Help me pick a photographer!

[danners84]

I am AWFUL at making decisions on my own. And I honestly can't figure this out.

I've got 3 photographers I'm deciding between. The prices vary but I really want to leave that out of the equation unless the consensus is that 2 are neck-and-neck. They're all based in Costa Rica (flying a photographer in from the US is more than I want to spend).

http://www.elvelophotography.com/ My concern about this one is that they have quite a few photographers and I don't see any designation between whose photos are whose.

http://www.comfortstudioweddings.com/ The choice from this one would be either Katherine or Alejandra, as Julie does not do elopements.

or

http://www.weddingscr.com/costa-rica/01-all-weddings
and his old blog is here: http://richardmay.cr/

Please share your opinions/critique. I need the help.

TIA!

 

[AustenNut]

The first site was too difficult for me to navigate, so I can't say much about that. But I would say that you'd like to see the work of whatever photographer would be assigned to you that day if you went with them.

As far as the second site goes, I noticed that Katherine had more candid photos, whereas Alejandra had virtually none. Depending on the style of your reception, this may be an issue for you to consider.

The last website had a lot of candid photos.

I thought the photography looked nice on all of the websites, and I think whichever one you choose will turn out well. Good luck with your decision, and enjoy the wedding in Costa Rica!

 

[danners84]

Thanks a bunch! I see what you are saying about Katherine vs Alejandra.

I forgot to mention that it's an elopement, so the beach/couple pictures are what I'm focusing on.

 

[digitaldevo]

El Velo's image gallery seemed very not impressive. Lots of beginner mistakes and no no's like totally blow highlights, background skies totally blown out, all beginner's mistakes IMO. They've only had their website for 4yrs, yet, say at least in biz for 4yrs, yet on website no customer reviews, just an empty page, Specialty Services.. again an empty page, etc. They just send up red flags to me.

Comfort studios, Alejandra and Photobooth do some decent work. Alejandra has very nice exposures, composition, creativity, nice focus, etc. The others on there had lots of poor exposures, misfocusing a lot, poor composition, blown highlights galore, etc. Anyone aside from Alejandra I would say no way, except for the laid back style of Phonebooth if you want that the work looked nice.

The last one seemed to have a few errors with composition and some exposure here and there, but over all seemed very talented. Colors were excellent and accurate. His B&W shots were simply stunning! Very tough choice between him and Alejandra IMHO.

I would want to see actual printed photos of their work first to make a final decision if I was in your shoes. Web images can be made to look great while the printed ones can look horrible!

For my background, I have been shooting for over 25yrs. now. I originally shot weddings, photojournalism, events, portraiture, pets, products, and fine art prints on a professional basis. I specialized in B&W and Infrared imaging. I've been published in books, magazines, ezines, newspapers, shot images for product lines, even a few cover shots. I've shot, and still do shoot, both film and digital. I have also judged many a competition in photography as well and still do consult and critique on an almost daily basis. So I am looking at it from a well experienced and well versed position. Hopefully it helps you with your decision. All I can say is make absolutely sure they are good(hence seeing a portfolio in print.. at the minimum 8x10" prints) and you are happy because this is a very important time in your life and one that you will seriously regret for the rest of it if you hire a shabby wedding photog!! Trust me!