Frequently Asked Questions about Wedding Photography
How soon should we hire a Professional Wedding Photographer
When it comes to hiring your
wedding photographer you want to start looking for your date at least a year in advance, and for those popular dates May through October you many want to book 13th months in advance.
How much time should we budget for formal photographs
It usually takes about 3 minutes to take a formal
photograph and this is if everybody is co-operating so, when it comes to your wedding take the number of photographs that you would like and multiply it by three and then add in another fifteen minutes for breathing room and last minute additions.
How do I decide my wedding photography budget
You can expect to spend between 2000 and 10,000 on your
wedding photography if you book through a professional studio. The prices range because of the skill of the
wedding photography studio and what is included in the wedding package. To figure out your budget determine how much
wedding photographs mean to you on a scale of 1-10 and then allocate your
wedding photography budget money accordingly. Of course you will be spending more money on a
quality wedding photographer than someone who is new in the game. However, when you make the decision to purchase, make sure you are purchasing something with a style that you love, not just a great deal.
How do I know who is the right wedding photographer for me
When choosing a
wedding photographer here are some things to consider:
Do you love their Wedding Photography style?
Does everyone connect well (the bride & Groom with the wedding photographer)?
Are they with in your budget?
Why does wedding photography cost so much
Wedding photography today is not what it use to be. In todays day and age some of the
top photographers in the world are
wedding photographers and most
"tallented" wedding photographers work for their
wedding photography studio full time.
Wedding photographers no longer work from a "shot list" in fact most
wedding photographers are now
photojournalistic shooters and there fore do not interfere with the moments only react and even anticipate them to be in the right location for the
best photography. This way every
wedding is unique and no longer cookie cutter. The amount of
wedding photographs taken at a wedding have increased dramatically. When you parents got married their
photographer probably took about 200 photographs maximum. Today you can expect 300 minimum from a
good photographer. The
Wedding photography products are vastly different to what has been offered in the past.
Wedding albums are mostly all custom designed now by the
wedding photographer and are all printed with archival materials which will last longer than your lifetime ensuring that your
wedding photography will be handed down as heirlooms from generation to generation. The
wedding albums are all custom designs which requires skill, talent and an
artistic eye by your
wedding photographer.
I found a wedding photographer who will shoot our wedding for $600 and give us all of the digital negatives
I would be very wary of a
photographer who charges very little. With
wedding photography you get what you pay for. Sometimes you can get a
very talented wedding photographer who is still building their
portfolio but this still can have pitfalls as the
wedding photographer probably doesn't know all that there is to know about
wedding photography and they may miss many moments because they aren't trained to see or anticipate them, or may have to leave the wedding to purchase more film or compact flash cards because they didn't bring enough to the
wedding, or may have to stop shooting your
wedding because of equipment failure and may not have a back up equipment, or worst yet loose all images from a
wedding because the infrastructure is not yet in place for them to correctly back up data incase of a hard drive crash.
If I have found wedding photographs that I would like to duplicate can you do that?
It is difficult to duplicate
wedding photography from any
wedding photography studio even stuff that we ourselves have shot before. This is because everyone is different (personality, level of comfort with the camera, etc etc), every location is different each time (lighting, amount & direction of the sun, etc etc), and every
photographer is different (
photojournalistic, traditional, etc etc). What most
wedding photographers should be able to do is to use the "found"
wedding photographs (magazine clippings, a friends
wedding photos, etc etc etc) as a source for inspiration when creating your unique wedding photographs.
What exactly is Wedding Photojournalism?
Wedding Photojournalism came about as a different way to shoot
weddings in the 1980s. It was set in direct opposition to the traditional style. Prior to the renaissance in the
wedding photography industry
wedding photographers didn't include
digital negatives, only took about 200 photos, and only
photographed what was on their shot list.
Photojournalists usually started out as news or journalist
photographers and used their
photography skills to tell a story, once they made the jump to
wedding photography they took those skills with them. So
photojournalistic wedding photographers are those who attempt to tell the story of the day through
wedding photographs. Today there are many different types of
wedding photojournalism. What you need to decide is if you want a
wedding photojournalist who is just a fly on the wall or one who will give you a little more coaching to make you look your best. Once you decide what you want make sure to discuss it with your
wedding photographer so you can make sure that the
photojournalistic wedding photography coverage that they are providing is exactly the type of
wedding photojournalism that you want.
Do wedding photographers offer discounts
Each Studio is different and you will have to check with your
wedding photography studio to see if they offer any you can simply call up or email and ask them. Most
wedding photography studios are fairly firm about their prices and probably won't negotiate. This is especially true of
wedding dates that are in high traffic months such as those between april and october.
What is a-la-carte pricing?
A-la-carte pricing is pricing where everything that might be in a package will be priced out separately so that the bride and groom can mix and match what they want out of their
wedding package. However,
wedding packages will usually be cheaper than if you get all of the same products at an a-la-carte rate. Some
wedding photography studios offer a-la-carte pricing as add ons to album pricing and this can be very beneficial to a couple who like everything in one of the packages but just want to add one more thing into it.
Will the wedding photography studio hold our date for us?
The
wedding photography industry standard for holding a wedding date for a client is the bride and groom must pay a non refundable retainer to the
wedding photography studio. This is because the
wedding photography studio will be turning all other clients away from the date.
what happens if we decide to cancel or push back our wedding
If your
wedding photographer has the date open that you would like to push your
wedding date back to then they will most likely change the date with little to no penalty. However, if you move your date to one that the
wedding photographer has already booked or if you cancel your
wedding you can expect to forfeit all money paid.
If the wedding date wasn't for a long time and we canceled would we receive a refund
When it comes to this every
wedding photography studio is different. Some
wedding studios offer a full refund if they are able to secure another wedding client on the date, some offer partial refund but keep the retainer, and some do not offer any refund at all. So if you think this may be an issue for you make sure to ask the
wedding photography studio what their policy is.
What is Boudoir Photography?
Boudoir photography is
photography of either the bride or groom in an intimate setting usually given as a gift to the other partner. Implied nudity is common, as is the subject showing part of their undergarments while still dressed.
Photographers who offer this usually don't promote it unless it is on a seperate website, as privacy is of the utmost concern. Brides or Grooms will usually sign a contract with several options for release of images (full release, partial release, and no release).
Will our wedding photographer take photographs of myself and my brides maids in our underwear?
It is true that
wedding photographers are present before and even during the time that you and your brides maids are getting dressed, however most
wedding photographers won't mind stepping outside if you would like them to. However, if you do wish for them to stay in the room a
professional wedding photographer's goal will be to capture you getting into your dress, and the interaction between everyone. What ever your decision make sure everyone (bride brides maids and
wedding photographer) is clear about what you would like them to do. One thing to avoid in this process is to kick out the
photographer for an entire hour, as your
wedding photographer will miss almost the entire section of time and will not be able to tell the story of the getting ready process.
Do I need to feed our wedding photographer?
The standard for feeding
wedding photographers is if they are working for more than 4 hours you should provide a meal, and it should be away from the guests. Make sure that you feed the
photographers very close to same time that you yourself eat this way they will not miss out on any important even.
Will our wedding photographer let friends and family to take pictures too?
Most
wedding photographers don't mind friends and family taking a few
photographs here and there however when you have a friend with a
professional camera running around taking as many
photographs as possible you end up with a situation where the friend with the camera is disrupting or block the main
wedding photographer, or even ending up in a majority of
wedding photographs.
How long will it take to get our wedding photographs after the wedding
Each
wedding photography studio is different when it comes to this, and you will have to ask your
wedding photographer about his policy. However, it will usually take 4-6 weeks.
Why do enlargements cost so much?
What you have to remember when it comes to enlargements is that you aren't paying for the
digital negative to be enlarged you are paying for a retouching service as well as a large print.
When is the best time to have photographs taken?
Every
wedding photographer has a different answer when it comes to this question however most will say that in order to take
good photographs there needs to be enough light and that mid day is the worst time to take
photographs and around 2 hours before sunset is one of the best times to have
wedding photographs taken.
When is the best time to get married?
This answer depends on the location where you are getting married. If you are being married outside you'll want a time after 3pm in the summer and 2pm in the winter. If you are you getting married indoors you can get married just around any time during the day.
What do wedding photographers mean when they say color correction?
Color correction can mean anything from correcting white balance to doing a full artist retouch on a product so make sure you discuss with your wedding photographer exactly what they will do to the
wedding photograph.
What exactly do wedding photographers mean when they say digital negatives?
Digital negatives are the un retouched files from the wedding day that are converted to either dng or jpg. It is important to note that even if
digital negatives are included that these are not the same as retouched files which is far superior to the
digital negative.
If something is wrong in a wedding photograph our wedding photographer can fix it in photoshop right?
If the
wedding photograph in question is included in an album or has been purchased as a print the
photographer will most likely be only to happy to take care of an issue in photoshop. However if this is not the case you can expect to receive an un retouched file.
What should we wear for engagement portraits?
Each
wedding photographer has their own preferences but what I would suggest would be to bring a couple different out fits. 1 a summer dress or a skirt and a top (for the bride) and kakis and a nice white button up shirt (for the groom). Don't be afraid of color or patterns, but don't wear anything with really busy patterns or obnoxious colors. For the second engagement outfit I would go with jeans and a nice top (for the bride) and jeans and a polo or graphic tee (for the groom). I wouldn't suggest short sleeve dress shirts as they can make your arms look really skinny. Also, unless we are on the beach I would suggest that we leave out flip flops. When it comes to dress shirts on grooms they always look better tucked in, other wise you can look a little sloppy in your
engagement portraits.
