photo by Rachelle Stogner, Rachelle Photography

When both the bride, the groom, and most of the wedding party are shutterbugs (not to mention when the bride’s father is a former wedding photographer), picking the right photog quickly becomes one of the most important decisions a couple can make. Like, second only to the decision to get married in the first place.

As mentioned earlier in the series, the internet and especially Flickr helped research in this category tremendously. Though I did pick up a few cards at various wedding expos, only one of those photographers made it onto my “people to call” list. When the first few desired photogs were booked, and both independently recommended Rachelle, I figured that was a good recommendation. Was it ever!

There are a lot of wedding photographers these days. The rise of digital photography has made photography more accessible to people - but that doesn’t mean there are more GOOD photographers. Just more photographers. And though photogs (for the most part) no longer spend as much on overhead (no more film, no more processing, not much besides a one-time investment in bodies and lenses, with updates every so often), the cost of services rises anyway. That’s the way it goes. But with a lot of options out there, it can be more confusing choosing a good photographer.

How much you spend on photography - or an any aspect of your wedding - depends on your own priorities, of course. Since we LOVE photography (it felt odd not to be taking at least a few of my own photos that day, let me tell you), we knew that we’d put a bit more money toward that aspect of the day.

Enter Rachelle. She has an office in an industrial park off Bradshaw (appointment only, kids) that is lovely and welcoming. Many photogs meet you at Starbucks (not that such a place is a bad thing, sometimes it makes more sense), but there’s clearly no question that Rachelle takes her profession seriously. I liked her from the moment we met. Again, since my fiancé lived abroad, I was flying solo in the meetings and he was relying on email and descriptions of things, so I was stressing more than a little. But Rachelle has a comfortable office and a relaxed demeanor. The walls are covered in framed work. She has many, many sample photo albums available (depending on where your wedding is, she might have an example of her work at your venue, which is helpful).

Rachelle asked about me, my fiancé, what we do, how we met. I asked her how she got into wedding photography. She explained that she was taking photos of her kids’ sporting events and was tired of getting back photos of giant grassy fields with little speck players. So she learned how to take better photos. Bought a better camera. Soon, coworkers were asking Rachelle to photographer their kids. And so on, and so on. She now has a successful business specializing in wedding, engagement, and family portraits (she’s also done some commercial work and senior portraits).

Rachelle said all the right things. She gives clients digital copies of the full, high-res photo files (a must for my flickr-happy fiancé and I). And she gives clients full property rights over the work. They are our photos.

And, though I wouldn’t pick a photographer solely based on gender, I can’t say I wasn’t pleased to find Rachelle in a sea of male photographers.

Her website has a large gallery of slideshows from weddings and engagement sessions she’s done (set to music, so turn down those speakers if you’re at work!).

She’s great at traditional wedding photos (portraits, the family line-ups, etc) - moving through the various obligatory shots with speed, patience, and a keen awareness of a bride’s relative need to be drinking champagne ASAP. Rachelle also excels at capturing more candid moments - her style reflecting recent trends toward more photojournalistic compositions; photos you’d seen in a magazine, not just on your mantle. She’ll take you to a park, but she’s just as happy to use a rough patch of concrete or exposed brick or a street sign as a backdrop - expertly juxtaposing bridal elegance with alleyway chic (no really, and it works splendidly).

I’m pretty sure at one point we kicked out two dudes doing a drug deal in a downtown alley to get some of my pre-ceremony shots, but hey, it was worth the potential risk.

Photographers are finite resources and when they book up, that’s it. My advice: as soon as you have a date, start looking for your photographer. It’s not something you want to compromise or settle for. We feel SO lucky that we managed to book Rachelle despite being rather late-in-the-game in the wedding world. She creates the right mix of traditional and edgier/fun shots that will please even the most particular of parents. We’ve only seen a fraction of our wedding day photos, but we’re already in love.

Book her quick before she realizes she should be charging way more.

For more:
Day One: The Series
Day Two: The Dress
Day Three: The Photographer
Day Four: The Music
Day Five: The Cake
Day Six: The Flowers
Day Seven: The Legal Stuff
Day Eight: Random Other Stuff