What is your style? Most experienced wedding photographers will have developed a style over years of wedding and portrait work.  Be sure that their approach fits with your vision of the images you would like to take from your wedding day.  This is best accomplished by viewing their portfolio, and if possible, try to see a large group of photos from one single wedding.

Are your wedding photography packages flexible and adaptable? (Do you have “a la carte” pricing for services?)  Most photographers understand that not all brides want the same thing and are willing to negotiate or work with you to create your own custom packages. Also as wedding days approach, budgets sometimes loosen or you’re looking for that perfect gift for a loved one.  Having a photographer that offers a wide range of products and services can be a great solution.

How do you ensure digital safety and where do you store your images? We are in a digital age and we all have experienced a computer crashing and losing valuable data.   Make sure your photographer has a plan for digital corruption of files and has a storage plan that makes you feel comfortable.  For example, our studio uses 2 – 3 cameras at a wedding to ensure that no images/parts of the day are lost. Post wedding, image files are immediately downloaded onto two separate hard drives.

What type of equipment do you use?  How many lenses do you have in your bag? Any experienced photographer should have a digital SLR camera with many interchangeable lenses in their arsenal.   Multiple lenses should be used at different intervals to capture the many different moments, feelings and activities.  In our camera bags, for example, we carry 2 two standard zoom lenses, 2 telephoto zoom lenses and a fisheye lens.  A good photographer will know what to use and when to use it.

How many weddings have you shot? Having an experienced wedding photographer is the key to providing you with wedding images that you will enjoy for generations to come.  Knowing where to be during the important times of your day, how to handle people, being prepared for the days timeline, knowing how to direct group photos, and being able to handle the days stress(and help relieve yours) will make for an enjoyable day in addition to images to last a lifetime.  Pre-wedding preparation and the proper editing and storing of photos post wedding also are included in the service you are purchasing, make sure your photographer is up to the task and is willing to hold your hand through the whole process.