Hiring a Wedding Photographer

Wedding PhotographerThis section of 'Everything About Wedding Photographers and Photography' will cover everything about hiring a wedding photographer. It will discuss how to choose a wedding photographer based on an online portfolio, professional camera equipment, wedding photography package prices, a photographer's personally, and references. It will also go over interviewing wedding photographers, how to narrow the list of wedding photographers you want to meet with, and signing a wedding photography contract.

Choosing a Wedding Photographer
Online Wedding Photography and Professional Cameras
After finding a style that suits you and your soon-to-be spouse, try to find at least three (3) wedding photographers in your area that are available for your wedding day. Once you find out they are available for your wedding day, make sure they are all using professional grade camera equipment. To find this out, you could view their online portfolio, or ask them what types of cameras they use to shoot weddings with. In their online wedding portfolio you should see very clear and crisp colored photos, as well as contrast photos of both formal and informal (photojournalistic) wedding photography. In their online portfolio, they are more than likely using a professional camera. Do not be disappointed if the wedding photographer you are looking at hiring does not have any photojournalistic photos on their website; they may still be able to show you some in print, or email a few to you. If you asked the wedding photographer which type of camera he uses, look up the brand on the Internet for more information.

Set Rates and Package Prices
All professional wedding photographers have a standard wedding price whether it's listed on their website or not. They may say that they provide custom packages at all rates, but the fact is they do need to make a set income to stay in the wedding photography business, be it part time or full time. A lot of wedding photography companies will have 3-5 set wedding packages that couples can choose from. The prices of these packages can vary from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the wedding photography company and what is included in the package price.

Photographer's Personally
Since your wedding photographer will be with you on the day of your wedding, it would be nice to find one that you both like. This should not be hard, there are many enjoyable wedding photographers.

References or Testimonials
Be sure to read all references left by other clients on the wedding photographer's website, and do a search for his name on a search engine like Google, to make sure that no one has posted something negative about that particular wedding photography company on a wedding chat site. Once on a wedding chat site, you may even find other brides and grooms going with the company you are checking out. If you can not find any references or testimonials online, call or email the wedding photography company and ask them for a few recent couple's email addresses, or phone numbers so you can contact them.

Wedding Photographer Meeting
During your meeting with a wedding photographer make sure you view current wedding photography that the photographer you are meeting with took! Some companies have sales representatives to meet you, when you really should be meeting with the wedding photographer instead, since he will be the one photographing your wedding. If you have seen a great online portfolio with formals, as well as photojournalist wedding photography, if the wedding photographer is out of state, or if you and your soon-to-be spouse cannot meet with the wedding photographer together, then you can avoid a in-person meeting. A few phone conversations are fine.

There are hundreds of questions you can think of to ask each wedding photographer, however there are only two important ones: "Do you have a package to fit my budget?", and "Do you have a contract?". Both of these questions should always be 'Yes'.

When asking your questions, make sure that there will be no other charges included in the package price, like travel fees or any other hidden costs.

Questions to Narrow Down Your Wedding Photographer List
To narrow down your list of wedding photographer choices ask yourself and you soon-to-be-spouse:
Did I like this wedding photographer's style?
Did I get along with this wedding photographer?
Did the wedding photographer answer my concerns? (If not call them now.)

Signing a Wedding Photography Contract
When going over a wedding photography contract, details need to be checked, terms need to be read, questions need to be answered, and above all, both the wedding photographer and the couple need to sign and date the wedding photography contract.

Check the details
Make sure that all the details of the wedding day are on the contract and they are correct. First, check to see if the wedding date is correct. Check address locations of the getting- ready-for-photos location, ceremony location, and the reception location. Double check all times listed; this includes the time the wedding photographer has to show up and the time he can leave the day of the wedding. All package details should also be listed on the wedding photography contract.

Since either you or your soon-to-be spouse will be changing names, and/ or address, and phone numbers, be sure your photographer has all of them to be able to contact you when he's is ready to send your photos.

Read Terms and Get All Questions Answered.
If the back of the contract does not explain cancellations, camera failures, and average waiting time for your wedding photos, be sure to ask your wedding photographer about this.

Make sure that all issues mentioned above, that you agree on with him, are typed or written on the wedding photography contract!!!

Other Details
After you've checked the details, and read the terms, you have to sign and date the contract. Once this is done, ask for a copy of the front and back of the wedding photography contract.
Be sure your wedding photographer also signs and dates your copy, if they did not do so already. You can then file the contract with the rest of your wedding vendor contracts and other wedding related paperwork..

After you sign and date the contract, you more than likely will have to pay your deposit, before the wedding photography company will lock in your wedding date. The average down-payment cost is about one third the package price.