So many couples underestimate the importance of the Photographer to their wedding experience. There is no other vendor with whom you will spend more time before, during, and after the wedding! It is the Photographer who often tends to make or break the entire wedding day. Every single one of us has been to a wedding where the Photographer was pushy, rude, annoying, or otherwise completely unpleasant! And then the pictures weren’t even that good! None of us want to have our special day ruined by such a Photographer… So how do we safeguard against it???

Start EARLY! The Photographer should be one of the first vendors, if not the first, that you book for your wedding! Good Photographers are booked up anywhere between 6 months to 2 years in advance, so that means you will be down to second or third tier talent if you don’t start early.

Start with websites. Every Photographer worth his or her salt has one, so get crackin! Google everything wedding photography related that you can, and get a good idea of the talent in your area. Weed out any photographer that doesn’t take pictures in the style you like. I don’t care if you sister raves about her Photographer and fully expects you to book them if you don’t like their style. It’s your wedding, so stick to your guns! Try to narrow it down to your top three choices based on their website work. Rate them from first choice, to third choice.

Meet with your favorite Photographer first. If they are as freakin’ awesome in person as their photography, Book them! Be ready to book when you meet with them because there will most likely be a bunch of other Brides looking for that same Photographer on the same date! If you don’t mesh with the Photographer, move on! Remember you are likely to spend all day with them!

Do not shop on price alone! Every Photographer understands we all have budgetary constraints and may work with you a bit, but you should never skimp on the photography as it is the only thing that will last longer than the wedding day! Make your budget cuts somewhere else if you absolutely must. Most Photographers (I know I do…) offer discounts for off-season, middle of the week, etc. weddings which are basically dates that we would otherwise not be regularly filling. Wednesdays come to mind… Remember there are only 52 Saturdays every year from which we must make a living. If you consider having your wedding on a “non-traditional” day of the week, you could rack up some truly amazing savings across the board! Think about it! Otherwise be prepared to pay the awesome Photographer for their time, talent, and awesomeness!

I’m not going to bother with what to ask for in a wedding package, because places like The Knot cover these topics extensively. Just ask yourself what you need, and go from there. Are you really going to need twenty 8X10’s??? Most people don’t. I’d go with Images on Disc with printing rights, a nice album, and maybe a couple (like 2…) 8X10’s for the parents and grandparents. If you really want more “stuff” as well, order it after the wedding!

I hope that’s given you a lot to think about… now Good Luck!

I’ve been going through my wedding photos from 2009, and this one is one of my favorites. The utter joy and happiness is visible on their faces as they enter their reception! Such a great day! Wedding in Aptos, Reception in Soquel at Michael’s on Main back in October.

Sometimes couples don’t realize the Engagement Session is an important part of the experience for the couple as well as the Photographer. It allows a stress-free, dry-run to get comfortable with each other before your wedding day. When you really think about it, I usually arrive at your wedding while you are still in the process of dressing, so it is very helpful to be comfortable with the Photographer before the wedding day festivities begin. Fortunately for me, it’s easy for women to relate and get comfortable with each other quickly, and I soon feel like “one of the girls!” I suppose it also helps that I love weddings, and it’s easy for me to get wrapped up in the excitement of the day that just bubbles over the morning of the wedding!

In addition to the “practice” element of the Engagement Session, this is likely one of the only times you will have a Professional Photographer at your disposal to capture your lifestyles and who you really are. This is a snapshot of you, right now, as you are. The session always provides amazing photos that are likely to be cherished by you both, your friends, and especially by family. Enough of my reasons to have Engagement Photography done, on to the photos!

Portraiture seems to be a bit of a lost art. Well, maybe not a lost art, but an overlooked art perhaps. Not many people in my general age group take the time to have their portrait taken, and I feel that’s just too bad! For the record: I consider a Portrait to be a snapshot of a person, of who they really are at a particular point in time. I remember every year around Christmas, my mom, dad, sister and I would go to Olan Mills and take a family portrait. In addition to the photo of our whole family, there was always an individual picture of each of us. I’m sure my grandparents enjoyed getting a photo each year of all of us! Although sometimes it’s awkward to look back and see how terrible my teenage years were (physically and emotionally speaking…braces, face fat, unkempt eyebrows, and acne are not a good combination), I’m so glad that there is a record of each time in my life. It is the record of the hardest times of my life that let me know how far I’ve come, and how far I still want to go. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage people to take the time to have themselves, their lives, documented as they are now, because I promise that ten years from now you will be thankful for having something to look back on. Until you get your own portraits done, enjoy these highlights from Erin Elizabeth Photography’s Portraits of 2009!

I don’t think anyone, even a client, has ever asked me what my inspiration is for my photography, but I’m going to put it out there anyway. I definitely find my inspiration between the pages of the yellow bound magazine covers of National Geographic. For the aforementioned reasons, the sparkling photography, and the amazingly exotic places featured in them, I can’t help but feeling that we are all so similar, rather than different. Each of us only want the best for ourselves and our families, no matter where we’re from, or what language we speak. Everyone feels love, and pain, and excitement and sorrow, and although not always in the same way, our emotions are the same. If I can just capture a tiny sliver of your happiness, sorrow, excitement, nervousness and contentment in an image that lasts long after we are all gone, I could sincerely call myself the luckiest women alive.

In my November issue of National Geographic, there is an article about the pets of the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, and I can’t wait to read it! As you might have already noticed, I love cats, and have always been curious about the whole mummification of cats thing… I mean, I think it’s a fabulous idea because every time I lose a pet, it just kills me. Literally, a piece of myself goes with them. Sometimes, the reverence I have for animals, especially cats, gets taken to a whole new level. Now don’t laugh, but I believe that it is absolutely fabulous good luck to find kitty footprints on your car. It makes me feel lucky. So, I suppose I’m a nutty, slightly superstitious, nerdy, National Geographic reading, wedding photographer in Fresno, California, watching a sappy Christmas movie, and I couldn’t be more content with myself!

For Family and Friends: To view and order images from this wedding and to be notified when all the images are available for viewing, go to www.pictage.com/702788.

It’s interesting to reflect during these slow times of the year on what I have done before, and what I can do differently in the future. Richard and I are good friends with one of the first couples I photographed about two years ago (Josh and Erin, bottom left corner of image below). A couple weeks ago out at dinner with them at North India (yummy Indian food…), I mentioned that I felt kinda bad about their photos, seeing as it was my second wedding I had ever photographed. A little stunned, the groom said, “Why!?!? We love them!” To which I replied in the only way I could saying, “Well, I could have done better…” I was hoping that they wouldn’t be upset with me, like maybe I had short-changed them in some way, but he was completely understanding. He explained how that is exactly how I should feel, because if I ever feel like everything is easy or perfect, I would not continue to improve. I was a bit taken aback by this thought, because I am meticulous in my perfectionism, and am the harshest possible critic that I could have. I guess I am a real artist after all, brooding over perfecting the medium of expression I work through day by day by day…

I’ve learned so much in my first two years of business, and although I hope the hardest parts are behind me, I am more than up for a challenge! On that note, the image below is a sneak-peek of some a promotional 8X10 I will be making up for the coming season. Some of my favorite images are included, some from a while back, and some from more recent weddings or engagements. If you are in any kind of wedding planning, florist, bridal boutique, make-up artist or whatever wedding related businesses, let me know if you would like some similar items made for YOU! I would be happy to supply the photographic expertise…