General questions to ask a potential photographer:

As with the technical questions, many of these can be found on wedding websites.  This is just my take, from the other side of the camera, on which ones are valuable and why.  I often have people come to meetings with their lists printed off.  They sometimes look at me and say, “I’m not sure why I’m asking this one.”  Sometimes, it’s because it’s not really important and sometimes it needs a little explanation.  

Are you the photographer who will be shooting my wedding?  Many studios have more than one photographer or they contract out to other photographers in the area for booked dates.  Personality match is key to making your choice.  You will spend more time with your photographer than any other vendor, so make sure you’ve met them, talked to them personally and liked them.  Your photos will suffer if you don’t enjoy this person’s company!  Don’t hire a photographer you haven’t met, (unless you’re getting married out of town and meeting them is impossible, in which case you should have an extensive conversation on the phone).   Make sure the name of your photographer is in your contract without a substitution clause (except in the event of a true emergency).  When you talk to the guaranteed photographer, if they work for a larger company, ask them if the company they shoot for puts any limitations on their work.  This can dramatically change the artistic and creative freedom of the photographer.  If they’re shooting for a large company, ask to see not just their own work on their websites, but work they’ve shot for that company.

How are the edited images finished?  As I said in the faq on retouching, you can’t expect all 500 – 700 images your photographer delivers to be completely retouched.  You should, however, expect them to be professionally processed.  This means the color and exposure is perfect and bright and all vertical photos are rotated to the right orientation.  (This is a deal breaker, btw.  If your photographer doesn’t rotate your photos, then you can bet they aren’t doing a lot of other things as well.)   I go one step further.  I make sure all the people in my group shots have their eyes open.  I take 3-4 shots of every group set-up (it’s quick, so you may not even notice) and do what’s called a head swap in Photoshop to make sure everyone in the photo is looking good.  I’ve been using Photoshop for 10 years (a really long time in Photoshop land!) and even I can’t tell which heads I’ve swapped.  You’ll just think I magically managed to get all your groups looking at me and smiling at the same time!

What style do you shoot?  This is not a new question.  You’ll find it in every list of photo questions on the internet.  But it’s not as cut and dried as most wedding sites would have you believe.  There are a few photographers in the Atlanta and Chattanooga metro areas who shoot straight photojournalism for weddings.  To be true “PJ” that means there are no set up shots at all.  But there aren’t many.  Most photographers shoot a combination of photojournalism, traditional set ups and artistic set ups.  You should be able to tell from their websites what style they shoot, but it’s always nice to confirm.  The confusion comes from how posed photography is defined.  You might look at a beautifully intimate photo between a bride and groom and conclude it’s a candid.  It’s often not.  A good photographer can set the couple up to interact with one another in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing (good composition and light), but not force their emotions.  See the two following photos for examples:

This photo is posed.

This photo is not posed.

Unless you’ve done a bit of modeling, you need some suggestions from your photographer to get you looking natural.  I know that sounds backwards, but it’s true!

In addition, don’t be so quick to decide you want to forego family and bridal party group shots.  They don’t need to take a long time, but, statistically, they tend to be the photos most people print to display in their homes after the wedding.  However they don’t have to be everyone in a straight line looking uncomfortable!  Many photographers don’t display these images on their website.  Ask to see their traditional family shots.  

How soon will I get my photos?  This can vary wildly from photographer to photographer.  If you’re expecting two weeks (my delivery time for photos) and you don’t see anything till two months, you’re going to be really unhappy.  Clarify this, in advance, and ask how often they don’t meet their target.

As always, if you have questions regarding any of this, or have a question of your own, feel free to email me at info@caycecallaway.com or comment below and I’ll be happy to answer.