There is SO much information out there on how to find your perfect wedding photographer. From deciding which editing style you prefer, to which approach is right for you, to making sure that your personalities mesh. Don’t get me wrong, that is all incredibly important, but what a lot of articles skip is step one. The research. How do I actually start making a list of potential photographers? Where do I search and what do I search for?
When planning my own wedding, that’s the part I struggled with the most, and the part I want to help you with. Today I'm breaking down how to begin the search for your perfect Upstate NY Wedding Photographer into 4 steps.
1. Finding your wedding photographer on Google
Google is likely the first place that couples go when searching for a photographer for their wedding, but how you go about that Google search will determine how successful your search is.
Search by City
Remember to search for the city where your wedding venue is and also any surrounding cities. For example: use terms like “Ithaca Wedding Photographer” or “Syracuse Wedding Photographer” when searching for an Upstate NY wedding photographer. Most wedding photographers, myself included, do a lot of traveling for weddings, so don’t worry about searching for a city that’s a little farther away from your wedding venue.
Search by Region
Sometimes photographers will advertise themselves in regions instead of confining themselves to a specific city. Some of the regions of New York you might want to try searching for are:
- Finger Lakes
- Hudson Valley
- Catskills
- Capitol Region
- Central New York
- Adirondacks
For example, if your wedding is in Ithaca you'll want to search for "Finger Lakes Wedding Photographer" since Ithaca is in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY.
Search by Wedding Venue
A lot of photographers have blogs on their websites and create blog posts targeting their favorite wedding venues. Most of the time, they name those blog posts based on the name of the venue where the wedding was photographed. So, if you were to search your venue name followed by “wedding” or “wedding photos”, chances are you’re going to find blog posts with tons of images taken by photographers who have photographed weddings at your venue. This is a great way to find a photographer who has worked at your venue before. I would also suggest doing the same thing for other venues nearby. By searching this way, even if they haven't worked at your venue, you know they've worked close by and are familiar with and willing to travel to the area.
Check Image Search Results
While you’re doing your searches by city, region, and wedding venue, make sure you don’t forget about Google Image search. It’s not uncommon for a great photographer’s website to rank more highly in image search results than in a regular search.
2. The Knot, Wedding Wire, and Zola
Chances are, that during your Google searches, you stumbled upon links to websites like “The Knot”, “Wedding Wire”, and “Zola”. These websites are great for compiling wedding photographers from across an entire region in one location. With a uniform format it’s easy to compare and contrast different photographer’s work.
These websites are a great place to start, and a great place for photographers to advertise (my business is listed on all three of these websites). However, it is important to know that any business can advertise on these websites, and the businesses that appear on the first page aren’t necessarily the best in the area. With websites like “The Knot”, “Wedding Wire”, and “Zola”, vendors pay to have their businesses featured, and the ones that pay the most are the ones with the top spots.
It's also important to note that The Knot, Wedding Wire, and Zola all give out awards to vendors. You'll usually see a little badge on the vendor's profile if they've received an award (like the ones below). It would be easy to assume that those are the best wedding vendors in the area, which could be true, but it's important to know that awards are given out by these websites every year to vendors who receive a certain number of positive reviews from the previous year (usually anywhere from 5-7). So, these awards don't necessarily indicate that a vendor is better, or more trustworthy than a vendor who didn't receive the award, but they do mean that the vendor has met the requirements for positive reviews for the year.
So what does this mean for you? This means that some of the best photographers in the area are on these websites (and you should definitely check them out!), but it also means that some of the best vendors in the area have found other ways to market themselves that work better for their business and don’t involve paying monthly to be on the first page of these websites. That means you’ll probably want to search for photographers in other places too, and not limit yourself to only the ones listed on these websites.
A Note on Zola:
For a photographer (or any wedding vendor) to respond back to a couple who inquires with them directly on Zola, the photographer has to use a certain number of credits. Those credits are purchased by the photographer. Because of this, if the budget the couple listed doesn’t seem like it will fit the photographer's pricing (even if the couple's budget is flexible) the photographer may choose to decline that couple's inquiry because they don’t want to spend the money to respond if it doesn’t seem to them like they’re the right fit for the couple. My recommendation is that if there’s a photographer or other wedding vendor on Zola that you’d really like to speak with, you may want to go to their website and message them directly from their contact form. This will give them more information about you your date and budget options and guarantee that you get a response.
3. Finding your wedding photographer on Instagram
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are plenty of great photographers in Upstate NY who aren’t ranking on the first page on Google. Their clients might find them mostly through word of mouth, wedding planners, or social media, so they may not put as much time into their website SEO. This means you probably won’t find them on the first page of Google. So, if you haven’t found your perfect photographer through web searches on Google or Bing, it might be time to make your way over to Instagram.
Hashtags
Remember how we were searching for “Ithaca Wedding Photographer” on Google earlier? Now you’re going to search for #ithacaweddingphotographer, #ithacaweddings, or even #fingerlakesweddingphotographer since Ithaca is in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate NY.
Look at Venue's Instagram Accounts
Another way to search for wedding photographers on Instagram is through your venue (or a venue in the same area). Once you’re viewing your venue’s account, you’re going to look at photos they’ve posted. Most of the time when venues post a photographer’s photos, they will tag the photographer that took the photo. This helps you find vendors who have already worked at your venue, or if you're looking at a venue in the same area, a photographer who is willing to travel to the area where your venue is located.
Look at Photos That Your Venue Has Been Tagged In
You can also look at the photos that your wedding venue has been tagged in. Most photographers will always tag the wedding venue when they post photos they've taken there. This is a great way to find photographers who have photographed weddings at your venue even if your venue doesn't post on Instagram all that often.
4. LGBTQ Inclusive Wedding Photographers in Upstate NY
This post has been mostly dedicated to methods of finding your perfect upstate ny wedding photographer, but how to find an LGBTQ-inclusive wedding photographer is important and goes hand in hand with this topic.
Having an LGBTQ-affirming business is something I’m incredibly passionate about, but unfortunately, even in Upstate NY, not every photographer is. I’ve noticed this is something that many cis-hetero couples overlook when searching for a photographer because they’re thinking about their photographer in relation to their own relationship, but I believe it’s important that we not only choose vendors whose work we love, but who would support us (and our friends and family) no matter who we love and who we’re marrying.
A wedding photographer’s support for the LGBTQ community should be apparent on their website through images and language. Ideally, a photographer comes right out and says that they support the LGBTQ community on their website, but if they don't you'll have to do a little more looking around. Lack of images of LGBTQ couples on a website or social media doesn’t necessarily mean that a photographer isn’t inclusive. It could mean that they haven’t worked with any LGBTQ couples yet, and in these cases, you’ll want to pay extra close attention to the language on the website. Any language alluding to “bride” or “groom” instead of “couple” or “partner” could be (but isn’t always) a signal that they are not an inclusive business. If you’re still not sure, you can always reach out to the photographer and ask (or ask that a friend or family member to reach out for you), but I believe that in the wedding industry, a photographer’s (or any vendor’s) support for the LGBTQ community should be loud and clear.
If you’re looking for an upstate NY Wedding Photographer I would love to chat with you.