10 Questions to ask your Wedding Photographer

As a wedding photographer, I get asked a ton of questions. Some are great questions and some are kinda interesting 🙂 I want our clients to feel secure. To know what is what. Don’t be afraid to ask your photographer even if you aren’t OUR clients. Here is a handy list of questions you should know before booking with any wedding photographer. Protect your investment. It is better to know now than to find out later 🙂

1. What is your primary photography style?

This should be your very first question. It is so important to know that you are hiring the right photographer for your wedding day. This will tell you what kind of images you will receive. If you are looking for huge landscape style photographs with a fine art feel then you would obviously want to choose a photographer who specializes in that kind of photography. If you are looking for an editorial style photographer who captures gorgeous portraits and emphasizes on small wedding details then you should look for a photographer who takes these kinds of photographs.

I like to classify myself as a photo-journalist with an editorial feel. But what does that mean? I love to photograph weddings without being all up in everyone’s business. {Photo-journalistic} I don’t run around the ceremony, jumping in front of people and walking across the front stage to capture my images. I feel that it is too distracting and completely ignores the people who aren’t with a camera {your guests}. They are there to view. I am there to quietly photograph it. Unless told otherwise and being comfortable with it, I try to have a photo-journalistic view of ceremonies.  I also have a “thing” for wedding details as you can see in my portfolio {editorial}. I love to capture a wedding as if it were a story from front to end adding in many wedding details. A whole story not just bits and pieces.

Make sure when you ask this question you get an explanation. Because there are so many different styles, you need to know what your photographers intentions are for your wedding day.

2.What is the turnaround time for our images? What about our engagement session, hard cover book or album?

You are definitely going to want to know this. A lot of brides go away on their honeymoon and as soon as they return, they start counting down the days until they get to see their wedding gallery. I know how this feels! I finally had the chance to be a bride myself this past December and believe me…I counted those days! I asked our photographer and knew when to expect our images. I also didn’t bug her to death during the waiting period. We don’t want anyone to flip out when they don’t have images as soon as they return from their honeymoon. This is a great question to ask your photographer so that you know when to expect your images.

~ We deliver your online wedding gallery no later than 8 weeks from the date of your wedding. We recently started posting sneak peaks {8-10 images} from your big day so that you can see a few images to put you at ease, print them and send them along with thank you cards or create a profile pic or timeline cover with them.

Engagements: 2 week turn-around time

Weddings: 8 week turn-around time

Hard cover wedding book : 2-4 week turn-around time guaranteed.

Wedding Albums: From the day we order the album {after you approve the design} turn-around time is 4 weeks guaranteed.

Can I rush my album if I want it faster? Yes, get your album shipped in 7 days for $150 flat fee.

 

  3. I’m pretty computer savvy and I think I would like to make my own album. Do I REALLY need the expensive ones that you offer?

I don’t get this question too often but when I do… Yes, our albums are expensive. But this is not just a family vacation that you are uploading to shutterfly. This is your wedding day! The one day that you only get ONCE in a lifetime. You can’t pass down FB to your daughter/son. However, you can pass down a timeless wedding album that tells the unique story of your special day.

Our albums are professional. They are handcrafted. They are heirlooms. They are created to last a lifetime. As a professional, we curate a story with your images that then tells your unique story within your wedding album or book. Professionals have access to pro printing labs/companies not available to the general public. The albums we create are exciting to put together. We work with you one on one to create a gorgeous story within your album with your choice of images, pages, leather or fabric covers and even down to the kind of papers they are printed on. They are handcrafted and built to last. You will take home a tangible memento that you can pass down to family. Isn’t that worth it? I think so! For more information on Red Tree, our carefully chosen album company, please visit this link and view the gorgeousness we offer:

http://www.redtreealbums.com/docs/redtreealbums2016_customerfriendly.pdf

4. How far in advance should we book our wedding photographer?

I would say at least a year – professionally speaking and speaking from the brides shoes as well. Since I was just recently a bride this past December.We typically book at the 1 year mark for brides who know exactly what they want and have their venues already. Last minute bookings are normally within 3 months. Those dates are usually NOT available anymore and we have to send out that email with an I’m sorry. If you are particular like me and know exactly what you are looking for, Don’t wait. Book at least a year in advance. Or else you are going to get stuck with a photographer you wouldn’t normally choose or an amateur who isn’t really going to capture your day like a professional.

If you don’t have a photographer in mind, scope the internet. Ask around to family and friends. Search Facebook. Find a style that you really love about a photographer within their editing, personality and the way they are towards you during your initial consultation. Also be aware of the time they take to respond to your phone calls/emails. This is huge! The earlier you start, the better your chances are of putting together your dream wedding with vendors that are going to be professional and take care of you!

5. Will you be providing a service contract? If so, will I get a copy?

Yes! Absolutely. We do have a wedding photography contract that we both sign before booking with you. This covers not only you as our clients but it covers us as well. Our contract allows you to know exactly what you should expect from us such as the service we are providing, pricing, termination resolution terms, etc. It is always best to hire a photographer who requires a contract with booking. Please be wary of those who do not. For example: If you do not have a signed wedding contract and you put down a retainer fee of 50%, who is to say that they are going to show up to your event? Where is your legal contract that you provide when you try to get your money back? The list is endless.  With a signed contract, we are both protected.

Your copy of our wedding contract signed by both you and myself will be available via our wedding wire account which you have 24/7 access to and a password for your protection.

6. What kind of equipment do you use? Is it professional equipment?

Kale and I both use professional camera bodies and lenses. We swear by canon and love our gear! Last year we went all out and upgraded to the highest quality Canon products on the market. We knew when we made the switch to strictly weddings, we wanted the best gear for our clients. Here is what we use and when we most often use it:

Canon Mark lll camera body – Sharin

Canon Mark ll camera body – Kale

50mm 1.2 L-series Lens – portraits, small group shots, reception

85mm 1.2 L-series Lens – bridal portraits, portraits with bride and groom

70-200 1.2 L-series Lens – ceremony lens

35mm 1.4 L-series Lens – ceremony, large group photos, wedding party landscape photos with bride and groom

100mm 1.2 micro L-series Lens – ring shots!!, details

(3) Canon EX-RT speedlights {on camera and off camera} with softbox, stand and wireless trigger stystem – reception, when extra light is needed

7. What if my event lasts longer than than scheduled, will you stay? Is there an additional fee?

We put together a wedding timeline with our brides before the event so that we both know when we will arrive, how long we will stay and what is covered while we are with you. If the event last longer than planned, the lead photographer or both photographers will stay with you at your event to cover the things that you need/want. We are very careful and give real expectations to our brides when planning a wedding timeline. We have only needed to stay once in the years we have been photographing weddings.

Always make sure you know what the additional fee is while at the initial consultation with your prospective photographer. It would be a bad day if you needed an extra hour because things moved a little slower than expected to find out the fee for that hour is $500.  Our fee is $150 per hour to stay at your event. It is also listed within our contract as well so that you are covered and aren’t slammed with a ridiculous bill. We accept a check or cash on the spot as well as the option to bill you after the event.

8. Do you have a portfolio we can view? Also, do you have samples we can see of the books & albums you offer?

Yes! Our portfolio is all over our website which displays beautiful images. We also have a portfolio that breaks down different parts of a wedding day so you can see how we photograph those parts. You can also check out full weddings under “our latest weddings”.   Always make sure the photographer you are meeting with or deciding to book with has a portfolio.  Their portfolio will help you see their editing style and how they photograph weddings. You should love their work and finished product before you hire them. Always have an in person consultation with your prospective photographer before booking. We’ve heard stories about brides paying in full/paying large retainers and then the photographer not even being REAL! Never ever book without meeting a real live person. It is our POLICY that we meet with brides for several different reasons before booking with them too.

I do carry samples with me to each initial meeting for you to hold, feel and view. We have an album, a mini album with us and a second album and hard cover wedding book on the way as we speak! We also have all the covers available for you to choose from too. We are so excited to get in new beautiful heirloom albums and gorgeous hard cover wedding books for you to see in person!

9. Do you have insurance?

Professional Wedding Photographers will have insurance. Insurance protects our equipment from theft but it also protects us just in case uncle Larry trips over the rug, knocks over our light stand and breaks his leg. If a photographer does not have proper insurance, more than likely they are new to the industry and/or are not taking their business seriously.

Sharin Shank Photography is insured 🙂

10. Are you willing to have input on our photographs/poses we want?

Yes. Absolutely. We will help to pose you/or talk to you and make you laugh for non-posed looks and help you or choose places for your photographs. We know how light works and know how our cameras work and want you to have beautiful photographs. We are not afraid to tell you when something will not work and aren’t afraid of taking over when you really don’t have any ideas. This is what we do. We love what we do and we want you to have fun doing it.  We do work with shot lists and do our very best to accommodate your list. We also help you to create a family formals list so that this part of your wedding day runs smoothly and is done in a timely manner so that we do not fall behind schedule. As far as pinterest, we do our best to accommodate as well but we really like to make your wedding day YOURS. Not someone else’s 🙂

Thank you so much for joining us for Wedding Wednesday! We hope you loved this post and found it helpful.

Have a question or topic but don’t see it here? Send us an email. We would love to add it to our Wedding Wednesday Blog!

Email Sharin : sharinshank@live.com

xoxo – K&S