Since 1939, Fred Marcus Photography has been dedicated to capturing the most memorable family occasions. With 70 years and three generations of talented, experienced wedding photography under their belts, who better than Andy Marcus could offer advice about how to hire the right photographer for your wedding?

Making the right decision as to whom the right person to photograph your wedding is, can be really stressful.  Do you select the person with the best personality, the one whose photographs you think are cool, the photographer that has gotten the most accolades from the press, the photographer with the best price perhaps?

All the above are reasons that people have mentioned to me over the years for hiring their wedding photographers.  I think the correct answer is a little bit of all the above.  We have been capturing memories at weddings for over 70 years now, going into our third generation.   I feel strongly that what a good wedding photographer should do is capture photographs that trigger memories of the day, that bring a smile to your face when you see them.  Over the years your investment in your wedding photographs grows as you look back and remember friends and relatives that may no longer be with you.  Many photographers today tell brides that they shouldn’t have family photographs, that today everyone is photographing in a more photojournalistic fashion, but when those brides see the images they are less than happy because they are, if you are truly honest about it, just a bunch of snapshots.

When choosing a photographer for your wedding, I strongly suggest that you look at a complete set of photographs from an entire wedding.  Not just one album, but look at multiple albums.  Anyone can put together 20 photographs from 20 different weddings and it will look great, the hard part is showing a large group of weddings where the images pop off the page and keep you wanting more.

One of the most important ingredients in the creation of wonderful images is the lighting.   Most photographers today put a flash on top of their camera and the resulting images are flat, with nothing to make them pop.  Look for a photographer that works with multiple, off camera flash if you want your photographs to stand apart from the crowd.

Preparing prior to a wedding and understanding who the family is, learning their names and creating a relationship, makes your subjects to feel comfortable.  Your photographer should never take over a party.  They should stay in the background, ready to capture whatever happens.   I teach all our photographers how to anticipate the moment.  That look a bride gives her dad,  a mom’s tear during a ceremony, the bride and groom’s expression as they walk into dinner, are all moments that last for a fraction of a second, never to return, never to be re-created.

As a bride and groom, you should look to those photographers that, “get it”.  Your images will reflect your day and the emotion you felt and your will realize that whatever the price you paid it was for something that is priceless.

We wish you all the best, Andy Marcus

For more information on Fred Marcus Photography we encourage you to visit their website.