Lake Tahoe wedding photographers has been capturing photos of couples in the greater Tahoe Basin area since 2007. After Doug received his BA in professional photography from Brooks Institute of Photography he moved back to South Lake Tahoe to start up his photography business and has been loving every second of it since. The greater Tahoe basin area and surrounding Sierra Mountain range is a dream location for wedding ceremonies and receptions, which makes this area a popular destination for couples living in the Northern California area and photographers wanting to capturing images of these newly weds. Tahoe is also a popular summer time location for couples around the United States to host destination weddings at.
As a newly engaged couple it can seem like information over load when you google Lake Tahoe wedding photographer and see the loads of websites and paid advertising pages to click on with the endless amount of photographers on those pages and websites. One of the first things I would recommend for couples to look for in a photographer is to see if their images or photos speak to them. I know this seems lame, but if someone has amazing reviews and is highly recommend by venues and other professionals but you really don’t like the pictures they take then please move on. This is one of the most important days of your lives and you should really find someone that you immediately fall in love with their photographs. Once you find a couple of these photographers you should contact them as soon as possible to find out if they have your date open and finding out if they fit your weddings budget.
Another item to consider when looking for and booking a wedding photographer is to see if they’ve taken pictures at the venue you’re going to get married at. Even though you should consider this, I personally don’t see it as a good or bad thing. I think both camps are good if they’ve photographed at your venue or not. The pros of finding a photographer that has worked your venue before. Is that they are familiar with the location, grounds and staff. Most likely they already know where the good locations are for having your portraits taken at and when certain areas are in good light. They will also understand how the flow of the wedding happens at that particular event center and how the staff works during certain parts of the event day. Then the pros of finding a photographer who hasn’t worked at your specific wedding venue is that they can photograph your wedding with open eyes and not have a clue of hitting up the same popular spots to take your photos at, that others do. This means they can find new and interesting locations and lighting that will give you super unique pictures on your wedding day. They are also more apt to take chances to get you great photos, then staying in the comfort zone that most wedding vendors do who work the same location over and over. In my opinion this is why it’s not that important to having to find someone who's worked at your venue before. Most good photographers can create amazing images at any given location.
Here’s a list of some favorite South Lake Tahoe wedding venues that Doug Miranda Photography loves to work and create wedding pictures at.
Another important item to look for when hiring a Lake Tahoe wedding photographer is their knowledge of the local area. This means just knowing their way around the town and knowing those secret locations to go to on the day of. Tahoe is a huge area and it’s nice to know that the person you are hiring has some whereabouts of the local area. This can help on busy summer weekends when the traffic is horrible and they are able to show up on time or get from point A to point B without being late and also help you out in the process. Far too often I hear horror stories about vendors that aren’t familiar with Tahoe and the summer traffic and leave what they think is on time and in turn they end up showing up late because of traffic jams or just getting lost. The other plus to having someone who knows their way around is finding those out of the way spots or secret locations that are away for crowds and will have little to no people at. This comes in handy if you’re wanting to take photographs during a crowded weekend, but you don’t want hundreds of tourist or beach goers in your wedding photos. At that same time I’m not saying you need to hire a local photographer just one who has knowledge of the local area. Most Lake Tahoe wedding photographers who say they are local are not and live else where like the Reno Carson City area or greater Sacramento area. Let’s face it Tahoe is a super expensive place to live and really tuff to become a home owner at due to the high real estate prices.
Here’s a list of some of the favorite North Lake Tahoe and west shore wedding venues that Doug Miranda Photography enjoys to work at and create wedding pictures for clients.
One of the other key factor in finding someone to take pictures at your wedding is how long they’ve been in business for and how many weddings have they actually photographed. I know when I first started out this one was one of the main reasons I didn’t book a job because clients wanted someone who had more knowledge and time under their belt photographing weddings. When I was younger I thought this deal breaker was a bunch of bull, but now I completely believe this to be true. On the wedding day things are happing so fast that if you’re an unexperienced photographer and don’t know how to solve problems on the fly things can go south really quick which could have a great effect on the wedding day or your wedding pictures. Sometimes it’s small things like knowing when to leave a room when someone is really stressed out before the ceremony or having back up camera equipment just in case something important breaks during the day. Trust me something will eventually break and you’ll need back up camera gear in order to finish a couple’s wedding day. It’s happened to me a couple times before and thank god I always have backups to still be able to create images for my couples. Another thing that comes with hiring a experienced photographer is they’ll know the flow of a normal wedding day, what pictures need to taken and know when the best lighting will happen and to be able to anticipate important moments that happen during your special day. The other common place thing is knowing if they actually have a business license and business insurance. You think this would be something that you would do first off when starting a business, but there are many people out there who have been operating for years without both these important items and are technically not a business. It’s really important to find these things out before hiring someone. With that being said it’s you should try and look at photographers that have been doing this for at least a couple years and are a legitimate business.
Booking a wedding photographer can be a daunting task, but once you see photos that speak to you, you’ll know that photographer is probably the right person to capture pictures for your big day.
To recap the above writing. Here are my top 4 factors that go into finding the right Lake Tahoe wedding photographer for your special day.
There are many other factors that go into booking a photographer like if they fit your budget or even have your date open, but the list above will point you in the right direction with finding the right person to capture images on your special day.
Here are some links to read wedding reviews that past clients have left for me online.
The Knot Reviews and Wedding Wire Reviews
If you are interested in hiring me to photograph your wedding day or be your Lake Tahoe elopement photographer please fill out the contact form on this website. You can also email me directly at doug@dougmiranda.com or give me a call at 916-422-2256. I look forward to hearing from you.