Most likely you’ve never had a wedding before, so you’re madly typing into Google all your questions, searching Pinterest for a list of questions to ask your wedding photographer.

Let’s be honest, those are probably not the questions you care about. Asking a photographer “Can you describe your style?” and “What equipment do you shoot with?” probably doesn’t really doesn’t matter, because you can see their style in their work and the equipment doesn’t matter as much these days.

Why should I pick you when there are dozens of wedding photographers next door?

This answer should be straight forward, they should know their style, how they stand out from the market, and what they are willing to do differently than others. If the answer is price and only price move on.

Not only should you like their images, but you should also like them! As long as you get along with and trust your photographer you will have less to worry about.

Once you’ve got your favorites, set up a time to meet them. Make sure you’re meeting with YOUR photographer, not a sales consultant, or the studio owner. Don’t be shocked to meet with them over Facetime, especially with the world we live in now. Even tho it’s not in person you are still able to get a good sense of the personality.

We will meet in person if we can, but most of the time we will talk on the phone or over video chat. This is more and more common as the world is changing.

Why is wedding photography so freakin’ expensive?

This is the question of the year, why is stuff so expensive. Simply put a lot more that happens than you see on your wedding day.

Wedding photography seems like easy money, when in fact wedding photography is some of the most stressful work for a photographer. They are always on their toes, having to plan for a full day of shooting and being able to adjust on a dime for a location they have probably never been to.

Now that was the prep and the photography of the wedding day. The days of editing your photos afterward, the $15,000 worth of gear that is carried and all the business expenses add up quickly.

For a business that only works on the weekend during the summer months the chance of covering insurance, taxes, software, advertising, albums, repairs, means higher prices. That all adds up to many photographers making less than minimum wage for the first few years of their career.

We don’t charge as much as other photographers because we both have 8-5 creative jobs giving us the financial backing to lower the cost of production for you.

How many photos do I get?

This varies so much across the industry that it is a must ask question. Typically wedding photographers deliver 25-75 photos for every hour of coverage they provide.

I bet you’re doing the math right now and yes three to four hundred photos might seem like a lot, but your photographer is saving all those memories for you. Everything will fly by on your wedding day so it’s important that it’s saved for years to come.

We deliver about 350-450 photos, but this range can go up with more family photos or locations.

What’s the deal with images varying so much from pastel, to clean, and saturated?

The reason the photos look so different is a combination of the photographers shooting and editing style. Most of the photo changes happen in what we call post-processing. Most photographers do basic changes to match their style.

Popular styles right now are: Clean:

  • Clean: lightly processed to appear natural
  • Matte: a low-contrast look with muted pastel colors, similar to vintage film
  • High Contrast: a vibrant look with rich colors that pop

Pick a photographer for their style, asking photography to change to a style will probably leave you less than excited about your photos as the style is a mix of both the shooting and edit.

How can I make sure I look good in my photos?

The best advice is to get your engagement photos done by the same person. If you are able to relax and trust your wedding photographer it’ll come through in your photos.

Spacing out your wedding day is key to everything running smoothly. So leave some breathing room in your schedule, this makes you less rushed.

We got a quick read that goes more in-depth about this topic called Photography Tips for the Groom and Photography Tips for the Bride.

We recommend having a list that everyone knows and a minimum of 30 minutes for family and wedding party photos. The Bride and Groom portraits we like to give an hour for them.

How do you get the pictures with the blurry backgrounds?

You’re talking about the depth of field. It’s what your iPhone try’s to mimic in portrait mode. As Photographers we use expensive lenses to get a shallow depth of field and tightly focus on the subject.

Do I want shoot and burn photography?

No! it’s slang for photographing a wedding and burning it straight to CD without post-processing. Nowadays we have digital downloads, but the quick turn arounds and low cost mean less time is put into the final product.

The errors you might see are as simple as lighting isn’t corrected, distracting elements aren’t removed, and zits remain proudly on display. Finding a full-service photographer who will edit the images and print reference proofs before handing over the digital copies is the way to go.

Do I really need a second Wedding photographer?

The answer is simple, No.

Having a second photography might seem like it’s a waste of money because I might only get half as many more photos, but I’m paying twice as much.

Something to think about is the different perceptive you can get, the moment that your main one might miss because they are getting other shots. Everyone makes mistakes and in a fast pass and ever-changing work environment like wedding photography, moments are missed.

We always shoot with two, a male and a female so you don’t have to worry about feeling uncomfortable with one or the other.

The best thing is to ask your wedding photographer to see how they prefer to work.

You can Photoshop that, right?

LOL!

This is brought up so often at weddings. Just fix it in post, or you can just photoshop that. The answer is generally yes, but will I remember that this one photo of 200 family photos needs aunt Judy’s nose ring taken out? Probably not.

We work hard to get every photo perfect when the shutter is snapped. That means posing, location, lighting, and all the fun buttons on the camera. But if Uncle Dan walks through the photo or you are missing your brother, I’m going to need to take a photo with them in it.

Many photographers charge for extensive editing in Photoshop, because it can be very time-consuming.