Vendor Spotlight: Fall in Love with Bill Brokaw of Brokaw Photography

Jan 5, 2012 by Pretty Clever Bride

As a bride-to-be you can find a lot of advice about choosing a wedding photographer. From the poetic to the mundane – from “love his style” to “make sure he brings extra batteries” – there are a million “Top 5 Questions for Your Wedding Photographer” lists out there. While all of that is helpful advice, very few of those articles stress what I think is most important. Ladies, make sure you like your wedding photographer.

I’m not saying you have to be Facebook friends and invite him over for dinner. But being photographed is an intimate experience and your wedding is the most important day of your life. Being comfortable with the person watching you through a lens is key. And if you’re lucky enough to be in the New York, New Jersey, or Philadelphia area just forget the wedding photographer search and call Bill Brokaw of Brokaw Photography right now. He’s not only an amazing wedding photographer, he’s an all-around likeable guy.

Bill has been a photographer his whole life and he’s been photographing brides and weddings since high school. His photos speak for themselves (just check out the galleries!) But perhaps more important, Bill understands how crucial his relationship with his brides is to getting the best shots. “I want my couples to feel very comfortable with me, so there’s a bonding that has to happen,” says Bill. “By the day of the wedding, they don’t worry about the photographer. There’s a 100% confidence.”

A lot of brides fret over the engagement session question. The worry about cost and wonder if it’s really worth it. For Bill that pre-wedding photo shoot, what he calls “Sweetheart Sessions,” is key for him in building that special bond needed for the best wedding day photos. But he stresses the importance for the couples as well. “They’re never going to be engaged again, never going to be boyfriend and girlfriend again,” says Bill. “It’s a magical special time for them. There’s still some uncertainty. They’ve still got that sparkle.”

Now isn’t that the finest argument you’ve ever heard for the engagement photo session?

After he’s done a “Sweetheart Session” with a couple and bonded with them, Bill is set to do what he does best – produce beautiful photographs of your wedding. These are not point-and-shoot photos or staged photos of family members with stiff smiles. “Brides are hiring me for my vision, my heart and soul,” says Bill. “I want to capture the feeling of the event. These photos should tell the story of what it is like to be there.”

And you can trust Bill to give you exactly what you want, even if you don’t realize what it is at the time. His favorite photo from his own wedding is a shot of his grandmother in her rubber boots. It’s that thoughtful attention to detail that makes Bill the gold-standard of wedding photographers. And while he notes that the most important person is the bride, he translates that not into a thousand shots of the bride, but into capturing those moments and details that will be important to her after the big day. “For example, photos of grandparents are important for many reasons. Number one is we love them, they are so happy at weddings and they won’t be with us forever” says Bill. “And I always want to get a really great shot of the groom, because that picture is for her.”

I began by advising you to like your wedding photographer. In the course of my conversation with him, Bill actually said, “I love my couples. I fall in love with my brides and I just want to run away with them.” You can’t ask for more devotion than that from a photographer. Love makes beautiful photographs, and Bill’s work speaks for itself. I promise, my lovely brides, if you give Bill a call and speak with him for a few minutes, you’ll fall in love with him too.