5 Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer: With Answers
Finally looking around for the perfect wedding photographer? Perfect! Let’s go over the top 5 questions you should be asking your photographer and what the “right” answers are.
What editing and photography style is your speciality? One of the easiest ways to narrow down a photographer option, is to figure out if their style matches you and your partner's style. If you both lean more towards natural, candid, and outdoorsy vibes then a photographer who specializes in formal studio portraits is probably not the best pairing.
The “Right” Answer: For this there isn’t a right answer! Every single photographer out their specializes in a different style of photography. So this “right” answer would mean that the photographer's style is very similar to the style that resonates most with you and your partner. This should be something you can see yourself not tiring of or eventually seeing as “trendy” in 10, 20, or 30+ years.
What Equipment Do You Use, and Do You Have Dual Slots? Don’t worry, you don’t have to brush up the photography equipment manuals to know a good answer for this. In this case, we aren’t paying attention to the brand name your potential photographer uses such as Sony, Canon, or Nikon. We want to make sure they have enough equipment. You want to feel secure in your choices so things like backup cameras, several memory cards, dual slots, and plenty of flash lighting would be something to ease your stress.
The “Right” Answer: Now, starting off with enough equipment. Not every photographer can carry a second camera but I personally would want my own photographer to have at least two in their equipment list, even if just as a backup. For the lighting you would want to know the types of flashes they use and how many. The “on camera” and “off camera” flashes are flashes either directly placed on the camera or on a stand off of the camera in the room somewhere. Having both types will provide better lighting to your photos especially during the dark reception hours. Finally, the memory cards and dual slots. Obviously we would all want our photographers to have enough space to take all the photos necessary! So knowing they have several large memory cards on hand is perfect. The dual slots is a newer feature that not all cameras carry yet. The dual slots allows a photographer to insert two memory cards at the same time and actually sync photos to save to each of the memory cards for two copies. This will seriously ease your worries of the possibility of a broken memory card happening and losing images from your big day.
How Many Edited Images Can I expect? Every photographer delivers and edits images differently. Some photographers will edit a select few, some will edit their entire set, and some will only briefly edit an entire gallery and leave you to decide which ones to further purchase to be polished up more.
The “Right” Answer: A photographer should be able to tell you confidently an estimated numerical range of photo returns based on your selected photo hour coverage as well as how many they edit. If you are looking for a photographer that is more ‘all inclusive’ so you aren’t paying for photos to be edited, then make sure you look out for a photographer who says they edit their full galleries.
Will It Really Be You There and Do You Have Second Shooters? Sometimes photographers will hire other photographers to take over if they are double booked on your wedding day. This is normal in the industry, but if you really resonate with this photographer’s personality, make sure you clarify that they will actually be there the day of. (In the event your photographer is unable to make it due to illness or emergency, they should have the solution process explained in your contract!) Second shooters is a great follow up question. Some packages will already have second shooters included and others you can add on to for an additional fee. Second shooters are most requested for 2-3 hours during the ceremony and beginning reception hours but can make your wedding gallery even more diverse if you opt to have a second shooter there the entire time.
The “Right” Answer: If your photographer's connection means a lot to you, then the perfect answer is that they’ll ensure they will be. As for second shooters that depends on your budget and preference. Plenty of couples have weddings without second shooters. It ultimately depends on how much you care about the coverage of your wedding day and if you want to add it to your budget or not.
What is Your Gallery Return Like and How Long Before We See Photos? A photographer can have various forms of returning your completed gallery back to you. These can include CD, USB, Prints Only, and Digitally. The most used today would be digital gallery returns. It is also important both of you are on the same page about when to expect your wedding pictures back! It is completely normal that photographers can take several weeks before you see your completed gallery. If you don’t want to wait that long then what do you do?
The “Right” Answer: Your photographer’s return style should be something you're interested in. If you are looking for digital returns but they only offer CD returns and will not accommodate for you, add them to the “pass” pile. Digital galleries are probably the easiest of the options as you can download them quickly and even share the link with friends and family so you aren’t in charge of passing photos back and forth. One of the most asked questions (mostly by friends and family members) are when to expect all the photos back. Like I said this can sometimes take months for a full gallery to be returned and the average is 4-6 weeks. Knowing this information up front will prepare you for the long anticipation. Looking for a quicker option? Some photographers do share “sneak peaks” sooner so you have something to look at and show off in the meantime. If that is something important to you make sure to ask if they include this in their gallery return.
There are hundreds of other questions out there but I went ahead and focused on the top 5 that will be most useful to you. Good luck on your search and please feel free to reach out one-on-one for any more specific questions you may have
