Some really awesome questions that you want to ask your wedding photographer include:
May I see one or two entire weddings that you’ve photographed? If the answer to this question is anything but an emphatic OF COURSE, you want to run, not walk, the other way. It’s easy to just pick a few killer images from each wedding and put those together on a website. Look at entire weddings to get a feel for the work of the wedding photographer you’re looking to work with. Are the photos consistent? Also – subscribe to the photographer’s blog and join them of Facebook – most of us blog all their weddings throughout the year so it’s a great way of seeing if your wedding photographer is putting out consistently good quality. Also, check if your wedding photographer has been featured by any of the leading wedding blogs such as Style Me Pretty.
Can you photograph our ceremony without flash? Sure can. Which is why Nikon cameras and their high ISO capabilities rule. Depending on the ambient light of your church, it might be advisable to use a bit of flash to balance the light but if your minister is dead set against it, I can absolutely photograph your wedding ceremony without flash. It’s all about knowing your equipment knowing when and how to properly use flash. It also greatly depends on the result you want to accomplish. Some portraits can be kicked up using a bit of fill flash and others simply work better without flash … like the portrait you see below.
Do you carry liability/error & omissions insurance? Another great question to ask your wedding photographer. Proof of insurance is required by some venues and is generally a good idea to have. There’s no reason for a legitimate wedding photographer to NOT have insurance.
Do I need a wedding photography contract? Yes! You absolutely want a contract that spells out all the unsexy stuff. Ever notice how most of the cases on Judge Judy involve “but he promised”? Nothing beats having an agreement in writing. That way, you know exactly what to expect from your wedding photographer.
When can I expect to see my wedding photos? This question should be covered in your contract as well. Some vt wedding photographers take a couple of weeks and some wedding photographers in Vermont take a couple of months to process your digital wedding photos. I will post your wedding sneak peek to the blog within 3 days of your wedding. I then take another three weeks to polish those babies to perfection before posting them to your online wedding gallery and burning them to DVD for you.
Do I get my wedding photos as high-resolution files? Is there an additional cost, and may I make prints from those files? Another good question that should be part of any wedding photography contract. My contract stipulates that you will receive your high-resolution wedding photos on DVD along with a print release for private use so you can make prints from those files.
What is your backup plan should you become ill? This question should most definitely be covered by any wedding photography contract. Mine states that I will do anything within my power to find a replacement wedding photographer should I suddenly become too sick to photograph your wedding. That being said, I’ve photographed weddings with broken ribs, a severed finger and various other issues. So trust me, I’ll give it my all to be there. Otherwise, I’d send a trusted replacement photographer or issue of full refund in case the trusted wedding photographers were already booked. It hasn’t happened so far but nothing beats having a solid Plan B. Or C. Do you have back up equipment? Yes, yes, and yes! Always. Which is why I never bring any less than 3 cameras, multiple lenses, flashes, memory cards, batteries … you name it. This guy Murphy is unpredictable so I like being prepared.
Have you photographed at my venue before? There are quite a few wedding venues where I’m a “return visitor” and other wedding venues that I’ve never been to.
To me, it doesn’t really matter. I’m always excited to return to a wedding venue where I’ve photographed a wedding before. It’s cool because I get to see how different couples make their weddings at the same venue look completely different. I also love finding different angles, new approaches and trying different things … keeps things new and exciting.
I’m also equally excited to photograph a wedding at a new wedding venue. Doing a quick walk through, coming up with new ideas on where to take the best photos, seeing where the light is coming from and how to incorporate it, seeing things for the first time … that’s what makes it fun for me.
Do I need to provide you with a meal? Ok, maybe not a great question but an important one. Yes, if I’m contracted for more than 4 hours, I’ll need to eat.
Now that we covered the great “what to ask your wedding photographer” questions, here are some not so great ones.
How many images do you shoot at a typical wedding? I get this asked quite a lot. My answer is always the same “It depends on your wedding.” And I always feel it sounds evasive. Like I don’t want to commit to a certain amount of photos. Not the case though.
Some of my couples put a lot of emphasis on decorations. Some couples have larger families than others and/or want more formal wedding portraits than others. Some wedding receptions are really busy and grooving and others are more relaxed. My goal is to document your wedding, to tell the story of your wedding day and to take as many or as few photos as it takes to accomplish that goal.
How many images do you typically deliver to your clients? Some wedding photographers take thousands of passable photos and deliver most of them. Some take fewer but AMAZING wedding photos and deliver those to their wedding couples.
As my amazing husband, Damian, puts it “Like asking your carpenter how many nails s/he is going to use building your house.”
Here’s the thing: we take a lot more photos during a wedding than we actually need. I personally like to play around with different ways of photographing the dress or other details. I deliver the best photo of the group – the one that you would expect to see on a magazine cover. Not the 9 other ones leading up to that one photo. In short: I deliver as many images as it takes to tell the story of your wedding day. No fluff, no fillers, just great wedding photos.
What is your favorite part of a wedding day to photograph? I’m not exactly sure what insight people hope to gain by asking this question but here are my favorite parts of the wedding day: you guys walking back down the aisle after the I do’s. The nervous energy right before you leave for the ceremony. Your dad crying. Tons of moments like this one just before the first kiss:
What has influenced your photography style the most, and why? In theory, this is a good question to ask your wedding photographer … if you know a wee bit about photography. Otherwise, my answer will do nothing but solicit a polite “ah, interesting.”
I personally love Bert Stern’s work and when my parents got me “Marilyn’s Last Sitting” a couple of years back, I was completely hooked. Another recent influence is Jose Villa. He is an amazing wedding photographer. Amazing. Like making me want to get married all over again just so he can photograph our wedding amazing.
Do you do pro-bono and charity work? What causes are important to you? Unless you’re prepared to hear a passionate speech on spaying and neutering and why I think Michael Vick (as a human) is a complete and utter douche, probably not a can of worms you want to open. Seriously, a wedding photographer doing or not doing charity work says very little about their skills as a wedding photographer. Also, depending on the causes that are really close to people’s hearts, this can be an awkward conversation stopper.
Can you tell me about a time you experienced a difficult situation at a wedding and how you handled it? Well, there was the time when the bride fell at a venue and poured red wine all over herself prior to portraits. There was the wedding where the rain started as the bride started walking down the aisle (outdoor ceremony), the time the groomsman was flashing gang signs during formals, the time a guest ran into grandma and we performed first aid while waiting for the ambulance, the time … well, you get the idea. Each and every single wedding has at least one “that didn’t go as planned” moment.
In case of the dress, it involved cleaning the dress, calming down the bride, asking the groom if he’d be willing to pour red wine all over himself. In case of the rainstorm, protecting my cameras from the rain while getting sopping wet myself, running backwards towards the venue when the minister decided to cut straight to the kiss and sent everybody back inside so I wouldn’t miss the somewhat chaotic recessional. Gangsta-dude – calmly asking bride & groom if they mind him flashing gang signs.
In short: always remaining calm under pressure and being able to think on your feet. I guess my reason for not liking this question is that it’s so darn stilted. So very much like a job interview. Very much like a wedding, make the interviewing process your own and ask questions that really interest you – like worst thing that ever happened at a wedding or whatever else you want to know.
May I have the names of two vendors you could speak with as references, as well as a former client or two? Theoretically a good thing to ask. But wedding vendors are not clients. They only see other vendors for a certain period of time on the wedding day and can only comment on that. And they hardly ever get to see an entire wedding gallery as client’s galleries are private. However, I’d be more than happy to put you in touch with some of Vermont’s most awesome wedding vendors that I’ve worked with.
As for client references, you can check out my reviews here. Or join me on Facebook where you can see previous clients rave about their wedding photos. Or you can always stop by and take a look at the lovely thank-you notes my couples sent me throughout the years.
Why are you a wedding photographer? Well, I fully blame Jon Bon Jovi for becoming a wedding photographer – you can read all about it here. Actually, this question is not a bad as I thought it was. Why I still am a wedding photographer? Because I’m really good at it and because I still have a blast doing it. I’m a firm believer in only doing what you enjoy doing. Not sure if it helps you narrow down the field but there you have it.
Why should I hire YOU? You want to hire a wedding photographer because you LOVE their work, their style as well as their personality. Most importantly, you hire them because you trust their ability to document your wedding day.
If you have any other wedding photography questions that you want me to answer, just comment below.
Happy wedding planning!
Kat Kingdom Wedding Photography by Kat – your Vermont wedding photographer
