As I mentioned in my previous post, wedding day photography is very important to us. We knew we wanted to find someone who would shoot more than formal portraits; we wanted someone to capture stories from our day. Wedding Photojournalist Association is a great resource for this type of photography. Through the website, I located three photographers in the area and scheduled meetings.
Photographer #1 was imaginative, but introverted. It didn’t seem to us like she would take the initiative to help to make things happen, if necessary.
Photographer #2 was youthful and passionate. We loved her philosophy, but she was fairly new to the wedding scene and didn’t have the experience we were looking for.
And photographer #3 was just right! We met Robert Winton from Because You Love at a coffee shop halfway between his home and my parents’ home. He brought with him examples of his incredibly artistic work from museum art prints to stretched canvas prints. He’s also quite talented at designing and assembling storybook albums, which we love!
At first I was hesitant to hire a male photographer, but Robert put my mind at ease. He said he’d come in and out of the bridal suite as I wished. And I love how he offered to take the golf cart back and forth between me and Nick to capture both of us as we get ready.
I think it’s so important to find a photographer with whom you feel comfortable and confident, perhaps more so than with any other vendor. We created a list of questions to ask each photographer during our meetings. I hope this list will help you to choose your perfect one.
- How many photos do you take throughout the day?
- Can we see a proof album? (It’s important to see a full collection of raw prints including shots that have not been retouched.)
- Do you post proofs online? What is the timeline for receiving our proofs
- What is your post-production process?
- Can our guests order prints from you?
- Do you offer a complimentary engagement photo session?
- Do your work with a second photographer? If not, how do you plan to capture both the bride and groom getting ready?
- Can we see a sample contract? And what are your policies regarding the deposit, liability insurance, etc.?
- Do you have a list of references?
- What type of equipment do you use, and do you bring back-ups?
- What do you charge for overtime?
- Have you ever been to Lauxmont Farms?
- Can we pay remaining the balance after we receive our products?
We are so pleased that Robert’s payment policy is 1/3 to hold the date, 1/3 two weeks prior to the wedding, and 1/3 two weeks after the wedding. When he hands to us the disk of all of our images (yes, we have full rights to all of our digital images), we hand to him the remaining balance. I think this is important to negotiate, if possible.
So without further adieu, here are a few shots from Robert. I can’t wait to see what innovative ideas he comes up with for us! {credit Robert Winton}
Do you have questions that should be added to my list?
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Great post! Here were some questions I asked.
+Is your background in fine-arts? Do you have a degree in photography? What was your specialty? {If they said no to having a fine-arts degree, my follow-up question would be, what was your path to becoming a photographer?}
+Could you describe your style?
+How well do you direct people in portraits, and will you be able to handle a large group of loud family members who are all stressed out at the same time? How about a really shy groom?
+On average, how long will I have to wait after the wedding to see the photos? How long will we wait until we receive all the hi-res on disc?
+What is your copyright policy?
+Are you able to set-up a self-portrait booth? How much extra would this cost?
+What is the full package cost with sales tax included?
+Do you use digital or film? {In our case, the answer was always digital} Do you use film in addition to digital, and if so, do you charge extra if we want some shots taken with film?
+Do you have any toy cameras? Would it cost extra if we requested some shots taken with toy cameras?
+My family loves taking photos–how do you feel about guests taking pictures at the wedding?
Great post with lots of interesting and useful advice. As a wedding photographer myself, I can attest that the questions you recommend asking are all great ones!
However, you should know it’s very uncommon in the photography world for the balance to be paid after the wedding, especially after delivery of the digital negatives. Just as you pay the coordinator, venue, florist, baker, and every other vendor involved in the wedding process in full before the event, the photographer should be treated the same.
Unfortunately there are some people out there who talk their photographers into paying the balance after they get their digital negatives and then get their files, copy them, then refuse to pay or pretend that they hate the photos and “return” the disc (even though they already have copies of the images). Brides can protect themselves from unethical photographers by checking references and review sites and Googling their name — or better yet, by hiring a photographer their friends have worked with and had a good experience with — but the only thing a photographer has to protect themselves is to require payment in full before the wedding day.
Even the photographers I know who allow payments after the wedding will not release the images until payment has cleared, which often results in the clients having to wait an extra 1-2 weeks to receive their images, which no bride wants to do!
Paying the photographer in full on or before the wedding day ensures that both the client and photographer are treated fairly and have the most pleasant experience.
I also wanted to mention that there is a substantial difference between a bride and groom receiving “full rights” to their images and receiving a copyright release or print release. Full rights implies that the photographer transfers the copyright ownership to the client and can no longer use the images for sales or marketing, and is typically done with the client is a high profile celebrity and wants full control over where the images are published. The vast majority of photographers retain their copyright, but issue a print release to their clients. This allows the client to have unlimited prints/albums/products made from their images, but also allows the photographer to have control over editing, selling, and marketing the images.
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@Stacey – It’s great to have comments from a photographer; thanks for reading and responding! Perhaps I should include some more info regarding our agreement with our photographer.
When we pay our remaining 1/3 two weeks after the wedding, we’re given a disk of the original images. Artistically enhanced images and products such as the storybook album and prints are not included in this transaction. We will work with our photographer at that time to choose which images we would like to use for our album and prints. Also, he uses a very collaborative approach to the creation of our album, which we found to be unique.
Similarly, we will have full rights to our original images, but not to the artistically enhanced images. We also signed an agreement with our photographer to allow him to use our photos for his own advertising purposes.
I apologize if I didn’t fully explain some of the terms of our agreement. I know each photographer has his or her own policies, which is why it’s important to ask the right questions.
As Stacey said, all parties involved want to have a pleasant experience. The bride and groom want the photographer to work hard on their Wedding Day, and the photographer wants to be treated with respect.
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*Stacy without an “e” … your photography is beautiful!
my question:
can you make me look hot even though i will have been crying for 2 hours? :)
seriously though, really helpful questions. thank you!!
Stacy – really good info, especially about copyrights…never knew the difference. thanks!