First of all, if you are reading this I am going to go ahead and guess you are engaged and planning your wedding – Congratulations!!! I’m SO happy and excited for you! Planning your wedding can be a lot of work but it can also be very fun and good bonding experience with your other half 🥰
I came up with these questions after reading many articles that talk about 20, 30, 50, 80 questions to ask a wedding photographer. Many of those questions are important and will give you wonderful information – however I wanted to talk through and focus on the 5 I find to be the most important.
Once you get past the very basics (are you available, what are your prices, etc) these are the questions you NEED to ask:
1. What is your background?
Your wedding photographer is not just attending your wedding, they will be nearby you at all times. It’s SO important to get to know the person behind the camera, how they became a photographer, what they like to do in their free time, and so on. You will be able to find a TON of photographers that have the technical skills to capture images of your big day, however their personality is equally (almost more so) important. Imagine having a wedding photographer who creates incredible images, but every time you look at those images you are reminded how poorly you got along with them. That would NOT good! It’s important you feel confident they can capture your wedding but it’s also important that you enjoy being around them and working with them.
2. How would you describe your working style?
Does the photographer constantly pull people out of the day, trying to get them to pose every few minutes? Do they blend in to the scene and just capture the day as it is? It’s very important to understand how your photographer approaches the day to ensure it is what you are wanting.
3. Is an engagement session included or does it cost extra?
You may be thinking that this question isn’t necessary because it is usually mentioned on the pricing guide – why bother asking? I include engagement sessions in every one of my packages because I think they are a very important relationship and trust-building part of the process. If you agree, I would pay attention to whether the photographer includes the engagement session in their packages or if they treat it as an optional add-on. An engagement session is an incredibly important thing to do for multiple reasons. First of all, it can give you great images to share on social media, in save-the-date cards, etc. Secondly, and most importantly, it gives you a chance to get to work with your photographer prior to the big day AND see examples of their images with you in them!
4. What steps do you take to protect my photos during and after my wedding?
My background is in technology and software engineering so this is an incredibly important subject for me. Every time I read a story about a couple whose photographer lost their images I feel so deeply horrified for them. During the day your photographer should have a backup camera body, lenses, memory cards, etc. Ideally they would be using a camera that allows them to save images to multiple memory cards at the same time in case one of them becomes damaged. They should never allow the memory cards to leave their person, it is not rare (sadly) that camera bags are stolen from weddings. Having gear stolen is bad, but those items can be replaced. Now imagine if all of your priceless images are also inside the camera bag that is stolen (shudder). The next part of the workflow is equally crucial and the thing I have NEVER seen mentioned in any blog post about questions to ask a wedding photographer. What do they do with the photos after they leave the wedding? Do they back them up before going to bed or do they leave them sitting in the camera for a few days before getting around to it? What is their backup strategy? Are your photos stored only at their house/studio or do they get backed up to the cloud right away? Without much hesitation, the potential wedding photographer should be able to say that they back up the images immediately upon arriving home from the wedding. They should also be able to confirm the images are backed up locally at their house/studio AND somewhere else (the cloud, etc). It is incredible how little thought people tend to put into backup strategies and contingency planning.
5. Will YOU be the one taking photos at my wedding?
Generally there are 3 types of wedding photographer companies: 1) an individual who started their own business and may have 1-3 associate photographers; 2) a medium sized studio with 10-20 photographers; 3) a giant national studio with hundreds of photographers. With the first option you will always get the opportunity to meet the actual photographer who will be at your wedding. With option 2 you likely wouldn’t get the opportunity to meet the photographer prior to the engagement session and/or wedding. With option 3, it is incredibly unlikely you would get to meet your actual photographer until the day of. The majority of the time I hear of issues from couples, they are talking about the large chains. Unfortunately the quality standards tend to be less rigorous and they are very focused on volume of weddings. There can also be issues where your photographer may not even be the person editing the photos. You may end up with a different style than you are expecting. If it wasn’t already obvious, I think it is very important to have the opportunity to interact with your wedding photographer prior to making a decision.
BONUS Question Time!
6. Why should I pick you to be my wedding photographer?
Such a simple question – right? Maybe. Some photographers will tell you that they are the BEST Twin Cities wedding photographer. Some might answer by assuring you they are the right choice regardless of any details – because they want your business.
Personally, I think the correct answer here is something along these lines: “Well, quite honestly I can’t be certain that you should pick me! My hope is that we can get to know each other well enough and that I can give you as much information as possible for you to make that decision. I do not want to convince you that I am the only photographer you should hire, no matter what! It doesn’t do me any good if you select me if I am not the right fit for you both and it certainly doesn’t help to enhance your day where you should be surrounded by the right people. All that being said, I will do all I can to help you be certain one way or another.”
Only 5 questions but still a LOT of things to think about and consider. Working with a photographer can be a hassle or it can be as fun as hanging out with a close friend.
If you would like to hear more about MY answers to these questions, I would love to have a call with you!