Most wedding planners will give you a list of questions to ask a wedding photographer. Articles like: “Can you describe your photography style? What photography gear does the photographer shoot with?”
Let’s be real: Those questions are boring for most of the brides. And you probably don’t actually care about the answers anyway.
So we put together a list of questions you really want to ask, and all those answers we really want you to know.
11 questions to ask a wedding photographer
1. How do I pick a best photographer when there are hundreds listed in my area?
First, look for a website or blog that appeals to your style. Once you’ve got a few favourite teams/photographers, narrow it down to a handful of favourites, and set up a time to call them or meet them if your in the same town. Make sure you’re talking or meeting the person who will be shooting at your wedding, not a studio owner.
You have to, like all answers he/she would give you , that brings trust and you if could get along with your photographer well — that way you can leave the magic of photo making in the photographer’s hands. You should Not only like their images, you should also like them as person! Remember You’ll be spending many hours with them during your wedding day and all the events you planned for.
2. How many photos do we get?
According to our wedding photography experience typically deliver 50-100 photos for every hour of coverage we provide. Five hundred photos may seem like a lot, but your wedding photographer is preserving all those little details and the candid moments you missed while you were mingling.
3. I love those photos with the blurry backgrounds. How do you get that look?
You’re talking about shallow depth of field. Photographers get that look by using different professional lenses that are able to focus tightly on the subject and rest of the image seems to be blurry.
4. I found one photographer whose images look soft and light-toned, one whose images look clean and crip, and one whose images look like they were shot on old film. What’s the deal?
Every wedding photographer has a different way of editing their images using computer software. This is called “Post-Processing.” Almost all the photographers do some basic lighting and color adjustments, but you can also use these editing softwares to create a unique look.
Three popular styles right now are:
Clean style: lightly post-processed to appear natural
Matte look: a low-contrast look with muted light-toned colors, similar to vintage film look
High Contrast look: a vibrant look with rich colours that pop
It doesn’t matter which photography style you go with, as long as you love it!
5. Why is Candid wedding photography so freakin’ expensive?
This is the question We hear and see from most our clients.
Wedding photography or Candid wedding photography seems like easy money — work for couple of days and rake in the cash, right? But most full-time wedding photographers I know carry over Rs.15,00,000/- worth of wedding gear and often work 80-hour weeks. (Remember those 900 images from question #2? It takes several full days and nights just to edit those.)
Add software, advertising, albums, repairs, services, shipping, and studio expenses, and many wedding photographers end up making less than minimum wages for the first few years of their careers.
6. How can I make sure I look good in my photos?
Relax. Just Trust your wedding photographer.
If you’re relaxed, it’ll come through in your photos.
Leave some breathing space in your event schedule so you don’t feel rushed — We would recommend a minimum an hour for the couple portraits and 30 minutes for family and wedding party photos.
Oh, and do get plenty of sleep and drink lots of water the night before.
Wedding-day tiredness/hangover are not fun.
7. How far in advance should I book a wedding photographer?
Many in-demand wedding photographers/teams book weddings at over a six months or a year out. As it gets closer to your wedding date, it will be harder to book your first-choice team/wedding photographer.
If your favorite team/photographer is unavailable on your wedding date, don’t panic. Ask them for recommendations — they may know someone with a similar style, quality and a schedule.
8. I keep hearing about studio or traditional photography. What is it?
Actually, studio or traditional photography in indian context can a super cheap solution when compared to candid photography. Its just similar to “Shoot and burn” process. This is a slang for photographing a wedding and burning it straight to CD without post-processing.
It’s usually super cheap — for a reason. Bad lighting isn’t corrected, distracting elements aren’t removed , and zits remain proudly on display.
Digital files may be important to you, but find a full-service wedding photographer who will edit the images and print reference proofs before handing over the digitals.
9. Do I really need a documentary photographer if i hire just a candid photographer?
Defiantly Yes, you will needs a documentary photographer. As it suggest documentary is very important at your wedding. All the jewellery,, decoration, traditions at the event, family group photos and small details you planned for age would be covered.
As far our services are concerned we provide both documentary and candid photographers, In our team both photographers work seamless.
The best thing is to ask your wedding photographer whether they document the event or not.
10. Assign someone to point out who is who to your photographer. Want photos with Aunt/Grand Mom?
Your photographer wont know what she looks like! Have someone on call to round up people or point them out to the photographer.
11. You can Photoshop that, right?
Well It depends. As a photographers, We want to get everything as perfect as possible in camera. Posing, location/background scouting, and camera & flash settings can ”fix” most things before We even click the shutter.
If your uncle or aunt photobombs you, We will have to retake the photo — it’s much easier to get the photo right than to fix it with Photoshop.
Coming to fixing say hair or skin or any minor correction in few photos, definitely that will done but if you expecting extensive editing in Photoshop, it will chargeable, , because it can be very time-consuming.
Hopefully this clears up some of the burning questions about wedding photography and makes it a little bit easier to find the perfect wedding photographer for your wedding day.