Photographers and how we chose ours.

As long as I have been a photographer, the biggest question people would ask of me was "Who's going to be YOUR photographer?"

For humor's sake, I'll write up some of what people have suggested to me:

"You should photograph your own wedding.  Ninja."
"Can't you hold up your arm and snap a picture at the altar?"
"Set up a dozen stop motion cameras."
"Set up a bunch of cameras at strategic locations on tripods...and remotely trigger them."  

While the joking was all good and fun, the question really isn't going to be easy to answer now that the moment has really arrived.

As one would expect, I'm more picky about photography than Eiffel is, and I really want the best for our own wedding.  As such here's a list of things that I'd like to put down in terms of criteria for the photographer whose work will appeal to Eiffel and me.

1.  Needs to shoot film.  My particular taste is pretty retro.  Retro shoes, hats, vests, suspenders.   It extends out into my own professional work with photography as well.  I love the colors of film.  It has a character that simply can't be duplicated with digital.

2.  Needs to capture moments.  A photographer (kudos if you know who it is) once said that there was no such thing as a perfect picture, only perfect moments.  The photographer that I would hire needs to be able to focus on capturing moments and emotions of the day - photojournalism.  I personally wanted a photographer that could anticipate moments that would occur during the most offbeat of times during the engagement shoot and the wedding day and be there to capture them.

3.  Can form a connection with their imagery.  Their work had to be inspiring not just to me, but to Eiffel as well.  It's easier for a photographer to connect with me since I know what to look for.  But for a photographer to emotionally connect with someone that isn't photographically trained was key to my preferences.  If the work of the photographer only appealed to me but was lacking emotional connection to Eiffel, what would it say about the photographer's work when we showed their images to our friends, family, and eventually our own children and grandchildren?

With help from Lydia of Ever Ours, we were referred to several photographers, one of whom definitely caught our eye.  He knew what moments to capture from weddings in his portfolio.  He connected with both Eiffel and me, and most importantly he shot film!

Without further ado, I present the photographer we've chosen:  Gabe Aceves!

You can find links to his work HERE and HERE.

I'm completely and totally excited to be working with Gabe as Eiffel has banned me from touching a camera during the wedding day...