8 Questions to Ask BEFORE Hiring Your Wedding Photographer
Hiring a wedding photographer isn’t easy.
It’s important to choose someone you trust and can have fun with. After all, they are going to be with you almost every moment of your wedding day! Here are 8 questions you can ask your top choices to make sure they are qualified for the job.
1. “How many cameras and lenses will you bring?”
If either of these answers is "one", do not trust that photographer to capture the most important day of your life. Accidents happen all the time, the camera/lens could be dropped, stolen, or malfunction - then what? Any true professional knows how critical it is to have backups of everything. And a backup for your backups. We hear horror stories all the time in photography circles about equipment malfunctioning. This is the worst one I’ve heard - as the bride was walking down the aisle, the photographer dropped his camera and shattered it. No second shooter. No backup camera. Luckily, the person I heard this from was a fellow photographer and just happened to have his camera to save the day. Very lucky for both the couple and photographer, but an easily avoidable situation.
2. “Will there be a second shooter?”
Not all professionals will use a second shooter, but to us, it’s imperative. Without two shooters, how can you get pictures of both expressions for the first look? Or both the bride and groom’s reaction down the aisle? What happens if your photographer is taking a restroom break and something amazing happens on the dance floor? Two angles are always better than one.
3. “How many years have you been shooting weddings?”
This question will give you an idea of the photographer’s experience level and comfortability running the show. Weddings are insanely stressful and you want someone who knows what they are doing!
4. “How do you back up your images?”
This goes hand in hand with point #1. I recently heard that memory cards have a 13% of malfunctioning. That's high! And if the photographer shoots a lot of weddings, the higher their risk of losing your precious images. Luckily, most high-level professional cameras have 2 memory card slots and can save each image to both cards. If the photographer isn’t using multiple cards, be wary. They should also be backing up the photos as soon as possible on multiple computers, hard drives, and/or cloud storage. Cloud storage is the safest. I once heard of someone’s studio catching on fire and burning all their hard drives.
5. “How/when will the photos be delivered?”
Once your wedding is over, you'll be dying to see the photos. Ask your photographer what to expect as far as how you will receive the final product and how long you'll have to wait for it!
6. “What happens if for any reason (sickness, family emergency, car accident, etc) you will not be able to make it the day of?”
This is SO important. With a one-time event like a wedding, you simply cannot be over-prepared. Any true, caring, professional will have a backup plan already in place.
7. “Does the package include any prints, digital files, or a print release?!”
Some photographers will force you to purchase all prints through them, others give digital files, or give the option to purchase them for an additional charge - there's no right or wrong way to go but make sure you know what to expect.
8. “Do they care?”
This is not something to ask the professional themselves, but ask yourself after meeting with them. If your photographer truly cares about you and your day, they will go the extra mile to give you an excellent product. And you'll probably make a life-long friend in the process.
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Hiring a wedding photographer isn’t easy. Here are 8 questions you should ask before hiring your wedding photographer to make sure they are qualified for the job!