No seriously... this has been a topic that I have wanted to share about.
Here are a few tips for finding that person that will share your day and make the day be fun.
1- Trust your gut... look on the web, go to wedding shows, check out the BBB rankings and other reviews... but at the end of the day how do you feel about this person that will be taking some of the most important pictures of your life?
2- Ask the hard questions.
-Do I own the rights to the photos?
- What procedures do you have in place should a piece of your equipment fail?
-Do you clean the sensor before every wedding?
-OK your website is GREAT.. can you show me ALL the pictures from ONE wedding? (One great shot a wedding is easy... getting hundreds of them is hard.... many portfolios are filled with one shot wonders from a lot of weddings.)
-Will there be two photographers? (This is really a MUST for weddings. It is impossible to get all the important shots from one vantage point... things happen just too quickly. Two vantage points when you leave the church will help ensure that Uncle Carl doesn't wander into the shot at the most inopportune time!)
-How can you justify your pricing? This is a great one for you to see what actually goes into great wedding photography. There are a lot of things that go into making the day look so good and once you see it you will ask "why so little?"
3- Ask for a free engagement shoot. This is a great time to see if this is the right fit. If things don't feel right in the engagement shoot things are not likely to improve for the wedding. Even if you have to pay for this session it makes the wedding day go SO much more smoothy!
4-This is the most important thing to ask once you think that you have found your team... "What are you going to do to make my wedding unique and something that you are certain you will display in portfolio?" This will make them understand that you do not want "off the shelf photography." We all can fall into the habits of going to the same clock in gastown or any other place that we know that we will get great pictures.. but you want unbelievably great pictures... and this question will light up that creative fire that is in all of us pros. I have found that this one question will open up a lot of discussion and discovery.. and in the end make the great looking photos to be not only beautiful... but also photos that family will say "that is just so them!"
5- Relax. Once you have sorted through and found that photographer that is the one for you... have fun and relax! Tense people never look good in pictures. This is another reason for an engagement shoot... it breaks the ice and helps everyone relax.
6- Last and most importantly get everything in writing or on email. A good photographer is very busy and sometimes forgets the small details that are important to you. (After all most weddings are booked 6 months to a year in advance..) So a written commitment of the commission is the best way to go. Leading up to the wedding contact your photographer...(If they have not already contacted you...) and have a "freshen-up" of the details go over the contract again and make any updates that may have happened in the interim. Ask that they attend the rehearsal so that family will get to know them. They should at this point also give you pointers on how to get the best pictures from your wedding.
I hope that this is has been helpful...
