Quality wedding photography is one of the most important aspects of your wedding day, and I am a firm believer that couples should invest accordingly. After all is said and done - the food has been eaten, your guests have danced into the wee hours of the night, your flowers have wilted - all you have left aside from your new spouse (of course) to help you remember your wedding day are the photographs and your wedding film. Being that your wedding photos turn into a family heirloom, it is important to choose a photographer whose style resonates with your own and whose work moves you. Once you've narrowed the list down, here are some questions to ask the photographers you interview:
Is it possible to see a sample album from an entire wedding?
It is easy to showcase a few amazing photos, but being able to see an album with the entire wedding will help you know whether or not the photographer who are considering is consistent in their work. There are no do-overs in the wedding industry and you don't want to pay several thousand dollars only to find that your wedding photographer was having an off day. Look for someone who consistently produces images that you love.
How soon do we get to see the photos and how soon do we receive the wedding album?
Each photographer has a different workflow and a different timeframe for post processing your wedding photos. When meeting with your photographer, make sure that their timeline is compatible with your needs. As for the album, we've all heard horror stories of couples who didn't receive their albums until over a year after they approved their album images and layouts. Ask about album turnaround time (and keep in mind that you have a hand in this as you will generally need to either select the images you want included or approve a layout) and see if that will work for you as well.
What percentage of the album cost does the album credit typically cover?
An album credit is similar to a gift certificate in that it contributes to covering the cost of the wedding album, and does not necessarily mean that it covers the entire cost of the album itself. For example, if your wedding photography package includes a $1000 album credit, but the albums normally run about $2000, then the credit only covers about half the cost and you will have to pay the balance on top of the package price. Not every photographer's business model includes the album credit method, but if yours does, be sure to ask about a finished album's typical price (and number of pages or images) so that you can budget appropriately.
Do you include a disc of the images?
Including the full disc of images (which is an entirely different thing from a DVD slideshow) is a hot button topic in the wedding photography community and its practice varies with each photographer. Some will include it in their higher priced packages, some include it for a separate fee, some give it as a gift on your first anniversary after your wedding album has been delivered, and some do not include it at all. There are valid reasons for each of these approaches, and you need to be comfortable with the one your wedding photographer employs.
{photography by Cheswick Photo}
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I want to add that with the disc of the images you need to ask some questions. There is no glossary of terms and each photographer can interpret them differently. Make sure you clarify what you are getting.
A big factor that sets one photographer apart from one another is their vision. The style of photography that you see in your book or prints can be lot different from some of pictures that a photographer took on your wedding day. Some images may of been quick snaps or the photographer experimenting with ideas. If you see all of the digital negatives, you may miss the photographers style, even if it was there. Looking at 4000 images can be nice to remember your day, but try narrowing it down to 60-100 for a book.
Photographers want to protect the quality of images that you see, what you show your friends and what might be showing future brides that may want to hire them.
Decide what level of control you want. Do you want the photographer to handle everything? The design of your book, the choice of images, the toning of the images. Are you a do it yourself type of person and want to choose your own images and design the book yourself? Are you looking for something in between?
Here is some general explanations of the terms.
TONING - There are different levels. Basic toning is some simple adjustments so that the images look good when you view them. As the toning get's more advanced the color is adjusted and the images can look more life like. The really advanced toning will make images pop out at you and sometimes make them look better than life. This can also involve removing objects, touching up blemishes, black and white with coloring, etc.
DIGITAL NEGATIVES - Raw untouched images. My takes can be 2000+ images. Every picture taken on the shoot. (Find out how long they are guaranteed to be kept in the archives. Are you going to want to order reprints on your 5th anniversary? Your 10th? Some photographers will release these to you before they remove them from the archives)
Edit of Digital Negatives - The images narrowed down to the photographers loose top pick (With me this can be from 500-1000 images). This removes the out of focus and unuseable images.
Toned digital negatives - These are print ready digital negatives. You can make any size prints from these. They will most likely be just basic toning.
PROOFS can be images that have a photo studio watermark over them or images that have been scaled down so that you can't print anything bigger than a 4x6. (Usually will be less than 500 images)
Proofs toned (Ready to print)- This will be print ready images.
Proofs lightly toned - This will be images that are lightened and some touch-up done so that they look good when you are viewing them. More work will need to be done before they go to print.
Proofs untoned - There is no work done to these. Even basic toning will need to be done to these before they go to print.
Also when you get digital negatives you need to ask about copyright. Do you have the right to submit the photos to publications, put them on the web and make prints of them? Many times the photographer will just give you the images for personal use.
These are my definitions and as I said they can vary by photographer.
Congratulations on your wedding!
Chad Pilster
Pilster Photography
http://www.pilsterphotography.net/wedding
http://pilsterphotography.blogspot.com
Great and Insightful advice.
Excellent points...especially the one about seeing an entire wedding!
Wow, thanks Chad! Your info is super helpful for us non-photographers.
Lovely advice. I also want to add that even though albums and digital files are important, you can really judge a photographer's passion by what they truly value - are you paying for the quality of their work? Or the number of prints? I'm a younger photographer, and I grew up in a very digital world. I think that the most important part of photography for me is to be able to share gorgeous, intimate photographs, whether it is on-line or in a print album. So, I do something that isn't exactly business savvy - I give all my clients both the uncorrected hi-resolution files as well as the corrected files... you have the freedom to decide what you want to do with your photos. I feel that most photographers would say that I'm a bit naive, but I truly think that what you should be paying for is the service and the art. I think my time and effort should be the most expensive part of my package - everything else is replaceable. If your album costs more than the service, you may want to think about what your photographer's priorities are.
Good luck with all your planning!
Jen
www.JenHuangPhotography.com