Wedding choosing a photographer

[lovehersomuch]

what are some good questions and things to look out for when choosing a photographer? My fiancee''s father knows a photographer and we may end up using them but i wanted to know if there is something we should look out for. they do have a website...

 

[choro72]

I know nothing about photography either, but I'll write some things that I ask them or what I look for.

-Someone who likes weddings. I want someone who enjoys what they are doing, because I want them to understand my stress and concerns. I think that if they like weddings they are more likely to be able to predict problems and make sure they don't happen. They will be more sympathetic to us and make sure that we are comfortable.

-Someone who knows weddings. I'm going to be stressed out as it is. If there are problems, which there inevitably will, I don't want anyone asking me or my family questions on what to do. I want the photographer to have the sensibility to work with the DJ and the wedding coordinator to have things run smoothly as possible.

-One who makes me comfortable. I want someone who is going to make me feel at ease in front of the camera. Not someone who gets agitated if the wedding party doesn't line up properly in 10 seconds. If things are not going as the photographer planned, I want them to have the creativity to make use of the situation and come up with something different.

-Someone who knows what to take. This is my first and only time I'm getting married, so I know nothing. I don't know what to request other than "Us getting ready", "Me walking down the aisle", and things like that. But I don't want to look back 20 years from now and think "Gosh, I wish I had that shot". I want someone who knows what to look out for, and not miss an opportunity.

-I want the person to scout the location ahead of time to make sure s/he knows where they are going and what to take. My place is on a college campus so it's pretty confusing.


FI on the other hand has a sharper eye for pictures and styles, so he has more technical requests. I blanked out the last time we were interviewing one, but I remember him talking about preferring someone who takes "raw" pictures, not compressed. Whatever that means...
The person we talked to does photography as a side job, and he was the nicest guy ever. Very affordable, and I would love to have hire him, but FI was not impressed with his work, so we are still looking.

Another example of issues we had. FI's dad knows a photographer, and he would have done everything for us for very little money. But when we requested to meet him so that we can see his portfolio, it was endless scheduling conflict. FFIL can't make it Saturdays, Photographer can't make it Sundays, FFIL doesn't know where his office is, takes more than 3 days to get a hold of him on the phone...He clearly wasn't interested in our business, and I wasn't about to gamble our sanity to save money.

 

[lovehersomuch]

thanks for the info! appreciate it!

anyone know of what technical type of photography questions we should ask?

ill post a link to the photographers website later today... i forgot what it is!

 

[lliang_chi]

I made an Excel sheet with questions and asked all the photographers (minimally) these questions, so at least you can do an apples to apples-ish comparison. I have my questions below. I''m sure others here can help add more to this list.

Price for 1 vs 2 photographers
Exact number of hours
How long will the online proofing be open for
Do you create a slideshow (set to music)? <--- great for sharing photos
How many of the proofing photos do you retouch?
Will I get the negatives?
If applicable, what are your travel costs?
What are your album options?
Does your package include an engagement shoot? If not how much is it to add on?
Does your package include a day-after shoot? If not how much is it to add on?
How many weddings do you shoot a year? <--- This will give you a clue of their turn around time and general burn-out level.
How long is your turn around time from the actual wedding to when I can get the proofs?
How long have you been shooting weddings? How long have you been in photography?
Who will be shooting?
What is your contingency if a) your equipment breaks? b) you get sick/cannot make it?
What do you like best about shooting weddings? Or why do you shoot weddings?
What is your approach to a wedding?

I also included general "getting to know you" questions just to get a feel of the person:
What is your favorite movies? Bands? TV Shows?
Other such questions.

In general you want to make sure you can get along with the photographer. They will be with you ALL day. Also you should take your FI with you. There will most likely be a photographer in her room while she''s getting ready/dressed, and you want to make sure she''s comfortable with them.

 

[bee*]

What we did (and I went through over 80 photographer sites!) was first look for the style of photography that we were liked. Once we had that narrowed down I contacted the ones that we were interested in and asked about prices. In the end I only ended up meeting with one of them. The main questions that we asked were how long he''d be there for the day, albums and pricing, parent albums, style of photos, posing etc. We really clicked with him and although we get the feeling he''s very much in charge on the day in terms of posing etc, his photos are fab and that''s the type of style we''re after. I''d say you''ll know once you meet him whether you click with him or not.