In Front of My Face Sunday, October 4, 2009

So finding a photogapher became a full time job. I started scouring websites, posting in message boards, looking for recommendations. I had one "dream photographer" in the DFW area, but I thought he was way too expensive. Once I had my unfortunate epiphany, I found a way to afford him... but by then he was booked. So, back to the drawing board.

And what kind of wedding will we be having? I asked myself this repeatedly as Jessica Claire's words rang in my head.

• Style: I imagine our wedding to be timeless & classic. We're not using a lot of "trendy" ideas or superfluous stuff. Okay, that's easy.
• We are not a particularly "wacky" couple... so someone who focuses on capturing wild and unexpected moments probably isn't for us.
  
• Time of day & location: Well, it's Dallas in the summer, so our wedding is indoors. This would eliminate anyone who does primarily outdoor, sunset, California-style weddings (or those featured on the wedding blogs lately... when are they going to stop with all the outdoor weddings!).
  

What do my instincts say? I realized that I react most to beautiful, classic images taken with film; black & white images capturing emotion, moments with family & friends, private moments between couples, fine art-style detail shots of dresses and veils and other details.

I came up with a rating system that helped me sort based on personality, technical know-how, customer service, and a few other things. But pretty quickly it came down to one thing: feeling.

I had to see images so good that I wanted to go back to them again & again. They had to be good enough for me to feel something every single time, to say, "Oh, how cute!" instead of "nice lighting." An absence of gimmicks, overprocessing, or images that were technically brilliant but lifeless. The images needed to tell the story of the day and give me a sense of who the couple is, and make me react, again and again.

But who? Whose images do I keep looking at? And it turns out the answer was right in front of me. There's a blog I subscribe to that has beautiful images. Every time this photographer posts a new wedding, I always take time out to stop and look at the slideshow, or at the pictures, or whatever. I consistently loved them. But I never thought of him for our wedding. He's too far away! Too expensive! And besides, he's like a celebrity to me, someone whose work I've studied and loved for two years or so.

Eventually, I got over myself and dared to click over to his pricing page. Hey, it was in our budget! And he's not as far away as I thought! I sent an inquiry for availability, and while I waited, I looked at the images repeatedly and in-depth. It seemed perfect. Plus, his artistic style meant that FH was on board, too.

Two days later, I got word -- he's available! The past week has been spent with emails back & forth, spreadsheet calculations, telephone consultations, and finally, we submitted our package request and are waiting for the final contract. Success!

I'll make a formal announcement and introduction when it gets closer to the wedding. I can't wait! I can't believe the answer was in front of me the whole time!