Questions to ask perspective wedding photographer:
> Can you show evidence you are licensed, bonded, and insured? (You don't want surprises or liabilities!)
> What's in your contract? (Remember, contracts protect BOTH parties and should state clearly, in plain English (or your native language), the deliverables, scope of coverage, costs, time frames for delivery, penalties for non-performance and late payment, payment schedules, contingency plans, etc.)
> Is your style planned/posed, photojournalistic, or something else? (Some photographers just work off of a stock list of posed scenes. They capture the same boring scenes found in nearly all other couples' photo albums. Others will work from a list, AND cover as much as they can, in between. They record a lot of surprisingly good, spontaneous, joyful, funny, and interesting moments. Still others forgo the list and do only photojournalistic coverage, perhaps with a stylistic flair. These people are best employed along with someone who handles the stock list of moments, IF you have a demanding relative who insists on the classic posed album scenes.)
> Will the photographer have an assistant to provide additional coverage? (Often, multiple events are happening at the same time. The lead photographer may be staging couples' photos after the ceremony, prior to the reception, but an assistant could cover the reception.
> Do you provide videography services? If so, will you record excellent audio of the ceremonial vows, music, etc.? (Videography is traditionally a separate service, but more and more "hybrid" photographers are out there. Quality, even among traditional wedding videographers, varies considerably!)
> What sort of pricing structure do you use? Do you make your money from fees or print sales? (Smart photographers charge a fair fee for coverage, and price prints reasonably. Print prices may include post-production image processing, some degree of retouching, the print, and any print treatments such as spray, canvas printing, canvas stretching, mounting, matting, framing, glass, book composition and printing...
A true professional can provide images on CD or DVD, instead of or in addition to prints, but you need to know what level of post-production is performed on those images. Are they simple, unedited JPEGs? Have they been reduced in size for social media use only? Do you have personal reproduction rights? Are the images converted from raw files, retouched, cropped, color adjusted, and ready to print from full size JPEGs? All those details matter! You may think a disc should cost just a few dollars, but what goes onto that disc can vary from less than an hour's post-processing work to a week's worth of careful artistry! The latter can cost thousands.
A "slash and burn" wedding photographer may record JPEGs straight from the camera onto a disc, with no editing or post-processing, charge you one fee to do whatever you want with it, and run. This sounds like a deal, but may prove VERY disappointing.
Whatever you do, be sure to view samples of prints, samples of image discs, samples of video (i.e.; view samples of whatever is offered, and be sure you ask how much it costs!
> Be sure you establish clear boundaries over WHAT can be photographed, BY WHOM, and WHEN. POST notice of those boundaries at the venues. Smartphones are incredible distractions. Many young couples ban them from ceremonies and the posed photography session after. Most encourage smartphone use at receptions. But if you're hiring a pro, be respectful of his/her time and priorities. If 20 people jump in front of the paid photographer to steal the composition or the moment, is that fair to anyone?
Great wedding photography is not inexpensive. Good wedding photography isn't cheap! But in an age of digital everything, it's important to maintain perspective on memories, and what they are really worth in the coming years.
Questions to ask perspective wedding photographer:... (
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