15 Questions to Ask when meeting a wedding photographer
We've put together these fifteen questions for you to keep in mind when meeting with your prospective wedding photographer. We hope that these questions will assist you in your quest to pick the perfect photographer for your big day! While we are sure there are other many additional questions to ask, this should get you started...
1. What is your style?
This should be your primary question when considering a photographer, since you are interested in finding a photographer who's style matches what you have in mind for your wedding day. See Choosing a Photographer for more tips on finding the right style for you.
IlluminArts Photography specializes in photojournalistic and fine-art storytelling to visually capture the uniqueness of each wedding we shoot. Our job is to blend these two style while keeping everything light and fun while we work.
2. How many weddings have you shot?
Asking your photographer this question will help you get an idea of their experience, specifically as a wedding photographer. An experienced wedding photographer will have shot thirty or more weddings, and their portfolio, professionalism, and business ethic should reflect this during your time spent with them. A photographer with this type of experience will be able to meet any difficult challenges during the day and not get thrown off course. This, especially on a wedding day, is a crucial skill set! In addition, this level of mastery will ensure that the team shows up with professional photography gear (see Photography 101 article) and have plenty of backup equipment to get the job done right.
The IlluminArts team has shot over 500 weddings in the past 25 years of being in business.
3. How many other events will you photograph that weekend?
A wedding photography studio may book more than one event over the course of your wedding weekend. However, depending on the size of the business, this may compromise the quality, or even quantity of time spent with you on your wedding day. Make sure your team is an experienced team and that you will have them with you for exactly the amount of time you would like.
At IlluminArts Photography, we have several well experienced teams available to photograph your event. Once a team is booked, they are at one event only during the course of the day. Our teams have had years of dedicated training and have all shot more that 50 weddings.
4. Will there be a contract of the services provided and will I get a copy?
A contract is written up for your protection, and for the wedding photographer's protection. Be sure to obtain a contract from your photographer which covers services, pricing, resolution for termination, delivery date of images, etc.
IlluminArts Photography provides all clients with a one page sample contract of services and pricing prior to booking any event. Once terms are agreed upon between the client and IlluminArts, we will then create a final contract for you to keep, outlining services, number of photographers, hours spent on your event, approximate number of photographs provided, pricing, and other details. This contract we ask you to sign and date and return to us with your deposit.
5. Does my package include asecond photographer or an assistant?
As explained in our Choosing a Photographer Article, having a second photographer will prove to be a tremendous asset to your wedding photographer and ultimately to you. That second photographer will also lend a hand in assisting where needed. This second photographer should also be an experienced , qualified shooter with many weddings under his/her belt.
Finally, depending on the size of your wedding, your wedding photography team may consist of three photographers. While this is rare, a large wedding party or guest list might require a third photographer to capture everything from your day.
The IlluminArts Photography team will always consist of at least one master photographer as well as a secondary photographer who has shot at least 25 weddings. In the case of larger weddings, we will often bring two master photographers and a third photographer to ensure we are covering all the goings-on of the big day. The photography team will always be composed of at least one man and one woman, as we feel that this results in a well-rounded composite of images at the close of your event. We feel that a man/woman team helps to ensure that bridal parties and guests alike feel the most comfortable in the photographers' presence. We also feel that, as men and women tend to see things differently, our images profit from the diversity in our teams.
6. What will happen if my photographer is sick?
While it is unlikely that your photographer will become ill on the day of your wedding, it is crucial that your photography team has a backup photographer available to take over should this happen. While this might be a difficult question for a photographer to answer, it is an important one to cover.
The IlluminArts Photography team consists of four master photographers, one of whom will always be available to take over should a scheduled photographer become ill.
7. Do you have insurance?
Insurance will provide your wedding photographer with liability protection should something go awry on the big day, as well as protect him from equipment theft. While it is in the photographer's best interest to be covered by business, liability, and equipment insurance, it is also good for you to rest assured that your photographer is taking his business seriously.
IlluminArts Photography has full coverage business insurance.
8. What does your post production process consist of?
While every studio should provide you with basic post production of your images, what they do stylistically with your images could vary drastically from studio to studio. Be sure to confirm that your studio will not provide you with unfinished, unedited photos. In addition, go over with your photographer what their postproduction techniques include, and agree on a style before your big day. Some of the issues that may surface in this conversation may lead to additional questions to ask: Do you want any images in black and white or sepia toned? What about blemishes on the faces? How do you receive these images? In what format(s)?
IlluminArts photography will provide basic postproduction editing for each and every photo we provide to you. This will include color correction, exposure control, light cropping, saturation , and hues. We are also happy to accommodate your wishes regarding any stylistic renderings of your photographs created during post production and would be pleased to discuss these wishes during one of our meetings with you prior to your wedding. In addition, we deliver all final images to you in two separate formats. We turn over a full set of uncompressed (Tiff) files and a full set of compressed (Jpeg) files as well.
9. What kind of equipment do you use and do you have backups?
In addition to your team using professional and modern equipment, it is just as important that your studio have backups ready at hand should any piece of equipment fail. These days, in digital photography technology, there are mainly three quality levels of camera gear. There is professional gear, prosumer grade gear, and consumer grade equipment available n the market. Your team should be using professional grade gear or at a minimum, a mix of professional and prosumer grade equipment. Basic technical image quality is a must on a once in a lifetime event!
At IlluminArts Photography, we us professional Nikon equipment (see Photography 101 article) for all of our camera packages. In addition, our team always brings a minimum of three camera bodies and a full set of lenses to every wedding day. In addition, a full set of back up batteries for the cameras and flashes, and more than a sufficient amount of digital card space to cover the entirety of the event. We also backup our images onto several different backup hard drives, both inside of and outside of our studio, immediately after the event. This system of thorough backup protects your images should calamity strike either in our studio or in our off-site backup location after your wedding.
10. Who owns the digital images?
This can prove to be an interesting question and one to get clear about with your photographer. The name of the game here is access to your wedding photography. If the studio retains the copyright to all photography, this provides two important issues. One is that every time you want to do something with your photography you must go back to the studio and go through them create products. This might get very expensive and you might ultimately notice that they "have" you as a client for the rest of your life! Often, we hear of people later trying to buy these images back and this can get very, very expensive and frustrating! Second issue here is that on the actual wedding day, if your photography team is keeping the copyright to the images, they are expecting that they will make some of their money in the aftermath of the event. What this means is that they will want exclusive "rights" to shooting the day. Or translated another way, it will not suite them if "Uncle Bob" shows up at your wedding with his beautiful pro digital camera snapping shots. This might look like "Uncle Bob" is trying to cut in on their business!
All this is to say simply you should look at this issue very carefully. If the photographer is keeping your images, they may be charging less up front and looking to make their profit on the back end, which could be very expensive for you.
At IlluminArts Photography, we believe that the wedding day is yours, as should be your images. Many photographers will retain rights to the digital images that they have shot, and this inhibits your ability to do with your images as you please. Once we have shot your images, we will burn them onto DVD discs for you to keep. That way, you will walk away from your wedding day being married to your spouse, not to your photographer! Once these images are yours, you can bring them to any printer that you wish to have prints and other products made. Or, you can of course, utilize the printing and album services we provide.
11. What attire will the photographer(s) and assistants wear?
While you will be spending a great deal of time with your wedding photographers on your wedding day, it is important that they be as unobtrusive as possible, and should certainly not be distracting. This hinges partly on a photographer's behavior, but also on their attire. Be sure that your photographer dresses appropriately for your occasion.
We will always discuss with you prior to your wedding what the style of the event will be. This way, we can ensure that we are dressed appropriately, and we will always wear neutral, unobtrusive colors. Our objective is to blend in, as best we can, with your guests. One way is through our attire.
12. What is your pricing? How do you charge?
Many studios differ in their pricing and charging packages. Make sure that you are aware of the details of your photographer's pricing prior to hiring, and that there is no fine print that you are unaware of. Does the package cover your whole day, or only a set number of hours? Does the package include postproduction image editing, or do you need to pay extra for that? Does the team charge extra for extra photographers? These are all questions that should be brought up when meeting with prospective photographers.
IlluminArts Photography has two approaches to pricing a wedding day. The first is ideal for shorter and smaller events, in which we will charge by the hour. The second covers an event for an entire day, and both will include a second photographer and post production time for your images.
13. If my event lasts longer than scheduled, will you stay, and is there an extra charge?
Be sure to know what extra charges you might incur should your photographer be required to stay longer than expected. This should be covered in your discussions on pricing, in order to prevent any surprise charges down the road.
Booking a full day wedding with IlluminArts means exactly that. We are yours for the day. Whether we are with you for 8 hours or 12, we'll be with you from getting ready to the final moments of the reception.
14. How long after the event will the online proofs, final images, album, and other products take until they are ready?
Most wedding photography studios that develop and produce their images properly will take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months to deliver your final images to you. You should expect the studio to get many of the images posted within a week of the wedding. As for your album, that process really begins after you've seen the final images and take anywhere form 4 to 8 weeks to produce.
At IlluminArts, you can expect images to be posted online and ready for you and your guests to view within five days after your event. We may also write about your event in our blog in the following week. We will then spend the following 6 to 8 weeks editing and post producing your images so that your finished product is a beautiful, unique, and timeless collection of images from your wedding day.
15. What's involved in doing a photo booth during the reception?
Having the activity of a photo booth at your wedding reception can be great for guest and another way to get fabulous and fun images of everyone. This activity would require your photography team to build a studio set at your location. A great creative idea for the style of your booth, lots of props, lighting gear and the right amount of space are just a few things that would be required to pull this off well.
We've learned that while doing a photo booth is a wonderful activity at a wedding it really takes at least one additional staff person to set it up, run it for the guests, and the tear it down at the end of the wedding. We're happy to do a booth if that is something you desire, just ask at our consultation meeting at least a month prior to the wedding.
