QUESTIONS to ask WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

Wedding Photography is no easy subject and interviewing potential wedding photographers can be a daunting task. Regardless of if you are hiring Roberto Falck Photography or another studio, we have created a list of 10 questions to help you find the perfect photographer for your wedding day.  Here are the questions to ask wedding photographer.

While this list gives you what questions to ask, you still need to pay attention to the soft-skills that are mentioned in “How Do I Choose a Wedding Photographer” during the meeting and conversation.

This should be your first and foremost question as this is the style of photography that interests you. Roberto Falck Photography is primarily a photojournalist that uses hints of fashion and fine-art influenced wedding photography techniques. 

If you are seeking photojournalism, make sure you read our section titled “What are Wedding Photojournalists” to ensure you are actually getting a photographer that specializes in this area.

1. What is your primary style?

This is a great question to get an idea of how much experience your photographer has in general. Years are not a good gauge of experience since some wedding photographers may work part time, and only shoot five weddings a year on weekends. Thus, maybe they have five years of experience, but they have only shot 25 weddings. Again, look at our experience gauge in the “How Do I Choose a Wedding Photographer.” section for a gauge on what we consider experienced.

Roberto has photographed over 300 weddings.

2. How many weddings have you shot, and have you shot ones similar to mine?

This question is designed to find out if the photographers are specialized in wedding photography or they are “one-stop-shop-photographers.” More specifically, you would be better off looking for a photographer that specializes, not only in wedding photography but the style of wedding photography.

3. How many times have you worked specifically as a wedding photographer?

There are a lot of studios that don’t create contracts for their wedding photography clients. You should require a contract from your photographer that details what services they will be providing, pricing, termination resolution terms, etc. A contract is created for your protection, and for the wedding photographer’s protection. It is best to hire a photographer that will build a contract with you, and be wary of photographers that “don’t typically create contracts for clients.”

4. Will a contract of the services be provided? If so, can I get a copy?

While it is unlikely that the photographer happens to get ill on your wedding day, there is still a chance. It is crucial that the photography studio does something to take care of the situation in case of illness. Roberto Falck Photography has a network of first class photographers that can cover in this type of case..

Professional wedding photographers should have the proper insurance for their business. Insurance protects the photographer against equipment theft, but more importantly, it provides liability protection in case Great Aunt Sophie trips over the photographer’s bag and breaks her leg. If a wedding photographer does not have insurance, chances are they are new to the industry or are not taking their business seriously.

Roberto Falck Photography carries general business, equipment and liability insurance.

6. Do you have insurance?

5. What happens if the photographer is ill?

Even though the wedding photographers are a big part of the wedding day, it’s important that they are not distractions. As such, it’s important for the photographer to blend in as much as possible. Furthermore, for religious or cultural ceremonies, there may be certain colors that are considered taboo. Make sure your photographers will be dressed appropriately for the occasion. Typical Roberto Falck photography attire is black suit pants with a black polo or dress shirt. We dress completely in black because we want to go unnoticed by the clients and guests so that we can capture the event as photojournalists.

10. What attire will the photographer and their assistants wear?

Knowing up front the photographer’s policy on overages is critical. You don’t want to be surprised when your wedding photographer asks for an additional $1,000 before they release your pictures to you. Even worse, you don’t want your wedding photographer to just pack up and leave when their time is up.

9. Should my event last longer than scheduled, will you stay? Is there an extra charge?

Our studio uses top quality camera bodies (5D Mark III) along with the finest quality L lenses from Canon. While wedding photographers don’t necessarily need the best of the best, it is important to have a good set of equipment. Make sure your photographer has at least the following items along with backups. Nothing would be worse than for the photographer to miss half of your weddings because his camera or lens broke, and he didn’t have a spare.

8. What kind of equipment do you use? Do you have backups?

If your wedding has 80 or more guests, you should make sure you have a second photographer. Aside from the wedding site, there are many moments in which one single photographer cannot cover completely alone. There is no way to capture the first kiss, and at the same time, turn around and get the tear in mother’s eye.

7. Does the package I am interested in include an assistant?