What to ask a wedding photographer?
When hiring a wedding photographer, it's crucially important to discuss all the details in advance to avoid disappointment, unpleasant surprises and additional expenses. However, you should ask the photographer not just about his or her skills and abilities, but also about what you should provide him or her with and in which way you could be helpful.
Before signing the deal, the following aspects should be discussed:
- skills;
- education;
- experience and portfolio;
- pricing;
- timing;
- transportation;
- need for additional equipment;
- planned activities;
- dress-code;
- access to food and drinks.
The first part of the list, up to "timing", helps you make the decision on whether to hire this particular photographer or not. Try to avoid being too persistent and making a fully-fledged exam out of it, but don't hesitate to ask all the questions you are genuinely curious about.
Starting with "timing" and all the further points below, your questions should be rather formulated in "How can I help you?" format. For example: "Will you need any additional equipment? Will you need to plug it in?". Or: "Which way would it be ok to organize your food and drinks during the day, given that we won't be able to invite you to the table?".
If you talk to several photographers before finally choosing one, make sure you ask the same set of questions to all of them to make your choice less biased.
Normally, photographers are booked a few months in advance. Like this, you will have enough time to check and doublecheck all the details that were missed out during your initial conversation.
Actually, this dialogue will help not only assess the photographer's skills and abilities but also to understand if this person feels right and if you feel comfortable to entrust him or her the responsible duty of working at your wedding.
