We photographed this beautiful bridal at sweetheart circle on the GSU campus as a HUGE storm approached.  Just as I captured the last image - the rain came.  Sweet Heart circle is special to this couple for lots of reasons - including being the location of his proposal to her and the location of their wedding.  You have seen their engagement images taken on Sweet Heart Circle.  Now her bridal and the next will be the wedding… so stay tuned!

 MY Top Ten Suggestions for Hiring a Wedding Photographer

Congratulations! My wish for you is that the fairy tale you dreamed of and probably practiced as a child comes true for you with your prince charming!

There are few portrait events that rival the importance of your wedding. For many brides, your wedding is the first time you will hire a professional photographer. With no prior experience in commissioning a professional photographer, you may be tempted to shop for a photographer as you shop for every other item for the wedding…solely based on price.

You may not realize that on your wedding day almost every professional involved in your wedding is licensed or regulated by a state agency except photographers. That includes your pastor, caterer, stylist, even the person who does your nails. Because of the lack of regulation, almost daily I hear another bride or mother of the bride’s wedding photography horror story.

So what has changed? Technology: digital photography has lowered the barrier for entry and the perceived skill sets in the photography industry. Five to ten years ago, you had to have a strong knowledge of posing, lighting and technical aspects of capturing beautiful images on film. Most wedding photographers would show up at your wedding with ten to thirty thousand of dollars of equipment. Today you can get a pretty good digital camera for $600 and you are now a “professional wedding photographer”. So how do you make the best investment in a professional wedding photographer?

Here are my TOP TEN suggestions for hiring a wedding photographer:

1) Establish a budget for photography. The industry average is 10% of the total wedding budget. Martha Stewart suggests 20%. (If your total wedding budget, dress, flowers, venue, food, beverages, entertainment, etc. is $15,000 then your photography budget should be $1,500 to $3,000)

2) Research your photographer…regardless of who refers you to your photographer. Ask for names and contact information of at least three recent brides. Call them and ask to see their completed wedding album. Ask questions about the photographer’s professionalism, including responsiveness to phone calls and emails prior to and after the wedding, and length of time it took to get the completed wedding album delivered. Many photographers provide “incentives” to other vendors for referrals. Even though you think you are getting an “honest” referral based on the photographer’s quality of work and past experience, this may not be the case.

3) Discuss their formal training in photography and years in business. (not how long they have been taking pictures) Keep in mind that 50% of small businesses in America fail in the first five years.

4) Ask if they are a member of a professional trade association, such as the Professional Photographers of America. (PPA requires its members to abide by a professional code of ethics and offers indemnification, mediation and other critical legal support which protects you, the consumer)

5) If they are a member of the PPA, find out if they are Certified by the PPA. (this volunteer certification validates that they at least have a critical technical knowledge of photography and that they take their trade seriously enough to voluntarily help raise the professional standards by becoming certified as a professional photographer)

6) Does your photographer have a storefront or professional office and maintain regular business hours? Often the biggest challenge comes from hiring a photographer with no permanent address and only a cell phone and yahoo or hotmail email account. Would you use a doctor, lawyer or other professional that worked out of a bedroom of their home? Anyone can make images look great on a web site. Website templates make it very easy for everyone to have a very professional looking website. Don’t be fooled by the perception of success.

7) Make certain your wedding package includes EVERYTHING you want, from photography of the wedding day to a completed wedding album. (57% of brides surveyed by Kodak in 2007 only received a high resolution DVD of images – NO PRINTED PICTURES AND NO WEDDING ALBUM) What they thought was a great deal turned quickly into a nightmare. Often these digital files are so large that most of the brides could not open them on a normal computer. The largest amount of time and often talent, in addition to capturing the photographs on your wedding day, occurs after the wedding. It is all the post production of the event including digital processing, color correction and retouching of the images and designing and printing a beautiful wedding album that require tremendous talent and TIME. Post production is NOT an option that is available at most one-hour photo labs – so you ARE NOT saving money trying to have your images printed yourself. Could you imagine going to a lawyer and after a very expensive hour of her time – she sends you home with a do it yourself kit to finish your legal documents?

How does your photographer archive your wedding files? Get a purchase option for your files in writing. If you do get a DVD of images, immediately make a copy to your hard drive and a second copy to place in your safe deposit box at your bank.

9) Get EVERYTHING in writing. Ask to review your contract overnight before signing. Get your attorney to review it. It will be well worth the money if something goes wrong.

10) Find out your photographer’s contingency plans. In the event of an illness, accident, or other event preventing your photographer from being able to photograph your wedding, learn their contingency plan to have your event photographed with equal or greater talent. Also, what is their equipment contingency plan? Do they have a back-up camera and back-up lighting equipment in case something is dropped and damaged in the middle of your wedding?

So how did your photographer score???

Don’t panic if they didn’t score a 10 of 10. This list has been comprised based on my 20+ years of experience in the photography industry and from the “stories” I keep hearing over and over from brides. Keep in mind that often the most talented artists may not have the strongest business and customer service skills. The process of hiring your photographer will most likely require some give and take but now you can make a more informed and educated decision.

Congratulations! My wish for you is that the fairy tale you dreamed of and probably practiced as a child comes true for you with your prince charming!

Lori Grice is an internationally recognized Master photographer. She has operated her successful photography business in downtown Statesboro for over 20 years. As Statesboro Herald’s photography expert, you can ask Lori more questions about wedding photography or other types of photography at www.StatesboroHerald.com on the Ask the Expert page. Learn more about Lori at www.lorigrice.com .

During the 15 years I photographed weddings, one of my favorite ways to get to know the bride was her engagement and bridal portraits.  Long after I photographed my last wedding brides still have the opportunity to experience the “Lori Grice” difference as part of their wedding through engagement and bridal sessions.  With the evolution of wedding photography, the bridal portrait has taken on even more significance.   If you are someone you know is engaged make sure they talk with us about this most significant portrait.  No matter who photographs your wedding - I would be honored to create a bridal portrait of you that will be a treasured heirloom in your new home. Enjoy a few of my brides.    

By:  Susan Allan - Statesboro

As I look back on the last nine years we have lived in Statesboro I see the threads of these years that have been woven into our lives, creating lasting memories ….
As I look around my house at the photographs that represents the days of our lives Lori Grice Photography has captured those days  of these special years that our woven into the fabric of our memory. 
I see memories of happy days of the final summers of high school - the senior portraits of both my girls capture their youth, their varied interests of high school days,  the hopes and dreams of their future.  From the casual poses in the ourdoors, to the poses representing memories of band concerts, leading the band in football half time shows for April and a treasure chest of ballet costumes for Ashley to the serious formal poses that remind us of the beautiful young women they have become - we treasure each thread of the tapestry.
Amidst the happy memories are the pictures of four best friends, reminding us that woven into the tapestry of life, yes, even young life, is sadness, tragic losses, mountains to be climbed.  These pictures capture the importance of friends as one of the four faces the pain, the fears, the uncertainties of cancer and reminds us of the miracle of good health on the other side of illness. We treasure the tapestry of friends in our daughters lives.
The generations are represented around our home through LGP of my parents as we announced the joy of their 5oth wedding anniversary.  A picture representing the blessings of family, the shared joys of the generations,the celebration of half a century of marriage!
Even our professional lives are captured by LGP through our official staff photographs at First Baptist Church.  Even the blessing of being able to connect our lives with those of our First Baptist Family has been made possible through the photography that introduces our staff to newcomers through our staff photographs. 
As the threads of the tapestry continue to be woven, we cherish the pictures of the new love of a new generation.  The engagement pictures of April and Eric represent the beginning of a new journey, the promise of many years together of shared love of yet another generation.  The cherished bridal portrait hangs in our home, a reminder of yet another passage of time, another family tapestry in it’s beginning stages with so many threads yet to be woven into the tapestry of love. 
Yes, Lori Grice Photography has truly enriched our lives through friendship and the capturing of the memories of our lives in this past decade.  We are grateful for these portraits that represent the tapestry of our lives and help us to remember in the days to come as God continues to weave the tapestry of his choosing in our lives.  

  By: Kitty Roberts Cason - Richmond Hill and Statesboro

Finalist

I got a phone call from Lori a couple of days ago.  During the call Lori encouraged me to write a story expressing what my portraits from her have meant.  When I got the phone call I was a little distracted so I asked her if I could e-mail them to her.  Honestly I forgot all about it as I hung up the phone and three children begging to hurry up and go to the pool can do.  But it came back to my mind while I had a few minutes alone in the car.  A flood of memories came to my mind. 

    Originally she had mentioned my wedding portraits but I had to go back even further.  Lori began taking pictures of my family in the early 1990’s when I was still in college. I had seen her work through the windows of her store and I liked what I saw so I gave her a call.  Little didn’t know how dear these would become to me.  You see, we hadn’t a family portrait taken in quite a few years so Lori came down to my family home in Richmond Hill and we did a family portrait.  Mom, Dad, younger brother, me and our  3 dogs.  I also had a portrait taken of me and my horse.  That may sound a little odd to some but this horse was my first horse that I got at 7 years old and we shared the exact same birthday.  I grew up with this magnificent creature riding and showing him in shows and if he could talk would spill all of my secrets.  I was the girl who loved horses.  The portraits were great.   A treasure that I could hold on to. 

    Time marched on……Unfortunately my parents divorced after almost 30 years together, two of the three dogs have passed away, and my horse too passed on.  But I still have the portraits!  And every time I look at them I think of all of the good memories.  I am so glad that I have these.  A day frozen in time.

    When I got engaged I knew who to call.  Lori!!  She took the engagement photos and once again traveled to Richmond Hill to take my bridal portraits.  Ever since I was a small girl I knew that I wanted my bridal portraits under the beautiful and grand live oaks of White Hall Plantation so that is just what we did.  Magical is what they were.  Since the divorce of my parents a lot of things had changed in my life and I wanted these pictures to reflect what I grew up knowing and loving.  The home that I remembered.  We took the pictures in a lot of the places that I spent time daydreaming and playing.  Every time I look at these I am never older than my dreams.  Once again Lori did it she froze so many of my wonderful memories in time. 

    Now I am the mother of three wonderful and spirited children.  Lori has captured their personalities and milestones too many to name.  I am appreciative for the attention to detail and craftsmanship.  Things will come and they will go.  But my pictures will be with me until my last days and my children will have them and the generations to come.  I hope that they understand the importance of them as much as I do.  It is my history and theirs to. 

   Lastly,  we had a family portrait taken a week ago.  The first for my family.  I will never forget how my 3 year old didn’t want to stand still and cooperate my 18 month old couldn’t sit still and my 7 year old would rather be playing with her friends.  Some how we came out with a beautiful picture.  Through all of the craziness of that day Lori came inside and shot some candid pictures of my kids just laying on the couch together.  They were watching Nemo on tv and were all snuggled up.  When Lori started shooting I knew these would be my favorites.  My kids would be together, snuggled tightly, just hanging out.  She froze this moment in time.  When my kids are all grown and gone and living their lives and I look at this portrait they will always be my babies.  My perfect babies. 

Thank you Lori for the memories!  Thank you for the emotions that you create in me through your pictures!  Thank you for the last 14 years that you have taken pictures of my family!  Thank you for freezing so many memories in time!  From a girl, to a bride, to a mother I am grateful!  I look forward to the years and milestones to come!

Always,

Kitty Cason