As a bride to be myself (hopefully getting married this summer!) and also a wedding photographer, Id like to share some words of wisdom to all you ladies searching for the perfect fit for your photographer. 1. Always meet your photographer in person via a consultation. Get a feel for their personality and always ask to see samples of their work, most preferably their printed work. 2. Ask to see images from start to finish of a wedding day. You want to know your photographer can handle the difficult lighting situations imposed by the tungsten lights at the hotel youre getting ready at, the dark low light of a church, and the bright afternoon sun outside as you shoot those fun pinterest formals. Red flags for me are images that are unintentionally dark, or have deep shadows underneath the eyes. You do NOT want to be the raccoon bride! 3. Ask what kind of equipment your photographer is using. A lot of new or less experienced photographers will only shoot a wedding using one or two zoom lenses -and this is not good! A seasoned professional will use prime (fixed focal length) lenses as well as higher quality zoom lenses. If you have questions about this, please feel free to PM me. They should have extra batteries, a professional camera bag, a external flash, professional editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. These programs are the base line industry standard and do NOT let anyone tell you that they do not need them! 4. A professional wedding photographer will ALWAYS have a backup camera. If they dont -do not hire them. If their only camera goes, so does your photographer. Make sure this information is included in your contract. 5. A professional will have insurance. It is not considered impolite to ask the photographer to include in their contract that their equipment, vehicles, and assistants are covered by their insurance. This is SUBSTANTIALLY important if you are traveling to different locations and run the risk of having someone be involved in a car accident. 6. Wedding discs are quickly becoming a thing of the past (think of them like a VHS), be sure to ask your photographer about cloud storage and digital downloads. 7. Dont be dissuaded by the overall package price when meeting with photographers. I would say 90% of photographers WILL work with you on payments. That overhead price might be intimidating -but trust me, its so worth it. Also, wedding photographers in Ohio are expensive because prime wedding season is only 4 months...that means we make most of our income during this time. It is also a VERY expensive trade to master. Lenses cost us anywhere between $500-4000 for professional quality glass. Camera bodies cost between $1500-4000. Education is around $30-70k for a degree. Flashes are between $400-2000. Strobes are anywhere between $600-5000. Camera bags $100-600. Insurance $50-200 per month. Marketing $50-200 per month. Prints and samples $300-2000. Software $600-2000. And there is literally...so. much. more. Just bare this in mind! 8. Dont be overly excited by things like award winning or certified photographers. These bells and whistles more often than not, just smoke and mirrors. You can pay $100 and be certified. Look at the BODY of work, not those labels. That being said, there are some awards and certifications that are pretty cool. Just look into them if a photographer is advertising their praise. 9. Be wary of photographers who do not answer phone calls, texts or emails within 72 hours. I try and answer all clients within 48 hours. A vendor that does not value your questions, does not value your time. And NO ONE wants to deal with that! 10. Know your turn around time!!!! Some photographers will have your images back as soon as a month, some less, and many will take longer than that. My turn around time for image delivery is 6-8 weeks. This is pretty average for photographers. High end photographers make take as long as 3-4 months. If anyone has questions, comments or personal attacks 😂, feel free to PM me or comment below!
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 19:48:17 +0000
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