A good wedding photographer preserves the beautiful memories of your big day. After setting a wedding date, next on your checklist is finding a wedding photographer. This should be someone that understands the essence of capturing moments from the most memorable day of your life. There are factors you should consider before trusting someone with this important task.
Wedding photographers have different business cultures. Some are popular, while some are unexplainably expensive. You will as well come across wedding photographers who are not popular but deliver quality work. How then do you decide on whom to pick? This piece will help you streamline your numerous considerations.
After you read this, you will know how to choose the perfect photographer for your wedding. You can decide this through some questions we will be asking you. All you need to do is to give sincere answers to them.
1. What’s The Budget For Photography?
This is the first question to ask because it determines the other choices you will make in the end. To know the wedding photographer that fits your budget, you should first decide the amount cut out for the package. There are three steps to do this:
a. Know your overall wedding budget first:
This saves you the stress and mistake of using up more money than you planned. From your overall budget, list out other things you need money to do. Calculate and estimate, and round them up into percentages.
b. Cull out a percentage for the photography package:
Remember the aim for this is to find out the budget for photography and videography, so add this as well.
c. Check out wedding photographers that fit your budget:
After you see their prices, go on to judge their work based on neatness, precision and excellence.
2. What Kind Of Wedding Photographs Do You Want?
An important decision to make is the type of pictures you want to see. There are two types of photography:
a. Traditional photography:
This is the cheapest type of photography. The wedding photographer captures a large part of the event, including the guests and props. Expect him or her to submit many pictures to you. The pictures may as well be contained in a large album.
b. Candid photography:
This is more technical than traditional photography. Here, the photographer is deliberate with his results. He observes special moments, expressions, and emotions. You can see this in the picture angles, tones, and concepts. It requires more skills and technicality. This is also called Creative Photography.
From this, you can choose the type of photography that will suit your event.
3. What Type Of Videography Do You Want?
According to Wikipedia, Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videos, or storage) and even direct streaming media. Like photography, there are two types of videography:
a. Cinematic videography:
This could be a short video coverage spanning from about thirty seconds to thirty minutes. Like candid photography, cinematic videography is creative. It captures the important people- you, your partner, and your esteemed guests. It is well cut and edited to feel like a movie or trailer.
b. Traditional videography:
It involves less technicality and equipment use. Traditional photography covers the entirety of the event, sometimes lasting for three hours. It is one of the oldest forms of videography, especially for wedding ceremonies.
Cinematic videography costs more than the traditional. Now that you know the difference between the two, you can make the right choice. We advise that you go for a wedding photographer whose skills are sharp enough to pull off a creative shoot. The outcomes should be interesting to watch and to keep for memories.
4. What Packages Do You Offer?
After answering the first three questions, you should ask prospective photographers about the packages they offer. This includes the number of minutes per shoot, the type of pictures (hardcopies, soft copies), the expected quality of photos and videos. For soft copy pictures, they can be either edited or unedited. The more the edited pictures, the more money you need to pay. The conversation with the photographer should cover wedding albums, frame dimensions, and prices for outdoor and studio shoots. The studio may have provision for wedding concepts and props that you will find helpful. The props may be either free or paid.
If you are planning a destination wedding, you need to ask questions about flights and hotel reservations. If the wedding photographer works with a team (like a stand-by assistant), ask if this costs extra. Some photographers may have discount packages on both engagement and white wedding ceremonies. If this goes in your favor, you have not only ticked one task off your list. You have also saved some money that you can use to settle other bills.
5. When Will You Deliver The Pictures?
This gives you a hint of how long you will have to wait after the wedding to get your pictures. The wedding euphoria will die down a bit, right after the ceremony is over. Gradually, you will begin to feel curious to know how the event went. You would want to see the people that attended the wedding, their expressions, and how well you danced. Although your wedding photographer will need time to edit the work to perfection, it is still important to have a time range beforehand. For package expectation, you can note it when you sign the agreement of contract. If it is not there, you can point it out so he can add it. This prevents mix up of any sort.
After you have confirmed all the questions above, you are now good to go. Ask for payment procedures. Some photographers accept instalment payment, while for others; full payment secures your slot. You can as well ask about policies on refunds and termination of contract due to unforeseen circumstances. The wedding photographer should be someone that meets your standards. Their packages and policies should fit your budget, taste, and tick off your photo and video preferences.
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