Need honest reccomendation....

Photo seems to be my HUGE mountain in my planning.

I have no idea what I want, all I know is that I want a professional, affordable photographer that is easy to work with.

I need honest suggestions... Please help!!!!!!!!!!

I was so stressed in planning my photographer..everything says that was the one thing to not skimp on because those pictures can not be replaced. Im plannin from jersey, so I wanted to check out every photographer in Long Island and I really did my research. I researched prices, qulaity of work, style of work, packages, etc. Alot you can do online by looking at their web sites and seeing if you like their style. If you dont have a clue what you want..just familiarize yourself with whats out there. There is the photojournalistic approach..it kind of tells a story, very candid, not posed black and whites, very beautiful...there is the more traditional approach, where has alot of poses, candids etc, more color usually.
Then check out who you can afford. We budgeted a certain amount, because we wanted the best.
I was able to tell from web sites whose work I was interested in and whos work I didnt like, then ya just meet with them in person. See who offers you the best price. Most packages now will offer to throw in the negatives like after 6months,.,which is a great thing, because then you can also make up yoru own pictures. So I can make recommendations from what I have seen and who I met with..but of course everyone has different taste..so go with what you like. But I can give ya a few places to start. I met with several photograpehrs and went with patken. I saw some GREAT photograpehrs, but went with Patken because their work was exactly what I was looking for. Thhey do alittle photojournalistic alittle traditional, alittle of everything. They also came HIGHLy recommended from girls on this site and I was able to see jenbabys pictures and they were beautiful. There were certain pictures that got me..there was one of her looking out of her limo..it wsa just stunning. So anyhow..when I went in, they didnt have set packages..I just assumed I couldnt afford them..but went in hopeful anyhow. We told them what WE watned and thenn they gave us a price quote..it was 1400 below our budget! We couldnt believe it! To me, they are perfect. If you are looking for a more photojournalistic approach, Perceptions had amazing work. I almost went with them..they only reason I didnt was because I wanted just a bit more color to my pictures..and in order to do so, would have had to hire a traditinaol photographer also and it would have cost much more and I saw no reason to go that route when Patken did it all for half the cost.
There are several more..Verdi's work looks amazing, but again Patken seemed to have the same qulaity but for a better price. Imagine seems to have great work but you have to also book them for video and I wanted Wild Rose for my video. I know this post is long, but if you have any questions..please FM me..I will tell you more details of youd like.
Findng our photographer I would say took the longest for us, because I researched each and everyone out there. It was alot of work. Best f luck...I know everyone has different photographers on here..and I know they will all do a good job, but you cant go wrong with Patken..thats just my personal reccomendation..everyone has their different tastes.

I am using FIne Art Studio in Jericho. This is the one thing that I wanted to splurge on. The photos are amazing. My package cost me 3,700 dollars and FI still has fainting spells about it.

My photographer is a really nice guy, and talented photojournalist. Here's his info:

Jonathan J. Hubschman
Phone: 718.302.6964
Cell: 917.331.6658
Fax: 718.302.6964
Email: [email protected]

We're also using Patken for photo (Steve) and video (Evan). They really work w/in your budget and I really loved their photos.

Good Luck