Ok, so I have a confession to make. I did, in fact, buy a wedding planning book. Now, before you get all up in arms, know that I did buy the smallest one I could find and so far I've only used the first two pages of it just to double-check to see if I missed anything (which btw, I did not). :-)But what was really interesting in this whole thing was flipping to the photography section and reading the questions that these authors tell their un-knowing brides to ask. Now, first of all, most of these questions haven't been revised since 1990, but on top of that, they all have the same irrelevant questions! Here are some of my favs:
1. What is the name of the photographer?
- I really hope this was established before the meeting!2. What percentage of your business is dedicated to weddings?
- I think I understand where this is coming from, but it doesn't really hold any relevance to whether or not the photographer will be a good fit for you unless you're holding out to make sure that during the week your photographer doesn't photograph children or something.
3. What type of equipment do you use?
- Unless you are a photo hobbyist yourself, you're not going to know (or probably care about) the difference if I say Nikon d300 or Canon 5d. A better question would be "Are you still using the ancient art form known as film?" :-)
4. Do you visit the ceremony and reception sites prior to the wedding?
- A good question to ask before the internet was invented. It is good to ask if a photographer has been to your venue, however, if you have a good photographer who knows his/her stuff, you won't have to worry about your photographer having been to a certain location because he or she will know the best place to shoot the second they walk into a room.
5. Are you skilled in diffused lighting & soft focus?
- Oh, this is my absolute FAVORITE question of all time. Someone please tell me the importance of this to the average bride.
6. Can you retouch negatives?
- Totally out-dated. A good question would be "Do you retouch the pictures that go into the wedding album(s)?"
7. Can negatives be purchased? If so, what is the cost?
- Again, totally out-dated. A good question would be "Do you offer the high resolution images without a watermark?"
8. Do you develop your own film?
- Out-dated again. The up-to-date question would be something like "Do you edit your own work/design your own albums, etc?" A lot of photographers send out their 'extra' work. Some people see this as a negative, meaning that the photographer isn't doing everything himself by hand. Some see this as a positive, meaning the photographer has a whole team of companies that are experts at what they do doing his work more quickly than if he were doing it himself. Take your pick. :-)
But not all questions were bad; here are some that are important:
1. How many years of experience do you have as a photographer/Approximately how many weddings have you photographed?
- Very important, you don't want someone who has only shot their friend's weddings.
2. Who will be the person shooting my wedding?
- This is very important. Many larger companies book a ton of weddings and, quite literally, hand out jobs on a piece of paper the week before the event to a list of photographers that they have available that weekend. I recently had this happen with a bride of mine who came to me 3 weeks before her wedding after canceling with her other photography company because they hadn't assigned her a photographer yet and they weren't returning her phone calls. So scary!!!
3. What is your payment policy? What is your cancellation policy? Do you offer a money-back guarantee?
- All very important things to know, most of them not deal-breaking, but you want to make sure you're aware of how things go with the photographer that you're choosing because everyone has a different policy.
4. How intrusive will lighting, tripods, other equipment or assistants be?
- This is SO important! Do you want to remember your day by how annoying your photographer was? Naturally, you're with your photographer the entire day...but the idea is that you don't really notice it most of the time. This goes particularly for the reception and applies for videographers too.
5. What’s your primary style? Posed and formal, relaxed, photojournalistic, creative, artistic, candid, traditional?
- This is a really great thing to talk to your photographer about because it directly affects what your pictures will look like in the end. You can, of course, really tell this by just looking at their pictures, but it's a great idea to actually discuss it and get a feel for the creative flow of your photographer.
6. How did you get started?
- This doesn't seem much more than just small talk, but the truth is it will let you into the kind of person your photographer is and their level of passion for what they do. If your photographer answers and it's a run-of-the-mill, dry, unenthusiastic response...then you can pretty much expect the same attitude from them the day of your wedding. You want someone (and btw, this applies to every vendor you hire) who is passionate and excited about what they do. Someone who'll light up when they get to talk about their photographic journey to the place where they are today. Haha, I have to stop now or I'll ramble on and on about it...
~
There are a few more basic questions that are on there dealing with pricing and details, but what I was most disappointed about was the complete absence of any advice talking about evaluating your photographer as a person. I did find it very well said in a blog I found online: "Your photographer is going to be glued to your side almost the entire day of your wedding, and if your personalities clash, it could ruin your wedding day." And it's so true! I'm there from the second you put on your dress until you cut your cake (and sometimes way earlier and later than both of those things), and since a bad personality can make anyone cringe, you really need to find a photographer that makes you feel great. Someone that'll make your wedding exciting and your "photo session" feel like fun rather than work. So get a little personal, ask them what makes them tick, just sit down and hang out, grab coffee or whatever with your potential photographer; see if they're the kind of person that you want around you on the most important day of your life. In a nutshell, and to quote myself: "Find a photographer that you love, who just happens to take photographer that you love too."
My take on wedding books is that you have to take what they tell you and make it apply to you and what you want on your wedding. After all, you are what it's all about, (not the hokey pokey...that's why it should be banned from being played at weddings), right?
~Vj
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