Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Photo Help

Later this week I'll be meeting with my first potential wedding photographer. I really hope it works out and we fall magically in love, mainly so I don't have to worry about it anymore and can move onto the next thing on my list. But of course, what I'm worried about is how do I know if it works out and if they're the one.

I do have the standard list of questions to ask from my wedding planning book (Ask about type of cameras, their back-up plan if they can't attend or instead if we have to cancel, their rates for additional time, the average length of time to wait to receive the pictures), and a few that are important to me (namely, are you ok with me posting the photos off the cd onto my blog?) but it still feels like I'm going to be forgetting something. Plus I want to ask the type of questions so that I feel 100% completely confident I'm making the right choice. I'm not completely sure there are questions to ensure that, but I'd like to try.

So hopefully you guys can help me out, and let me know what you think are the must ask questions for a photographer. Or maybe even make the decision for me?

4 comments:

  1. The lists you'll find online and in books are generally pretty thorough. But here's a few you might not think of...

    1. How do they feel about your guests using their own cameras... and namely, their flash? (Guests could throw off a good shot by firing their flash at the moment that your photog snaps their shutter.)

    2. Do they back up their image files... even after you've made your purchases?

    3. What are their terms for sharing photos on Facebook, etc.? (They usually ask for image attribution and a link to their site.)

    4. Are there any additional charges for travel, hotels, etc?

    5. Are there additional charges for touch-ups (removing blemishes, etc.)?

    I'm a portrait photographer, but I'll be broadening to weddings soon. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a message through my contact form. I'll be happy to help! :-)

    http://www.loveinthebigeasy.com/p/contact-me_24.html

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  2. I'd ask about their style, unless you know exactly what it is. For example, do they try to do the little details as well as the big picture? Or are they mostly concentrating on the big things in the wedding day. I wish our photographer would have photographed more of the little details of the day and I really regret not asking him what his style was and if he could even do those things.

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  3. Shannon brought up some good points. Just be yourself with your photographer and bring some images that you would like for your big day. Your photographer will know whether or not you guys are meant for each other. :)

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  4. I think the main thing is to make sure you guys 'click'. They get to be the #1 person outside the couple that spends the most time on your actual wedding day. It can get pretty personal so you want to be comfortable kissing, hugging, being emotional on your actual day with them. Be comfortable posing in front of them and being silly, etc.

    do they give you the photo rights? Can you do your own photoshopping, cropping etc? Do they provide that service? For how many photos? extra fees? Can you get all the photos on a disk or do you have to pay for x# of them?

    also back up images (how many years on what devices etc?)

    do they do album making? do they allow you to do it yourself if you want or do they have exclusive rights?

    can they provide a sneak preview a few days after the wedding of 1 or 2 photos? minor point.

    what rainy day equipment do they have?

    provide church/venue photo restrictions to them to make sure they can work well there.

    ask what is their average # of shots per wedding. Like... average unedited/unsorted etc. Some places will say 3000 while others will takes 10,000+!

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