How to Choose A Sedona Elopement Photographer
Want to elope in Sedona? We can’t blame you. When it comes to planning a destination wedding in Arizona, we know for sure, that a Sedona wedding is one filled with stunning views. Those amazing views from your perfect day mean one thing, you need to find an Arizona elopement photographer to capture your love story through pictures you can look at with friends and family for a lifetime.
Sedona Elopement Photographer
So you’re eloping in Sedona and you’ve begun searching for an Arizona elopement photographer. Here’s the deal, you’ll come across plenty of elopement photographers that offer a ‘destination’ service. In other words, they are not based out of Sedona. In all probability, it’s likely they’ve never worked here before. But, they’ll happily fly out (usually for a hefty fee) to capture your elopement wedding in Sedona.
Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea
Look, we’re speaking from experience, your wedding photos shouldn’t be something that comes with a “do-over” button. When you hire a Sedona elopement photographer, they have to be someone who 1,000% knows & loves the area. Not only that, but they should be excited about the prospect of capturing your elopement in Sedona.
On top of that, they need to be familiar with the entire process. Including scouting amazing locations in Sedona and knowing the photo spots within those locations for your couples photos. Above all, and this is kind of a big one, they shouldn’t be afraid of a short hike on the day of your Sedona elopement.
We highly encourage our couples to book a photographer based on the experience & knowledge they have of capturing an Arizona wedding. Having prior experience in Sedona is kind of a big deal when thinking about the end product, your wedding photos. You want to work with an Arizona elopement photographer who knows the area inside and out.
Your Sedona elopement photographer should have a firm understanding of the landscape of Arizona and how to make it work for phenomenal photos. They should also be familiar with the environment you’ll be in on the day of your wedding. Additionally, they’ll need to have the chops to work with your family & friends, including older guests, on those group photos!
Your elopement photographer in Sedona also needs to understand which direction to shoot depending on the time of day, the direction of the sunrise or sunset, and be familiar with the tourist traffic in Sedona during the particular season of your big day.
We know from our years of experience capturing weddings and location scouting, that when it comes to getting married in Sedona, especially at locations like Cathedral Rock, you have to be in the exact perfect location. For example, one location in Cathedral Rock is beyond epic for sunset wedding photos. While the other location is, well, horrible. And that’s putting it lightly.
Photo quality for a Sedona wedding always circles back to lighting. Look, nobody can control the sunrise or the sunset. But, a professional wedding photographer can and should know the general direction, and how it will affect or enhance the quality of your wedding photos.
That kind of experience and know-how about Sedona doesn’t exist from hopping on a plane 24 hours before your wedding. Which, by the way, leaves them with little to no time to meet your wedding planner, talk with your officiant, and find the perfect spot for that epic photo you have in mind at Cathedral Rock.
And yes, all of those components truly matter when it comes to finding a Sedona elopement photographer who can create a photography experience for your wedding. An experience that results in amazing high-quality photos!
Sedona Wedding Photographer
You’re hitting enter on your search bar at an alarming rate and coming across a Sedona elopement photographer after elopement photographer. Maybe it’s your first time searching for a professional photographer, or you’ve only done this once or twice before. You’re not sure what to look for, or what to ask once you think you’ve found the right photographer.
Here’s What You Need to Know
First things first, photography is a visual art, especially for an elopement. That Sedona elopement photographer you found? You have to take an in-depth look at how they shoot. We’ll just say this. If you’re looking for the same experience you had at the mall for your school photos, we ain’t it.
Our approach to Sedona elopement photography is documentary style. In contrast, many other elopement photographers are into posing their couples with what we like to call the “1,2,3 smile” approach.
But your Sedona wedding isn’t about that, is it? An elopement, your elopement, is raw emotion through your beautiful union on one of the happiest days of your life. How can that raw emotion be allowed to flourish if someone is directing it? Hint, it can’t.
We’re not into managing our couples moments on the day of their elopement, just capturing them. At the core of our documentary approach is an authentic elopement experience that is totally natural, unstaged, and most importantly, unposed. We’ll leave the cheesy photography prompts for folks at the mall.
Take a Look at Their Work
Did you find a Sedona elopement photographer you are potentially interested in working with? What’s next? First, you want to look at all of their work. Not just their Instagram profile. After all, social media is a highlight reel. You don’t want to get sucked in by a highlight reel only to end up hating a full gallery of wedding photos after they’ve arrived when it’s too late to do anything about it.
You’ll need to look to take an in-depth look at the galleries posted on their website. Get crazy with the clicks and take a deep dive through their online galleries to see which locations they’ve worked at. Seriously, look at more than just one gallery. Go through as many of their galleries from different Sedona locations as you can. This will give you a feel for their work, their point of view, their style, and how they shoot.
After that gallery deep dive, if you still feel confident about working with them, you’ll want to come prepared with a list of questions when you start chatting.
Questions to Ask Your Sedona Elopement Photographer
- How much coverage do you provide?
- This usually refers to the amount of time they will be present on your wedding day to work on your couples photos, and photos with your guests. If they say something like 30 minutes or an hour, promplty run to the nearest exit. The photography in our Sedona elopement packages starts with a minimum of 2 hours of coverage.
- Will my wedding photos have watermarks? (ours don’t, because who wants a logo stamped across their wedding photos?)
- How will I receive my photos? Through an online platform? A USB stick? Via email?
- If my wedding photos are through an online gallery, how can I access them?
- We love providing our couples with their photos via an online gallery. This gives them the flexibility to copy, share, print, and download their high-resolution or web-size photos at their leisure.
- When can I expect to receive my full gallery of wedding photos?
- We provide our couples with their full gallery within 6-8 weeks of their wedding date
- That can seem like forever when you’re waiting for the photos from your epic Sedona elopement, so we also provide our couples with a round of sneak peeks within 5 days of their wedding!
- On that same note, we allow our couples the option to expedite their photos and receive them all (the whole enchilada) in two weeks
- How long will we be able to access our online gallery?
- We provide our couples with a full year (12 months, not calendar year) of access to their gallery and we highly encourage them to download all of their photos as soon as they have the chance
- Will we receive all of our photos or just a set number of photos?
- Yeah, we’ve seen Sedona elopement photographers only promise their couples 100 images (or some other arbitrary number). Our couples receive access to all of their photos, regardless of the number!
Aside from asking your potential Sedona elopement photographer these questions, how do they make you feel? These questions all cover the normal scope of work, but is your photographer taking care of you? Granted, your Sedona elopement photographer is not your planner. But how are they helping you oversee the timeline planning for your photography experience? Furthermore, how are they helping you prepare?
You and your soon-to-be wife or husband need to feel confident that you’ve found the right person who is thrilled to memorialize your day through unforgettable photos for your Sedona elopement. Because working with your Sedona elopement photographer is a massive part of your wedding.
Our approach is to provide our couples with Sedona elopement packages that take care of them from beginning to end and then some. Aside from photography, we also provide our couples with vendor recommendations for their Arizona wedding. We talk to our couples about the best spots to explore, locations that provide amazing adventure elopements, and finding a fun ceremony location with an officiant who gets what their love story is all about.
Who wants to spend time planning an Arizona elopement booking a million different stand-alone experiences that don’t blend with each other? Aren’t weddings supposed to be fun? Your Arizona elopement is an adventure. You should be able to soak up every single wedding experience as it comes your way. You should not be spending time chasing after a Sedona elopement photographer who doesn’t know how to get to your adventure elopement or calls you up on the day of your wedding because they’ve arrived on site and there is limited parking.
Pro Tip From Arizona Elopement Collective
There’s no doubt the above questions are super important. But equally important is how you feel when the camera is pointed at you. Talk to your Sedona elopement photographer in advance about the pace of your photography experience, and the amount of space you’ll be given when you’re in front of the camera.
Your Elopement Photographer is an Investment
We’re sure you’ve heard this before because we didn’t invent the concept. A Sedona elopement photographer is an investment. There are very few tangible items left of your wedding day once it passes. Your photos will hang on the walls of your home or be printed in an album to share with house guests. Nobody wants to look back on their photos and think about how they made the wrong decision when it came to their photographer.
With wedding photography, you get what you pay for. Maybe you’re trying to stay within budget and the idea of saving some coin on a Sedona elopement photographer sounds tempting. But, 100%, you will regret it in the long run.
What you’re paying for with a Sedona elopement photographer is so much deeper than “just photos”. You’re paying for their years of experience, knowledge of the area, support, high-quality photos, access to those photos, amount of photos – you get the picture. They need to be a perfect fit with more than just your budget. Don’t try to save now just to have it cost you your precious memories.
Our personal approach to Sedona elopement photography is to capture your moment and turn it into a lifelong memory. After all, your vows are not a stylized photoshoot!
Still not sure if you’ve found the right Sedona elopement photographer? Before you sign that contract or pay a deposit, check out their reviews. Reviews from past clients will tell you everything you need to know about the quality of their work beyond the “ just the photos”.
Your Wedding Day
Do you still need more details on finding the perfect Sedona elopement package for you? At Arizona Elopement Collective, we offer our couples weddings with a side of adventure through flexible, personalized packages. We’re also pretty big on helping our couples save money when they elope. Whether you have your heart set on Cathedral Rock or another elopement adventure, check out this article on Sedona elopement packages, for our top tips on how to create your special day.
