Comparing styles of Wedding Photography:
Traditional: It’s exactly as it sounds – posed, formal portraits. Pre-defined moments during the wedding are photographed to ensure the essence of the day is captured
Photojournalism: The focus is on action and spontaneity. This style has become increasingly popular in the past 10 years, and gives weddings a visual authenticity by capturing activity as it happens.
Combinations: Many wedding photographers are now offering a mix of styles, including photojournalism, relaxed traditional, high fashion and fine art. (this is what I consider my style to be!)
After you have a good sense of how you want your photographs to look, page through albums from previous weddings by each photographer to make sure they shoot the way they say they do and the way you want them to! If a photographer has photos from identical locations you can get a stronger sense of how the style hold up, couple by couple.
Coverage time:
Most photographers offer packages ranging from six hours to unlimited time. Some will add or include the rehearsal dinner and other events surrounding the wedding. You need to look at your schedule of the day to decide what exactly you want the photographer to cover. I find that a minimum of eight hours works for many of my clients, and allows them to have the photographer from the end of getting ready time through to the toasts, cake cutting and the first part of dancing. However, if you want more getting ready coverage, have multiple events such as releated ceremonies or rituals, or want to have formal photographs taken at several locations, eight hours may not be enough. Definitely look closely at your needs and timeline.
Access to Digital Negatives:
This is an ongoing debate in the photography world. I have heard both sides and respect a photographer’s right to control his or her creative product. Some brides and grooms still have a lot of misconceptions about what digital negatives are and more importantly, what they can do with them. Make sure you know what your getting: High resolution or low resolution? edited or non-edited? Do you get them right away or after a certain period of time has elapsed?
Hard products:
The wedding album is so important. You do not want to experience all the excitement of the wedding day but have nothing in your hands to show for it. Resist the temptation to say “Oh, let’s just get the digital files and we’ll make our own album or buy a wedding album later”. Work, travel, houses and babies will get in the way and 5-10 years later you’ll still only have your digital files. Wedding albums can vary greatly in quality and type, I try very hard to educate my clients because THIS is one of the greatest differences in packages when comparing photographers. What is the size of the album? How many pages or spreads are included or is it based on total number of images? Is it a hard cover flush mounted album, or a coffee table book? or is it a self-stick, matted or inserted album? Cover options? Archival quality? There are so many options here, a package could contain a 10×10 20 page hard cover slip in album that might cost the photographer $200-$400 or it might contain a 10×10 hard cover flush mounted 40 page album that might cost anywhere from $1000 – $3000.
Comparing Wedding Photography Packages:
For a bride and groom to choose the right style of photography for them, it’s essential to compare apples to apples. Wedding photographers often propose wedding packages to prospective bride/groom clients. Those packages can vary greatly from photographer to photographer. When comparing, it can be easy to get caught up in the wrong numbers. But looking only at price can result in choosing the wrong wedding photographer.
Additional Questions and my comments:
- Do you have photos of an entire wedding that I can see? (I’ve had two people come to me in the past few months because they HATED their wedding images and wanted to see what I can do with them. I couldn’t do anything with them for several reasons but PLEASE make sure you base your decision on a photographers entire portfolio, NOT just a few images on their wall or website)
- Do you have references I can call or reviews online?
- Do you post the proofs online, or will I receive just the digital negatives?
- When will my proofs, prints, and wedding album be available? (Again this is going to vary by photographer, I think as long as your photographer is honest with you and sets expectations it won’t cause problems after the wedding)
- What happens if you show up late or can’t make it to the wedding? (everyone SHOULD have a backup plan)
- Can I see a sample contract? (I go thru the FINE PRINT with ALL my potential clients)
- What are your credentials and experience? (Ok so last wedding season was my 1st one, I have no issues telling everyone that becasue I’m all about honesty and expectations, but please look at my work before you judge)
- Will you or someone else be photographing my wedding?
- Do you have liability insurance? (If your photographer doesn’t have liability insurance this is a RED flag)
- What type of cameras do you use, and will you have any backups in case something breaks or doesn’t work? (I had a brand new expensive camera stop working on me and had NO backup, thank goodness it was when I first started and I was only second shooting at the time….I now have a backup camera, this DOES happen so make sure your photographer has a backup)
- Are there any additional fees?
- Can I customize my package?
- What do you charge for overtime?
- What is your payment policy?
- What is your cancellation/refund policy?
- Will you use a checklist if we provide you with one?
- How will you (and your assistants, if applicable) be dressed on the wedding day?
My final thought: A great product package is worthless if the style and personality of the photographer doesn’t work for you. FIRST find photographers whose style you love, and whose personality you are comfortable with, and then work out these details. Don’t forget that wedding photography is a one-time deal. There is no taking the photographer back to the store for an exchange. When the day is done, the photos can’t be fixed. So if having photos of that day are important, then avoid future heartache by treating the decision of who to hire as if it’s one of the most important investments of your lives. Because it is.