How to Choose the Best Long Island Wedding Photographer
Long Island Wedding Photos © Dan Wagner 2023
Finding a Pleasant, Personable Photography with Great Prices and Reviews.
Choosing the best Long Island photographer for your wedding isn’t easy. Naturally, you want to find a photographer who is pleasant, personable, reasonably priced, and has great reviews. However, even if a photographer has all these qualities, he or she will not be the best photographer for you unless you love their photos. Your style and the photographer’s style must be a great match.
Knowing if you find your photographer pleasant and personable can be as simple as chatting on the phone, meeting online with Zoom, or meeting in person. Whether you find a photographer reasonably priced is based largely on what other similarly talented photographers are charging for the same wedding package. Additional services such as extra hours, a second photographer, an engagement shoot, video, and albums all increase costs. For reviews, the best sources are meeting the photographer at a wedding, being recommended, or reading online testimonials.
Make Sure You Like Your Long Island Wedding Photographer’s Work!
So now you’re probably thinking, this is easy. The only thing left is making sure I like the photographer’s work. And if you were hiring me, you’d be correct! That’s because when you hire me you get me. If I’m not available, I’ll never try to sell you on a freelancer by saying, “Don’t worry, so-and-so shoots just like me.” How could that be true? You’d never accept a backup spouse! Imagine the conversation—”Honey the Mets are having a playoff game on our wedding day, so I hope you don’t mind marrying my backup groom. He’s just like me—but a Yankees fan!”
Picking a Wedding Photographer is Easy! What Could Go Wrong?
The mistake that most couples make when hiring a Long Island wedding photographer is going to a large wedding studio with multiple photographers. I can understand why you might be tempted. The big photo studios often have fancy offices, and personable salespeople that you instantly connect with, and want to befriend. And because large studios shoot more weddings, you may know someone who is using them, and therefore feel more comfortable using them, too.
So What’s So Terrible About Big Long Island Wedding Photo Studios?
Nothing—if you like working with whichever photographer is free on your wedding day. And that’s assuming, your assigned photographer is still working for the big studio on your wedding day. Thing about it. Put yourself in the big studio’s freelance photographer’s shoes. He or she is getting between $50 to $100 per hour. Therefore, they have less incentive, than a sole proprietor photographer. Less monetary incentive, and less reputation incentive. Suppose the Mets are having a playoff game on your wedding day? What’s more important to the big studio’s freelance photographer—$350 or seeing the Mets win the playoff.
Don’t Let Big Long Island Wedding Photo Studios Rip You Off!
Even though I’m trying to be funny—putting your wedding photography in jeopardy is nothing to laugh at! Do the freelance photographer math. You’re paying the big photo studio three, four or more grand, and they’re only paying your photographer 10—percent. And it gets worse! Even though the big studio makes you sign a contract and pay a big deposit—they don’t pay your freelance photographer a dime to reserve your wedding day. They also don’t, and can’t make your freelance photographer sign a contract with penalties for non-performance.
Don’t Let Big Long Island Wedding Photo Studio Abuse Your Freelance Photographer!
“Wait! Are you telling me that big photo studios are abusing my assigned freelance wedding photographer?” Yes, it depends on how you define abuse. As a sole proprietor photographer who shoots every wedding himself, I think it’s abusive to pay the person shooting the wedding a measly 10-percent of the photo fee. Worse yet, the big studios don’t provide your freelance photographer with a car, gas, insurance, or any benefits—not even payroll taxes! And there’s more! The freelance photographer has to have all their own gear.
Can I Get Good Wedding Photos from a Big Long Island Studio?
Yes. It’s possible. Maybe your assigned photographer has a good day, and everything works out. That’s great. However, based on my experience as a Long Island wedding photographer who shoots every wedding himself—I know how the “sausage” is made. And nine our of ten freelance photographers who shoot for big wedding studios feels cheated. Whereas, photographers who work for themselves are happier—and their happiness shows in their work. If it were my happy wedding, I’d want it shot by a happy photographer—and not a big wedding photo studio freelancer!
Is a Freelance Wedding Photographer the Same as a Contracted Wedding Photographer?
Yes! Large wedding photo studios will try to fool you into believing that their “contracted” wedding photographers are different from other studios’ freelance wedding photographers. Let’s examine this fiction closer. No matter what you call these sub-contracted photographers, they receive non-employee 1099 federal tax forms each year. Because they’re not employees, they don’t have payroll taxes withheld. This means they also don’t get any benefits—no social security, no paid holidays, no 401K, no health insurance—nada. And as a freelancer/contractor receiving a 1099, they cannot legally be directly supervised by the big studio. This is one of the reasons why hiring a self-employed photographer, and NOT a large studio freelance/”contracted” photographer is a better choice, for you.
Big Long Island Wedding Photo Studio Indeed Ad for Freelance Photographers.
Here’s a big Long Island wedding photo studio Indeed ad for freelance photographers. It’s from April 2023. Notice how the studio that placed the ad has remained anonymous? Wonder why? It’s because they don’t want wedding couples to know who they are—much less how they operate! I can guarantee that if you went to this big Long Island wedding photo studio, they would promise you that all their photographers had been with them for years, and that they all shoot with the same style as the photos on their walls and website that were compiled by dozens of photographers over many years. How is that even possible? It’s not.
Notice that the big Long Island wedding photo studio ad is more concerned with the freelance photographer’s car than their talent!
The big studio will also tell you that they have backup photographers who are on standby, ready to hit the road instantly in the even that your assigned photographer can’t make it (perhaps because they’re going to a Mets game). The fact is, there’s no way the big studio is guaranteeing their make-believe photographer a day’s pay—they’re too cheap. Just read the above ad. Do you really believe that a big studio paying your assigned freelance photographer only $50 an hour will pay for a backup shooter? Nonetheless, if you do sign with a big studio—I wish you good luck.
I’ll share this, too. On many occasions I’ve been begged by big studios who were desperate to find someone to shoot a wedding because their freelancer couldn’t make it at the last minute. And get this—when I told them I’d do it for the full fee paid by the couple, they told me they would only pay the 10-percent wholesale price! So much for having your best interest at heart.
Who are These People That Start Big Long Island Wedding Photo Studios?
Sadly, or ironically, they’re former wedding photographers who got tired of shooting weddings. Perhaps they were never that good to begin with. I’ve seen some big studio wedding owners who still shoot the occasional wedding. And guess what? They’re distracted. They have too much on their plate. They’re trying to juggle multiple weddings on a single day, and praying their freelance photographers show up—and that the Mets don’t make the playoffs!
What Else Can Go Wrong with Picking a Long Island Wedding Photographer?
Glad you asked! Unfortunately, many wedding vendors who are pleasant and personable, put their interests ahead of yours. They see you as dollar signs. And even if they don’t want to view you that way, their employers do. Take reception halls for example. Some will tell you that certain photographers are “preferred photographers.” What does this mean? Glad you asked! It means that their preferred photographers pay them a 20-percent or larger kickback for the privilege of being “preferred.”
How Long Does it Take for Big Long Island Wedding Studios to Deliver Your Photos?
The big Long Island wedding photo studios I’ve surveyed take months to deliver your wedding photos. Some will give you a tiny preview of selects earlier. How long do smaller owner-photographer studios take to deliver your photos? I can’t speak for everyone, but I deliver wedding photos in under one week. Most of the other smaller owner-photographer studios I know of take a a few weeks. So there’s good news!
Reception Halls Know Less About Photography, Than I Know About Cooking!
To pressure you to hire one of their preferred photographers, a reception hall salesperson will say, “Only our photographers know the best places to shoot at our reception hall.” Seriously? They will also say, “Only our photographer’s vendor meals are free.” Hmm—not really. Think about it. If the “preferred photographer” is paying a kickback, somehow you will be paying for it. Whether it’s in the form of a lesser quality album, or added fees—there’s no such thing as a free vendor dinner.
Sometimes There is Such a Thing as a Free Wedding Vendor Dinner!
Wait! “You just said there’s no such thing as a free vendor dinner.” True! I did say that. However, what many reception hall salespeople won’t tell you, is that there are also minimum wedding guest numbers. So if you’re having 100 guests, and a few can’t make it—you can simply give those meals to your vendors. You’re paying for the meals anyway, so why not? And the reason vendors such as photographers are generally fed is because they’re with you for most of the day and don’t have other options.
DJs Know Less About Photography Than I Know About Disco Music!
Should you hire a photographer through your dj? Never! Here’s the scenario—you’re meeting with the dj—you love all the same songs, and becoming best buddies. You’ve signed up for the dj’s photo-booth, and uplighting packages. Now the dj is trying to sell you on their “preferred photographer.” And what might the dj’s preferred photographer be good at—shooting great disco dance photos? When it comes to djs, let them help pick your songs, but not your photographer.
“My friend recommended Dan to my husband and I, and we could not have been happier. Dan is calm, cool, and professional. I have a large Italian Family, and my husband has a large Irish Family. Dan was able to gather all of us for pictures, followed lists we had previously prepared, and did not miss one minute of our special day.”
—Christine and William
Thanks for reading my Long Island wedding photographer blog! Please feel free to share your wedding advice in the comment box below.