When my husband and I started planning our wedding last year, we knew we wanted an outstanding…read morephotographer. However, we weren't interested in throwing a "typical" wedding or having "typical" wedding pictures: a bridal party jumping up and down, pictures of our rings in flowers, pictures of our shoes, etc. Our wedding was to include an Indian ceremony, a session of story-telling, a sign language interpreter, and a bingo game involving popcorn. Our wedding was far from traditional. So, what we really wanted were more candid shots that showed the important people in our lives during the event, their personalities, and how we interacted with them. All of the photographers we searched in Madison had wonderful pictures, but they were a little too traditional for us, so we started asking around. A family member had a friend named Max Wendt, a professional photographer who focused on the performing arts. We looked at his portfolio, were impressed, and contacted him. Unfortunately, he had never shot a wedding before. We explained to him what we were looking for, and he agreed. He said that if he were to shoot a wedding, ours would be the kind of wedding that he would like to photograph. We met with him while we were briefly in town, and he showed us an expanded portfolio that even included pictures he had taken of his own family. We negotiated back and forth quite a bit about the contract, the price and method of payment, and the event times (ours was a 2-day wedding). Everything was over email (and across the country), and we found Max to be professional, flexible, and very willing to listen to our concerns and suggestions. We modified the contract to a degree that satisfied all of us.
As the wedding approached, Max began asking us questions over email. He had been to visit our wedding site, and had suggestions about the best place and set up for the pictures. His suggestions were great, and we agreed to many of them, but we didn't feel pressured to change things around if we didn't want to. Max showed up to the events on both days early, and stayed late. We wanted him to take a few posed pictures of the two of us, as well as immediate family, and he found a wonderful spot at both locations for those pictures. As a good photographer should be, he was discreet and we barely noticed him as he worked. Although a self-proclaimed "perfectionist," Max was extremely friendly, easy-going, and pleasant to work with. At our smaller ceremony, friends of ours actually struck up conversations and tried to take pictures of HIM, as if he were a friend we had invited to the wedding. That's when I knew we had made the right choice - because it just felt like he belonged at the events.
A month later we returned from our honeymoon and met with him to see our pictures. Not only was the color and quality fantastic, but he had captured the event and the personalities of our friends and family so perfectly. Some of my favorite things about his pictures: facial expressions of our friends and family that showed their personalities; adorable photos of the many young children we had at our wedding, doing adorable things; the funny and sweet interactions between my husband and I; funny and goofy pictures of us and our guests that encompassed the relaxed and easy-going nature that we wanted to have at our wedding. This event was a learning process for both Max and us. There were a few things that I wanted in the pictures that I didn't even know I wanted until they were missing, such as different interactions with specific friends, and reactions from our crowd of guests at certain moments. But I could tell Max did his best trying to get everyone in the room - a daunting task. Max also mentioned that there were a few things that he would change, and had made a list of suggestions for each bride and groom in the future. I think these will enhance his photos even more. Max did exceptional work at our wedding that was just the right amount of "out of the box" for us, and we're really happy we chose him.
