

Finally, each double-page spread is printed as one large print, avoiding a gap or seam down the middle of the page.  Each page is coated for protection, then bonded to a stiff art board.  The pages are then book-bound by artisans in Italy into your custom first-edition book.

Why go through all this trouble?  Because portraits matter!  These images and album will be an heirloom for you and your future family to enjoy.  There’s a lot of things that you can spend money on for your wedding, but only photographs will last generations.  Everything else is gone the next day.  Your photographs are an investment — they actually get more and more valuable as time goes on.  Have you ever heard of someone running into a burning house to save a couch?

So why stop at the end?  Why create great images, do a great design, but then finish it off in cheap book that won’t last?  In fact some photographers use albums that don’t even last them a year or two as a sample.  The more people look at them, the more they begin to fall apart.  Mine on the other hand look brand new, even after winning awards and traveling around the country, being handled by hundreds of people at conventions and bridal shows.  They really are built to last and look beautiful!

You even have your choice of covers, from a classic full leather (in black or other colors), to an etched photo metal cover (shown in top image).  And your wedding album will also be presented in a black briefcase for storage, carry, and protection.

When it comes to the best image creation, the best album design, and the best albums, nobody can do all three things at the level at which I’ll do them for YOU!  Come meet with me and see them first hand to see the difference for yourself.  I think you’ll find that the images, design, and workmanship will all be a perfect fit for you.

To make an appointment for a free consult, call the studio at 801-728-3317.

Then check out some entire wedding album designs here on my blog (category: Wedding Day, Albums) or on my website (click on Weddings > Albums).

During the show, there was a beautiful snowstorm and I created some wonderful storm images of the Salt Lake Temple looking out the window.  I created a few variations and I’m still deciding which one I like the best.  Which ones do you like?

I’m also excited that all of these were processed out using my new duo-tone black & white effects that I recently created, and are finished with my new line of  custom edges that I’ve been working on.  I create and sell these effects and edges to photographers around the country when I speak to save them time and money.  These are a part of my new line of effects.  I really love how they look, especially with these images.  I’ve also tried them with portraits and absolutely love it!  I will post them on my blog soon.

After looking out the window, I had to step out for a couple images outside.  Again, I shot two variations and can’t decide which one I like better.  One is shot faster to catch the flakes in the air and the other is slower which creates some really cool diagonal lines.  Both work for so many reasons.

Before running back in, I got a passing tourist to take a photo of me with my camera.  I love the snow in the air, but hate that I’m out of focus.  DANG!

Anyway, soon I’ll have those temple images ready to purchase in my art site.  But until then, let me know which ones are your favorites.

Here are a couple page layouts from their final wedding album design.  You can see the entire wedding album as a slideshow by clicking on any one of the pages.

The day started off with Natalie getting pampered in the Grand’s spa.  Later, they began to get ready for the ceremony in their hotel room.

Keep in mind that these page layouts that you see here are actually double-page spreads.  They fold in the middle, so you are really seeing two pages up at a time.

Later the ceremony began out on one of the balconies overlooking the beautiful city and Salt Lake valley.

Gregory and Natalie flew out of town for this wedding to be in a quiet and serene place away from everyone.  This made it a very  unique wedding to photograph because there weren’t crowds of people — just us, the couple and me.  In fact, the hotel’s concierge and I were asked to be wedding witnesses.  Here we are signing the papers.

After the ceremony, we went about creating fantastic and romantic images of the two of them.  I love this double-page spread of the two of them kissing in the hotel’s courtyard.

We even walked around the streets of Salt Lake creating photographs for their album.  And though Gregory and Natalie are not Mormon, they love the city and the beautify of the iconic temple in the center of town.  So we stopped there to create a few images as well.

This was a wonderful and emotional day.  I loved being apart of their day and spent a lot of time designing the absolute perfect wedding album for them.  If you’d like to see their entire wedding album design as a slideshow, click here.

I just finished these images for her wedding this weekend.  This was her bridal shoot and it was spectacular!

This first image was chosen as her large wall print.  I created this in my outdoor studio gardens using the fall leaves.  I shot this at a low depth to throw the background and her flowers out of focus, drawing attention to her eyes.  I love her expression in this.  She really draws you in.

While we were outside, we created a few more using the wonderful leaves, including this beautiful one.  I love the sunlight and the shadows creating beautiful abstract diagonals around her.

Because it was so cold outside, we worked mostly inside and had a ball just creating a slew of fantastic images.

This one shows off her shoes and her pretty legs.

And for years I’ve always loved to create abstract black and whites.  This one was inspired by her sash which I imagined as a long diagonal line.

And of course close-ups and mid-lenghts of varying expressions.

Because she was having a winter wedding, Catelin had a coat made for her wedding.  It was so pretty, we included it for a few images.

After her shoot I designed up a wall collage for her using some of my favorite images — images that were different, unique, and showed different sides to her personality.

And here is a trio that I designed up as well.  I love the flow of her dress in this and her smile is so great.

Soon I will have Catelin’s wedding portraits up, but for now I wanted you all to see these fantastic bridals.

If you’re getting married or it’s time again for some new family portraits for Christmas, give me a call to schedule your appointment.  801-728-3317.  My shoots are so much fun and I know just how to make you look great.  And overall, you will LOVE your images!

And feel free to browse my main website, BryCox.com and my blog at BryCox.com/blog.

I love Pre-Sessions, because unlike the wedding day there’s no feeling of being rushed.  On a wedding day, the couple is pulled in too many directions.  They are running ragged and everyone is constantly interrupting the creation time to talk or ask them questions.

But on a Pre-Session, we have the studio and gardens to ourselves.  The place is peaceful and creativity abounds.  The images here show the peace and love that the couple feels and this first image was their favorite!  It became their large piece that went on the easel at the reception and now will hang in their home.

On top of couple portraits, I always like to get some fun individuals of each, in case we use them in a collage or other wall art display.  The slight variations in lighting and positioning for each person help exaggerate her beautiful feminine features and his masculine features.

I love this next couple portrait of the two of them.  It is so affectionate and they look so happy and good together.  It’s fun to have the couple both in white and Lisa’s wedding gown was made by her mother.

Finally, we stepped out to work the my outdoor studio gardens, despite the freezing cold, just to get a few images in the wonderful fall leaves.

This is one of the things I love about my wonderful location — I have the ability to shoot indoors or outdoors all in one setting!  If people have taken off work, made their difficult schedules work, and come to the studio for their appointment but it’s a day that is freezing cold or snowing — no problem!

I can continue to create amazing and emotional images inside with complete control.  If people still want to venture outside anyway, we can do it quickly as things are set up ready to go here.  We simply step out and work quickly and come right back in again to get warm by the fireplace.  Mood is important when creating wonderful expressions, and here I can do that the best!

If you’re getting married or it’s time again for some new family portraits for Christmas, give me a call to schedule your appointment.  801-728-3317.  My shoots are so much fun and I know just how to make you look great.  And overall, you will LOVE your images!

And feel free to browse my main website, BryCox.com and my blog at BryCox.com/blog.

Here is one of the double-page spreads from her album.

What you see here are two page spreads that fold down the middle.  Each 2-page design is printed as one large wall print collage, then coated and book-bound into a sensational album.

I also love this double page spread below, two images on each page making a four image collage.  I love how in love this couple is and how fun it was for me to be with this family on this special day.

I have photographed this family for many years.  Though I’m pretty young myself, I started my business almost 16 years ago.  There have been families that I’ve been able to watch grow and change over time, and this is one of those families.  It meant a lot to me to be there for Brook’s wedding.

I posted her entire wedding album today on my website as a slideshow.  You can view it in the ‘Slideshow’ section, or click this link to go directly there.  You’ll get to see the entire album, 38 pages!  * Click here to see it as a slideshow movie set to music. *

(or use this address if the link doesn’t work in your reader: http://brycox.com/studio/MovieTheater/index_Brook.htm)

If you are looking for a fantastic wedding photographer, now is the time of year to get thing booked with me.  Give me a call, come visit with me, and see what I can do for you!

Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my entire blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).

Here are a few page design spreads from their album collection.  What you see here are two page spreads that folding down the middle.  Each 2-page design is printed as one large wall print collage, then coated and book-bound into a fantastic album.

This first spread shows the beautiufl location as people arrive.

Then later in the book, this page spread shows Holly as she began to walk down the isle through the lush gardens.

One of my favorite page spreads was after the ceremony where Joe walked Holly into a little private nook off to the side, and gave her a very sweet hug.  I got these images from a distance with a long lens and love them in black and white as that really brings out the emotion in the images.

And here is an art page showing two awesome images juxtaposed against each other.

This was such a beautiful wedding and I am honored to have been apart of it all and to have been asked to capture their day for them as well as for future generations.

Their wedding is now up on my website in the ‘Slideshow’ section if you’d like to see the entire wedding and album design, and I’ve created a link for you to see it here, all 58 pages!  * Click here to see it as a slideshow movie set to music. *

(or use this address if your reader doesn’t show the link above: http://brycox.com/studio/MovieTheater/Movie-Holly.htm)

If you are looking for a fantastic wedding photographer, now is the time of year to get thing booked with me.  Give me a call, come visit with me, and see what I can do for you!

Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my entire blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).

This was one of my favorites!  They look so great together, and the image is so loving!  And notice how almost all of their favorites were black and white.  Black and white has such a timeless quality, yet it is hip too.  It is a great mix of classic and new, all in one.

I love these of Ashley alone.  So beautiful!

And then we ventured outside.  I have a half-acre of English-garden style landscaping, but in the winter it’s not green and lush.  However, it is always interesting and beautiful in black and white.  Here’s what we created.  First this series of three images which will hang in a trio.

And finally we finished with them running off down my country street, as if they were running off to get married.

It was a great shoot and they’re a great couple!  I’m so happy that they found each other and I know that they will make each other very happy.

If you’re getting married and would like a pre-wedding session, give me a call.  801-728-3317.  A pre-session with Bry Cox Studio, is a great way to have cool portraits up at your wedding, as well as taking the pressure off of your wedding, no matter who you hire for your day.  Pre-sessions cost less than weddings, and are much more stress-free than a wedding — there’s no rush for time like on a wedding day, and no one’s coming to talk to you or interrupt you constantly like on wedding days.  And when they’re done at my studio location, we have the most variety of backgrounds both inside and out, without any travel fees!

Well thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my entire blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).

Each of these are two page spreads, folding in the middle.  I design and print them however each as a large wall print collage.  The resulting album is spectacular that has to be seen in person to really appreciate it.

The design is so fun, so fresh, and really captivates the love and emotions of the wedding day.  We really lucked out that day with a spectacular storm.  It left the sky at the temple cloudy and wonderful, yet the rain stopped during the time we scheduled for photographs.

Later that afternoon though at the bride’s home we were poured on constantly all night.  I love the drama that weather creates, and I love to capture that in photographs.  That stormy day made for some real memories and some wonderful images!

If you’d like to enjoy their entire album design, I’ve posted it on my website as a slideshow here. (Click here to view album as a slideshow.)  In fact, you can view all sorts of slideshows and albums by going to my website and clicking on ‘Slideshows’ on the left menu.

Well thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my entire blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).

BryCox - JSMB 2

I’m very exited for this show — it’s not only my biggest shows of the year, but I will have some awesome new things for you to see too, like a HUGE 16×20 metal album!  You absolutely have to see this album!  It is stunning!!

BryCox - JSMB 1

I’ll be on the Mezzanine, right off the elevator and I hope to see you there. The show is FREE, and any friends that want to stop by and say hi are welcome, and if you are a bride, you should pre-register for prizes. For info or to pre-register, click here. The show goes from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm tomorrow, Saturday the 22rd.

Me at last a previous show

Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).

This first image was one of their favorites.  They got it as a larger print as well as had me use it on the cover of their wedding announcement design.  I love the feel in this image, and how they look so happy together.

We did a number of color and black and white, but it seemed that the favorite images were mostly black and white.  Here is one of those, using the street in front of the studio as a backdrop.

Next I did some individual portraits of each of them and used these to create a collage design shown below.And here is the final design.  I love these collages.  I design them to tell a story between the images and to show many different feelings and emotions in just one piece.  This was created as a larger wall item and is going to look so great in their home.

Here is close up of one of the images of them together.  I think they look so great together in this portrait. I know that they will be a happy couple.And here is a glimpse of their wedding invitation.  It is square, and this is the invitation folded out, looking at the front of the card (right) and the back of the card (left).  It folds down the middle.  This photograph made the perfect opening for the invite, because not only is it a great photo with a lot of punch, but if people open the invite and lay it flat, the leaves on the left make such a great transition to the back.

And here is the inside, folded out.  I blocked out the names, locations and other personal info, but I just wanted you to see this.  Again, it folds down the middle with the spacing of the image to the left making the perfect place for text.  Here inside, the image is more dramatic and romantic, and the couple is not looking at the camera but are in a moment with each other.  This image really works in the design because there is a juxtaposition with the image on the outside of the invite.

As you can see from their invitation, their wedding is this Thursday.  I wish them well and a big congratulations for finding each other and hope that their day is wonderful!

Again for everyone else, it is very close to Christmas and so it’s time to get in your final orders to me, even if it’s for one of my temple art prints.  Give me a call soon so that I can get things finished up for you.

Thanks for looking and please browse my main website at BryCox.com (or my blog if you’re reading this in a separate feed reader BryCox.com/blog).

Merry Christmas!
- Bry