Just as food was on the top of Justin's priority list, a good photographer was at the top of mine. Since memories sometimes fade slightly as time goes by (and you can't be everywhere or see everything at once), pictures are one of the best ways to help retell a story. And the ones that just simply take your breath away? Well, for this hopeless romantic, those are the shots I always love to see.
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I began by setting my budget at a number I felt comfortable with and that I had determined from reading various wedding blogs (Weddingbee anyone?) to be a fair amount. Justin was more than taken aback when I informed him my photography budget was only a bit shy of our overall food and alcohol budget, but then again, he's not really privy to the going rates. I then scoured the Interwebs for any and every photographer's website that offered wedding services around our general area. Turns out Lexington is a haven for artistic people :)
First, I put together my list of must haves. 1) 2 photographers. 2) The cost had to fall either at or below my budgeted amount (or if more, items included in a package that could be negotiated out). 3) Hands down, no matter what, print rights to the photographs so I could print however many I wanted, whenever I so pleased. I didn't want the expensive, fancy picture books (I could make my own) and I didn't need an engagement session because we have a good friend who is an up and coming photographer herself.
Plenty of photographers grabbed my attention at first glance. After making my initial list, I went through and delved deeper into the galleries and the price lists (when available) to get a better overall opinion of their work, availability and cost. After the first round, I found myself staring at about 8 names that made the cut. I sat Justin down to take a look at some of their work (such a trooper- not an artistic bone in his body but he'll tell you if he thinks something looks good or not) and we narrowed the list down to 4 possibilities. After not getting a response from one, and being a bit confused about the actual location of another (turns out they're based here in Lexington but do a lot of traveling to the Caribbean), Justin and I set up meetings with two locals (both of which turned out to be single photographers with the option of a second for an additional fee).
Pablo Alcala was the first to meet with us. A quiet guy with a great smile, Pablo's day job is a staff photographer for our local daily newspaper. It's actually funny because I may have met him during my senior year of high school when I was job shadowing with another staff photographer one day. He got a good laugh out of that one.
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Pablo's style, despite being a news photographer, was not entirely documentary. He seemingly had a good eye for good lighting and candid shots. His work also showed a lot of bright colors, which was exactly what I was looking for in the overall (don't get me wrong, I like black & white shots but I don't want a whole album full of them). He had also been a second shooter several times for Ian Lozada, who photographed our friends Brittany and Mike's wedding (and their recent family pictures with newborn Drew!). We left our meeting with Pablo feeling comfortable with him as an option, although there were a few small concerns The number of shots that we would ultimately receive (with rights to print) seemed a little low for what we were expecting. And Pablo usually didn't do an all day shoot, just a few hours before the ceremony through the end of the reception. Still, he was a contender.
Our second meeting was with Reggie Beehner. I think he brought his toddler son along to tug at my heart strings :) Reggie started out in journalism, started playing around with photography and in the more recent years began teaching classes at Eastern Kentucky University. Reggie was very laid back, open to suggestions and questions that we had. He only works about 10-12 weddings a year, but I'd say as the interest continues (and his kids get older), he may start considering adding a few more along the way.
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There was just a good vibe that Justin and I got from talking with Reggie. It was easy conversation and his style was definitely artistic. From the pictures on his blog, I could tell that he liked to play around with different angles and ideas, and he confirmed the fact for me by saying he normally came away from a wedding with about 4,000 images, half of which may be total garbage because he liked to take risks to try and make that amazing shot (he said on average his couples received 1200-1500 images because he reserved the right to maintain his dignity, lol). And the bonus? We would get a free engagement session.
As with any major decision for a wedding, Justin and I were left with a lot of thinking to do. Coming away from the day with great pictures to help cherish the memories was a big thing for me, and I wanted to be sure that we made the best decision about who could accomplish that.
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