I never attempted to write about our photographer before. As a blogger, I digest thousands of photos each evening, as I flip through the posts from my favorite blogs. With my feet in two blogging worlds, wedding and design, I’m keeping track of hundreds of feeds with my blog reader. I love photography. Photography is so important to me that I felt like a post about it deserved a lot of my time. Having taken a few days off around the holidays, I now feel as though I can write about this aspect of our wedding.
From Elisa B Photography’s Facebook page / Photo by Elisa Bricker of Elisa B Photography
You’d think that someone who loves photography would have launched an exhaustive search of portfolios, interviewed a dozen photographers, and created an elaborate assessment tool before picking a vendor. I like to say that I made up my mind in a pizza parlor…but it’s not entirely true.
In the winter of 2010, some people Mr. Mink knows opened a pizza shop in Charlottesville. When we visited for the first time, I was struck by their choice to make the interior very modern since most pizza places attempt an old world look. The shop had a wall covered in steel panels that immediately occurred to me as something cool to photograph or to use as a backdrop for a photo shoot. The next time we visited, a photographer showed up with a couple and started doing a maternity shoot against that wall. I remember thinking that if that photographer also saw something appealing in that steel wall, I had to see more of her work.
Maternity session at Rise Pizza / Photo by Elisa Bricker of Elisa B Photography
Did an image from a maternity session sell me on a photographer? Not really. However, it led me to start watching her blog and the blogs of other local photographers to get a sense of the different styles out there. I quickly realized that Charlottesville has an amazing community of photographers. Mr. Mink knew a few personally and we would later get to know a few more through friends. The options were fantastic, but that’s not always a good thing if you appreciate different styles. I started to fear that it could take us months to find a photographer for our wedding.
I found myself going back to the blog of the photographer I saw at the pizza shop again and again. Her name is Elisa Bricker. Elisa and her husband, Edward, run Elisa B Photography.
Recognize the location of this video? / Video by Josh Gooden of Josh Gooden Cinematography
Elisa and I met at a coffee shop during the busy season in my industry, which means I was probably a bit chatty after working in solitude for too many days in a row. We had a fun conversation about blogs and shoes and flowers and other things that I don’t remember right now. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t mind having Elisa by my side on the most important day of my life. I liked that she worked with her husband, so a second shooter wouldn’t by a mystery. I also liked that she was tech savvy and involved in social media.
From Elisa B Photography’s Facebook page / Photo by Elisa Bricker of Elisa B Photography
About a week after our coffee shop meeting, we signed a contact and gave Elisa a deposit. We could have drawn the process out for weeks or months, but I decided to trust my instinct and resist the urge to mount an elaborate search. I’m so happy with our decision.
Did anyone else simply trust their instinct when it came to one of their wedding vendors in lieu of doing a thorough search of all the options?
Sounds like the “Blink” principle at work to me–I hope she’s great!
@All In: I didn’t even think of that! Gladwell would be so proud!!!
I kept my photographer search simple too. I saw my photographer shooting a friend’s wedding, and it was one of the first I’d seen working in person who was young and shooting digital. My family members had all sorta skimped and went with old guys stuck in old ways in the past. I asked for her name, loved her work and booked her and her husband-second-shooter =) Loved my choice. Looking back I can’t believe I didn’t get more caught up in research!
@Mrs. Thimble: Ha! I think the Blink theory is alive and well on Weddingbee!
I’m with you on not really being excited to work with Luddites, but I DO like that many photographers still work with film. I think there’s room for both at weddings. 
She sounds great. I think it’s good you went with your instinct, luckly you found a promising photog right away.
Love your photographer’s work! I think instinct is a very important aspect in finding a photographer; sometimes you just know what you like when you see it.
I did an exhausting amount of research on photographers, but once we met with ours in person we clicked so well that I knew right away I wanted to book with them!
We had the same kind of experience with our photog…. once we found them we didn’t do any more research!
When you know, you know I guess!
Such a cool and unique story! I love it! We kind of stumbled onto our photographers as well. They photographed a college friend’s wedding, and when I went to their blog to stalk the pictures, I was hooked. A good two and a half years before Mr. P even proposed. Long before we’d decided to get married or made any wedding plans, we knew exactly who we wanted to photograph our day.
You’ll love Elisa – she did our wedding this summer, and we couldn’t be happier!!
Nice photos. And I’ve found several of our vendors through recommendations from other vendors. They’ve been working here in Fayetteville much longer than we’ve lived her, so I’ll trust their opinions.
Mrs. Mink, Charlottesville, Virginia Age and Occupation: 34, College Administrator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer Consultant Engagement Date: November 26, 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards About Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
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