How to choose a Tulum Engagement Photographer
It’s a jungle out here.
Not all Tulum engagement photographers are built the same and no two couples or
projects are the same. This leaves us with an infinite set of variables and an
abundance of options that can often be overwhelming for clients living in or
visiting Tulum. The good news is that we are going to break down some of the
most important factors to consider when choosing your Tulum engagement photographer
so that you can make an informed choice and book the perfect Tulum engagement photographer
for you!
You would think we as engagement
photographers want to book every enquiry that comes in, but no, we actually
don’t. That’s because we want to work with clients who are on the same page as
us. After doing countless engagements in Tulum and in other towns and countries
for almost a decade we know that we do our best work when we work with clients
who want the same things as us and work with us to achieve them. Before we
confirm bookings, we like to have a conversation with potential clients, either
in person in Tulum, by phone or by video call/Zoom. This helps us quickly
establish whether we can make magic together or whether someone else would be a
better fit.
Ultimately all parties
want the best for the client and to ensure that you get exactly what you are
looking for. Use these 10 tips to choose your next Tulum engagement photographer:
1. Establish a rough Tulum Engagement Photography Budget.
If you pay peanuts,
you get monkeys, right? But no-one wants to get ripped off either. In every
area and in every genre, there are multiple options for clients to choose from.
There are cheaper engagement photographers and more expensive engagement photographers,
and guess what, sometimes the most expensive isn’t the best, and sometimes a budget
engagement photographer can be really good.
To simplify the
process, you should figure out a rough budget for your Tulum engagement photographer
and establish a range that you would ideally like your engagement photography
to fall within. From there you can contact Tulum engagement photographers to
get prices and choose someone within your range.
It can be tempting to
price-shop but remember that these memories will last a lifetime. Don’t be
scared to invest in them. If you really love a certain engagement photographer
and they are only a little outside of your price range, then don’t be too
rigid. Think of how much you spend every month on things that don’t last like
junk food, entertainment and impulse purchases and ask yourself if you would
rather have amazing engagement photos or that short-lived dopamine hit right
now.
If you use this guide
properly, the next 9 points will help you make an easy decision regarding this
point, so keep going!
2. Find an engagement photography style you love.
I’m going to break this down into 2 parts, shooting style and editing style:
SHOOTING STYLE:
Shooting style refers to the type of images a photographer takes. There are 4 main styles which this blog does a great job of explaining- https://www.napcp.com/2017/01/12/4-styles-photography-explained/
All 4 of these styles can give very different feels and it’s important to identify which you resonate with. A lot of elopement photographers will incorporate multiple styles in their workflow too. We, for example, are a mix of Documentary, Lifestyle & Traditional giving clients a varied set of images.
EDITING STYLE:
There are a LOT of editing styles so I’m not going to explain each one here, but if you want you can read this blog post by Adobe which does a good job of explaining a few – https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2021/10/19/11-contemporary-photo-editing-styles-to-keep-your-feeds-fresh#gs.m6rgcr
We have a very natural style of editing often referred to as “True to life” and while some people love it because it is timeless and classic, some people prefer a more heavily edited and filtered image which is currently “trendy”.
It’s important that you resonate with your engagement photographers shooting and editing style. I’ve had clients in the past share Pinterest boards and the like with me only to find that they have different photos with wildly different shooting and editing styles and that’s a recipe for disaster as it would be impossible to replicate in a real-world scenario and would look like a mess in a delivered album.
So again, decide what you prefer ahead of time and then talk to Tulum engagement photographers who resonate with that vision.
3. Does the engagement photographer have a great engagement portfolio?
It’s important to view
an engagement photographer’s portfolio before working with them. This is so
that you can ensure that they can provide what you are looking for. As
discussed above, you need to look at their past images and make sure they are
capable of delivering what you require. This can be done by going through their
socials like Instagram and Facebook, by looking at their webpage, or by asking
them to share some past engagement shoots with you to take a look at too.
Gavin... myself and Dawie have no way to thank you enough for everything! You made the entire process professional, effortless and so special! Thank you for everything!
4. Are the photographers Tulum Engagement Photos consistent?
Another important
factor to consider is consistency. It’s one thing being able to achieve a
certain look and feel in one settling, but can they deliver it consistently in
others? Their portfolio should be consistent with easily identifiable
similarities, styles and characteristics. If it is all over the place, you may
want to consider another option.
5. What is the engagement photographer's personality like?
This is super
important. You can have the best engagement photographer in Tulum, but if you
don’t work well together the images will show it. A good place to start is the photographer’s
social media, how do they interact with people? You should definitely have a conversation
with the photographer before booking them and discuss your engagement
photoshoot in more detail, this will give you a great feel for their
personality and what they will be like to work with. A good photographer will
make you feel comfortable and relaxed, and you should be able to just be
yourself. If they do not listen to you, interrupt you, or try to convince you
to do things you don’t want to, then those are some big red flags.
6. How busy is this engagement photographer?
You want to see that the photographer is shooting regularly, a good way to gauge this is by looking at their socials. Of course, this isn’t always true, I’m terrible with social media, for example and don’t post as frequently as I should, but you want to see activity.
A photographer can also be too busy though, do they never have time for a call with you? Do e-mails seem short and rushed? Do they try to get you off the line as quickly as possible when you speak by phone? You want to work with someone who can give you and your Tulum engagement photoshoot the time and attention you deserve.
Accomadating, awesome personality, friendly and patient. Amazing quality pictures and very very punctual. Thank you Gavin!
7. Does this engagement photographer communicate well?
Communication is so important in the lead up to, and during your Tulum engagement photoshoot. Do you like the potential photographer’s style of communication? Do you understand everything they say, and do they understand you? You should both be able to communicate, discuss and adapt ideas freely within conversation. Remember your vow renewal may be outdoors, with wind or other noise and you may be a distance away from each other, you don’t want to spend half of your engagement photoshoot awkwardly shouting “WHAT?” at eachother.
8. Does this Tulum engagement photographer have references?
So many people overlook this part of the process, and it may just be the most important. If you have friends of family that have worked with the photographer that’s a great place to start. If not, look online, you want to see Google reviews and Facebook reviews and you should be able to go through them and get a good feel for how they work. One thing to note is that every business owner gets a negative review eventually, and we know there are Karen’s in this world that weaponize reviews to try and further their own agendas, so if there are negative reviews, have they responded, and what actions were taken to rectify the situation?
9. Beware the overworked Tulum Engagement Photographer.
Be wary of the
overworked photographer. They take forever to reply to communications, they
forget the details, they are on a diet of Red Bull and Coffees. Sometimes
photographers book too much work and can’t cope. They do not rest properly, do
not prepare properly and are often just going through the motions rather than
approaching each project with energy and enthusiasm. Make sure your Tulum engagement
photographer can give you the time and attention you deserve and will arrive
able to give 100% on the day.
I couldn't be happier with Gavin . We had a sunrise engagement shoot and then all day with Gavin on our wedding day. He has serious talent behind the camera as well as processing the final results. He takes pride in his work and we had a lot of fun throughout. I would highly recommend Gavin as your photographer and am excited to work with him again.
10. Personalize your first-contact E-mail
Don’t just e-mail your Tulum engagement photographer saying “Hi, I’m XYZ and I wanted to find out how much it would be for ABC.”. Try to personalize your E-mail and give more information about your specific situation and vision for your elopement. And then expect the same back. You shouldn’t receive just a generic E-mail back; it should address the points set out in your e-mail and ideally add to that. This will indicate to you whether you are just another number, or if your photographer is going to give you and your engagement the time and attention you deserve.
Conclusion
None of the points above are hard and fast or set in stone and of course everyone’s situations and outlooks are different. There are definitely some things to watch out for when booking a Tulum engagement photographer but if I can give you one solid piece of advice it’s this; look at their socials and then call them. If you do those two things and you are happy you are 90% of the way to choosing the perfect Tulum engagement photographer for you. For the other 10%, work through these points, but that is really just to solidify everything for you.
If you would like to chat to us about booking your own Mexico Wedding Photographer with Tulum Photography you can fill out the contact form on our website here, e-mail info@tulum-photography.com or call us on +52 9981 354 254.
