What To Look For In A Photographer

It’s no secret that there’s a lot of wedding vendors out there… and I mean a lot. Especially when destination weddings/ vendors that travel are becoming more and more available, it can be really hard to narrow down which vendor team you want for your wedding. Here are some things that you can look for and keep in mind when you start inquiring and chatting with different vendors!

1. Quick response time

   • Obviously, give them some grace especially if you’re reaching out during peak wedding season, but also make sure they aren’t taking forever to get back to you.

2. Transparent on pricing

   • Most vendors send you a “welcome packet” of sorts that list out and describe their different packages and pricing. Everyone does this differently, so just make sure that you know what all comes included with what you’re paying for!

3. They make you feel comfortable

   • Being in front of the camera can be uncomfortable! You want a photographer that can help you relax and feel your best while in front of the camera, especially for important photos like on your wedding day.

4. They ask YOU a lot of questions

   • As a wedding photographer, a huge part of working with my clients is figuring out who they are as a couple. Starting out I love to ask how they met, where they got engaged (if I wasn’t there to photograph it <3), and other little questions like this to really start to get to know them personally and as a couple! This will also help the photographer with determining what you’re comfortable and not comfortable with pose-wise in front of the camera!

5. Willing to answer your questions

   • In this industry, we often get asked a lot of the same questions by our different couples, and it’s completely understandable! It’s a huge day with a lot riding on your vendor team, of course you’re going to ask questions! The response/ attitude of the vendor you’re inquiring with says a lot about them and how they work!

6. They can provide examples of their work

   • Nowadays most (if not all) vendors have some form of social media, whether it’s instagram, facebook, tik tok, or even blogs, where the clients can go and look at your past work. However if you ask a specific question about something, they should be able to send you past work to look at. This helps with their credibility and figuring out if you like their style or not.

7. Editing style/ style in general

   • With the growth of social media, there is also a growth in trends. This also can affect the wedding industry and its vendors as well. You are encouraged to look at different editing styles with photographers because they’re not all the same. Find a style that you click well with, and reach out to photographers within that style! Different styles can mean different posing techniques, different colored images, and different things to be focused on photographing.

8. They provide reviews/ testimonials from past clients

   • Double check and see if their website or The Knot or other credible sources like those have client reviews about the vendor you’re talking to! This also helps prove credibility by listening to what others have to say about their experiences.

Detail Shots! & Why We Love Them

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, each wedding day is so unique to the next. There are key components to each wedding day that make it so personal and unique, and it’s our job to document them! A huge example of this are your detail shots. These include your invitation suite, the rings, florals, perfume, jewelry, anything that holds ,earning to you, your dress, veil, shoes, etc. The things that make up your detail shots are the most personal and unique to you items, because they were all hand selected and designed by you with your wedding in mind. This is why as a wedding photographer, I love taking the time to capture these still moments!

There are no rules to detail shots, you can add in whatever you like! You can take the traditional route and add your something old something new, something borrowed, something blue or you can take a new route and put in something that has significance to you! There is no rhyme or reason. Whatever you come up with and give us to document is perfect, and we love being able to give you tangible memories of them.

Detail shots also let us get creative with the design and layout. It really shoes the photographers vision and creativity well because there is no rule book in how to document these. We take what our clients give us and turn it into a beautiful display of personal items!

These are just some of the many reasons why I love documenting the details! So much time and effort goes into planning a wedding, and no detail should go without being properly documented.

Bridal Sessions | Why We Recommend Them

First off, let’s take a moment to appreciate how stunning Griffin looks in her bridal portraits!

Okay now let’s get into all things bridal- why we do bridal sessions, the benefits, and why we love them!

It’s no secret that being in front of the camera can be intimidating. But, you want those dream wedding photos. Have you ever heard the saying ”practice makes perfect?” Well then here you go, we recommend a bridal session because it gets you comfortable with your photographer, the poses, and being in front of the camera before your wedding! It also helps you determine possible poses you absolutely love or the ones you feel like we can skip on wedding day.

A bridal portrait session allows a wedding photographer to focus solely on capturing the beauty and elegance of the bride. It's a chance to create stunning, timeless images without the distractions and time constraints of the wedding day. Plus, it provides an opportunity for the bride to feel like a model and showcase her gown and style in a more relaxed setting.

Bridal portrait sessions also allow wedding photographers to build a deeper connection with the bride, understanding her vision and preferences more intimately. It's a collaborative process that often results in breathtaking images that the bride cherishes for a lifetime.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a thousand times, but we’re going to include it just in case. Schedule your bridal hair and makeup trials for this day so you can really visualize and see how you’re going to look on your wedding day and in photos so you’re not stuck with something you end up not liking on your big day. Also, contact your florist, they can make you a bouquet as well that will look like your real one!

Another reason wedding photographers love bridal portrait sessions is the creative freedom they offer. Without the hustle and bustle of the wedding day, photographers can experiment with different poses, lighting setups, and locations to truly showcase the bride's beauty and personality in a unique way.

Having these photos of you already done takes some the stress away from the big day. Your timeline can move slower, and you can join the party faster with these already done!

Bridal portrait sessions also provide wedding photographers with the opportunity to capture the bride's anticipation and excitement leading up to her big day. It's a special time filled with anticipation and joy, and photographers love being able to document these emotions in a beautiful and meaningful way.

We also have seen lots of brides print out one of their portraits and reveal it at the wedding! This is also a really fun way to show off your beautiful portraits!

All in all, we feel that you really can’t go wrong with bridal portraits! Contact us today at kelli@yahphotography and let’s get started!

Son & Stanna- A Garden Estate Wedding

The Andrews Farm, Storme Blown Hair, Mint To Be Wedding, Florabella, Curated Events, Best Impressions Catering, Cease Fire Productions

April 20, 2024 was a beautiful day for Son & Stanna Hoang at The Andrews Farm! With a killer vendor team, a romantic estate on a farm, & perfect weather (that is until it was ceremony time, but we’ll get to that later!), Son & Stanna’s wedding day was absolute perfection.

After a full day of beautiful weather and bright blue skies, thirty minutes before the outdoor ceremony was supposed to begin it started pouring! Son & Stanna (and their guests) were such troupers about it and did their ceremony in a slight drizzle. I love the saying for when it rains on a wedding day “a wet knot is harder to untie”, and I thought that the Hoang’s were a perfect example of that! No matter the rain, the ceremony was still beautiful!

Just after the ceremony, the rain stopped and the sun popped back out in time for the party! Dinner was served, the cake was cut, and the dance floor was jam packed! It truly was such a great night celebrating these two beautiful people!

Also, can we talk about how amazing these traditional outfits were that they changed into?! Obsessed!

Being able to document and celebrate with my couples is such an amazing thing and I feel so blessed to be able to do this! Congratulations again to the Hoangs!

Lifetime Photography and Why It’s Important To Me

A couple weeks ago I had the honor of documenting some photos of Maraya for her fifth grade graduation yearbook! She is an avid soccer player, so she wanted to add some photos for that in there as well!

After our session, I was transported to a trip down memory lane that started all the way back in 2014 when I had my first session with the Swatsworth family. Little did I know then that not only would we continue to have sessions over the years, but I would also get to witness and document their family grow up, which is so special! As a mom myself, it’s so special to have those tangible family photos from over the years and really get to compare the year to year growth and changes that our children (and us!) experience.

When people hear lifetime photographer, I feel like it’s common to think that we start at an engagement session and the wedding and then go from there, but really it is so much more! I have truly had the honor to watch my clients children grow up into the young adults that they are, and in turn give my clients a tangible memory to have forever. To know the Swatsworth family since 2014 and document them and their family over the years to now helping Maraya take her fifth grade graduation photos is truly so special.

Cultivating lasting relationships with my clients is one of the most important part of my job to me, and to be an,e to walk through memory lane with my clients like this is why I am a photographer!