Happy Monday, dear reader! I hope you have had an amazing week since the last time I wrote to you. Last weekend I had the honor of shooting the sweetest newborn session for a couple who had also hired me to do their maternity session a few months before. It was so special for me to be able to photograph the whole pregnancy journey for them, and I am low key obsessed with their little family (pics will be coming soon, I promise)!
Today’s blog post is definitely for you if you are currently searching for a photographer, whether it be for your wedding, elopement, or session! I am going to break down the most common methods people use to search for a photographer and offer my best tips to find the perfect photographer for you. These are in no particular order, and I would suggest trying at least two different ways of searching, that way you will have more options to choose from.
Referral
Referrals are great because you can talk to someone that you (hopefully) trust about their first hand experience with their photographer. You can get the inside scoop on what they did or did not like about their experience working with that photographer, and you can ask to see their full gallery of photos to get a feel for what your own full gallery might look like.
One thing you definitely need to keep in mind is the type of photographs you are needing – even if you love the photos from your friend’s maternity session, it doesn’t mean that photographer is right for your wedding. This is not to say a photographer who shoots maternity sessions can’t also shoot a wedding, but you need to be sure you are able to view a sample wedding gallery as well before you hire that photographer.
I have a referral program (and I know a lot of other photographers do too) where I offer a discount on future sessions to anyone who refers me to someone else who books a session. This way, you are helping your friend get more photos in their future (always a good thing!), and you can also get a discount on your own future photo session by referring someone else.
Social Media
So many people have found their perfect photographer on social media. One of the nice things about social media is that you can really do a deep dive on a photographer’s past work and you get to see their personality all on one or two platforms. If they have tagged clients in their photos, you can even (respectfully) reach out to them and ask what their experience was working with that photographer.
Ahh, the trusty Google search. Or whatever other search engine you use, I guess (Ask Jeeves, anyone?). Doing a quick “[your location] [your session type] photographer” search on Google will yield you dozens of results. The more specific with your search that you can be, the better. You can include details like shooting and even editing style into your search to help narrow down your results.
A few examples of phrases you could search are:
“Documentary style Northwest Arkansas elopement photographer”
“Editorial style Fayetteville Arkansas wedding photographer”
“Filmy, nostalgic outdoor maternity photographer Siloam Springs Arkansas”
I wrote a whole blog post on how to choose your wedding vendors, and in it I break down the exact system I used to choose vendors for my own wedding in Rocky Mountain National Park. Even if you are not getting married, you can still use my system to find the perfect photographer for your session.
Most people only use Pinterest for inspiration, but, much like Google, it is also a powerful search engine. Using the same method that you would for a Google search, you can then scroll through photos until you see one that catches your eye. Most pins are directly linked to a website where you should hopefully be able to find out who the photographer is.
A word to the wise
These are the four main ways that people search for and find photographers. I wrote about it more in my blog post How to Choose Elopement Vendors, but using a combination of these methods will give you many more options to choose from and will help you get to know your photographer better and help you decide if they are the right fit for you. I always recommend speaking with your photographer directly, either on the phone or in person, before deciding to hire them. I also recommend requesting a full gallery to view from each photographer you are considering, because it can be hard to get a good feel of a gallery from just 10 photos on Instagram or even from a single blog post.
I hope this post has been helpful to you as you search for a photographer (and, by the way, if you are searching for a photographer in Northwest Arkansas or beyond for an elopement or for a portrait or branding session, I’m your girl!).
*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. If you are interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!
I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!
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