1.How Many Photographs do you take? and how many to you discard/keep?
I find this question comes up almost every time - although the discard/keep is a new twist on this. And it's a difficult one to answer.
Let me explain - because all my packages come with licensed images on DVD then some people want to know how many to expect, how many will be thrown away (though typically this isn't always a guide to quality).
Let me list the factors that effect this:
- Some times during a wedding you take more photos than others, for example the number of photos during the bridal preparations is likely to be less than the candid photos of people arriving at the church.
- Each wedding is different, larger weddings end up with more photos ( say 30 guests vs 200 guests - a couple of photos of each guest would mean between 60 and 400
- a big difference if that was the *only* difference )
- Related to the above - sometimes more things happen at a wedding - again more photos.
The key thing to note is that there should be no *limit* to photos, the number of photos taken/discarded is irrelevant, a more sensible question would be "Is there a limit to number of photographs you take?" - After all you want to capture the spirit of the day and not be hung up on numbers right?
2.Are you the only photographer in this company? If I hire you, am I guaranteed that you will be the one showing up to shoot my wedding? If yes, can I get that in writing?
Absolutely! I am only representing myself - what you see is what you get!
If you are seeing a salesman then that's all good - but - I think it's important you meet the person who's shooting your wedding, I've done some freelance wedding work, and obviously the couples who got me got lucky :)
Seriously though - the only reason I can think of to book with a company who uses freelance wedding photographers is price - as otherwise you are losing out on the valuable relationship with your photographer.
3. Is the work that I am seeing all yours and only yours or is it a compilation of work from more than one photographer?
It's all me baby! My slideshow is a compilation of shots to give an idea of breadth of coverage (ie churches, civil ceremonies etc.) and I also show a couple of albums to give you an idea of 2 different weddings (and see a couple of the options for your album!)
Again this is where you can get a feel for the style of the photographer, not only do you like the images, but, how is the album design, do you like the albums, are they within the last few years or taken from 20 years ago?
4. Can you show me 2 or more complete weddings you’ve done?
Absolutely! That's the idea of the 2 albums I show you - to give you an idea of the quality of what you can expect!
5. Do you offer traditional wedding photography? Photojournalism? Or both?
Both! I work in an unobtrusive manor, but, absolutely recognise that you'll want some of the more traditional posed images on the day too!
6. Is color and B/W photography included or is there an extra fee for B/W? Do you offer hand colouring for B/Ws, digital colouring for B/Ws or digital colour separation?
All retouching is included, typically I will choose what works best for each image, some images work best in colour, some in B&W (and some in other toned styles) - that's what you're paying for my expertise - if you have any specific requirements - that's fine too :)
7. Is unlimited coverage included in your packages or is there an extra fee for all day coverage? Are you willing to come extra early to get shots of us (the couple) before the ceremony if we choose to do that? Would there be a fee for this?
It all depends on how much coverage you want and the running order for your day - we can discuss this in more detail at our meeting!
8. Do your packages include one or two photographers and is there an extra fee for a second photographer?
All my packages include my time and myself, an extra photographer is available for a small extra cost - this includes a female photographer if you so choose.
9. How many and what kind of cameras do you use? (Do you have backup equipment if something breaks?) Do you use film based or digital cameras or a combination of both?
Again I think this is a question straight out of a magazine, fills up a line or 2, but, really has no real value - what is it you as a couple want to find out from this? Would you ask a builder what sort of cement/trowel/bricks he uses? Do you have a spare trowel? Not that I'm aware off, but, needless to say I use appropriate equipment for the job with backups and spares so I'll be able to carry on shooting your wedding. :)
10. How far will you travel to a wedding before charging a travel fee?
I usually say about 60 miles, gives me a fair amount of scope, but, means i don't end up shooting in France at my own expense :)
11. Do you offer a website and CD of my images? If so, is this included in the packages or this is an extra fee?
Absolutely! The CD of images is licensed to you so you can make any prints you'd like. Again a lot of wedding magazines will say "insist on a copyright free CD"; this is what they really mean - "Make sure you can get a high resolution copy of the images you want to print with no restrictions" - Copyright is a whole other thing and the reason I retain copyright is that i can then use the images for promotions and competitions, though of course I'm sensitive to personal issues regarding usage in this way.
Either way you get a CD with the images on in high-resolution JPG format (TIFFs and the like are outdated with low-compression JPG - if you've ever taken a DVD with 300 TIFFs into jessops or boots you'd know what i mean it will likely cause their printing station to explode as it tries to load hundreds of 40MB TIFF files!)
12. If your packages are not what I am looking for, would you be willing to try to customize a package for me that is within my budget?
Sure thing - my packages are starting points - and the options available are limited only by your imagination - so why not drop me an email and we can discuss your wedding in detail?
TP Photography
