How To Choose Your Wedding Photographer: Part 2
Click HERE to first read how to choose your wedding photographer: Part 1
Make Sure Your Personalities Mesh
Please refer back to Importance of Engagement Session. An Engagement session is a perfect way to make sure you like and bond with your photographer. Do not underestimate the importance of this. In order to get the best photos be sure to book with a professional who has a firm grasp of social graces but is bold enough to go out hunting for great images and who, above all, puts you at ease and doesn’t irritate you in any way. Remember: They’ll be shadowing your every move, and the more comfortable both of you are with the photographer, the better the photos will turn out.
Compare Packages
You won’t be able to nail down an exact dollar amount until you’re sure of what you want; digital images or prints, where your photographer is based, hours of coverage. When interviewing candidates, ask for a general range based on the amount of coverage you’re hoping to book them for. It’s important to find out what’s included in the their packages, plus the basic range for any extras you may want, like an engagement shoot or additional coverage, so you can compare rates. Also be sure to ask if travel charges are included in their package or if they are separate. Not Sure what you want? Ideally, most couples want their photographer to be there for the full wedding day. This may include from when you start getting ready until after you make your grand exit from the reception. While packages vary, most include about 6 to 12 hours to cover everything from preceremony events (getting ready with your bridesmaids or first-look photos) to the end of the reception. It’s usually better to pay for more coverage if there’s a chance you’ll run over and you definitely want your photographer there until the end (overtime is usually charged at a higher hourly rate).
Make Sure There is a Contract!
If your photographer does not have a contract I urge you against booking with them! Contracts protect both you and your photographer. Most contracts stipulate that the photographer owns the rights to all photos taken at the wedding, even the ones of you. This simply mean the photographer can use them promotionally (on their website or blog, submit them for publication and even use them in ads). You contract will also define booking fee, payment and pricing, cancelation, rescheduling, coverage, liability as well as other important information. You want to be sure that you have all this in writing to again, protect you and your photographer incase of anything.
Postproduction Details
This is one piece of information that can easily be forgotten to ask your photographer. When will your images be ready to review and order from? It usually takes at least a month to get all those photo proofs back from your photographer. Why? If they choose to shoot in raw like myself these are enormous files far bigger than your typical JPG. Shooting raw files gives me greater ability to correct the photo if need be. It also takes a longer time to upload, process and edit all those files (in order to correct color levels and so on) if done right there should be very minimal editing however in most churches their lighting gives off a overly warm image. It varies, but many photographers say that they spend an additional 40 hours editing images from a single wedding, so it can take up to six to eight weeks (or longer, depending on the photographer and how busy they are) to get proofs back. Be sure to ask how many images you should expect from the wedding. When booking with me please ask directly it all depends on amount of hours booked as well as size of wedding party. Ask if your images you receive will be high or low, I offer all high resolution. Will you be able to get prints made yourself, or does the photographer retain the rights to the images? I allow you to print yourself but recommend printing through me, I use a professionals only lab. Another question to ask is about retouching options (which can range from simple white balancing/color correction to beauty retouching/blemishes).
