Cómo elegir un fotógrafo para tu boda

How to choose a wedding photographer: finding a way of seeing that fits you

Choosing a wedding photographer shouldn't start by asking how many photos they deliver, what camera they use or how long they'll stay on the day. Before all that there is a much more important question: how do you want to live your wedding, and how do you want to remember it?

It may seem obvious, but not every couple is looking for the same thing. Some like to be in the spotlight in front of the camera and enjoy spending time creating more carefully crafted portraits. Others would rather forget there's a photographer around at all and are looking for a much more documentary approach, where things simply happen.

Neither option is better than the other. What matters is finding a wedding photographer whose way of working fits you.

Before looking for a photographer, think about yourselves

Instagram, Pinterest and wedding photography websites are full of spectacular images. It's easy to start saving photos and end up wanting to recreate a wedding that actually has little to do with yours. We believe the starting point should be the exact opposite: think first about who you are.

Do you love being in front of a camera? Would you rather forget about it? Do you want to set aside time during the wedding for couple portraits? Would you like big portraits, or do you prefer spontaneous photos with your friends and family? The answers start to define the kind of photographer you should be looking for.

At DOVA Studio we approach wedding photography from a natural, documentary perspective, observing rather than intervening. But even within that philosophy, every couple and every wedding needs a different way of being photographed.

The best photographs start long before the shutter clicks

There is something that matters more to us than getting the perfect photograph:

that you and your guests feel comfortable. A wedding is not a photo shoot; it's one of those rare days when you'll probably gather almost everyone who matters in your life in one place, and it deserves to be lived.

If, to get a spectacular photo, we have to keep interrupting what's happening, we may be getting a good image but missing something far more important. We'd rather you talk, laugh, cry, dance, hug your people and enjoy your day, because when people stop thinking about the camera, the photographs we care about most start to happen: a burst of laughter nobody expected. Your parents watching you from a distance. A friend getting emotional during a speech. Two people hugging while something completely different is happening in the foreground. These images are hard to plan precisely because their value lies in the fact that they really happened.

Documentary photography or more directed photos?

This is probably one of the most important things to consider when choosing a wedding photographer. Some photographers have a very editorial eye, others specialise in portraits, others have a classic style, and some of us work from an approach closer to documentary photography; and within each style there are countless nuances.

If you imagine your wedding photos full of big portraits, poses, chosen locations and images where you are clearly the main characters, look for someone whose portfolio is built around that kind of work. If, on the other hand, you also want to remember everything that happened around you, a more documentary eye will probably suit you better. We lean towards this second way of understanding a wedding. We like to step back a little, leave space, include context. Not just photographing someone getting emotional, but trying to understand what is happening around that emotion: the place, the people, a glance in the background or a small gesture can completely transform a photograph. You can see this way of working in our selection of wedding photography stories.

Look at full weddings, not just the best shots

This is one of the pieces of advice we'd most like to give any couple looking for a wedding photographer: don't choose a photographer by looking only at Instagram. Social media is great for discovering professionals, but it usually shows a selection of the most striking images from many different weddings. A full wedding is something else.

A photographer has to be able to tell a story over many hours and in completely different situations: a small room during the preparations, a dimly lit ceremony, harsh midday sun, a banquet, speeches, family photos or a party that's almost in the dark. That's why we recommend visiting the websites of the photographers you like and looking at several complete weddings.

Don't just ask yourselves whether the photos are beautiful; ask whether you'd like your wedding to be remembered that way. In our photography projects you can browse different weddings and see how each story changes depending on the people, the place and everything that happened that day.

Style isn't just the colour of the photos

When we talk about photographic style, we tend to think straight away of editing: bright or dark photos, warm tones, black and white, grain, contrast… But for us, style goes much further.

It's also where the photographer chooses to stand when something happens, using a particular lens, getting close or staying back, stepping in or waiting, looking for a clean image or including seemingly imperfect elements. It's deciding whether, during an emotional moment, we photograph only the couple or take a few steps back to include their parents, friends and the place where it's happening.

Editing is just the last of many earlier decisions, so when you compare wedding photographers, try to look beyond the colour and notice how they see.

You also need to connect with the person

This point usually gets less attention than it deserves. Your photographer will be present during some fairly intimate moments of the day: close by during the preparations, probably when the nerves kick in, during family moments and in situations where you may not even realise they're taking pictures. That's why it isn't enough to like their photos; you also need to feel comfortable with the person behind the camera.

A conversation before booking can tell you a lot. Do they listen? Do they want to know what your wedding will be like? Do they understand what you're looking for? Do they make you feel at ease? For us, that relationship is part of the work, because the more comfortable you are with us around, the less you'll think about the camera and the more natural the photos will be.

Don't try to turn your wedding into someone else's

References can be useful to explain what you like, but we think they should be used with care. Your wedding will have different light, different spaces, different people and, above all, a different story. Trying to recreate photos you've seen on Pinterest or Instagram exactly can end up turning your wedding story into a series of staged images.

We'd rather see your references to understand what draws you to them, and then work with whatever really happens, because there will probably be moments far better than any photo we could have planned.

So, how do you choose your wedding photographer?

After looking through a few portfolios, quotes and Instagram accounts, try going back to the original question: how do we want to remember our wedding?

Look for photographers who are already doing that kind of work and look at full weddings. On any given day, any photographer can get ten good photos; the real question is what happens with the whole story. Notice how they photograph people, whether staged images or spontaneous, documentary moments dominate, and how they use the spaces, the light and everything happening around them. Try to find out how much they intervene and how much they observe, and then talk to them.

Your wedding photography should look like you, not like a trend or another couple's wedding. At DOVA Studio we believe in close, natural, documentary photography; we're interested in what happens when people feel comfortable and stop thinking they're being photographed. We step in when necessary, but we prefer to observe, anticipate and leave room for things to happen.

Because our goal isn't for you to spend your wedding trying to get good photos, but for you to live a great wedding and, precisely because of that, for us to capture great photographs.

If this way of understanding photography fits you, you can explore our wedding photography work, find out more about DOVA Studio or tell us how you imagine your day on our contact page.