I googled “Bay Area wedding photographer” and there were 484,000 results. By the fourth page, I was tired of looking. At first I was going to feature five outstanding Bay Area wedding photographers, but I couldn’t differentiate among the various websites—what was once a quest to find the best turned into a web design contest selection process. It’s true, your webpage is your visual resumé. If it’s cluttered, out-of-date or just plain cheesy—it gets thrown out of the pile. An hour later, I narrowed down my top picks and realized, those who really stood out were those who also had blogs, because they were personal and constantly updated. Without further ado, here are my top three choices:
1. HyStudio
Since I work for these people, I guess I can’t really place them second or third—haha, no HyStudio really deserves to be first because of their experience, professionalism, and attention to artistic content. Hy edits every single photo (yes, all 500+ of them) before he mails a DVD to me for album layoutting. After I’m done, I mail him another DVD and he goes back and edits the layouts even more. I’m always excited to go through the photos for the first time because Hy really understands how to capture the wedding story without shooting anything cliché—I’m continuously always surprised with yet another original set.
2. Junshien
Now a days, social networking (personal marketing) is key. Junshien makes it clear that he not only blogs but also keeps in contact with people on Facebook, Myspace, and Yelp (where he has earned himself 5 stars). People on Yelp say he’s “very creative and professional”, “not at all pushy”, and someone who “feels as though has become a close friend”. To get intimate photos out of a couple, the photographer must be approachable and that “new best friend”. After all, he is present on your big wedding day.
3. Jerry Yoon
What I absolutely love about Jerry Yoon’s blog is that it IS the quintessential documentary blog with stunning snapshots. You’re guaranteed to smile, laugh, and at times feel a tear well up in the corner of your eye. They say the art embodies the artist, right? So one must be representative of the other. When I clicked on the “about” link, I was expecting a textual introduction. Instead, there were goofy, light-hearted pictures of the photographers making faces at the camera. To describe Jerry Yoon’s photography in one word: [loads of] FUN.
Happy Surfing!
