There are so many articles out there on how to choose the right photographer for you. They tell you to ask questions like “What gear do you use?” “Do you shoot in RAW?” “What’s your preferred style?” “Do you backup my photos?” and many more. Granted, all are valid questions and your photographer SHOULD have an answer for each and every one. But after shooting weddings for almost a decade, I can tell you that the questions on those pre-made lists probably wont mean a lot to you down the road. If you’re looking for a photographer who knows what they’re doing, loves what they do, and will put everything they are into your day, then here are some guidelines and questions that will help you find the PERFECT photographer for your wedding!

What’s YOUR preferred style? – Asking this question to the photographer is rather pointless, but asking YOURSELF what your style is, is key. If you go into your photographer search with a style in mind, then it’ll be easy to weed out those who don’t fit that style and bookmark those who do! Do you want editorial where all the images are soft and look like they’re out of a magazine? Do you want tons of posed photos with lots of smiles at the camera? Do you want mostly moments and motion with vibrant color? When you envision your wedding day what style works best for YOU?

What’s their personality? – The photographer is the one vendor aside from a wedding coordinator/designer that you spend a great deal of time with…maybe even the most time with. Your photographer is with you ALL. DAY. LONG. You’ll want to make sure that the photographer you hire is someone you enjoy being around. In turn, most photographer’s feel the same way about their clients. We want to enjoy our job and in my opinion that job is THE BEST when we’re all friends. Maybe you don’t need your relationship to go that deep, but you’ll want to make sure that your photographer is someone you’d like to have at your wedding. Take some extra time to meet with your perspective photographers and get to know who they are. Out of state or too far away? Then maybe setting up a skype or Facetime chat will at least get you a face to face. Then you can really see what that person is like.

Do they have more work? – When you’re meeting with that photographer you’re considering for one of the most important days of your life, don’t be afraid to ask to see more work. A professional, who takes their job seriously will have multiple samples. Whether it’s complete wedding albums or online galleries, the photographer shouldn’t hesitate to let you look more! This should give you an idea of how they take pictures of all moments of the day, not just those pretty formals everyone puts on their websites. If the photographer is reluctant to show you more, that should be a red flag. I have heard one too many horror stories where couples have been burned because they took the person at face value and they ended up with terrible wedding photos.

Do they feel comfortable shooting in all lighting situations? – This is a more technical question that will really impact your day. Every wedding is different and calls for a different set of tools. Your photographer will hopefully be well versed in all of them so they can adapt to your wedding day. As fantastic as some photographers are with natural light, when it gets dark it gets harder to get the moments we need to without adding more light, plain and simple. Again, it’s okay to ask for more samples of work if you don’t feel comfortable.

How do they handle groups of people? – Group formals are composed of the people who mean the most to you in the entire world and they’re there celebrating with you, standing up with you, and living every beautiful moment with you. Your photographer should be able to handle this time with ease and grace, making your family & friends just as comfortable as you are in front of the camera. This plays into personality type as well, are they assertive, shy, quiet, loud, confident, rude, sarcastic, patient. If they’re not great with groups, you’ll want to see if they bring an assistant or 2nd shooter who is.

What happens after the wedding day? – What’s the turn around time, is there an in person sales session, do they just mail the USB to you, is there a wedding premiere? All of these questions and more will be answered by just asking what happens next. Most photographers will happily explain the details of how they’ll process and deliver your photographs. If they don’t know then again, RED FLAG. They should already have this system in place and it shouldn’t take you a year to get your photographs.

Of course you can always keep asking questions, but at some point you need to feel at ease and trust the vision and skill of the person before you. Hopefully these six questions will help you find the photographer who best fits you and your wedding day and who cherishes it as much as you do.

XOXOXO,
Mabyn

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