Resources for Couples
Top-5 questionsfor photographers
When meeting with your photographer, their responses to these 5 questions will tell you everything you need to know. You will save much needed time by starting here.
Question One:
What is your plan if yourcamera malfunctions?
This is probably the most important question to ask your potential wedding photographer! You need a photographer with a plan – most photographers have multiple backups (cameras, memory cards, lenses, batteries, etc.) Best case scenario is a photographer with at least 2 camera bodies, 2 lenses, extra memory cards, and even a second shooter with equipment.
They need backups for backups 🙂
Question Two:
How many weddings have you shot as a lead photographer?
You want a photographer with good experience. This doesn’t necessarily mean 100+ weddings (we’ve known some amazing photographers with less than 10 weddings under their belt), but typically, you want a photographer who has shot more than 10 weddings as the lead photographer, has a website, and can show many galleries of their wedding images.
> Experience = calm under pressure
Question Three:
What is golden hour?
If the photographer doesn’t know what this is, DO NOT book them. “Golden hour” is the hour right before sunset (or the hour after sunrise) with the most golden, soft, & yummy light. 🙂
Your photographer should be excited for this time of day, wanting to build your wedding timeline around it. At least 30 minutes should be set aside for your photographer to steal you away during this time-frame in order to capture “wall hanging art” photos.
Question Four:
What happens if you get sick andcan’t shoot my wedding?
Most weddings are booked over a year in advance, so there is the possibility of A LOT happening during that time frame. This includes your photographer getting pregnant and possibly being due around your wedding date! You are likely putting down a non-refundable deposit, so you should know what happens in the unlikely event that your photographer is physically unable to shoot your wedding. Make sure they have a good network!
Question Five:
Do you use artificial lighting?
Artificial light used during daylight hours can look unnatural. There are certain circumstances where this trend looks really cool, but if your photographer want to use a flash all day, stay away. This is a common practice of the “traditional” photographer. The answer you are looking for is “only during the reception, dancing, or night shots when there is not enough natural light to work with.”You want the most natural looking photos, so you want to utilize natural light whenever possible.
About Wedding Pioneer
At Wedding Pioneer, we help connect couples with hand-selected wedding artists around the US and abroad. That means we review each artists’ work to make sure we are brining you the “select best” that each region has to offer.
All our artists are hand-selected for their unique stlye and creative voice. We feature small groups of wedding photographers, vendors, and venues in each region, saving you time from searching the big name wedding directories. Our typical bride doesn’t find joy in searching through 300+ photographer options sorted by the photographer that pays the most. Big-name wedding directiories have many benefits, but can be overwhelming to most.
If you are looking for the best wedding photographers your region has to offer, checkout our regional map here where you can browse our hand-selected photographers and reach out to them for avilability.
More Resources For Couples
