Wedding Photography Tips
Listed below are questions you may want to ask your photographer. The answers to these questions should give you a good idea about his or her level of expertise, professionalism and overall character.
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What is your photographic style?
This can be one or more of the following: traditional, photojournalist, posed, candid, artistic and documentary.
Do you shoot in black and white?
If film, do they shoot in black and white? If digital, do they keep the originals in color and do black and white in post-production?
What is your experience with wedding photography?
How many weddings? How many years?
Will you have other weddings that weekend?
How will that affect our wedding? If you at the tail end of a weekend (Sunday after Saturday and Friday weddings), can your photographer handle that? Some photographers do not have the physical or emotional endurance.
Can we get negatives or digital negatives?
How long after the wedding date (get this one in print)? Are they full resolution files?
What kind of equipment do you use?
Are there tripods? Can people trip? Is it obtrusive? Ask about the quality of the cameras, lenses, and lighting. This is to just roughly gauge their understanding of equipment.
Are you insured?
This is just a measure of their professionalism as a business.
What do you do in case of emergencies?
What if the photographer is ill or cannot make it? Do you have backup equipment?
How much is overtime?
Can they work overtime if asked to?
How are you dressed?
Are they presentable? I’ve seen photographers show up extremely unprofessional attire.
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Now ask yourself these Questions:
Do you like the photographs you see?
The best measure of taste is whether you like the image or not. Technical aspects to watch for include:
o Blown out images (no detail in the whites, especially bad if in the faces) and underexposed images (too dark).
o Bad framing. This is subject to taste, since an oddly framed photo can be a style of itself.
o People look natural in the photo. This means it is either candid or the photographer is good at making people feel comfortable in front of the camera
o Lighting. Is the lighting harsh and unflattering on the people? Is there an annoying shadow on the wall behind them? If shot in sunlight, do the people have too much contrast?
Do you understand the contract?
Don’t be afraid to take it home and have an experienced father or uncle take a look. The contract is ultimately what matters if you go to court, not the spoken words at the meeting.
Can you be with this person ALL DAY?
Having a photographer that you do not get along with will drive you nutz. They are the vendor you will be surrounded by the most, so make sure that they will add to your day instead of taking away from it.
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Film or Digital Wedding Photography?
I started out shooting film. I am a much better photographer because of this. With film, there are few second chances and you really must learn how to capture the images as they happen without having to rely on post processing magic. I now shoot digital completely and have worked to master the digital medium as well, but I am very proud to have been one of the increasingly rare wedding photographers who started off shooting film.
I stumbled across this article and the one below on Gavin Holt’s website and thought it would be a nice little piece to share. Gavin Holt is a well known, highly respected photographer based out of Southern California.
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“Film or Digital Wedding Photography?
Each has its benefits to work-flows and end-products. What really matters is how comfortable the digital or non – digital photographer is with each process. What matters is the creation of unique and amazing photographs.
Don’t get hung up on Megapixels
Mostly important to men, megapixels are a false metric that doesn’t determine the quality of a picture. From the camera body to the lens to the lighting, I’ve found out that the most important thing is the operator of the camera.
Make sure you have enough light
If you are getting ready in a house or hotel room, please open some windows.
Make sure you have shade
Direct sunlight is also horrible for photography, since it makes shadows really harsh and dark. Group photographs are done ideally in some shade, some if you have a large group make sure there is a large shaded area. Don’t forget that as the sun sets the light softens incredibly to allow for great photographs. Check out sunset times for your wedding and ask your venue how the light is during that time of year (since you may be asking at the opposite time of the year).” (Gavin Photography)
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phone: 805.748.1378 | email: jonathan@bluephoto.biz
Parts of this article were originally posted by Gavin Photography. Thanks Gavin!
