Wedding photography is not an easy topic and interviewing potential wedding photographers can be a daunting task. Whether you hire the Lin and Jirsa Wedding Photography Team or another studio, we’ve created a list of 15 questions to help you find the perfect photographer for your wedding day. This is a good question to get an idea of how much experience your photographer has in general. Years aren’t a good measure of experience as some wedding photographers may work part-time and only shoot five weddings a year on weekends.
Maybe they have five years of experience, but they’ve only filmed 25 weddings. Take another look at our experience meter in the “How do I choose a wedding photographer?” section “to get an overview of what we think we’ve experienced. Most photographers can be flexible when it comes to payment plans, but they all usually require a deposit of at least 25%.
As long as all payments are received before the wedding day, that’s usually okay. If you don’t know the difference between an 85 mm F 1.4 and F 1.2, or a 580EX II and a 600EX RT, you probably don’t need to ask. Just like your mechanic or an artist you’ve hired for a painting, you trust them to have the equipment they need to complete the job. This question is intended to find out whether photographers specialize in wedding photography or whether they are “one-stop shop photographers.”
One last question for wedding photographer candidates is whether they have liability insurance and whether it also covers their assistants. While this list provides the exact reference of the questions to ask, you still need to pay attention to the soft skills mentioned in “How do I choose a wedding photographer during a meeting and conversation.” It’s not unusual for photographers to shoot a wedding in the morning and one in the evening. Therefore, give them all the information they need to fully answer this question. Simplicio says most wedding photographers take photo requests and may also have you fill out a questionnaire where you can indicate which shots are most important to you.
This should be your first and most important question as this is the style of photography that interests you. Below the questions for interviewing wedding photographers, make sure whether they did weddings during COVID-19 and how they handled taking precautions for social distancing while they were still taking intimate photos. Once you’ve answered all your urgent questions from wedding photographers and you think they’re a perfect fit, the last question you need to ask is the next steps needed to hire them for your big day. In addition to the key questions listed above for prospective wedding photographers, be sure to check out the full list of photographer consultation questions below to determine if they’re particularly important to you and your planned event.
Most questions are answered in the photographer’s welcome guides, FAQs, and blog articles. So take a look at them first to save time. To answer your question, most modern photographers use a combination of color and black & white. The same goes for photology and backup equipment, which is why Simplicio recommends asking this question. It’s always good to have a few questions in your back pocket when you meet with the professional photographers you’re interested in.
References:
- 10 Questions to Always Ask Potential Wedding Photographers
- The Essential Questions to Ask Wedding Photographers | Minted
